Ox Mountain Railway

[trammayo]

Well, after a search in my workshop, I found some screws (stainless) of the right size .....




The top picture has plates on every joint - it just the sun was so bright!


The outside edges are joined with some galvanised strapping secured (at the moment) with 5mm zinc plated roofing bolts. I have ordered some 5mm stainless steel flanged hexagon bolts which can be inserted at a later date!

So just need a dry day to get it all in position to sort out the supports (plastic pipe) before painting with a tar based paint!

 

[trammayo]

Forgot these two pictures (below)! Once all the nine sections were joined up, I had to see if the track still fitted as planned .....


..... and it did!

 

[dunnyrail]

Lovely job Mick, I would not have bothered with the stainless screws. Just some grease on the thread when putting in place. They nots will rust some helping to loose the shine somewhat. I have in the last few days pulled apart some rods that have been outside for quite a few years, the nuts eventually moved after some gentle persuasion, a couple of stubborn ones are maturing with some penetrating oil. Hopefully they will move when next attacked.

 

[Rhinochugger]

UPVC Facia is a great resource, easy to cut and has no problems with expansion / contraction worthy of mention.

Not sure about that, Jon. Whether the cellular nature of some UPVC boards helps reduce the expansion, I don't know but, one of the college demos was to take a 1m length of UPVC gutter, fit caps each end, place on a plank with a fixed end stop, then pour in a kettle of boiling water and you could see the free end move - which is why you hear all that cracking on a summer day where houses have UPVC gutters.

In Mick's situation, expansion won't be an issue because of the curvature - there's room for the stuff to move, but UPVC has one of the highest co-efficients of expansion of all building materials

 

[dunnyrail]

Not sure about that, Jon. Whether the cellular nature of some UPVC boards helps reduce the expansion, I don't know but, one of the college demos was to take a 1m length of UPVC gutter, fit caps each end, place on a plank with a fixed end stop, then pour in a kettle of boiling water and you could see the free end move - which is why you hear all that cracking on a summer day where houses have UPVC gutters.

In Mick;s situation, expansion won't be an issue because of the curvature - there's room for the stuff to move, but UPVC has one of the highest co-efficients of expansion of all building materials

We have had UPVC on Rushcbahn and my line in Hemel plus I think here somewhere and I have to say not a noticeable issue compared to Filcris recycled plastic. But as you say in trammayo situation should be no issue.

 

[trammayo]

Well, yesterday afternoon, the winds had made the clouds scuttle away so it was quite warm. Taking advantage of this dry spell, I tried out the Upvc base in position ......




So far, so good - but .......


.... the arc of the final segment was out!

Although I had made everything fit the track laid out on the garage floor, and the track sections were connected to each other, there was some flexibility!

Now back in the garage, I just need to alter the angle of the final segment. After that, a final temporary fit into position before completing the base ready for painting!

 

[dunnyrail]

Well, yesterday afternoon, the winds had made the clouds scuttle away so it was quite warm. Taking advantage of this dry spell, I tried out the Upvc base in position ......

View attachment 311730

View attachment 311731
So far, so good - but .......

View attachment 311732
.... the arc of the final segment was out!

Although I had made everything fit the track laid out on the garage floor, and the track sections were connected to each other, there was some flexibility!

Now back in the garage, I just need to alter the angle of the final segment. After that, a final temporary fit into position before completing the base ready for painting!

Pretty good effort doing away from the spot Mick, just do not overdo the angle cut. Try a bit at a time!

 

[Rhinochugger]

Well, yesterday afternoon, the winds had made the clouds scuttle away so it was quite warm. Taking advantage of this dry spell, I tried out the Upvc base in position ......

View attachment 311730

View attachment 311731
So far, so good - but .......

View attachment 311732
.... the arc of the final segment was out!

Although I had made everything fit the track laid out on the garage floor, and the track sections were connected to each other, there was some flexibility!

Now back in the garage, I just need to alter the angle of the final segment. After that, a final temporary fit into position before completing the base ready for painting!

Too much engineering and not enough bodging

 

[trammayo]

Bodging might be just around the corner! However, it stopped raining at tea time yesterday so, after the evening meal (dinner), herself phoned her sister for an hour so I thought I'd attend to the self-created anomaly of too large a radius. I took two sections off and pruned each section before fastening the two pieces back together again and attaching them back on to the main portion. I managed to get the whole thing through the hedge, then went back to the garage for the track .....




