New beginnings

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The track near the "mushroom" tram stop, is quite enclosed, so it retains the most fallen leaves. A drawback of vertical planks construction. I lifted all track, took a brush to it, and it looks much better now.

This I assume will become the yearly post-autumn cleanup.


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Part of my idea for a separate 64 mm route is now materialising. This new buffer stop gives a definite "the end of the line" flavour.

In my mind, the 64 mm gauge is Standard Gauge, assuming a 1:22.5 scale. It is just a single line without any pointwork of its own, except where the Narrow Gauge (45 mm) joins in. The total length of the route will be around 7 metres.

What stock will roll here, I have no idea. I just worked the Standard Gauge into the general plan on a whim, because I could. A way of keeping myself busy, I guess. Making the layout an even more versatile toy.
 
You could build a 'tunnel' over the end of the line..

This could hide a loco + one carriage / box car, and it could slowly shuttle backwards and forwards along the 'mainline'..

Not that I am suggesting more work for you, of course!
:devil:

PhilP
 
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Part of my idea for a separate 64 mm route is now materialising. This new buffer stop gives a definite "the end of the line" flavour.

In my mind, the 64 mm gauge is Standard Gauge, assuming a 1:22.5 scale. It is just a single line without any pointwork of its own, except where the Narrow Gauge (45 mm) joins in. The total length of the route will be around 7 metres.

What stock will roll here, I have no idea. I just worked the Standard Gauge into the general plan on a whim, because I could. A way of keeping myself busy, I guess. Making the layout an even more versatile toy.
If you wish for European many of the Piko wagons have dual buffers and can with not much work take 63.5 gauge wheels. Same applies to Bachman Thomas range if you get them without the silly faces. It is possible in both cases to use the existing wheels gauge widened.
 
I don't think I've shown you this one yet.


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Some may recognise it as an "Ellie the Steam Tram" type engine. I'm going to name it Brammert, after an outlaw from north-eastern Dutch folklore.

It arrived just before Christmas, shortly after I got my other Live Steamer Emma. It is spirit fired, with a single vertical cylinder. Learning to operate one engine at a time is enough, so I'm now focusing more on Emma, and this one will get more attention later.
 
I don't think I've shown you this one yet.


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Some may recognise it as an "Ellie the Steam Tram" type engine. I'm going to name it Brammert, after an outlaw from north-eastern Dutch folklore.

It arrived just before Christmas, shortly after I got my other Live Steamer Emma. It is spirit fired, with a single vertical cylinder. Learning to operate one engine at a time is enough, so I'm now focusing more on Emma, and this one will get more attention later.
Nice little beasts these, how many of the available ready parts did you use? A build and info on this would be very interesting a possibly a less expensive route into live steam.
 
how many of the available ready parts did you use?
Ah, I should've seen the misunderstanding coming. I didn't build it, I bought it ready made. The builder is Julia:
She did an excellent job of refining the loco until it ran smoothly, she clearly has a good feel for how every part affects the whole. I doubt she used many ready-made parts, as she's amply capable of machining everything herself, and has the tools for it.
 
Must have been a fight between two neighbourhood cats, or something. Can't explain it any other way.

Ah well, I have a stash of both masts and wire. No big problems here.

The strange thing is, I only discovered the damage because I ran my Regner Emma into it. It is on the invisible stretch, behind the Hazel tree.


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The overhead behind the Hazel tree has been fully restored. While I was at it, I built the missing link: there was a bit of track there that had overhead masts but no wire yet.

I don't know if the photos bring it out, but this was complicated work due to it being behind the Hazel tree. I even had to temporarily remove some of the overhead on the triangle, in order to be able to lean in far enough. I've promised myself never to build any track that's so hard to reach again. Knowing myself, it's reasonable to assume that promise will be broken.


On one of the photos, you can see the point where Route 3 branches off. Route 3 will eventually meander around Sedum Valley, which looks to be a whole two square metres of playground. :inlove: At present, Route 3 amounts to no more than this stub:


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A corkscrew Hazel, by the look of it. I'm sure several of us have a 'Bermuda Triangle' on our line, where trains disappear from sight. Not reappearing can be due to a leaf, a twig, a cat, or... disaster! I'm glad you got it sorted, and hope Emma is OK?
 
Speed was low, and nothing serious came of the encounter. That's a thing we do better than the prototype: to keep going after a minor collision.

By the way, I just learnt the term "corkscrew Hazel" and I really like it. And yes, it is one of those.
 
By the way, I just learnt the term "corkscrew Hazel" and I really like it. And yes, it is one of those.
Yes, I have one in my garden - it was half dead when we moved in, being suffocated by a forest. We thinned the 'forest' and after ten years I'm running out of logs for the fire :devil:

We kept the corkscrew hazel, a large flowering cherry, two Japanese maples (one red and one green) a large silver birch, a magnolia and a cryptomeria :nod::nod:
 
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Test vehicle for Gauge 3 (64mm track). It was slapped together from styrene leftovers. I want to use it to test parts, materials, and the track itself.

Eventually there will be a 64mm loco. In the meantime I can use a 45mm loco to pull it. That's what the low bar in the last photo is for: it's an extra wide coupler. That's because on dual gauge track, differently-gauged vehicles don't have the same centre line. With the wide coupler, a 45mm loco can pull the 64mm vehicle regardless of whether the loco is on the left or right.
 
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Test vehicle for Gauge 3 (64mm track). It was slapped together from styrene leftovers. I want to use it to test parts, materials, and the track itself.

Eventually there will be a 64mm loco. In the meantime I can use a 45mm loco to pull it. That's what the low bar in the last photo is for: it's an extra wide coupler. That's because on dual gauge track, differently-gauged vehicles don't have the same centre line. With the wide coupler, a 45mm loco can pull the 64mm vehicle regardless of whether the loco is on the left or right.
Clever!
 
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