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. 

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..

Return loop

Today sees the completion of the lower horse shoe loop, the project took a few months to complete but had to finish a number of side projects in between. I chipped away a few wheel barrow loads at a time of soil and clay taken from the upper horse shoe loop widening project that recently stalled upon the completion of the reversing loop.

The early days of a dreamer

Chunky GAP65 applied and solidified

"After every layer, Always Plate Compacter, Rinse & Repeat, always Repeat.."

Finished product

Ideally, somehow linking the 2 switches together would be preferable.

15" inch gauge track

 Heavy track in place, my poor back needs a brace! 

We had Brian from work visit and lend a hand. The first rail we managed to drag down with sheer human strength, then we realized simply dragging them with the ride on mower was the better way to go. Now to fix em in place

M10 50x50 x 3 square washers & 75mm Bugle Batten screws

Rail Bender in action

2x rail lengths fixed to the sleepers

The road ahead

15" inch gauge railway

Lifted the 15" gauge wagon my uncle Neil Wood built in the 1980's out from the bush today(weed spray wagon, 1 tank of compressed air would blow into the chemical tank & make it spray out the nozzles), going to remove the gear & turn it into a flat wagon to start with, the tanks will be repurposed for a couple 7.25" wagons. Going to cut the rusted bolt on the hornstay & removed the wheel and axle block which will need addressing as currently seized. Some bolts can be undone with some crc, others not so lucky with bolts rusted into dust.

Removed the bulk of the rust then covered it with crc rust converter then a coat of hamerite enamel green. Managed to get a 19mm sheet of plywood to serve as the deck. Wheels spin freely thanks to what appears to be roller bearings and the axle boxes can travel up and down.

Relocating the wagon

Adding a turnout & additional line into the shed

 To house all the 7.25" trains I 've been meaning to build an engine shed but until then I can in the meantime add another line inside the existing shed. This all had to be done with the trains out on the layout which meant I had only the day to finish enough track that the trains could be put away. I had to undo the track and shift everything to the left to make room for the second track. To achieve this I undid the bolts on 1 track along the whole length which allowed me to nudge it into position, my back suffered as I hunched over loosening endless bolts and then later on tightening. Then onto the point work, simple enough, tricky part is the frog and blades which a grinder and cutting disk make short work of. The test wagon in front of the silver fern testing as we go, the wagon recently had the wheels reconfigured to match the Da 52cms between axles & happy to report it made it around without any major issues (derailed on a branch).

Forgot to start taking pictures until after shifting the track and tightening up all the bolts & beginning building the turnout. Due to the inside track shifting the outside track (closest to camera) no longer connected by 2 inches.

End of first day, trains safely inside the shed again, turnout almost functional at this point with the mainline point blade connected.

Next day progress, point is mostly finished just need to replace sleepers with full length ones, ballast then add the check rails, although not needed the wheels glide through.

After fussing about on hands and knees & ruining my back even more I can finally sit on my wagon & roll around, need to ballast & tamper before anything heavy can roll over it. 

Need to get some drainage pipe and run it along the left hand side of track then fill it in with gravel.

Some ballasting & tamping later, work on the track resumes