Penhayle Bay

[Ralph]

restored trackwork looks just right, good to read the Western's are behaving now.

[Colin parks]

Hi Rick,

 

I have enjoyed looking at the latest pictures of your layout. The sweeping curves by the clay dries are very effective. Reading about the various types of animals that get into the layout space makes it all the more amazing that the layout survives virtually outside and in extreme heat. You must have very large expansion gaps on your track!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Gwiwer]

Thanks Colin

 

The track was first laid with rail ends butted up and touching.  For the first few lengths that didn't matter as there was enough expansion available through unsecured ends to cope with the heat.  Once I had a decent length of track down however I got a couple of small buckles as things warmed up.  That was a beginners mistake.  Since then I have laid track according to the conditions prevailing on the day.  Under 10C I'd leave a 2mm gap, 10 - 20C I leave a 1.5mm gap; 20 - 30C I leave a 1mm gap and above that if it's not too hot to work I leave about 0.5mm.  

 

I try never to touch the track with the air temperature above 40C as it will be in a lot of stress.  I also don't place trains onto the track in the hot sunny spots as they have come from the house (with the benefit of air-conditioning!) and their  metal wheels can be a very different temperature to the rails.  I'll let them warm up for a while still in the storage boxes then place them on the track in a shady area where the temperature difference isn't quite so marked.  So far the maximum railhead temperature recorded (twice) has been 57C and I have nothing but praise for the durability of Peco track in these conditions.  It isn't perfect for the fine scalers among us but it's virtually indestructible.

[Sasquatch]

Love the lastest set of pictures Rick. your layout is one of my absolute favorites.

Everyone seems to think Oregon is cold but believe me it can get hot in the summer. This year it got up into the 100s and stayed there for nearly 2 months. The layouts lived in a lean to in the garage at our last house and the track expanded in the heat there.

My solution was to loosen the base board joints which slot together and fasten with coach bolts. The new building will be well insulated and have an air conditioning unit  but I will still make sectional boards to be sure. It will make wiring easier too.

 

Regards Shaun

[SRman]

I agree with you regarding Peco code 00 track, Rick. When people are silly enough to ask for my advice I always recommend that and nothing else, from experience in the past with other brands in Queensland and Victorian conditions.

 

I have some track (in sidings) that date from earlier layouts but I always use new track for the main lines on a new layout.

 

I have been fortunate in that my layouts have always been indoors - no aircon though - but I know a few modellers with layouts either outdoors or in uninsulated sheds. One guy known to you and me had track buckling problems when the temperature went over 40 degrees C outdoors (over 50 degrees in his tin shed!) and ended up with nearly 3mm gap in mid-Winter but no gap in Summer for one long straight stretch of double track.

[Gwiwer]

It may be pouring with rain here but the railway has been running nicely this evening and I took the opportunity to grab a couple of snaps with only the layout lighting in use.

D1677 named Thor and a brand new arrival here rolls through Penhayle Bay above the Bristol FLF bus waiting hopefully for trade.



While round at Treheligan "Western Viscount" pauses with a late evening passenger train and overtakes the waiting milk tank empties.

[Ralph]

looks good with just the layout lights on, great shots.

[P.C.M]

The  Western looks great Rick, I remember seeing Thor back in the day though it was blue when I saw it. It was one of the regular Western Region Namers we used to get on the Bournemouth line.

BRMA Meeting  Saturday if your are interested.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Gwiwer]

Cheers Peter.

 

The namers were usually on London turns as I remember and I think were split between Old Oak Common and Bristol Bath Road though my Locoshed Book is long gone so I can't refer back to it.  Saw a few of them through Southampton though on the Poole - York / Newcastle trains and freights and all of them over the years at Paddington or in the Thames Valley.

 

I did see most of them in green as well as blue but I also started a few years before you.  "Python" came through Salisbury on an Eastleigh-bound freight one time absolutely filthy and with large chunks of green paint flaked off but still had the nameplates on!   I'm trying not to add any more blue locos to the fleet now but green is a little under-represented.

 

Occupied elsewhere on Saturday sorry.

[P.C.M]

No worries,

Vulcan, Cyclops,North Star and Amazon were common too, later on Fair Rosamund  became more than regular, it was like it was glued to the interegionals.

 

Cheers Peter. 

[Gwiwer]

"North Star" is also common here  It's another green "namer" in the fleet.

[D1059]

Always remember seeing 47 085 "Mammoth" for the first time - but Locoshed says its a namer  !!................no plates

[Colin parks]

Thanks Colin

 

The track was first laid with rail ends butted up and touching.  For the first few lengths that didn't matter as there was enough expansion available through unsecured ends to cope with the heat.  Once I had a decent length of track down however I got a couple of small buckles as things warmed up.  That was a beginners mistake.  Since then I have laid track according to the conditions prevailing on the day.  Under 10C I'd leave a 2mm gap, 10 - 20C I leave a 1.5mm gap; 20 - 30C I leave a 1mm gap and above that if it's not too hot to work I leave about 0.5mm.  

