WEST ORTON

[sandy]

Lovely work Steve........

[Steve M]

As expected, a 1mm dip in the rail was enough to allow the front bogie to ride up the outer rail. The steam pipes on this one allow virtually no sideways movement of the bogie so that didn’t help either.
Steam pipes removed (they join the cab doors back in the box) and we managed a few laps of running in on the outer running tracks without too much drama - although I have relaid the track with a single piece of flexi rather than the Setrack curves I used before.

Buoyed by my success I then decided to run on the tighter inner track, successfully negotiating some of my more complex

But my confidence was soon shown to be misplaced - that front bogie started riding up on a fairly gentle curve through the station. It coincides with a track joint (not a board joint) which seems to be pinching the bogie wheels. This is not an issue for any other locos so I’m starting to suspect the back to back may be out. A quick check shows the wheels to be a bit tight on the gauge but I need to do some more investigation. I’m still not convinced that there is enough free movement in the bogie, both vertically and from side to side.

If nothing else, this is the loco to sniff out any dodgy track laying!!

[Steve M]

This is the pinch point that the V2 has identified - a track joint between two lengths of flexi.
Before I get to the stage of listing and replacing the whole section, I thought I would try something else first.

I removed the single track pin (I guess that is why the problem happened in the first place!) and sprayed the section with plenty of soapy water to loosen the ballast. I then used a Tracksetta to realign and ease the joint and used some wooden wedges to brace against the platform. This has eased the kink in by about 2mm.
Now I’ll leave the ballast to dry for a couple of days and test it again.
It might work but if not it’s back to plan B to replace the section completely.

Annoying but no big deal.

2022-09-14_11-43-44 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[bulleidboy]

It's amazing how one small thing can be identified by just one loco - you obviously hadn't had any problems with other loco's passing this point?

[Steve M]

It's amazing how one small thing can be identified by just one loco - you obviously hadn't had any problems with other loco's passing this point?

I was quite surprised as well, but each loco can have its own quirks I guess. Most of my locos are Hornby - no issues, while this is Bachmann and my only (to the best of my knowledge) single axle bogie from that manufacturer.
Maybe a little more sensitive to my dodgy track?

[Steve M]

Much to my surprise, my attempt to nudge the alignment by Heath Robinson bracing and some soapy water appears to have worked.
I have had to patch a little of the ballast so the Tracksetta is back in place while that dries but not before a few track pins were added (which is what I should have done when I originally laid it. It just needs repainting now.

I would normally aim to avoid track joints on flexitrack on curves and this particular stretch could be accommodated with a single length of flexi but each end is ordered to PCB strips at the board joints. Anchoring a single length like that would be disastrous without expansion joints.

This idiot chose to put said expansion joint right in the middle, then forgot to pin it properly. Only took me 20 months to find out.

[Steve M]

When returning from holiday I made a slight detour off the A1 and visited Rails of Sheffield. Somehow one of their NER railcars found its way into my grubby little mitts.
Now kitted out with some seated passengers and crew - superb runner.

20220930_183811 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Steve M]

While we were away, I picked up some secondhand yard lamps. Had to replace two LEDs before adding them to the MPD.
A couple of quick shots in the dark - I think I need to add some smoke.

20221005_192640 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

20221005_192622 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Walkingthedog]

I remember a shed layout at Eastleigh that had a smoke/steam generator under the layout with tubes emanating from it that poked up through the track at different places, so loco standing at the coaling stage, water crane etc. simmered away, looked very effective.

[Hound Dog]

Steve - the lighting looks great and very atmospheric, but perhaps there is no smoke because time has been called on steam and they are awaiting the arrival of some nice shiny new diesels