Station Building Progress, SX Set Troubles and Track Work Changes

Monday this week was a work day, then I pulled the pin for the next few weeks – more Long Service Leave.  On Tuesday the boss and I went for a bus and train ride and walk around the city.  We checked out the new casino and the sky deck.  That was followed by lunch in town.  When I got home, I cut the large beams above the sliding windows (lintels) in the Station Masters office in the Cassino Station building.  These were then painted and let dry overnight.  I however fitted the sliding windows in the breezeway end of the Station Masters Office.

Tuesday was Tuesday Nighters so I took the model to show the rabble.  I also took possession of some N scale double LED lights that PK acquired for me.  One of these is going into the Kyogle platform lighting when I find time.  I have since drilled a hole in the baseboard from underneath and fed wires from the LED light down through the hole.  Now I have to remember what gets wired to where.

The end of Kyogle Platform.  The double headed light is in the middle of the ramp.

Wednesday morning I fitted the beams above the large sliding windows in the Cassino Station building In the afternoon, I cut out the 12 pane windows from the AMRI station kit and used 0.020” x 0.030” styrene strip to replace the windows making them 9 pane windows, as per the prototype.  These were painted and allowed to dry.

On Thursday I installed the 9 pane windows on the Cassino Station building.  That just leaves the windows above the doors and the many toilet windows to build and fit and then the back platform side of the Cassino Station building will be complete.  So I then made the window above the sliding door.  That was scratch built, painted and then installed.  On Friday I built the windows above the doors.  These were also painted and allowed to dry.  They were fitted on Saturday.  More work will occur next week.

The next Thursday task was testing my $1.50 motor.  I added a resistor in line to see if I could slow down the extremely large RPM from the motor at 3V.  A 33 Ohm resistor works, as does a small 10 Ohm resistor.  More testing to come.  So I might order some of the small 8mm x 4mm motors that I can see online.  My plan is to mount these on the bogies of the QR 2050 railmotor I am scratch building.  I don’t have to pull 40 coaches with this method of propulsion.  I only need to pull the railmotor.  I am thinking that this might help me qualify for the Master Builder of Motor Power AP.  I’ve had some input from Laurie McLean MMR, Gordy Robinson (President of the world) MMR and a few others.  More work will follow here.

Late in the morning on Thursday I received a package from IDR Models with my QR SX set inside.  In the afternoon I placed the wagons on the layout.  They look very good.  I think they look much better than the myriad of 3D printed ones at the Club.  Don’t get me wrong, the 3D ones are nice models and have a place in the hobby, but these models are much better.  I have not been able to compare them to scale.  They will occur in the future.  However, the IDR SX cars are very light.  I added some weight to mine.  I also noticed that some wheels were under-gauge for 12mm, when I compared them to some existing 12mm wheels I had laying around.  The IDR models SX set has trouble running through a 12mm cross over without derailing.  The couplers lack swing.  This was adjusted and thus their performance improved markedly.  Following more running, I’m not that impressed with their running ability.

I was thinking about it on Friday night.  I decided to head over to Modeller’s Warehouse and see if he had some 12mm wheels and some 3D printed SX bogies used under the 3D printed SX cars.  I acquired two sets for a trial.  When I got home I swapped the IDR wheels and bogies out and replaced them with the 3D printed ones.  There was some adjustment work to the 3D printed bogies, but that was 5 minutes work.  They now run immensely better.  Go Figure!  I think I will buy some more 3D printed bogies next Saturday and replace the whole set’s bogies with Wuiske wheels and 3D printed bogies.

The end two coaches have the replacement bogies and Wuiske wheels.  They run so much better.  The third coach has one of each.  Guess which end keeps derailing?

Most of the work on Friday was track work related in Clapham Yard.  While running the SX cars through one set of points, they kept derailing.  So I did a bit of work on the kitbashed HO points with a third rail for 12mm track through them.  So I relayed the third rail (on track 4 - the dual gauge track) and they now run much better.  However, while checking out my work, it dawned on me that where I leave my 4 car carrier wagons in Clapham Yard, is just not long enough to fit between a set of HO crossovers (tracks 3 to 4 – standard gauge) and a set of points at the end of the yard fan out.  So I decided to move the crossovers back to the other side of a 12mm set of points on this dual gauge track.  So now I have another 157mm to play with and the car carriers fit perfectly in this section.  I had no idea why I had not thought about this previously.  So I then re-attached all my power droppers to the rails in tracks 3 and 4.  You guessed it – a short!  So this was tracked down to the third rail in my recently adjusted HO points.  The third rail was too long.  That was adjusted by 1mm and mow it is all good.

