Breaking Ground - Finescale - of a sort

[Peter Insole]

I dare not ask for volunteers, so yes Simon, I'm afraid it will have to be me crawling around, down among the daisies, with a small brush and a damp cloth!!

It may well be nutty, but it will be nice in the end!

Good luck with the show. I will be taking the little engine to the Albury do this Saturday, so no digging for me either!

Pete.

 

[Heather Kay]

I will be taking the little engine to the Albury do this Saturday

 

[Peter Insole]

Much has been going on over the last week, but I have still managed to steadily press on with the pointwork

One thing that had been holding me up was the need sort out some "fences" to deal with the change of ballast depth between the (peculiar) roadbed and the deeper, sleepered section...




I have finally found a use for a couple of heavy old, dark brown quarry tiles! I wasn't too sure if the el-cheapo, plastic tile cutter was up for the task, but I needn't have worried!

They were dug in quite deep and then temporarily backfilled to ensure that there would be little or no movement while the hardcore was being tipped and tamped into the trench!



I had a thoroughly smashing time with all that lot - and really needed a couple of days to recover afterwards!!

Today dawned bright and fair, and appeared to be perfect for a "big push"!



After whacking the lumpy stuff well down into the ground, a couple of bucket loads of "fines" were spread over - and the whole given another walloping!

Then a shallow layer of sharp sand was laid for accurate levelling...



and to provide a smooth bed for a weed control fabric to safely lie on.

I had hoped to be able to obtain some of the dreaded and unspeakably evil, highway type, "top-dressing" grit for packing under the sleepers, but had to be content with a "potting" type instead. While notably finer, I do hope it will still be free draining enough to delay rot?!



Now at last - the point (sorry!) of no turning back..?!



Well packed...

trimmed...



and neatly blended in!!

My wife and I have been tripping over this thing indoors for much too long, so now it's Gardener and Ganger Mr. O's turn?!

I'll need another lie down before contemplating the next bit anyway...!!

Pete.

 

[simond]

I think that could win a “most splendid” competition amongst other splendid things! Very nice.

 

[Simon]

That just looks so "right" - epic and awesome!

I did a bit of digging and what not in the garden this evening, but nothing to compare to your achievement.

Reading this thread is a wonderful tonic, thank you very much.

Simon

 

[Osgood]

If the next bit involves sealing the ballast I've found you a source of PVA in 200 litre drums......

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you to all for your kind replies and "likes"!

I am quite pleased with the result, though it is probably just as much, if not more a case of utter relief?!
There is still some work to do, and apart from keeping a close eye out for settlement issues, a nice, "fully trailable" lever will be needed - along with little timber ramps to protect the vulnerable, toe stubbing bits!

There is one outstanding puzzle though: I had imagined that finishing up and moving the bulky construction from our front room would score very highly with the good lady? Instead, I ended up getting into much more trouble... (?)

"You weren't supposed to do it all in one day!" she said in firmly admonishing tone!

She is quite right of course... I have been quietly (or so I thought) grumbling about aches and pains ever since last night!!

Pete.

 

[michael mott]

Just catching up, not sure how I missed this section on the points but it looks very nice.

Michael

 

[Tim Watson]

Great fun!
Won’t the paint rub off the wing and check rails when you clean the track…?

Tim

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you Michael and Tim. The points have turned out quite nice, but will be even nicer when the next section of rail is eventually laid, and we can actually start running on them!! Mind you, I have got to sort out some non brass fishplates before then!
I am ever so grateful for "Boyblunder's recent warning about nasty galvanic reactions between brass and aluminium! Ooh, err!! Saved in the nick of time there!

That fence paint is funny stuff Tim, sometimes it sticks and lasts for yonks - or it seems to come adrift just by looking at it!

We chose to use it only because others have gone before us - not least of which is a local friend who owns an extensive 7 1/4 inch railway. He had been collecting rail from various sources for some years previously, and was unhappy with the mixed appearance of steel and ali sections along the line, so he painted the shiny bits! I had a chance to inspect it recently, and was surprised by how effective and durable it is.
When tipping and tamping the ballast, I managed to scratch and scuff ours quite badly - but a quick slosh over the effected areas with some more (it is almost cheap enough to throw about?!) will be no particular hardship? Besides; We don't have any heavy steam loco's dripping and spreading oil everywhere - and as our limited rolling stock has to be able to work indoors as well as out in the garden, all the bearings and gears are of the "sealed" variety. I am rather hoping that will mean that the rail heads will not have to be cleaned too often?!!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Oh dear, oh dear! We (almost the entire flock) have just returned from a lovely week invading Cornwall. A whole glorious day was spent at the Lappa Valley Railway - an absolutely perfect venue where children, large and small, can happily run around, burning off tons of energy - while certain grownups (?) can potter around enjoying an infusion of miniature railways!

We were the last ones in the park, and I reckon they were almost at the point of throwing stones at us to make us go away?! There were some sullen little faces and at least one terrible tantrum when getting back in the cars!

Apart from that, why the opening cry in the first sentence then?

An almost inevitable consequence of that visit were two sets of brains tipped into overdrive, and digital image files becoming somewhat overloaded! All that guff about "nothing big and heavy, dripping oil" mentioned ten days ago in the previous post...?!

OK., I am aware of the "holiday romance" effect, so we must be sensible and practical...

