You can never have too much track or rolling stock

Came across this on my travels...

The worlds longest G scale train ?

Sound, DCC and locomotives

The last entry on the locos provoked a comment about sound wagons.   I've actually got two of these although only one is DCC but pictures of both will serve to illustrate the principles.  

First up is an official LGB product.   In pre DCC days they obviously made a number of factory converted "sound wagons" so those with smaller engines could enjoy sounds.  I'd have to read the instruction book to see if track magnets would trigger additional sounds, but on DC it makes a steam train sound.  The wires out the front left connect to the power supply socket on the rear of the (DC) loco and as the track power is increased (thus meaning more speed), the chuff increases.   The speaker is floor mounted.  I bought the coach because I wanted the style of 4 door coach and the price was right (excluding sound) on German ebay.  

 The 9v battery will serve to provide power in the event of track failure, such as going across points or an isolation track.  

Next up is what somebody lovingly crafted and I bought with the Spreewald.  A standard LGB DCC sound module has been fitted inside a (resprayed) goods wagon.  This has a digital decoder fitted and thus has its own ID - currently set to number 1 (it should be possible to change this).  When placed behind a loco with the same ID, then the sounds increase as the loco increases speed and the other sound functions (bell, whistle etc) are also available (in reality the same message is being sent to two decoders with the same ID number).

With its own DCC ID then it is possible to have this wagon sitting on its own making noises as if it was a loco: so it really needs to stay permanently behind the loco.  One of the problems with sound - in all scales I suspect - is finding place and a suitable mounting for the loudspeaker.  Recent technology has produced a range of thin, almost flat loudspeakers which are idea for mounting in the cab roof of a loco which seems to be a favoured place.  Power pick up is via the track (see wires to take power off the wheels, but again some sort of buffer (Capacitors?) have been fitted so that in the event of isolation (e..g point frog etc) the sounds will continue to play.   

A tale of two red locomotives...

For a while I was aware that a "red" steam locomotive would keep the co director somewhat happy.   The problem to those G scalers out there will be readily apparent: LGB (nor did anybody else) didn't make many red locos, and those that they did, tend to command a price premium.  (With Christmas looming I was contemplating a James - the red engine - from Bachmann).

I'd been bidding one Ebay over the summer on various ones as they came up whilst I got a feel for what would pass as the current 'market rate',with neither of the red engines of which I was aware being currently in production.

Thus informed I placed a reasonable bid on the Corpet Louvet loco on ebay.  (LGB 20790).  Unchipped and no sound but nice and red and shiny...  Which I won....  The marks are where I've removed the nameplates originally affixed: I'm working(waiting on proofs) on some new ones.

Well, Murphy's law comes into affect at this point as a Cambrai (photo below) appears second hand (at a reasonable price) with one of the dealers.   The Cambrai comes ready chipped and with factory fitted LGB (generic) sound...  This was a big plus if I was looking at the secret re-naming projekt (as the disassembly of the Stainz for Projekt X had taught me much about renaming and respraying and source material) and deadlines and Christmas.  

The running gear is the same at the earlier Corpet Louvet (albiet coloured red) since it is another Corpet Louvet but this has the red coloured domes but plainer (black rather than gold) fittings.  From a dealer this was a fixed price and I must have dropped on it within  a couple of hours of it being posted as being available.  One of the principles of bargains has got to be "buy it whilst you see it, as it won't be there when you go back", so Iscatalbahn became the owner of a second red loco and took a decided French lurch in its running stock.  

The original Cambrai can be found here - Cambrai in museum.  

The CdeN 36 is outside Paris here - CdN 36 in museum

Whilst here is a video (not mine) of CdN36 in action:

      

Locos on Parade: a photo the Co Director hasn't seen (yet!)

Are secondhand locos to G scale railway people like shoes and handbags to (most) women: you can never have enough?  Ann is somewhat aware of these coming into the house - she can tell it's a loco by its size and weight of the parcel at the post office but even she (nor I till tonight) has seen them displayed all together.

The two red engines (see next post) cost more than the sum of all the others put together probably (one is a loco from a starter set and hard to value seperately).  I've been lucky (or patient) with assorted ebay bargains and two of these come from a deceased estate sale - a Borsig top left, and a Porter bottom right.  The Porter was an indulgence - I liked the look of it, whilst the Borsig was to enable double headed running  - I figure same engine, same gearbox, same chip, then not so much to go wrong.  Same is true of the two Stainz although they have yet to be chipped.    

Of the locos, then the two green Stainz (top right) are not chipped, as is (not) the centre Corpet Louvet.  The others are all chipped, but only the Cambrai (bottom left) and Baltic (centre row and centre) have built in sound.  There is a sound wagon that originally came with the Spreewald that will provide sound to a matching DCC ID number.  

Didn't set out to end up with this many, but various 'bargains' happened along the way.   My favourite is still probably the Spreewald. (-2-6-0) whilst Ann likes the Zillertal (0-6-2) although once the red engines are up and going then I can see her allegiance changing. Currently she wants to see one (something) with the smoke oil.... 

The Spreewald - my favourite to date

The Zillertal - Ann's favourite to date.  

   

What I should have been buying...

I've mentioned before (an early post about research and inspiration - Model Railroader ) that shunting and splitting/spotting/organising trains was an early concept behind patio rails and that still remains a major operational reason.   In the article there were blue/red/black etc wagons - which in HO/OO guage were mostly small two axle wagons that wouldn't be that big.  Of course, G scale makes everything somewhat larger, and whilst I've been buying 300 mm long stuff (alot of G scale stuff on bogies is 415mm or even longer), even that at 4-5 wagons takes up alot of space.

