Artificial Grass

 This week I've been laying some artificial grass on the outdoor 1:24 gauge railway as an attempt to control the weeds and grass from overtaking everything. I also happened to have lots of old concrete bags laying around so I covered the embankment with em, pinning them in with 8" staples. For the grass mats which were 3x1metres in dimension I split them down the middle and stapled the mat into the wood base and on the ground pinned them into the ground with the 8" staples. The ground is covered with leftover plastic from the pond and soon to be covered with gravel. 

https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/number-8-artificial-grass-h-20mm-l-1000mm-w-1000mm-green/p/2025904

Happy New Year

 Happy New Year

Much like 2020, 2025 starts off in my calendar as W. T . F! hopefully this year being exactly a quarter of a century should count for something in the luck department.

Much of my time has been divided between work and concreting with the occasional arch bridge thrown in for good measure. A concrete lip has been added to both sides of the roadbed ready for a layer of brick to bring it up to height.

 The track will be removed again and the center filled with blue/brown crushed rock topped with perfectly level layer of cement.

With any luck I can finish this project soon and move on to bigger things!

The wood stakes glued in place show the final height I need to reach.

The latest arch bridge, holding everything together nicely and the dogs seem to enjoy it when chasing trains!

Silver Fern

Things have been rather busy in the last month, I ended up getting my hands on a 7.25" gauge silver fern that appeared on trademe. The fern has always been special to me, dad took us kids on a trip in her to rotorua in the early 90's and everything about it felt modern, right down the air operated internal doors.

So to celebrate I decided it would be a neat idea to 3d print it in 1:24 scale, the 3d printing part is almost finished with the underside still in progress. I intend on 3d printing the seats this time around, this version is more of a test print as I've altered the front end and with a bit of effort managed to thin out the walls.

A Girder to Far #4

 The 1:24 bridge project almost finished, I've still to finish the under side Truss segments and then i'll call it finished

Those that are interested in printing it can download it here https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6722083

Print, Paint, Attach & Repeat until mad.

Its all about the reflections

The underside of the plate girder finalized and in production

First run across the bridge

Db takes in the morning sun

A different POV

Ja & Ka double header

A Girder to Far #3 - A Pier into Madness

Continuing the 3d printed bridge for the garden layout, we needed a concrete base for the 3d printed piers to sit on so after searching countless plastic bottle types I stumbled upon the ice cream containers and quickly realized it would suit my needs. I removed the bottoms of the container and slipped it into position, I packed the outsides with clay & small rock and proceeded to pour the wet concrete which is where the container sides started to bow outwars requiring some reinforcing with small sticks embedded in the clay. I vibrated the container for a few minutes removing the bubbles and covered it up for the night. When I removed the plastic this morning I was very pleased with the result. The second pier finished last night and when test fitting in place this morning the friction of the wood halfway down was to much, thus its halfway through receiving #40 sandpaper to enable a better fit. 

The rockwork has been redone somewhat, the white pipe has been removed and the water now dribbles down over the rocks. A concrete path has been hidden on top of the dam to allow people to walk over.

Cementing in a pad for the Pier, Ice cream containers are not ideal without reinforcing the sides I've discovered. 

The next morning, plastic formwork removed and im quite happy with the result, the exposed pier has been sanded back quite a bit due to a slight warp in the wood itself. Without sanding there would be no removing the printed pier.

Second pier almost touching the concrete, a bit more sanding to get it down flush

Playing with paint, also experimenting with various top caps with the lettering  '2024" & "Portland Railroad" embedded into the sides.

A Girder to Far #2

 Continuing the bridge project along, it became apparent I had mucked up a step or two. Although the curves where nice its not ideal for this setup. The new pier was cemented into a 2ft hole unlike the old pier which was able to be pulled out after a bit of effort. The top deck is has been removed eliminating that issue.

3d Printed Pier still warm from the printer, a lick of paint and test fit. Still need to concrete in a pad for it to sit on and more weathering. Very close to finishing the bulk of the printing for this project, The material being 2.7kg of UV resistant ABS Plastic (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is a very tough, very durable plastic used in a wide variety of manufacturing) & more than a few bottles of rustoleum spray paint. The parts screwed into the wood frame.

Old and new Piers

3d printed Pier test fitting

Much better alignment

1:24 El crane

First Pier Wrapped up

A much straighter run 

A Girder to Far #1

With the raised deck out of the way its time to tidy up the main bridge, I did have a nice truss before but dogs running under it and catching it on their backs ruined it. This time I'm sure 3d printing some girders can't go wrong. each section individually screwed into position and can easily be individually replaced/painted etc. 

The first attempt to span 1.2 metres have been installed and continues to expand.

I have been playing around with the pier surrounds, brick would look good but a bit out of place.

Rake of 8 W wagons rides across the bridge. 

The more I look at the bridge the more the top deck is irritates me, a step in the wrong direction all in fear of trains going for a swim.

Further Progress

The piers will slip onto the wood, strong & tidy.

English Electric DF takes a run. The last few moments show some dodgy track sections needing to be straightened out somewhat.

Years back, a bridge to fit the budget, iceblock sticks, balsa and steel shelving.