Tumble Down Falls

So the next step was re-wiring the four points in the crossover, again the power was run from the external junction box:

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Cable initially buried, then over the bridge, and then hot glued "P" clipped to sleeters:

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Sheathing to protect the wires out of the harness:

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The last job was re-wiring the three points to the siding, the main cable connected to the external junction box remained unchanged, but new wires from the switches:

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The switch box concealed in a signal box, which needed a small amount of repair:

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The signal box roof will require a repaint!!

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JimmyB said:
Wire ends cut to length and tinned, sleeving fitted and fitted under the ballast. Track levelled and more ballast added, and to prove it works a train was run :)

View attachment 348256

View attachment 348257

So that is the station area done, next is my crossover. All the points (and motors) have been used by me before, but this is a new configuration, and so will be the first time this configuration has been powered. No ballast to hide the wire and sheath, so will be 'P' clipped to the sleepers.

View attachment 348258

Just a point to note, all photos are taken on my phone, and no issues with orientation!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think that problem has gone away ................ for the time being :nerd::nerd:
 
Somebody mentioned the sun is out, so, I thought I would make a start on the new station, using the LGB 50304 platform. When initially looking at this I found the pieces only properly fit on LGB track, so I replaced a couple of my Aristocraft tracks with LGB 1200mm track, and it goes together quite well:

IMG_3240.jpeg

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Nothing fixed in place yet, off to rotisserie my chicken, I will be pinning a couple of piece in place, which hopefully will keep the track in place, but I need a test run first.

You may notice I am one centre piece and one edge piece missing, does anybody have any spare they would be will to sell!!
 
JimmyB said:
Somebody mentioned the sun is out, so, I thought I would make a start on the new station, using the LGB 50304 platform. When initially looking at this I found the pieces only properly fit on LGB track, so I replaced a couple of my Aristocraft tracks with LGB 1200mm track, and it goes together quite well:

View attachment 356798

View attachment 356799

Nothing fixed in place yet, off to rotisserie my chicken, I will be pinning a couple of piece in place, which hopefully will keep the track in place, but I need a test run first.

You may notice I am one centre piece and one edge piece missing, does anybody have any spare they would be will to sell!!
Click to expand...
Also acts as a very good place to rail multipe wheeled vehicles.
 
A long standing issue has been the derailment of certain coaches and wagons, this is down to my poor planning, and a lack of understanding at the time.
The problem is, I have a 6 foot diameter Aristocraft curve, and this is located on a 1:30 gradient, coupled with track movement cause by floating ballast, and what is now obvious (to me) is that four corners of a rectangle on the track cannot touch at all four points, or to relate this to the railway a coach, wagon or loco will only have 3 wheels (two axle vehicle) touching the track at any one time.
LGB, Bachmann, etc, G Gauge vehicles with large flanges and short wheel bases are not an issue, however long wheel base vehicles, have the issue exacerbated, and the wheel not touching the track can have the flange slide over the top of the track, and simularly 16 mm items which have smaller flanges, can have the issue even on a short wheel base.
So I thought a check rail would be the solution, here is a Stainz traversing the problem area, without issue:

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I though I would use a piece of Aristocraft track for the check rail, because with M2 screw holes in the foot, I could use screws to help locate and keep the track in place:

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It soon became apparent it was not that simple to inset a functioning check rail, and a smaller test piece was bent to shape, and using pins and hot glue it was put in place. Not close enough to act correctly, so the inner flange was removed:

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Even with the flange removed to the web, and fitted, pushed against the chair, it was not sufficient to "check" the wheel in place, and realised, there were only three other options:

1) To start again and get rid of the sharp curve, or remove the gradient - not really a viable solution.

2) Lift the track to fit a more accurate and better fitting check rail - though feasible, I don't think the effort meet the gain.

3) Keep adjusting the track level with ballast, and be cautious with vehicle types I buy, and live with the problem.
 
I once replaced all my LGB plastic wheels with Bachmann metal wheels, because it was cheaper. Biggest mistake I ever made, as they are shocking for derailments in the most random of places. I am slowly replacing them with LGB metal wheels now, a long expensive job. Some wagons cope better there the wheels/bogies can be slackened off with the screw that holds them to the chassis, meaning they have a lot more flex to ride imperfections.
 
duncan1_9_8_4 said:
I once replaced all my LGB plastic wheels with Bachmann metal wheels, because it was cheaper. Biggest mistake I ever made, as they are shocking for derailments in the most random of places. I am slowly replacing them with LGB metal wheels now, a long expensive job. Some wagons cope better there the wheels/bogies can be slackened off with the screw that holds them to the chassis, meaning they have a lot more flex to ride imperfections.
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Yep - a can of worms and here is a generalisation.

LGB flanges are much deeper, mainly because of their commitment to everything running round R1, so if you use tight curves, you have to go way out of scale for the flanges.

However, with a little distortion from the slope on a curve, even LGB flanges might call it a day, and take their own route. LGB 4-wheel stock also uses pivoting axles to help with the extreme titghness of R1.

It's not until you get to LGB R3 or Aristo/Bachmann 1200mm radius (and above) that you can get away with almost anything - 6-wheelers have their own issues.

Changing the slope may be less disruptive than changing the radius :think::think:
 
Could you insert a "bund" on the outside of the curve to help retain the ballast. I use this method a lot on my line. Have one or two curves on inclines. Just get some lawn edging, plastic or metal, then prise open a slit to insert it into with a spade. Leave some proud to act as the "bund". Might help with stabilising the formation. It would have the benefit of causing minimal disruption to your mature landscape. Max

Big loco rounding a tight, 3' 6" radius, decending curve on my line. Outside of curve has bund provided by lawn edging.


P.S. Aren't check rail gaps determined by the angle the flanged wheel(s) will be making in relation to the rail's edge and the flange depth, dependent on curve radius (bit of a mouthful). You mentioned long wheelbase vehicles with fixed non bogied axles, that sounds like a lot of serious mismatches going on. Are you allowing enough gap between the two ?
 
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The Bachmann / Lilliput wheel-sets, also seemed to suffer from quality control issues?

I have found some are out of gauge, and I did have some where the wheels were not perpendicular to the axles..

I have not had any recently, so this may be historical, but knowing how stock can hang around for some time..

PhilP.
 
A warm good morning to All. Sunny with blue sky, so it is going to be warm again today. Why do we have to go from a miserable 11 ° C to 29?

This afternon I will hand my Playmobil loc and RC to the friend who will fix it. He is going to take the dimensions of the buttons and order them. He said he had to order 50 of them but he can use them too for other purposes.

Have a nice day!
 
PhilP said:
The Bachmann / Lilliput wheel-sets, also seemed to suffer from quality control issues?

I have found some are out of gauge, and I did have some where the wheels were not perpendicular to the axles..

I have not had any recently, so this may be historical, but knowing how stock can hang around for some time..

PhilP.
Click to expand...
Some were wobblier than others :nerd: I have a 20ft gondola that goes to the extreme ............... in terms of wobbles >:)

Also, the Bachmann metal flanges are thick, unlike the sharp taper of LGB flanges :nod:

You have to remember, that I have a wheel fetish :lipssealed::lipssealed:
 
Like Duncan, I have had some success with Bachmann metal wheels. Over time I have replaced them with LGB metal wheels. The Bachmann wheels have a rounded over flange while the LGB wheels have a nice sharp edge. Going through sprung points the Bachmann wheels sometimes ride up over the point blade.
 
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