Rail Tractor Chassis

Gday All,

I have been putting a few more hours into the RT.  I have obtained a number of goodies from various suppliers.

My first order, as per the first RT post, was with RailCraft (www.railcraft.50megs.com).  I ordered:

- 4x laser cut W irons

- 4x axle boxes

- 4x bearings to suit axle boxes

- 4x dummy leaf springs

- 4x buffers

- 2x coupler brackets

I am very happy with the quality of their casts and it adds a much needed dimension to the RT.

  

This photo shows the RT chassis as it is today. 

This photoshows the 6BA (around 2.7mm) bolt set used to attach the W irons to the chassis.
I was originally going to weld the W irons on.  Glad I didnt!!!

Wow its tiny!!! I ordered these from Model Engineering Supplies (http://www.mesupplies.com.au/). 
I have just ordered a 12BA boltset which is HALF what you see above!!

The photo on the left is RT 17 at Healesville and to the right is my Railcraft W irons, leaf spring and axle box.  Very pleased with the result of the parts sourced.

  

Here is another part sourced from over the wide world web.  1" scale coupler from DNC System Technologies (www.dncsystems.dynalias.com/minirail)  Ill clean up the cast and post more about this on a later post.

  

I noticed on RT17 that there was a bracket riveted to the corner of the chassis.  I have used 1mm steel cut and folded to recreate this part.  Ill hopefully rivet these into place like the prototype. 



Im catching up with a friend tomorrow night to assemble the wheel set to get the chassis rolling.  Hopefully ill get a video of this and post it as sson as possible.

Take care and Happy Modelling!!!

Adrian

Station loop and siding.

Gday All!!

Told ya it wont be long before the next update. As the title suggests, we have been busy building a passing loop and dead end siding at the station.
This project involved welding 12 metres of track and fabrication of 3 sets of points. Paul and I had never built points before as the other points on the railway were built by a good friend. What we did was build the new points, using the others as a guide. This worked out extremely well and we were able to make the 3 sets and have them installed in a couple of days.

Here is Paul installing the first set of points. A very exciting moment!!!

This photo shows the points welded into the mainline and the loop soon to be attached.

Here is the other end of the station yard showing the other two sets of points. The siding was a last minute idea. I didnt really like the plant that was there anyway!!!

Im building a VR derrick crane for the section between the siding and passing loop. The siding isnt long enough to store a full train but will be a great place to park the RT when it is finished and perhaps another carriage.

The station yard was finished in time for the Victorian N Scale Collective to come and have a play!!

Paul and I are pictured here 'testing' which locomotive is faster. Just so happens the Maxitrak Planet has a bit more acceleration than the Y class. You can also see that I have built a nice new picket fence for the station. The fence here needs a bit of tuning as I neglected to use a level when screwing it together!!

Still a bit of work to do around the station area but it is slowly becoming more of a feature area......plus the kids love it!!!

Take care and Happy Modelling!!!

Adrian

Victorian Railways Rail Tractor (RT)

Hello everyone.

Apologies for not updating this as often as I should. Difficulties in obtaining a reliable internet connection at home makes it hard to keep regular updates. Less of that and onto something much more FUN!!

I have started building a Victorian Railways Rail Tractor (RT). Lots of great information and pictures can be found on the internet of these wonderful little vehicles.

The RT came in many varieties and I am modelling one similar to that shown below. The photo below was taken 11/4/77 at Rosedale, Victoria by Rob O'Regan. More photos can be found at http://www.robx1.net/.

My next task was to obtain as much information as I can about the RT I was modelling especially dimensions. Fortunantly two such RT's are in static preservation at easily accessible stations. One was Trentham (15RT) and the other (17RT below) at Healesville. I spent two hours one rainy Friday morning measuring and photographing 17RT to ensure I can build it as accurately as possible.

Ok, time to start. Im starting with the chassis first. The side and end beams are made from 25mm square box steel cut in half. These were cut with an angle grinder with a thin cutting disc. The side beams came out a litle uneven but a sand with a flap disc smoothed this out. Learning from my mistakes I clamped an old (straight) metal ruler to the end beams and used this as a guide. The result was a smooth straight cut. The box tubing did flex a slight amount but a tap with the hammer quickly fixed this. The beer in this photo did not contribute to the uneven cut!!! ;-)

Next I welded the four beams together. It wasnt as simple as that. I spent much of an afternoon at a mates place trying to work out how to weld ensuring the side and end were aligned at 90degrees. In the end we made a jig to ensure the sides and the ends were straight during welding. This took some time but the end result came up great, not to mention was quite fun!!

Next I cut out some 1mm mild sheet steel for the deck, again using the metal ruler to ensure a straight cut. Came out great!!

I am currently ordering some goodies from Rail Craft. These include:

- 4x laser cut W irons

- 4x axle boxes

- 4x bearings to suit axle boxes

- 4x dummy leaf springs

- 4x buffers

These plus the axles and spoked wheels I have at home should see the chassis rolling very soon.

Following this I hope to get the cab laser cut.

Keep an eye out as I hope to get the RT done for an exhibition I am attending with Paul (and his amazing layout Orbost) this July. This means the pressure is on and should make for some good ongoing blog updates.

Take care and Happy Modelling!!!

Adrian

FCMR- How we built my home VR 5" Miniature Railway

Gday Everyone!!!

Paul and I have worked hard on the railway and made some major progress over the past months. It would take ages to upload all this to the blog so I made this video for a recent railway expo. This video outlines how we build the railway to it is now. The only difference is the loop at the station now has tracks and is awaiting points at either end.

I have also ordered a set of point levers and am going to install these. If successfuul I will order more. They will hopefully be linked to signals to enable multidirectional running.

I have also made a video showing run days on the railway. Now I have a decent connection to the internet, I will upload this to YouTube for your entertainment.

Take care,

Adrian

Huuuuge amount of progress!!

Gday all. We have been working extremely hard on the railway these past few weeks. We currently have 168 metres of track down with only about 20 to go.
Rather than uploading lots of pictures showing the progress of the whole railway ill upload pictures of sections as they have progressed over the past few weeks.
Ill start with the engine shed sidings.
This shows the existing aviary and how the allignment is roughly set out. The points leading into this section are laid into place.

Sleepers and ballast are laid.

Track is now put into place ready for running. Over the coming weeks I hope to insulate and put walls on the aviary (engine shed) meaning I can store trains there when not in use.

Ill post more updates soon!!

Happy modelling.

Adrian

Lots of Progress!!

Gday!!! Have been making huge progress in the garden!! We now have 36 metres of track down, including our first set of points/turnout. The railway winds its way through most of the front gardens before crossing the newly completed path crossing. As most of the focus has been on completing the railway there hasnt been much time to work on the DERM.

Here is a photo of the progress of the front bogie.

This photo shows the newly completed path crossing with a crossing signal we made up. Eventually this crossing will be protected by flashing light signals and boom gates (1:12 scale).

Here is a closer shot of the crossing sign.

This is my favourite photo of the railway so far. It shows the Y class in the spot where the pond and trestle bridge will eventually be.

And finally here is a photo showing a larger section of completed track. The track extends for roughly the same distance behine the camera as well.

I hope to be working hard on the railway in the coming days so ill be posting some photos soon.

The next goal is to install the second set of points and track accross the driveway. After this all we need to do is lay sleepers and track on the section next to the road to complete the front yard cection of the railway.

Exciting times ahead so STAY TUNED!!! :-)

Adrian

Home 5" Garden Railway - First Powered Run