Below are two photos of what the area looked like before I ripped up all the return loops and crossovers.
The northern end of the point works. Middle left is where the loops join onto the dual gauge to go to South Brisbane Interstate.
The southern end of the points. The narrow gauge is at the bottom.
After a couple of hours of work this is the better result. I still have to put the jumper to the tracks around the crossovers. But that is a task for 2 weeks time.
The northern view, with the point from the loops to the South Brisbane dual gauge brought back considerably to give a better more gentler curve.
The southern view, again with all the point pushed back further south to give a better geometry for the trains taking the crossovers.
The original track layout had a rather sharp curve in play when trains went from the Acacia Ridge outer track - track #1 onto the dual gauge towards South Brisbane Interstate. My 80' container wagons used to lift off the track as they went around the curve. The mounted back down onto the track but you cannot have that occurring! Hopefully this has now stopped that from occurring.
With a public holiday in Brisbane on Wednesday I spent some time in the shed. I worked on replacing the bogies of some of the RUB carriages on the Brisbane Limited and gave it a run from Grafton Yard to South Brisbane Interstate and back with very few issues. I had to loosen a few of the bogie screws and make some adjustments under the wagon when the train would not take some of the curves. I even added another carriage, a Diner so the passengers could get a feed - I thought it was appropriate. I also painted the roofs of a few more RUB cars. Over the next few weeks I might try and paint the wagons themselves when I unwrap my new spray gun for my birthday.
Also on Wednesday, I also bit the bullet and replaced the front bogie on one of my 45 class locos. I obtained a replacement set of bogies off of Al Cutmore at the Toowoomba Exhibition. My front bogie had broken and the retaining clip was not retaining, but was held on by wire that I had wrapped around the bogie and twisted it so it would not come off. The only issue was that the wire was not insulated wire and caused shorts when the loco ran over points. So the loco was pulled off the layout and sat derelict in a siding. It is now back on the "available for traffic" list and I also gave it a bit of an oil while I had it apart.
Yesterday I moved around 4 trains and set then up ready for the next running session. When the clock stopped at the last session, some trains completed their journeys while and some not yet even started due to the low number of operators, so the timetable was slightly our of kilter. So I have now set the clock back to just before 4:00pm. I had to run some of the trains backwards to put them all in the correct place for the new kick off time. I have the Up (southbound) Brisbane Limited sitting in The Risk. I have a northbound (Down) container train sitting in Kyogle Loop. The Down afternoon Mountain Goat is sitting in Nammoona Ballast Siding heading back to Cassino. I have moved the Banana Train back to Murwillumbah so it can run all the way back to Grafton again, picking up bananas at Lismore and Old Cassino. I think there are about 25 trains ready to run at the next session, and then the session will start back over again. The first 25 trains are already in place, or will be when the current session ends. Hopefully I will have more than 4 drivers turn up for the next session. The ideal number of 10 to 12. That allows me to have a North Coast Control position and I can run around fixing any issues that occur as well as concurrently running the odd short distance train.
I'm heading off to Melbourne on Monday for the week to attend a conference and hope to do the rounds of the hobby shops in Melbourne CBD on Friday afternoon before I fly back home later in the arvo. Who knows I might be able to pick up a few things I can't get in Brisbane?
A photo of rotten row in Acacia Ridge Yard. A 43, a 48, the repaired 45 and a 49 await their next turn. These locos are currently not used in the timetable. Although the 48 and the 45 could be used very easily.
Next Weekend I will not get to the shed at all, as our Model Railway Club will be holding its Annual Model Railway Exhibition at the Strathpine Community Centre Hall on Saturday (9-5) and Sunday (9-4). I will be working on the door for most of both days, so pop in and say hello. Some other Bloggers (Darren and Grover) will be just inside the door and, PK and Greg will also be around over the weekend. We can all have a blogger re-union!
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