Yeah, yeah.. but what if we............??!!

Oh dear!

Pete.

 

[michael mott]

Difficult times indeed.......decisions decisions!

Michael

 

[Peter Insole]

Although it doesn't really belong in this particular thread, here are three pics to explain what I meant by all the "Oh dears"!

An impulsive moment of even greater (?) madness than usual...



A potential "Putt-putt", petrol electric power unit to potter up and down the garden railway!

Trouble is, I have not stripped down and overhauled anything remotely similar for almost 50 years, and that was an even older moped engine that was hardly an unqualified success!



This one might keep me busy next winter, although the way things are going perhaps I should try and get it running sooner in order to drive a couple of light bulbs...?!!

Meanwhile, the notion of avoiding further trouble by staying outdoors and making hay in the summer sunshine seems slightly more sensible...



At least one visitor voiced his opinion that the trench was going downhill, and appeared not to be convinced by my argument that it was the rising ground that gave that impression?

It turned out that we were both sort of right! Admittedly, it wasn't by very much, but I must have got a little bit carried away with the shovelling and over did the dig?! Needless to say, my error was only revealed when I found myself having to drag a few more bucket loads of hardcore to the site than I had anticipated in order to bring the bed back up in line with the brick edgings!
Burying a bit more of the bulky, brickbats and builders waste pile was the payoff for the greater effort and the somewhat more prolonged job though?!



Near enough not to be noticeable on a bumpkin narrow gauge railway now?!



Today, I just about managed to level off and lay the last section of "ground stabilisation mat" in the box before my wretched back gave in again...
(Hence the walking stick leaning on the garden chair in the following...)




The last shot giving a lower, driver's eye view of the road was achieved with some difficulty - or rather the aftermath was!

Getting down there was not so much of a problem - but I had forgotten to use that damned stick, and it remained lodged there, completely out of my reach!

I will have to take an enforced, and grumbly break for at least the rest of the week.

Pete.

 

[Boyblunder]

Pete, unless its broken don't fix it! I wouldn't strip down the engine unless it is seized or has no compression, it may work and you could find you can't get the spares to re-assemble it. Only needs a carburettor and clean spark plug?

 

[Simon]

Sorry to hear about your back Pete, but a diminishing pile of rubble, that beautiful "bubble in the middle" and two trackbeds appearing to wander off into the woods - heaven on earth as Belinda Carlisle sang many years ago(!)

And the potential prospect of puttering down the garden in one's own small haze of smoke and distraction, a reason to keep getting out of bed no matter how much it hurts(!)

Take it easy though, I hope things click back into place soon on the back front.

Simon

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you so much Robin for being the friendly voice of reason saving me from yet another potential disaster!

Zenith 13TCA2 carbs do seem to be quite cheap and readily available - although what condition they are in might be questionable? I am desperately afraid of taking too much off the machine anyway, but the compression (or rather the lack of) is bothering me a bit!!

Thanks too Simon for your wonderfully eloquent and perfectly encouraging reply. I would only add that the hope of having my sleeve tugged now and then with "Please Grandad, can we get the train out?" is another - if not perhaps the main thing that keeps me going!

Pete.

 

[simond]

I'd assume that the lack of compression is merely due to stuck rings or a bit of wear and not even slightly terminal.

Assuming it makes some kind of whoopee cushion sound when you pull it over with your thumb blocking the spark plug hole, it may be worth squirting a bit of 20-40, or whatever engine oil you have, down the said plug'ole, waiting half an hour or so, and then checking the compression, if it has improved, then it's likely not to matter much (after all, you're not planning to do the Le Mans 24h are you?) and if it hasn't, well, let's cross that bridge if we have to.

As for carb condition, I'd aim for having all of it, and not worrying much about that either. It'll run horribly rich without much trouble apart from the waste of petrol and a sooty plug, but running weak will make it run hot, unhappily so, so try to avoid that. The carb will probably need nothing more than a soaking in fresh petrol and a pipe cleaner or soft wire pushing through the various passages to make sure they are clear. Make sure the float bowl doesn't leak, and the petrol level is about right, and I'd expect it to go. You can make a new carb gasket from a Cornflakes packet if needed. It'll be a bit quieter if you have an air filter box, but again, that might be a bit of a luxury!

 

[Dog Star]

you're not planning to do the Le Mans 24h are you?

I think that garage 56 is still vacant...

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you Simon for your advice. I understand that the little "Suffolk" engine was produced over a long period, and certainly appears to be of simple, straightforward and very robust design. If other people's experience with it is anything to go by, it should be more than capable of doing it's job, even when operating at notably low revs - all features that attracted me to it in the first place!

Although they are slowly becoming less common, they remain cheerfully cheap, and spares are out there - so even if this one does turn out to be a complete dud (which I doubt?) another one would could be reasonably easily obtained, with not much in the way of funds wasted either!!

I now think it is definitely worth doing as you suggest and picking up a carb as soon as possible!!

Thanks too for the heads up Graham, but while I am sure the youngsters would absolutely love the near ballistic potential of an upgraded engine, I think Mr. O., would be somewhat less impressed with having to repair child and locomotive shaped holes in his potting shed at the end of the line?!

Pete.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Pete and his boy's prevailed and eventually got his little engine started, but had second thought's about running it down the track whilst sitting on it !

Col.