So I'm getting there! A couple more cuts required (one at each end), then it will be the job of attaching a protective edge on the inside of the arc - just in case there's a derailment! Then another try out in position and getting measurements for the supports!

 

[trammayo]

I've been busy working on the "loop" this past two days fitting a metal edge to the inner curve. The raised edges are there just in case there's a derailment (don't want to go fishing in the stream for an errant train!).

I knew that, somewhere I had some steel angle strips left over (as in throw nothing away) from the early days of the trailer. After a search round, I discovered them behind the greenhouse, where they had lain since 2013! It was a salvage really - when I rebuilt the trailer the roof edge steel beads were longer required!

Anyway, I had to clean up the angle beads and it was then that I realised there were three different profiles. Not to worry (I thought) get the Gilbow shears out! so here's some more pics .....




I'd also trimmed the Upvc. Now it was time to try it into position again (yesterday):-






So, that was a lot better! Now it needs a coat of paint - pics to follow!

 

[trammayo]

And here they are (the pics!) .... (Edit - which I forgot to post yesterday).




Does the paint cover a multitude of sins?

...... and into position ......



Oh - there's the fall pipe awaiting a transition into support legs - which I started doing yesterday afternoon!

 

[trammayo]

Yesterday, I finished off the support legs ......





I used a couple of plastic "Health Supplement" containers to cap off the top of the pipes (there were three containers but one dropped down the pipe - so need to fit a third one when the Cod Liver Oil capsules have been ingested. All that's needed now is a cosmetic clean up of the area. The main line also needs my attention when we get a couple of days dryness!

 

[trammayo]

Earlier in the week, I dragged the trailer forward so I could fit a seal to the rear nearside shutter. With back-end ensconced under the hay loft and adjacent to the goats' stable it had to be done. I knew that rainy weather was ahead so I didn't want muddy ruts in the grass so I interrupted my efforts on the turning loop!




Need to put the solar panel on the trailer roof to recharge the batteries too (keep forgetting when I'm in the shed getting hay out or fetching a bucket of turf!). Also need to make some lettering to go on the replacement panelling (have a sheet of white vinyl - just need to cut the letters!). You might notice the red painted remains of the original panelling near the shed door!

 

[trammayo]

Not been on my thread since the post above!

So I thought I'd post some pics of a remarkable motor vehicle that was parked on the grass next to me yesterday at the Lough Rynn Castle Hotel fair day .....


...... an American vehicle dating from1907!






...... and the engine!


I'd love to see it restored!

 

[DickyC]

Not been on my thread since the post above!

So I thought I'd post some pics of a remarkable motor vehicle that was parked on the grass next to me yesterday at the Lough Rynn Castle Hotel fair day .....


...... an American vehicle dating from1907!






...... and the engine!


I'd love to see it restored!

This is no bull, My wife saw the the VERY same kit herself, She was at a wedding at Lough Rynn on Sat !!! flew back out of Knock this morning after visiting some relations in Charlestown and she told me about the fair when i picked her up at BHX ! small world.

 

[trammayo]

This is no bull, My wife saw the the VERY same kit herself, She was at a wedding at Lough Rynn on Sat !!! flew back out of Knock this morning after visiting some relations in Charlestown and she told me about the fair when i picked her up at BHX ! small world.

It is a small world indeed!

 

[trammayo]

I've not done much on the line recently but have acquired a couple of items from eBay .......





and, more importantly, a couple of items that I hope will benefit the line ......

So these need fitting in place - I wonder when I'll do that?

 

[playmofire]

I have a dozen of the LGB Toy Train box vans. They are good but a bit rattly and the doors have a tendency to work open. I think the rattling is amplified by their light weight, so a bit of weight somewhere might be useful both for running characteristics and sound deadening.

 

[trammayo]

Managed to run a train yesterday (that makes a change for me!) .....




That's it for now.

 

[trammayo]

I swapped my Aristo 2-8-0 for the loco pictured above so that one is now in the trailer and the Aristo one is in the workshop.

The gears in the said loco sound as though they are in need of lubrication but there does not seem to be any easy access!

Can anybody suggest how to lubricate it?