With the relatively mild temperatures and no rain falling today it was time to get the garden line up and running for the first time since last November!
It was quite a task to remove the large number of dead leaves from the trackbed and re-arrange the ballast (and some larger stones) which had moved due to "frost heave" during the ice and snow of December and January. The amount of debris in the point mechanisms had to be seen to be believed!
A general light rub of the track with an abrasive block was followed by the running of the patent home-made track cleaning wagon behind an LGB 0-4-0 diesel..............
The wagon is a Hartland 4-wheeler, suitably weighted with lots of lead, with a housing underneath that takes a section of standard kitchen sponge backed scouring pad. It may not amount to much, but it is surprising how much dirt it shifts off the running rails!
This operation was followed by the running of a train with my r/c IP Engineering "Jessie". It appears "Adolf" is enjoying his cab-ride, as he "bellows" from the cab accordingly!!! (He's actually an Elita model figure, but looks remarkably like a certain individual of Austrian extraction...)
The three wagons are all of Hartland origin -
a) The first one is a standard flat wagon with a real wooden deck added. The mining loco carried was made from the body of an HO Porter 0-4-0 diesel that was purchased for its chassis, not the body..
b) The second is a standard tank wagon painted up in the colours of the Harpoon Brewery of Boston, MA. I got some rather useful (free) stickers from them when I had a brewery tour there a few years back .
c) The brake van is a suitably doctored open wagon with added roof and crew members.
It was quite a task to remove the large number of dead leaves from the trackbed and re-arrange the ballast (and some larger stones) which had moved due to "frost heave" during the ice and snow of December and January. The amount of debris in the point mechanisms had to be seen to be believed!
A general light rub of the track with an abrasive block was followed by the running of the patent home-made track cleaning wagon behind an LGB 0-4-0 diesel..............
The wagon is a Hartland 4-wheeler, suitably weighted with lots of lead, with a housing underneath that takes a section of standard kitchen sponge backed scouring pad. It may not amount to much, but it is surprising how much dirt it shifts off the running rails!
This operation was followed by the running of a train with my r/c IP Engineering "Jessie". It appears "Adolf" is enjoying his cab-ride, as he "bellows" from the cab accordingly!!! (He's actually an Elita model figure, but looks remarkably like a certain individual of Austrian extraction...)
The three wagons are all of Hartland origin -
a) The first one is a standard flat wagon with a real wooden deck added. The mining loco carried was made from the body of an HO Porter 0-4-0 diesel that was purchased for its chassis, not the body..
b) The second is a standard tank wagon painted up in the colours of the Harpoon Brewery of Boston, MA. I got some rather useful (free) stickers from them when I had a brewery tour there a few years back .
c) The brake van is a suitably doctored open wagon with added roof and crew members.
