7.25" 2-6-0 E Steamer

Picked up another locomotive for the 7.25" railway, this time a 2-6-0 E Steamer from Dave Cole who converted it from a live steamer (simplex I think?) after the boiler failed its cert. Will cost roughly $10k to get a new boiler built. Everything runs well with no derailments so far.

The Tree Hut Branch line. Part 2 of ∞ "Boulder Creek Bridge"

The next hurdle is a bridge across "Boulder Creek". I had played with the idea of making a brick arch bridge but went with a simple timber affair to save time. Today I managed to plan out where the piers are to be, dig a few holes and cement them into place. I had a few bags of river stones laying around and excess concrete so figured I would layer the concrete like icing everywhere and then layer on the river stones. The main reason being when it rains the modest stream turns into a raging torrent and would no doubt wash everything away. This bit reminded me of building my nz120 layout although somewhat scaled up but quite satisfying.

How it looked before

Piers & river stones in place, waiting for things to cure

Looking North

Cleaned up, needs more rocks

Piers cut to the right height, the line is completely level from the flame tree 

Its largely a level run up to the bridge, I need to cut into the top ahead and redistribute the clay.

Given the distance to the build site growing further away from the shed the wagons have really been useful to cart materials and tools back and forth. A few pictures of various loads. Need to find a big log and cart it on the log wagon behind the climax. Once the railway gets past the big bridge I can see the railway being used to cart logs up to the mill.

Bridge progress after day two

More Piers firming up.

Day three bridge fixed in place, still to add pedestrian walkway alond the side and more boards & plastic, then to be backfilled with some clay.

From above, track ready to upgrade its sleepers

Day four sees track fixed in place with new sleepers

After some heavy rain overnight the waters flowing nicely with only a hand full of rocks swept downstream.

The next step, a bit of an embankment.

Work continues on the embankment, Da delivers another load of timber

Looking forward, the cutting starting to take shape.

In the process of removing problematic slanted pines before the railway gets built, should clear up the view a bit

The Tree Hut Branch line. Part 1 of ∞

This week I kicked off the new road heading further into the property. The first section is a straightforward timber deck that branches off to the left from the lower horseshoe loop. I had considered another rock wall embankment, but this approach is much quicker taking a few days of work dodging the patchy rain and also guarantees an adjustable but smooth level run to the bridge over the creek. I will be using steel for the track, and now need to weld steel track in place far away from any power source. Once I make it to the bridge over the creek it drops away into a downhill grade toward the old treehouse and beyond.

An artistic interpretation

Post's buried deep and cemented in place

 Turnout now functional, still needs a check rail

After disassembling & tinkering with post height's I've now reassembled the deck and is finally at the correct height

2 more spans to meet with the footbridge. Soon to be a "Shared Rail/Pedestrian Path, Nothing could go wrong!"

Da & work train navigates the bridge work, the Shared Rail/Pedestrian Path idea was shelved due to pedestrian safety concerns, another death will shut the place down they said last time. The train will now use its own bridge and enjoy a large radius curve.

Wagons purchased from Dave in Waihi make up the work train, the 4 wheeler cannon keeping in theme with current world events & PRR's defense budget.

Also purchased some more aluminum track from Dave, about 280ft plus a turnout, enough to procrastinate on the portable generator for the welder. The universe provided at exactly the right moment completely without notice, aluminum track being rare in these parts.

Starting a fresh cut, nothing better than exposing earth and carefully relocating it somewhere else ever hopeful of encountering deposits of high-density elemental gold.

Almost across the stream. Building up the area with fill for the lawnmower road.

All downhill now until the treehut. For every meter it drops 6cm roughly 3m after the turnout. Across the stream I've also cut in at the same grade but will adjust the grade from the current 6% to ensure I make it to the next stream at the right height just after the Flame Tree

Due to this land being swampy, i'm continuing using 100x75mm Posts for the trackbed which will help with drainage and ensuring a smooth gradual incline easy to adjust things like camber.

Redid the curve and screwed everything in place before installing a level crossing

Using a jigsaw and a bit of plywood to cut out the crossing, screwed into place for testing. Its going to be a scale road and crossing with painted lines and flashing lights.

Flame tree giving a final show, 1 tree removed and another trimmed clears the path. The grade is now no steeper than 2%

"Missy" the track inspector organizing her thoughts before delivering her final report, which was something about needing more food.

View from the bottom after some clearing up.

7.25" NZR Da

Finally the NZR Da arrives on the 7.25" railway after 1 year since I first got it. I built a shed for it and increased the radius of the top horseshoe loop. No issues with the track to report, and a quick video of it having a run.

7.25" Gauge Engine shed expansion continued

 Continuing on with the shed build, One night I was on Temu and found this item "A Set of 100pcs of 3D Brick Wall Decals, Made of Foam with Self-Adhesive Backing, Designed to Be Waterproof And Resistant to Moisture" and figured I could use em. The advert had images that looked nothing like what I expected but this would be a good use for em. I'm not entirely sure they are outdoor suitable but if I seal em with paint it should hold up ok. I had a sheet up externally as a test for a few weeks now and feel a bit more confident with my scheme.

Applying "fake bricks" texture.Very different to whats advertised!

Still needing to apply filler to the door area, painting everything white, then will go over & paint the bricks or mortar.

The inside view, the track is made up of equal angle iron 20x20x3mm. 

A month later and things have stabilized 

A lick of paint later. 

7.25" Gauge Engine shed expansion

Its been a bit since the last post and figured autumn is a good time. The engine shed has been somewhat expanded, I started with removing the triangle at the top thanks to the better, far flatter triangle at the bottom of the layout. Then adding 2 turnouts and sidings. The framework was simple but strong enough for the job. The theme is based on the French Foreign Legion Fort used in campaigns across North Africa. Could come in handy in case of WWIII and its reinforced with 7mm of external plywood AND a special formula Temu bullet proof paint the fancy talking AI salesman said! 

A few years earlier, laying 7.25" gauge 

Track being the important stuff first, then just plop the model shed down.

Framing in place.

Pond slowly draining, pond wall needs moving in a bit and retaining wall built.

Both door frames in place, putty & paint applied

One day soon a 4 loco lineup might be possible. Tunnel for the G gauge layout incorporated, the missing section sits in place to allow running but I plan on altering the layout in the future.

Doors coming together,going to further dress the doors with decking timber placed vertically.First plank fixed in place in the middle.

Today saw Dad & Daisy following my brother David & his Daughter pass the "town". Never seem to see the climax stuck behind anything..