Tracks are numbered from the top.  The standard gauge points from track 4 to 3 were moves from the right of the narrow gauge cross over from track 5 to 4.  My car carriers now fit in track 4.

More Cassino Station Building Progress

On Monday this week, I was trying to find some appropriate motors that I might use on my QR railmotor.  My plan is to use a 8mm long x 4mm round motor that I would direct drive onto the wheel rim.  I would mound the motor on the bogie and it would fit between the 12mm wheels.  However, that only motors that I can find are 20K rpm up to 47K rpm.  That is way to fast.  If they could do 2K rpm, or even up to 5K rpm that would power the railmotor at a convenient and more appropriate model speed.  But I cannot find any of these such motors.  I’m sure they exist.

Tuesday morning I decided to do some station building work before heading back to work.  I wanted to make my sliding windows in the Cassino station building.  I looked at a couple of ways to make them, but decided that I needed some scale channel and have each window run inside the channel.  However, I had no styrene of that type.  No matter, I headed down to Hobbyone.  Bugger!  They did not have that size styrene in stock.  However, they checked the supplier and they could have it here in a day or two.  I said Saturday was fine.  I had to go to work for the rest of the week. 

So after lunch I cleaned up the first 25 of the awning brackets that Greg 3D printed for me.  I then gave them a touch of Mission Brown paint from the spray can.  I also cleaned up the support blocks that support the awnings.  I also painted them up with a cream colour.  I also cleaned up a few door and these were also painted.  The doors and awning brackets were added to the building, and then the support blocks just under the awning brackets.  The model was starting to look good.

On Tuesday afternoon, I decided to make the sliding door in the Cassino Station Building and paint it.  So that was easily done.  But after that one was installed on the model, I realised that I needed two of them – one on each side of the building.  At this time, I am only adding detail to the back platform side of the station building.  The second sliding door got completed and installed on Saturday afternoon.

I got a text message on Saturday morning advising that the styrene was put aside for me at the shop.  Great service and also cheap.  So when I got home I glued two strips of channel together and fixed it to the top and bottom of the window openings all around the Station Masters office.  I then started making the individual window sliders.  Once put in and tested, I then added the internal panes.  The windows were then spray painted and allowed to dry.  So the first 6 were completed later on Saturday afternoon.  The two window openings for the breezeway end were cut up, thus 4 more windows were completed on Sunday morning.  These have been painted and are now ready to install into the station building.

The four windows for the end of the station masters office.

This is the back platform view of the Cassino Station building.  Two doors and one sliding door have been installed.  The windows above the doors still need to be built, painted and installed.

The rear of the Cassino Station Building at the Station masters office end.  These six windows can all slide in their own tracks.

So between all this activity, I decided that I needed to make another lot of pallets.  I made 27 on Friday evening after work.  I made another 27 on Saturday evening before dinner.  I also did another 26 this morning.  I think I will put together another 50 odd over next week and then paint these up, so I have about 125-130 ready for sale in various colours.

Three strings of pallets ready to be cut up.

QR 2050 Railmotor Update

On Monday this week PK, Greg and myself caught the train up to Gympie North for a $0.50 fare.  Then another $0.50 for the trip home.  We took along our lunch, had lunch on the platform when we arrived and then caught that same train back again.  A full-on day for about 6-7 hours on a train there and back and from my local station.  

IMU 107 sitting in Gympie North Station

A shot of the station signboard as proof I was there.

On the way home, there was an announcement on our train that we had to change tracks (over to the dual gauge) as a car had gone through a fence between Rocklea and Salisbury.  This had stopped traffic on the lefthand track outbound, and caused disruptions as traffic had to cross over between lines, in between traffic coming the other way.  So when our train went by, I took the picture below of the fence, but the car had been removed.

Where the car had been through the fence, which stopped traffic on the first line.

Most of the activity for the week revolved around continuing the build of the QR 2050 class railmotor.  I had some requests from people to show some photos so I have a couple.  I will also talk about how it was built.  I started by finding the corrugated sides.  I had some old AMRI corrugated styrene and it was just 140mm wide, the exact size of between the two side doors.  So this was cut off and slightly bent.  I then cut up some smaller length components for the sections before the front door and after the rear door (for both sides).  I made a floor for the model, and then added some 1mm uprights and cross beams to make a basic frame for inside the model.  To this frame, I added some 2mm styrene strip to the top and middle of the sides and 1mm strip to the bottom of the side to simulate the curvature of the railmotor sides towards the bottom.

