Sunday, 11 May 2025

The Tipping Wagon






The tipping mechanism uses a "wire in tube" method. The wire is a bicycle brake cable and the tube is the plastic covered wire tube which is used for net curtains. If the wire is pushed too far the wagon will fall over, to prevent this a stop is fitted to the end of the wire. Currently it is set up for front of layout operation. If rear operation is required it would be easy to re-route the tube to the rear or a second tube could be installed.

The wagons are from EDM models and are 3D printed. A small section of brass has been glued to the underside of the tipping body to ensure it always returns to the horizontal position. The wagons were then painted with some weathering.

The area where the gravel falls, will be landscaped. The gravel that does collect after several runs can be collected through a "flap-door" in the baseboard. All this follows the KISS principle.




 

Monday, 28 April 2025

Hudswell Clarke D29

 


14 of these were bought by New Zealand to run on the 3ft 6in gauge, they were 40hp with 3 speeds.  Despite the gauge they are not large, probably a modified design for smaller gauges.

https://www.locosnstuff.com/about.php




Friday, 18 April 2025

Military Train


 

Modular Layout - A corner board


Did sketch out a 90 degree corner board. However, for it to work as a corner between two straight boards the radius of the track would be around 450mm, which is considerably less than the 600mm used on the Peco points. The tighter radius may work with 0-4-0 locos and short wagons but anything bigger will obviously struggle.

However, a 45 degree corner board would allow a 600 radius - so two of these would give 90 degrees, so provide a slight change of direction.