Minffordd Update: Flange Squeal

I wrote last week about the temptation to stretch the era on a layout - and here it is!

At the start of the project I'd only envisaged running DMUs and class 24s to fit in with the 1967-71 time frame.

But browsing the second hard stalls at an exhibition a couple of weeks ago I failed to resist the temptation of a weathered Bachmann 4MT tank at a very enticing price...

Our followers on social media will know that I was a a bit disappointed with its performance when I first ran it on our test track at home.

It wasn't the smoothest-running model, and was also very sensitive to tight radius curves  - by which I mean bends of roughly R2 dimensions - without the torque in the mechanism to overcome the resistance of the bend without slowing down markedly.

This didn't fill me with confidence for how it might perform on Minffordd where there is one bit of the curve into the storage roads just beyond the bridge which is more like R1.5, followed by a set track curved point.

I was very apprehensive when I took it over for a test run, but it was more positive that I expected.

It seems to be much happier on the finer code 75 Bullhead track, and using a different controller to the ones I have at home ran more smoothly at slow speed.

It does juuust get around the tightest bend into the storage yard, but only to the outermost storage road.

The front pony truck derails if you try to keep turning hard right into the inner storage roads on the curved point straight after the bend.

So it's not as bad as I feared.

In time we'll decide whether or not it i worth investing in a chip to run it on the layout (which will cost at least twice what I bought it for) or perhaps we might splash out on a slightly smaller 3MT tank, which were a little more of a regular sight at Minffordd at the end of steam on the Cambrian.

Minffordd Update: The Handmade Point Tale

 As much as we can we're trying to do the Minffordd project the easy way, with ready-to-run stock in both OO and OO9, DCC sound and all the rest.

That's why we've mixed 'n' matched on the standard gauge Cambrian loop using Peco code 75 Bullhead track on the scenic section, code 100 'streamline' in the fiddle yard and even a few 'settrack' curved points to help us cram it all in.

On the FR narrow gauge we're using both the 'mainline' track and points with the neat, straight sleepers and the larger radius turnouts, but also the original 'crazy track' product for the rougher trackwork in the yard.

However, Himself has come to the realisation that there really is not an alternative to constructing some handmade points for where sidings peel off from the tightly curving descent into the yard.

We've needed to use handmade points in places on all three of our layouts.

On Ddaullt they were the only option for the curved points into the passing loop and bay platform at the Blaenau end.

And on Bron Hebog he felt we could only do justice to the large radius points in the station by making them from scratch.

This was the first point he's made for at least 15 years, if not longer, and he's not completely happy with it.

The frog is slightly out of position and the tiny OO9 waggon wheels drop into the gap a little more than he would like, so he'll probably have another go.

Apparently it's only a full afternoon's work....

Minffordd Update: Full Circle

The arrival of a couple of missing curved points - and an extra length of the new Peco Bullhead track - has allowed Himself to complete the standard gauge track laying on the Minffordd project.

The whole thing is little bigger than a standard 'train set' and so the storage loops at the back won't allow for very long train formations.

We can just about squeeze in a class 24 and three mark one carriages in the longest road (nearest the camera) but - and only by a whisker - it will preclude through-running on the centre road.

When I first dreamed this up, though, I was only envisaging running 2-car DMUs, small pick-up freights and the odd day out for the district engineer in the inspection saloon, so it will be perfectly adequate for that.

But isn't it always the case with layouts that you fall to the temptation to stretch he era, or expand the selection of trains you run.....

Round The Bend

Himself is making some more progress on the tracklaying, concentrating on the entry to the fiddle yard at the Harlech side of the circle.

This requires a flange-squealingly tight curve after the line disappears under the FR bridge and a challenging mix 'n' match approach the track.

As detailed in previous posts we're using PECO's new Code 75 Bullhead track for the Cambrian line where the viewers can see it, but the range is still very limited in pointwork and we simply don't have the space to use medium radius straight points within the space we've given ourselves.

The same is true of the standard Code 75 range, so we're going radical and attempting to transition from Code 75 to 'bog standard' Code 100 Streamline in the fiddle yard, with the cheeky addition of a couple of Set Track curved points.

When we were first exploring this option Himself was upsold a small transition section, produced by PECO, for exactly this scenario, but in testing he's discovered anything but the very latest OO wheelsets don't like it very much.

What he's decided on, instead, is to simply connect the Bullhead direct to the Set Track point with some modified joiners.

You might also notice the overbridge has been given a coat of grey primer and is awaiting the attentions of the first person feeling brave enough to attempt to paint the stonework.

There's also a cardboard template for the platform so it can be cut out of plywood.