The windows!  I hate cutting them out and I glued a HO scale copy of the windows (from the plan) to a section of 0.5mm thick styrene sheet and when the glue dried, I started cutting out the windows.  I had three sections here, the long section between the two doors with 12 windows and the sections in front of the front door and the section behind the rear door.

A frame was then made for the front cab.  The cab shape was cut out by glueing a photo copy of the plan over some styrene, letting it dry and then cutting away.

The various carriage doors were cut to size and their internal windows cut in.  These were the front door, rear door and the side doors.  I still have to make a door for between the passenger compartment and the luggage space.  Maybe tomorrow.

The stairs below the side doors at the rear were added and they look OK.  I think they need a rear backing on them which I have not yet added.  But again a simple task for maybe tomorrow.

The front cow catcher is going to be a tricky job.  I have not yet started to cut this up but I have some ideas.

The front of the Railmotor is on the right.

A more front on shot.

A shot of the other side and from the rear.

Thursday I went to lunch with the boss for my birthday.  The kids were working (or playing) late so we didn’t get to have a birthday cake until about 10:00pm at night.  However, I did get my presents the night before as everyone knew it was an early off to work and university and late night home.  I got a new watch and some Lego.  I put the Lego together on Thursday.  I had not done that for years. 

Friday was drinks at work.  We put away 110 coronas between us all.  A great night.

What was left of the crew.

The night still had some life left in it at this stage.  Only 100 had been drunk.

Saturday was the Redlands Model Railway Exhibition.  I was working on the NMRA stand there with a few others and had many great conversations with the public and members.  I was showing off my railmotor but the main task for the day was to cut out the rear section of the Cassino Station building.  When I say cut out, it means cut out the doors and windows in a section of Slaters Brick sheet with the correct brick pattern for the building.  I also cut out the two ends as well. 

Today I continued on that path.  I cut the windows in the old station master’s office end of the station buildings and then cut out the windows and doors for the main platform side of the station buildings.  I then added the double thickness for the brick pillars that will support the station awning brackets.  On Monday this week, Greg handed over 50 of his 3D printed awning brackets that I will need to paint and I will fit this next weekend.  More progress this afternoon, has meant that the internal walls were installed and the various internal vestibules into the toilets have been installed. 

This shows the back platform side of the station building.

This is the main platform side of the station building.

More work next weekend will be to paint the doors and windows and install them.  I might have to make some templates for the various windows and see if my 3D mate (hint hint) could perhaps print them from an initial scan like he did for the awning brackets. 

So I’m back at work next week for a few days, so that will limit my building activity.  I also need to build up a few more power supplies (for layout lights) as some of my mates want one.  I also need to do some research for Bob on a sound module and look for some very small bogie mount low revolution motors to power my railmotor and a few other railmotors that are in production (or soon will be) around the traps.

QR 2050 Class Railmotor Build Progress

So this week I did complete the last few light additions to Kyogle platform.  I re-flashed an Arduino and swapped out the one running the lights and the flickering of the ‘bad’ light resumed.  However, the Arduino that I swapped out, was placed on the layout track on the bottom deck at Lismore underneath where I was working on the next deck up at Kyogle and I saw it light up.  Whoops!  It must have conducted some power through the Arduino and now that Arduino is Kaput. 

So I received some plans for the 2000 and 2050 class QR railmotors early this week.  So after perusing these, they were put to good use.  I started scratch building a 2050 stub end railmotor – aka the intermediate car in 3 or 4 car sets.  The railmotor roof I started last weekend did not work out.  So I spent two days looking at the MK II roof.  I laminated a couple of sheets of styrene together and then used my burnishing wheel and shaped it to a reasonable likeness to my railmotor elliptical roof.  So the next step was to work out how to make the curved sheet steel fluted sides of the railmotor.  I found some appropriate styrene in my styrene box and started creating a styrene shell frame and then started putting everything together.  So far I have put everything together and I’m pretty happy with the result so far.  The next railmotor model I do will be better and I might have to work with my 3D designer mate Greg (Hint! Hint!) to see if he can print off all the windows along the railmotor in a single 3D sheet print.  One print for the front windows (in front of the front door), one print for the long middle section windows (between the doors) and a third print for the rear section (after the rear door) windows.  We will then need a set for the left hand side and another set for the right hand side of the railmotor.  Cutting out 12 windows for the middle section of the railmotor is excruciating slow and that is the worst job you can do in scratch building in styrene.  I just hate cutting out windows.  I might have to discuss this with Greg on Monday this week while on our Gympie trip.

