Wallace Creek

Two new locos for Wallace Creek have arrived recently. 8035 (Austrains) was an e-bay purchase whilst 7002 is an IDR model released last year and is a little beaut. This was funded by the sale of some old O gauge stock to #Jakesdad. Both are pictured on my Honeypot Lane shunting layout which may well bite the dust soon and be replaced by something different.

Dave

 

A bout of unseasonably mild weather has seen the first serious outside activity of 2019 at Wallace Creek. The customary clear out of the garage wit the help of Mrs Wells saw the amount of floor and storage space doubled as ten years of junk was unceremoniously carted to York's dump in the back of our creaking Nissan Micra. Unfortunately I took a dim view of Mrs Wells' suggestion that "we could have even more room if we got rid of the railway layout". How I laughed.....
Anyway since then I have stated the annual maintenance on the Wallace Creek side of the layout with a bridge end curve being relaid, a bit of cleaning and ne of the less reliable points has been replaced. The station all seems to be working properly and the loco doing the honours - well that fell to X107 an IDR model that turned up unexpectedly this week.
"Unexpectedly?" I hear you say.
Well my Sydney based sister and I have a weird financial arrangement which means there is a pool of money between us and it had got to around $160AUD. Hmm I thought and before Xmas sent her several ideas as to what she could usefully spend that money on. However as the potential fr o a trip to Australia started to frim up I am sure we had a conversation along the lines of "don't get me anything and we'll spend the money when we come over", Then X107 turns up...…...and I love it.
Also in the parcel were two SDS cattle wagons sold to me by someone via either e-bay or a Facebook Aussie buy or sell group who could not stand the idea of posting direct to the UK. Although he did not stated the awful SdS wheels were largely in pieces (a poor design and one they have since abandoned thank goodness) and although that's a relatively easy fix I still find myself annoyed that he didn't fix them himself or at least own up that the needed sorting in the advert. I curse thee sir and may the wheels on all your wagons be as troublesome as Thomas's trucks.
I'd also managed t get hold of a large enclosed corrugated crane (this time a successful E bay purchase from a gentleman at Hunmanby which is generally where we go swimming in the warmer months (or rather Mrs Wells does while I shiver unseasonably on the beach). That is now positioned at WC adjacent to the station and the station has a more industrial feel to it than previously. The back story is that can load heavy metal loads off wagons although whether it could in reality is another story.
I also came across a German model railway kit by auhagen that consists of a nice overhead crane which you mght fins outside a typical workshop, The kit also includes a couple of lean to structures and a rather bizarre wheeled van. Being at the "completely useless at building anything end of modelling" this is straightforward to build and now awaits painting along with some Dapol Yard lights (Non working) which I will be placing around the layout when complete.
Photos to follow cheers all


Dave

 

I didn't know that although I suspect they will be used for shunting or short trip freights (train length is generally 6-7 wagons) at Wallace Creek which just so happens to be one of the few places in Australia where they do work in solo. That is until I can afford another one!

 

Thanks to the worryingly unseasonable weather things and having seen off a series of weekend guests things are beginning to stir at Wallace Creek with scenery being repaired and some of the curves being relaid to a more generous radius for more reliable running. Generally its only one or two locomotives that have occasional problems so I am hopeful this will solve it for a more trouble free season.
I have aslo built a wheel cleaner "a la Gormo" which is working reasonably well - better than the cotton buds I had used before.
The Wallace Creek side of the layout is working and yesterday was spent going through all my boxes and drawers having a tidy up and making sure things were properly sorted and easy to find. Three weeks into the operating season I will be wondering where the heck everything is mind you.
Next weekend if its warm enough I shall relay the gorge end of the layout again with more generous curves and new track then its onto a selection of jobs at Mowarra Creek.
Mind you if I can get the circuit going I do suspect the odd train may run....

 

A wet but warmish day meant I could spend most of the day in the garage and I spent the day relaying the curves at the gorge end. Over the last year or two these had come less reliable an certain locos (well the Auscision EL class) had a propensity to derail (one wheel only) at that location. The purchased last year 45 Class is another troublesome beast so along with a troublesome passenger brake testing after the relaying began. Before the wires were connected the trouble some MHO was hand propelled up and down with another carriage and after a little bit of push and shoe (err careful adjustment) al looked good.

I soldered up the power supply and confidently plucked 4509 out of its box for its inaugural run with the two carriages behind it. True to form it managed to derail (one wheel only) so whilst it keep going and arrived at Mowarra Junction all was still not well. After several loco only runs I worked out where the problem was and a little bit of adjustment eased the slightest of kinks in the curve. 4509 duly sailed around the curve and onto Mowarra Junction all wheels on track. Pausing briefly to pat my self on the back I switch the engine to the other end and ran it back and it managed to come off twice at different locations. Pausing briefly to consider whether another hobby may have been a better choice more adjustments were made but once you fixed it somewhere the damned (I may have used a stronger word at the time) loco leapt off. My friend Nick has adjusted this loco before (its better than it was) but still it needs more help.

70 Class 7002 was then pressed into services and it cleared all curves and points so I am sure now the problem is still with 4509. I cleaned off the Mowarra Junction side of the layout and most of it worked fine. It was as no surprise the bit that did not was the curves approaching the bridge end which were all over the place. The warping and general collision damage mean this section needs relaying again and the last job was to remove all the track and find a reliable solution (last years was all right but the curves were too tight an certain locos were banned from making the move) . I have not made up my mind what I will do here but I fear the third loop in the yard may be sacrificed to become a siding and the headshunt may be lost but I think I'd rather reliability than operational flexibility - for this season at least.

That said I have had a bigger scheme in mind for some time for that end which would involve a major upheaval and if I grasp that particular nettle that may be next weekends job. Today though, if the weather holds, I may sneak out into the garage and work fiddle yard- Mowarra - Wallace Creek as a branch line with a 1970s mixed freight focus. Really must dig the camera out as well to record all these changes.

 

And finally Wallace Creek is up and running for the summer season. Ran a few trains today although there is still a lot of scenery to get in place and ballasting to do. The photos are left to right:

• The new overhead crane at Wallace Creek Gallants Siding
• Cattle wagon acquired late last year with a worn look applied.
• New boys on parade - both are IDR models
• Old faithful Powerline 48s35 on the pipe train

 

Richard
Like a dream - really handsome little model and can cope with 6 or so wagons ( a typical WC load). Are you thinking of buying one?
D

 

I have spent this weekend improving the rather sad looking scenery at the gorge end. Previously this has consisted of a number of wargame type tiles but I decided that the smallish parcel of land between the cliff face and railway line would be better with permanent scenery. Not quite finished yet but pleased with the result so far. I re-laid the line a few weeks back and it has performed reliably so it was partly ballasted as well this weekend. The area between the line and edge of the baseboard still is tile territory and they have been refurbished with new scatter, grass etc. No photos yet (as usual) and managed to run a few trains to boot. One of the old locos - a Lima - however seized up. Fixing locos is not my strong point but the Lima is easily accessible so I took the shell off and had a look at the gears. A small piece of ballast had embedded itself in the gear mech and after its removal and a bit of oil 4483 whizzed off round the layout. They may not be up to the standard of newer models but I love those old Limas. Dave.