Large Scale Central

Fallowfield Road

Track and Trestles
#1

After doing nothing with outdoor trains since 2012, I decided it is time to get back to it. We had two trees removed this spring, so the tracks are no longer bombarded with falling leaves, twigs and a solid branch or two. Besides, I had had time to see how I could do some things better.

I finally settled on a name for the line: Fallowfield Road runs behind our back fence, and, in British parlance, any station with “Road” in the name is a long hike from the community it allegedly serves – so I don’t have to build any such village :wink:

An overall view from a few weeks ago: our backyard has a sharp drainage slope, so the south end of the line is below ground level at the top of the slope, while the north end is two feet or so above ground level.

I decided to restructure the north end trestlework. My 2011 ideas no longer satisfy me. So I spent much of Friday removing and replacing PT planks to get a neater, stronger (I hope) “baseboard”. A coat of black stain I brushed on two years ago has largely flaked off all horizontal surfaces, though it’s OK on vertical ones.

Then I laid down a layer of weedblock fabric, both for appearance and to try to prevent plant life from taking up residence in the air gaps between planks.

And finally, track is back.

The “dock loop” at left had been lengthened, and an R3 turnout (thanks again, Fred) replaces the R1 at the entrance. You have to imagine a body of water off the edge of the layout. Then there’s the main line (oval), the quarry branch, and the beginnings of a small goods (freight) yard at Fallowfield Road station. The operational idea is to run trains from the quarry sidings, through the station to the docks, with a bit of shunting at the station. Trains can run several times around the oval to make up mileage – or just because I want to.

It’s all going to be 0-4-0s and short British style goods wagons, with the occasional branch passenger train bumbling along, although the main line is laid with 10’ diameter curves, so larger stock can run if I feel like it.

#2

And doesn’t just make you MAD!! I’ve do it as well. Paul

#3

Looks good Chris !

#4

Yeah, chris… What our feathered (sparsely) friend said… Looks good…

#5

Looks good Chris.

Are you going to cover the weed block fabric with something? My experience with that product is that it will last a year or so, then start to fall apart due to UV degradation. A thin coat of rock or soil seems to solve that problem, though.

#6

Nice road.

#7

Steve Featherkile said:

Looks good Chris.

Are you going to cover the weed block fabric with something? My experience with that product is that it will last a year or so, then start to fall apart due to UV degradation. A thin coat of rock or soil seems to solve that problem, though.

I bought a roll that claims to have superior UV protection, for what that’s worth. Last time, I tried roofing tarpaper; it lasted one winter and half a summer before I ripped off the tattered mess; also, it didn’t allow air flow. A coat of a superior brand of opaque deck stain proved equally short-lived, at least on horizontal surfaces. I’m reluctant to cover the wood too deep for fear of encouraging rot.

#8

Nice looking railroad Chris.

#9

Good to see you back at it Chris.

#10

As I was putting away the tools Saturday evening, I noticed a couple of other things that will need upgrading. Mother Nature and her sidekick Old Man Winter have a way of finding the weak points.

I have dipped a toe into the battery/RC world: a Playmobil diesel. It actually works surprisingly well for what is a child’s toy, and will keep me going until I can reconnect the track power. My 27 mHz TE has gone to the great electronic afterlife, so I bought a Revolution Tx/base station set to replace it. I trust getting it to work is less complex than the manual suggests.

#11

Looking good. Weed cloth won’t last more than six months out here on the desert if it’s not covered. Like Steve, i’ve buried all mine.

#12

Took advantage of a nice, cool (70F) day to lay the station siding fan at Fallowfield Road and set out some resin kit buildings that I’ve been painting up for the last few days. I used acrylic craft paints; I hope they will last – my daughter repainted the gnomgineer a couple of years ago and his paint has survived the summer weather well enough.

Heat wave returns for the weekend. Just after I took this pic, it started to rain … :smiley:Station yard fan

#13

The yard office, a David Yarwood resin kit from Garden Railway Specialists in the UK. These are nice kits but not inexpensive; I think I shall have to resort to fence boards to construct the carcasses for other buildings. Have to devise some means of holding the buildings in place while leaving them easy to remove; I’m thinking of magnets.

Fallowfield Road yard office: David Yarwood resin kit from Garden Railway Specialists

#14

Magnets embedded in the bottom of the buildings holding onto screws or nails in the wood should work nicely.

#15

Steve Featherkile said:

Magnets embedded in the bottom of the buildings holding onto screws or nails in the wood should work nicely.

Thank you, sir. Nice to know that some of my ideas aren’t completely out to lunch :stuck_out_tongue:

#16

Nah, just out to dinner…

Probably ceramic magnets would be small enough and strong enough to do the job.

Something like this.

#17

Neodymium.

#18

After my old TE 27Mhz receiver gave up the ghost, I decided it wasn’t worth trying to get it fixed and plunged for a Revolution base station Tx/Rx set (the financial comptroller is still recovering from the shock). Anyway, I also decided to make the power supply/Rx unit more easily portable, so I can bring it indoors in the cold months, and to install a fan on the Rx for the hot months, even though I do not expect heavy amp draws.

I cut away the sides of the Rx case to let the fan draw air over the heat sink. The fan is a 24v unit from an electronics store; it is mounted on a casing assembled from scraps of acrylic from other projects. The L girder bits are a friction fit on the Revolution Rx, making the casing

easy to remove.