On Wednesday this week Greg advised that he had 3D printed some sample Cassino awning brackets.  They look pretty damn good!  The order is in, and I will get them delivered on Monday this coming week.  Next week I think I might spend some time building some supports for a travelling crane for my Rocla Sleeper Siding.  That was why I had the photos up on the blog the week before.  Then I can start looking at building the Cassino Station building.

Yesterday afternoon and today I did more work on my 2050 class railmotor.  I am just putting together the finishing touches, like the skirt at the front and the underfloor detail.  I have no idea what type of motor I will use, but I would like to see if I can use a very small under floor motor.  I would like to see if I can actually make a working model of the throw over seats.  Well at least one – just a proof that it can be done.  Yesterday Kevin, Arthur and myself were chauffeured by PK down to the NMRA meeting at Jack’s place at Palm Beach.  It was a good turn up with about 30 people there.  It was a great meeting, with PK, Arthur and myself all presenting along with Dean.

Layout Brackets and Styrene Builds

Things did not go as expected this week.  I decided to watch replays of the Olympics during the day instead of doing  work in the shed.  I did take a few photos for a presentation and I did work on the notes that will go with the presentation, but that was about it.  We all went to Tuesday Nighter’s this week at Brendan’s place.  I think there was 8 of us venturing to the end of the earth (or at least you could see the end of the earth from Brendan’s place).  A couple of people were running trains on Brendan’s layout and the comments were that it ran very smoothly in slow speed.  The conversations around the outdoor setting were great and it wasn’t that cold either.  It was a very good night.

On Friday I decided that I needed to get on with building my Cassino Station building.  The first thing I needed to build was a station awning bracket.  These hold off the roof of the station awning.  I built two and went down to the shed and see how they worked on the building mock up.  Well as I had shortened the awning overhand, the awning bracket was two long.  Doh!  Of course I new that.  So I made two more smaller.  I took then back down to the shed and test fitted them and they worked a treat.  So I made two of them.  I quick check of the scale plan and worked out I needed 18 more for the station building and 22 for the refreshment room.  Ah!  I don’t think I want to scratch build that many.

On the left of this photo is one of the awning brackets

Another shot of a bracket

There are actually two needed back to back in this area

You can see down the platform, that these brackets support the roof fascia.

So I made a trip to the Club yesterday for our monthly meeting and I asked Greg if he could 3D print the station awning backets to the measurements of my scratch built ones.  He took one of the scratch built assemblies and he will look into it.  It might take a month for him to finish them among the other things on his plate.  As long I don’t have to build another 40 of them.

While at the Club I was checking out a few other things going on around the Club layouts.  I took some photos and I had an idea for a moving container gantry crane for a future exhibition layout.  I also spoke to some of the QR modellers and I now have some high level plans for a QR Silver Bullet 2000 and 2050 class railmotor.  The dimensions are not that prominent.  I was thinking about what I needed to do to scratch build one of both of these models.  I started some initial tests today, but I think I will have to rethink my intended process.

Some coal wagons and a guards van at the Club.

Grain wagons, ALYs and a low floor wagon.

I nicely coloured and weathered QLX

A model of a travelling crane that I need to scratch build for the layout.

Maybe this week I will get around to completing some lighting additions on Kyogle and Cassino platforms.

Track Work and Station Progress

Earlier this week I decided to take the XPT for another run.  This time from Cassino platform to as far north as I could go without running into something blocking a crossing loop.  So I went north from Cassino and had an issue inside the helix between Cassino Meatworks and Fairy Hill Loop.  So I went inside the helix and watched what was happening.  I just needed to add some card under the outer rail and the XPT no longer derails inside the helix.  At another point inside the helix, another loop further along inside the helix I did the same fix.  All good now.  The XPT ran well until it went over the bridge over Fawcett’s Creek just north of Kyogle.  I rail joiner had moved between two rails and it was not holding one rail, so there was a height mis match between the two rails.  So I adjusted it and the XPT then ran over that joint very smoothly.  The XPT hit a signal that had fallen across the track just outside the tunnel into Border Loop crossing loop.  So I fixed that and it continued running north.  It got to Acacia Ridge and there was a dead spot in the point work from the single track into the yard fan out.  I changed the points back and forth a couple of times and that came good, and the XPT continued further north.  When inside the Acacia Ridge Yard, I got smart.  It ran via a newish cross over from track no. 1 to the dual gauge track and then run onto the dual gauge mainline and got to the Rocklea Siding standard gauge points and then it had its next issue.  The point actuator wire has too far through the point and every bogie had an issue going through there.  I will make a mental note to use the Dremel to reduce the height of that throw bar and re-run the train.  The train could only get to half-way into the Clapham Yard tracks, as they are all blocked with various trains on the standard gauge.  The train then rack back to Acacia Ridge Yard.  It had issues taking that newly laid turnout in the yard in the opposite direction, so we backed it back up and tried going through the normal track no 1 all the way and everything was smooth as a baby’s bottom.