Recently I discovered that I could Hartland Locomotive Works mini series from Back to Bay 6.  These are coming out at approx 175mm including couplings.  The cheapest way to get them is the "take and make" kits", that involve a bit of assembly and screwing (I think I assembled mine in under ten minutes).   The goods wagon has under 20 parts (including screws).  OK, so these are never going to win prizes for detail - for example there's no buffers but the moulded detail is there on bolts etc and they are certainly going to be durable.

I got a basic wagon (as above) and an ore wagon (which is in the video with the Red Diesel).  Colours can vary and are apparently a random choice although I suspect a telephone call will give you a choice from what he has in stock.   At £12.50 each plus postage I shall be back for more of these (stake wagons and tank wagons too).   

This shows them alongside comparable LGB wagons.  

Red Diesel

One of the bargains I've picked up on Ebay on my journey so far has been an LGB "Schoema" 0-4-0 shunter which cost me the price of an LGB Sound card, and came fitted with such and was already chipped.   The front headlight has moved out of the lantern and I need to unscrew the body and replace it, but for now it's my first diesel with sound.  It's got a really nice "engine turning over" sound on the start up sequence which I like.  The video isn't the best - I think my camera doesn't do very good video under artificial light (previously it's all been daylight) but some experimentation will tell.

The still photos though are the usual excellent quality I have come to expect. 

The first truck behind this is a Hartland Locomotive ore truck, followed by some LGB ore trucks. 

This last one shows a couple of POLA figures that I bought.   To me the figure on the right is thinking something along the lines of "will the boss finish speaking to his girlfriend/wife/ex about dinner/the kids/ alimony and we can all get a move on with the job and get out of the cold and into the warmth for a  coffee".   

G scale on a budget - Part 2

More pictures of ebay bargains.  I've since discovered from the original purchase of these that the plastic footsteps on the ore wagons are very prone to break, as are the plastic framing on top of the newer tank wagons (notice break front and back).  Boxed stuff is packed with plastic inserts to protect these vulnerable parts.  The tank wagon is also missing is drain plug should I wish to fill it with water and then drain it...   A little glue may save the day and repair things though.  I understand the plastic that LGB use can be somewhat glue resistant, so I'll try plastic weld and then Araldite is probably the order of the day.

G scale on a budget - Part 1

It has been said that G scale means expensive, and like lots of statements the truth is "it depends".  Those who want live steam and super detail can pay for it.   There is also the question of "new and shiny" vs the used and 'played with'.  Prices originally looked very comparable with HO/OO scale and am discovering that I may not have compared like with like.  It may seem like I have bottomless money pit for purchases but the following illustrate how "if it looks right, and the price is right, it can be right".  Possibly it also reflects my learning about descriptions on things on Ebay, especially if unboxed.

The following are pictures of the stake wagons featured earlier.  The first one has the buffer and the (detachable) vacuum pipe for the brakes.  On the second model its lost its vacuum pipe and the the third has lost its buffer and pipe.  The effect from my viewpoint of running stuff in the garden (where the originals may well have got lost in previously) is minimal.

More on Goods loads

The original philosophy was to have 'shunting and delivery" options for actual operation.   Experience and (limited) size of garden are colouring this a bit, although the discovery of Hartland Locomotive Works' small wagons (to be covered in a later post) has again altered this, this time for a more positive experience.

Anyhow, I want to have loads that are 'delivered' and look the part.  I suppose this is my reaction to riding the Chemin der Fer in Provence when we saw milk and other produce being taken on board, and newspapers and a bicycle (wrapped) being delivered: this was a working railway dong useful stuff for people.

I had previously bought some Playmobil Milk churns, and the yellow fencing is also playmobil.  The fencing was to see "put down and take up use" on the original patio concept.  The sacks are a 1:32 item from Britains - ultimately to get the sticky label taken off, resprayed and weathered and replaced with a decal of something more appropriate, probably either fertilizer from Hydro or a building item (e.g. sand, cement).  The beer crates come from two sources- the red ones come from the back of a much smaller scale lorry, whilst the Zillertal ones are from an Austrian guy aimed at G scale modellers - presumably with the famous Zillertal Beer Keg wagon from LGB in mind (I didn't originally want Green Zillertal ones) - that a German chum got for me.  Personally I suspect that these would either be transported in a box car (to protect the bottles), or a smaller wagon as part of a mixed load for one small halt.

  

Taking Stock: Goods Vans and loads

As the saying goes "have been busy" and lots of it to do with railroads both miniature and real, so lots to appear on the blog now that I'm settled for a bit.  First up on the blog is a look at my current (plain) goods wagons.  There was an article in Model Rail International 2011 (which seems to be some sort of yearly special) about the logging industry both American and Continental (mostly Austrian/Swiss and Rhb/Zillertal) but it covered making model logging loads from real timber.   I was aware of this when I engaged on the great garden tidy up and kept back some of the wood, and have added to it more recently.  One of the important things was to use wood of roughly the same diameter within a load.

I've been bidding over time on Ebay to get a number of the stake wagons - which generally seem to be in demand - at a reasonable price.  Remains to be seen if I keep all of them as logging wagons and the logs themselves still need chains etc to secure them.  The other loads get more discussion in my next post.