The Whareora & Glenbervie Branch Line

[gregh]

[quote author=Beddhist link=topic=298399.msg313975#msg313975 date=1398927572]
Greg,
Thank you very much for these tips. One question: how do you attach the nails to the alu?
Cheers,
Peter.
[/quote]
I tried 2 methods.  1, was to just glue the nail in with a good blob of outdoor Liquid Nails.


This seemed a bit liable to wobble, so I tried using small plastic fittings from garden irrigation systems - I presume you have similar in NZ (or don`t you need to water plants?) I threaded the hole in Al, and ground down the nail to fit into the plastic fitting.



If doing it again, I`d consider using threaded steel rod instead of nails.


On a different track (ha!), have you considered just laying brass rails onto flat timber - no sleepers?  I used this method on bridges where is wasn`t noticeable.



ignore the crud on the track if you can

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Yes, we do have these irrigation systems, although most of the time we don't need to water much. This is Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, after all and if there is a cloud in the sky rain falls out of it somewhere. Looking at this I wonder whether two nuts wouldn't be easier. I have lots of high tensile fencing wire, which could probably adapted as model posts, too.

In the 2nd pic what is the dark gauze on the left?

No, I haven't thought about a flat base much. However, for the time being I'm out of rail and my supplier just advised that it is out of stock at the factory. I may have to resort to using alu bar.

Thanks again,
Peter.

 

[gregh]

Re: A Train with No Name

Looking at this I wonder whether two nuts wouldn't be easier. I have lots of high tensile fencing wire, which could probably adapted as model posts, too.
In the 2nd pic what is the dark gauze on the left?

Yes 2 nuts on threaded rod would work.
I don't know what you're referring to with 'gauze' in the 2nd pic

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

If you look at the alu bar in the foreground in the bottom left corner there is something attached on the left side of it.

 

[PhilP]

Re: A Train with No Name

He is talking second picture in post #78..
Looks like either Aluminium car repair mesh, or a plastics equivalent. - Represents a mesh metal walkway I would guess?

 

[gregh]

[quote author=PhilP link=topic=298399.msg314116#msg314116 date=1399030071]
He is talking second picture in post #78..
Looks like either Aluminium car repair mesh, or a plastics equivalent. - Represents a mesh metal walkway I would guess?
[/quote]
OK, got it now.  You sure have good eyesight, seeing what I didn`t want seen!
I experimented using fibreglass flyscreen to represent a wire mesh walkway. (Do you have flies in NZ? If not I`ll send you some.)
Wasn`t a success. I couldn`t get it taut enough - I used superglue to attach it to the alum supports. That worked OK, but how to stretch it and hold it while the glue dried? Not easy.  Then I noticed a piece had split - maybe because I used old flyscreen. But the main negative was that pine needles got caught in it and had to be removed by hand.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

I experimented using fibreglass flyscreen to represent a wire mesh walkway. (Do you have flies in NZ? If not I'll send you some.)

Don't you dare! We just had to endure restrictions on the movement of fresh fruit and veg in our town, because a single male fruitfly had been caught in a trap - twice. Yes, we have flies and one of the best investments we made in our home was to have the said screens installed.

I thought this was a mesh walkway, but assumed you had used weed barrier or wind break material. Hmmm, I have plenty of that lying around... Bearing in mind that we have a small pine 'forest' on our land it will not be a good idea for me to repeat your experiment.

Now, must go and get some alu this week.

 

[Madman]

Re: A Train with No Name

I don't want this thread to drift too far. However, speaking of window screens, we would not be without them. But on two trips to Italy, I noticed fly screens were virtually non-existent. And they have no flies in their humble homes. What I did see were a lot of doorways to shops and such with the hanging beads.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Hi,

There has been little progress lately. I have laid a switch and two lengths of track and now I have run out of rails. Micro Engineering apparently don't have any more in stock... So, I thought I try to use alu bar, as seen on Greg's S & T and elsewhere. I measured a code 250 rail at 2 mm thick and 6 mm high. Since the rail has to slot into the sleepers I thought of using 10mm wide strips. In the shop: no have. I can have 12mm wide and 1.6mm or 3 mm thick. 1.6mm looked a little flimsy, so I bought a couple of 3 mm wide strips. Any comments? Did I buy the right stuff?

Cheers,
Peter.

 

[trammayo]

Re: A Train with No Name

I would have thought that 5 or 6mm thick would be more the correct thickness - especially for cutting slots in. A real full size sleeper would be around 5 inches (125 mm) thick.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Sorry Mick, I'm talking about the rail, not the sleepers.