The standard gauge crossover on dual gauge track where the XPT had issues.

Later in the week, I was able to spend some more time on working on the Cassino Station Building.  I took 5mm off each side of the Cassino Station Platform Building roof.  I then made some decisions about the Cassino Refreshment Rooms.  I adjusted the overhang on the main platform side of the roof, by the same 5 mm as the station building.  But what I actually did was move the back platform side 5mm further towards the platform edge.  Given the required width of the platform overhang on the mainline side, I had to adjust the width of the refreshment room back wall so it had the same overhang as the front of the building.  So that was done, and the measurements all seem to make the platform buildings look good.

The layout of the Refreshment Rooms section of the station building on the Cassino Platform.

The layout of the Cassino Station building at the southern end of the platform.

This view up the platform shows what the platform will look like when complete.  The roof line will need to be constructed separately.

On Wednesday, I finally started to paint up the signal frame that will go inside the Kyogle signal box.  I think it has come up reasonably well. 

The Signal levers that will eventually go into the signal box above.

On Saturday morning I went to Modellers Warehouse to ask if he had some N Scale street lights, as I had purchased some off him previously (years ago).  There is nothing on his website, but he had a look out the back in the warehouse and he have about 6 packets.  I only needed a single packet of 4 lights.  So I purchased them and started planning where they were going to go on the layout on Kyogle Platform. 

I also bit the bullet and gathered up all my old cheap HO street lights that had a grain of wheat bulb and removed them, and then fed an 0402 LED with attached wires, down through the street light post.  I completed 4 and found that I have another 4 lights with grain of wheel bulbs on the layout, that will be swapped over with these LED ones, and then those ones will have their grain of wheat bulb swapped for an LED.

I then realised that I could not find any of the components that I use to create my layout power supplies, (rectified DCC power), so I made out a shopping list for Sunday’s trip to Jaycar.  I went there today and picked them up and purchased enough bridge rectifiers for 10 power supplies and 7 capacitors.  That was all they had of that component.  I have started working out where these will be deployed.  Today I tinned all the electrical components ready for use.

The Week Prior

Last Saturday was our NMRA meeting down the Gold Coast.  So the three of us who travelled down to Casino for our train trip got up early in the morning and went via the Bakery in Casino and hit the road north.  We were looking like arriving way too early.  So we went via Tweed Heads, and filled up with some cheap petrol.  Then over to Maccas for a coffee and Mcmuffin.  Then a quick detour across the road to the conveniences, as we had been travelling for a couple of hours.  Then back onto the road to Labrador.  However, the traffic was hideous.  We got there about 50 minutes after we had planned.  We missed half the first presentation.  At least I got to listen to the second presentation from a mate and then the third presentation was by Barnacle Bob himself, talking about Mosquito Creek.  This is an absolutely brilliant layout.  Hopefully it will be open for viewing at the 2025 NMRA Convention in Brisbane.  If you have the opportunity, please check it out.

The centre peninsular of Mosquito Crteek.  Mosquito Creek is to the right of the light house right the way along the peninsular.

The right hand peninsular.

Our host for last Saturday also had a brilliant layout.  It is very simple, but the modelling on display was second to none.

A nice waterway behind some houses

Fresh fruit and vegetables being sold out the front of the house.

A view of the town.

This week I had to attend work for 4 days.  So I did not get around to anything model railway related.  Now while the Olympics on TV, I will sit around and watch the idiot box and watch all the events.  This morning I was picked up by Shelton and we went to a local Buy and Sell.  It seemed well attended in terms of both sellers and purchasers.  There was some bargains there.  I saw about 20 or so NMRA members and about 3 or 4 from RMCQ and a few other friends, so I had a good time having a chat.

Today I did my first trial fit of the Cassino Station Refreshment Rooms.  I think I know the width that this building is going to be.  I will complete the mock up this week.