Track Cleaner.....

[tramcar trev]

I have one of the track cleaners on Order from Norms Models.... Decided as it would not fit under anything I could run on my tramway I'd make a body to fit over it and Ive chosen the Balmain Dummy. I've drawn up a few sketches just to make sure things will fit under the body, my intention is to model it as it was when new with the chocolate & cream colour scheme I'll detail it with the buffers and other components and I'll hang a light from the centre bracket though how I would have that lit is yet to be worked out. I'll slightly modify the cleaner by way of installing 2 springs to put a bit more pressure on the cleaning wheels that Gravity provides. A tram can push it around all day.... I have sort of had to utilise "Rule 8" a tad to make it to 22.5:1 but when finished it will be I hope a reasonable representation. I'll have to work on camera angles to make it look as if it's helping a tram climb the 1:8 grade
The body will be from 1mm plastic sheet, buffers from brass etc. I have organised a supply of the now infamous Wussian Wivvets in various configurations and a sizeable lump of lead will be concealed under the body to provide enough weight to keep it on the tracks. I'll also have to skim the backs of the flanges to allow the wheels to clear the "groove"
I'll of course keep you all appraised of developments... If anyone wants a copy of the sketch message me and I can email hi res copies...

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There is still considerable conjecture about this cunning device. The dummy itself is in a Museum and there are accounts of it's removal. From my own investigations it seems that the tunnel that the counterweight ran in and the counterweight itself are still under the road leading down to the Ferry Wharf. It was uncovered during works to provide a bus turning area adjacent to the wharf and considerable fuss was made re it's removal i.e. filling the tunnel and removal of the actual counterweight but Balmain Council apparently had other ideas and it remains there to this day. There was a cast iron manhole cover in the top intersection to service the large sheave but access to the actual tunnel ( where the counterweight ran on its own rails) was through a tunnel cut into the sandstone from the right hand side of Johnstone st which appears or rather the handrail around the steps presumably leading down to the door appear in a few old pictures of the area. There is a small plaque attached to one of the original sandstone walls to that effect though when I last searched I could not find it... Not that that in itself means much I frequently look but do not observe.... Next trip to Sidenee I will take a proffessional along with me to see if any evidence remains.​

 

[steinz]

Brilliant - never seen anything like it!

 

[tramcar trev]

Yes NSWGT had some bizzare rolling stock. There was a prison tram, hearse trams, Post boxes on the back of trams, a horse tram. In fact the only time Pharlap raced at Adelaide he went to the races by tram. How about this clever piece of apparatus for weed control No 144S. Used extensivley in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where there were long stretches of open ballast track. It was usually pushed by a tram with a fire crew on board with knapsack sprays to extinguish the many grass fires it started. If I ever get a spare bogie ( and in the mood for some whimsical fun) I may make one just for the odd looks I'll get when Old Oak visits....

 

[Madman]

Of course it will have to be operational.

 

[trammayo]

Trev - your choice of prototypes is always of great interest - not least this one! I remember you posting a pic of it once before and I would like to know how it operated when in use (and why). Was it just the one track? Was there a siding at either end or did the returning car send it back down? And so on. Sorry to be a nuisance (said he without conviction).

 

[Dtsteam]

To be fair, Mick, you could claim a professional interest
I have the same questions and I'm just a nutter :clown:

I'm sort of guessing that there must have been some clever way of holding the dummy at the bottom of the incline.... Little bloke in a shed with a cable brake ?

 

[tramcar trev]

Basically it worked the same as the counterweight on a sash window. I have recollections of this working as a child when we used to visit a rellie in Balmain. At the top of the run the 2 tram lines converged so it was single track to the terminus. There was (I believe) the only electric staff in Sydney and it was an illuminated sign that read "Tram at Wharf" ( when a tram was down the bottom) what happened to that I have no Idea.... Ok; so in use a tram bound for the wharf would pull up against this device which incidentally sat in the middle of an intersection at the top of the hill, engage first notch and push this down the 1:8 to the wharf. The Dummy was connected by a cable to a counterweight that ran on 2'6" tracks in a separate tunnel under the road. As the descending tram went down it pulled the counterweight up. Then when the tram wanted to ascend the reverse was used and the Dummy would sit behind the tram giving it a gentle push. There were no sidings or any other facilities, it was one tram down to the wharf and then it came back up, at peak times there could be a few trams waiting at the top to get to the wharf. In those days of course the ferry and tram timetables were coordinated so that trams met every ferry and vice versa.
There are other varying accounts of it's use and many many anecdotal stories eg in WWII 2 Amercan servicemen ( yes they were here too) tried to push it down with a Jeep alas when they changed gear the 15 tons of counterweight shot them back up the hill.... then there is the story about homeless men living in the tunnel during the great depression and how a few of them were squashed.... Unfortunatley the history is splintered across several sources/agencies, the Tramway Museum have the dummy ( and that's about all), the State Library have a few pictures of construction and a side elevation of the grade and a few details etc, The National library have some references, the Maritime Museum has some pictures, and so on. The Company that built the Dummy no longer exists and it is claimed that the records were dumped. The Local Council does have a sizeable dossier but for reasons unknown they were not that forthcoming with info (probably couldn't find what I needed without the necessary grease) but did share a little with me but only after I gave them my devout assurances that I had no POLITICAL motives

 

[tramcar trev]

I'm sort of guessing that there must have been some clever way of holding the dummy at the bottom of the incline.... Little bloke in a shed with a cable brake ?