 

I try never to touch the track with the air temperature above 40C as it will be in a lot of stress.  I also don't place trains onto the track in the hot sunny spots as they have come from the house (with the benefit of air-conditioning!) and their  metal wheels can be a very different temperature to the rails.  I'll let them warm up for a while still in the storage boxes then place them on the track in a shady area where the temperature difference isn't quite so marked.  So far the maximum railhead temperature recorded (twice) has been 57C and I have nothing but praise for the durability of Peco track in these conditions.  It isn't perfect for the fine scalers among us but it's virtually indestructible.

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks for your explanation. There really is more to consider in such extremes of temperature than our temperate climate here. It does sound like Peco is the only choice in 00 gauge for your situation.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[Gwiwer]

Peco track isn't the only option available.  Atlas also sells quite well here for example.  But in an outdoor situation with extreme temperatures (by British standards) even the best hand-built and possibly some of the less robust manufactured track may not survive.  I'm hoping that Peco's code 75 is as good.  Obviously there's less metal and less plastic in the base but the new layout has Code 75 and is under construction outside.  Time will tell how that stands up!

[Gwiwer]

Together I fitted and wired in some new lights.  Treisaacs Farm has never had working lights.  Until recently it never even had a light.  A few months back when I tidied the area up I stuck a dummy light on the drive which I liked the look of.  Today I replaced that with two from stock which were bought ages ago for Treheligan station but failed to work as intended and were quickly replaced.  I kept them hoping they weren't blown.  They're fine.

It took a few attempts to wire back to the panel as what ever I did seemed to create a low-current backfeed to the street lights elsewhere.  That or the new ones only glowed dimly.  I couldn't trace where that problem came from so wired the new lights to the beach circuit instead of the least-loaded street light circuit.  They work perfectly wired in parallel; part of the problem was trying to wire them in series.  I still have no idea where the backfeed came from.

There is also a twin LED unit mounted inside the farmhouse now.  

Enough chit-chat.  Here's the pictures.

Seen in low-level daylight the internal famrmhouse illumination is apparent

Getting darker - the driveway lights shine out and the inside lighting looks welcoming



It's quite cosy around the back as well.  The LED unit is glued to a horizontal divider which prevents too much light leaking upstairs - there's just enough to suggest a lived-in home. 



Now fully dark and the full effect is seen.  With a train passing by in the background for good measure and the poor vegetable gardener clearly on overtime!

[Ralph]

smashing photo's very atmospheric 

[Gwiwer]

From this pristine piece of plastic: 



To this:



The loco which arrived as 37506 complete with a Thornaby depot kingfisher logo has had that identity removed and with a little help from Fox Transfers and AIM powders is now St. Blazey depot stalwart 37674 and suitably work-stained.



On the Speedlink freight passing Wheal Garden



And emerging from Penhayle Tunnel

[P.C.M]

Looks good Rick,

The only other thing I would do is maybe some black/brown paint those white bits on the bogies.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Gwiwer]

Thanks Peter

 

I agree;  that pipework refuses to take powders and tone down so it's either a light touch with the acrylic on sable or the airbrush will have to come out.

[Gwiwer]

For fans of moving trains click on the still image to bring it to life …..

 

and it's worth remembering that this is a one-man-operated DC-controlled layout.  No fancy electronics here

 

 

Edited November 1, 2013 by Gwiwer

[john flann]

Clever stuff that, Rick. Thank you.

 

There's always something new to see at Penhayle Bay.

 

Regards,

[Gwiwer]

Thanks John

 

Here's those silver bullets again this time catching some sun glint as they roll through the Bay (click to start)

 

[john flann]

Rick, I take that as an Encore!

[Gwiwer]

Sunday sometimes means engineering work on the line.  So it was today at Treheligan with re-ballasting in progress until late into the evening.  No track was replaced - this was simply a cut out and renew of ballast which had become crumbly and loose.  It's an ongoing task mostly around this time of year as cracks form when things warm up and dry out after winter.

With the civil engineer's train ready to leave Treheligan an unusual move is signalled.   The train is departing down from the up platform which is a fully signalled and fully powered move on the layout.  A down train can cross to the up platform at one of two crossovers and regains the down track as shown upon departure.   



Drawing onto the down line some patches of new ballast are visible.  These will be weathered over coming days; in our current weather conditions I need to allow at least 48 hours for the adhesive to fully go off first.



And with the engineers' possession lifted the train service can be restored.  An HST negotiates Treisaacs Junction late in the evening.



 

[d winpenny]

Great photos, really like the 37 on engineers

 

David