 

[gregh]

Re: A Train with No Name

Hi,

There has been little progress lately. I have laid a switch and two lengths of track and now I have run out of rails. Micro Engineering apparently don't have any more in stock... So, I thought I try to use alu bar, as seen on Greg's S & T and elsewhere. I measured a code 250 rail at 2 mm thick and 6 mm high. Since the rail has to slot into the sleepers I thought of using 10mm wide strips. In the shop: no have. I can have 12mm wide and 1.6mm or 3 mm thick. 1.6mm looked a little flimsy, so I bought a couple of 3 mm wide strips. Any comments? Did I buy the right stuff?
Cheers,
Peter.

Are you familiar with Ian Galbraith or Graeme Quayle's Quayle Rail? I've seen them advertise brass rail in the 'Garden Whistle'.
3mm wide Alum is what I use by 10mm high. 12mm looks big, but if you're up high maybe not noticeable?
I'll just repeat the warning - the slotted sleeper method works OK, IF you fasten the RAIL down 'often'. Otherwise the sleepers and rails part company after few years.

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

Thanks Greg. Good to hear from an expert, you have been there...

The alu shop didn't have 10 mm, so I settled for 12. I'm not going to rip that!

Quayle Rail is code 332 brass. I don't feel like changing to that now. At some point I'm sure ME will have stock and I just want to get a bit of track down, now. I'm thinking of relocating the strip rail further along, where it's not so visible, or use it in the shed.

Thanks for the fastening tip. How far apart is 'often'?

I have another question: using the ME track with the slip-on tie strips, to avoid slight kinks at the joints (no rail bender...), should I stagger the rails joints? It would make lifting a piece of track for maintenance a bit of a nightmare, would it not?

Regards,
Peter.

 

[gregh]

Re: A Train with No Name

Thanks for the fastening tip. How far apart is 'often'?
I have another question: using the ME track with the slip-on tie strips, to avoid slight kinks at the joints (no rail bender...), should I stagger the rails joints? It would make lifting a piece of track for maintenance a bit of a nightmare, would it not?
Regards,
Peter.

I would suggest NOT staggering rail joints. (probably get lots of dissenters!). My reason being that bending my rail by hand the last couple of inches never gets bent as much as I can't get enough grip in my fingers. This means that rails ends on curves tend to be a 'bit straighter' than the rest of the curve. It's better to have 2 of them parallel at a joint than staggered.

How often is often? Well as long as ALL the sleepers are held down tight to the supporting roadbed. If you can see light under the sleepers you need another hold-down.

 

[Beddhist]

I can`t tell yet, but I expect that I will see light under at least every other sleeper! A friend made them for me out of oak chairs he found on the tip. In return he will get his lawn mowed for a long time to come. When I told him I needed 150 to begin with, for the 5m I had bought, he wasn`t too worried. How many would I need in total? Oh, well, let`s see ... about 3000.  ??? ???

This pic was taken yesterday:



Today all of this was sleepered and there is only 1m to go. Overall I`m very happy with it so far, but haven`t run a wagon on it yet.

It looks like I am having trouble with the roadbed joints, where the track starts to climb. The timber pivots on the screws at the ends and that makes the bed uneven. I will have to think about that for a while. It will need reinforcing of some kind. I think the beginning of the grade will have to be more gradual. I`m aiming for a 4% grade up the bank.

Cheers,
Peter.

 

[KandNWLR]

Re: A Train with No Name

Looking good from over here. Not quite sure about the lawn mowing through to the end of the next century though.

 

[PhilP]

Re: A Train with No Name

For the joints:
Could you not use a piece of 'thick plank' as an extended spacer.. Then use 2-3 screws in each side of each end??

 

[Beddhist]

Re: A Train with No Name

I may have just been spared the slave job of mowing for the rest of my life: I have just been told that the next shipment of rail is in customs.

Yes, the idea with the plank might work. I have some pieces of decking timber left over that are just the right width. I could even use them as road bed...

Regards,
Peter.

 

[Beddhist]

There has been a 3-month hiatus over winter. I wasn`t here for it, but it was the warmest and wettest since 1946. 0.5 m of rain fell in 2 days, about double the monthly average, and then it just kept on raining... Only during this past week could I get some more work done.

Meanwhile, the company has acquired a surplus German series 204 from the Pressnitztalbahn:



It has already been re-gauged for the 1m gauge. The buffers will be removed and knuckle couplers fitted.

The half loop around the greenhouse is complete and the track laying is getting slower, now that we work in the jungle, having to clear vegetation and working on the slope, where the workers have trouble finding safe places to stand.





This weekend construction will rest: tomorrow our day job calls and then it`s back to the wet.

 

[Beddhist]

There were some vertical kinks where the timber is joined, as most of the timber is warped. This is my solution to the problem:



The screws allow me to adjust the force. I am sure that the screws will pull through over time and the timber will give, at which point I will tighten them more. That is the theory.  :