Nothing clever, the trams brakes kept it at the bottom of the hill...

 

[trammayo]

David - I share your condition

Trev. Right - perfectly clear. I didn't know if it was a through line or not and the dummy was parked in a siding. Interesting cable assisted tramway and, obviously, the underground counterweight was quite heavy.

Thanks for the explanation. Incidentally, how steep was the incline?

 

[Railfan]

Yes NSWGT had some bizzare rolling stock. There was a prison tram, hearse trams, Post boxes on the back of trams, a horse tram. In fact the only time Pharlap raced at Adelaide he went to the races by tram. How about this clever piece of apparatus for weed control No 144S. Used extensivley in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where there were long stretches of open ballast track. It was usually pushed by a tram with a fire crew on board with knapsack sprays to extinguish the many grass fires it started. If I ever get a spare bogie ( and in the mood for some whimsical fun) I may make one just for the odd looks I'll get when Old Oak visits....

The weed control car is pretty cool! X( I sure would like to see a working model of this. What's your schedule for building it, Trev?

 

[tramcar trev]

David - I share your condition

Trev. Right - perfectly clear. I didn't know if it was a through line or not and the dummy was parked in a siding. Interesting cable assisted tramway and, obviously, the underground counterweight was quite heavy.

Thanks for the explanation. Incidentally, how steep was the incline?

It is still there the incline that is... 1:8...
From my research the cable was replaced annually. A simple matter... the old cable was unclamped from the 15 ton weight and the new cable was clamped to the old at the top then the old cable was pulled down to the bottom and out the bottom manhole pulling the new one with it which was then secured top & bottom.....

 

[tramcar trev]

Yes NSWGT had some bizzare rolling stock. There was a prison tram, hearse trams, Post boxes on the back of trams, a horse tram. In fact the only time Pharlap raced at Adelaide he went to the races by tram. How about this clever piece of apparatus for weed control No 144S. Used extensivley in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where there were long stretches of open ballast track. It was usually pushed by a tram with a fire crew on board with knapsack sprays to extinguish the many grass fires it started. If I ever get a spare bogie ( and in the mood for some whimsical fun) I may make one just for the odd looks I'll get when Old Oak visits....

The weed control car is pretty cool! X( I sure would like to see a working model of this. What's your schedule for building it, Trev?

Ahhh well my weeds are all plastic and I dont think they grow much; but any enterprising G scaler could build one using an LPG torch the trick being to keep it moving fast enough to burn the weeds and not set fire to sleepers.....
Now, the styrene sheet arrived overnight so I will be able to get moving on this, the rivets are still in the mail.... and when I bought my new ASAD ( In Stanley St Hong Kong) camera I also bought a ring flash viz; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-Macr...hes&hash=item1e73467b22&_uhb=1#ht_7134wt_1330 < Link To http://www.ebay.com.au/it...;_uhb=1#ht_7134wt_1330 which will help no end with macro photography to get decent pics....

 

[tramcar trev]

Working on the Dummy?

I have marked out and cut the styrene sheet using an Olfa plastics cutter. This gizmo produces a mitre cut as the cutting edge is a 90 degree hook sort of thing. The trick is to cut just far enough through that the sheet can be folded and a drop of glue applied. Then its held in position to dry with some magnets and the iron parts of some Combination Squares?.
When the glue has set I?ll put the two halves together using the same technique but I may have to use a bit of square steel as the squares won?t fit inside?. Maybe the rivets will arrive in tomorrows post?.

 

[mike]

dam thats clever!

 

[dunnyrail]

Trev, you say that the incline is still there, do Trams still run up it and how do they manage that 1:8?

Love the assist thingy, suppose in UK we would call it a Slug.
JonD

 

[tramcar trev]

No it was last used in 1955.... buses from the Balmain East Wharf now...

 

[tramcar trev]

Getting back to the magnets...
I used magnets to hold some very thin plastic in a straight line onto to sheet by sandwiching the job between a steel rule then the plastic parts then the magnets on top. the magnets let you move things to exactly where you want them then apply a drop of acetone with a fine brush and it will wick along the joint.... BINGO!

 

[tramcar trev]

Micro locksmithing?.
While I have a lifetime of other more relevant things to do on the tramway I chose to waste time today making the padlock to keep the inspection covers locked on the Balmain Dummy?.

Now all I have to do is make the key so I can unlock it?..

It's photographed on a 10mm grid.

The body is waiting for the Russian rivets to arrive so they can be inserted but more or less assembled...
I have cast the lead block that will hold this device on the track too.

 

[trammayo]

Its coming on Trev. Don't think my fingers (or eyes) would allow me to go to that level of detail!

 

[tramcar trev]

I'm only going in this far as I've had a few emails from armchair experts ( aka rivet counters) telling me that I'm not being very accurate in the model..... One tells me that the wheels are discs and I should put spoked wheels on.... another says the angles are wrong. Why don't I care? simple they cant make a decent cup of tea, let alone anything else