Hoorn Steam Tram Museum Part II - the video

So, onto the video which is a medley of footage shot to and from Medemblik from Hoorn.  

And to finish the Hoorn posting, their exhibition of various narrow gauge rails, the signal box and a goods van (which again matched LGB box vans).  

All in all an excellent day trip.  

Chris

Real Trains (a pseudo Stainz ?): Hoorn Steam Tram museum 6 November 2011

OK, I have finally (despite mum's dementia, my bad back, my sciatica, the rats from the new school build at the end of the end of the garden, and the rain) sorted out my photos and composed a video medley of my trip last year out to Hoorn.

Hoorn steam tram museum is about 30-40 mins north of Amsterdam central by train, so when I was over last year for the wargames convention that is Crisis at Antwerp I took advantage and went up to Hoorn on Sunday.  The main (only?) hotel in town was a tad expensive (albiet of good quality) but within sight of the station so chosen.

I had a really good day on the Sunday.  No namby pamby Health and Safety laws in the loco sheds, and once I was offered the chance to get into a cab, then I'm off.  Ever since I went to Amsterdam for the first time and the De Hems pub in Soho then I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the Dutch.  On this Sunday they were on excellent form - singles and couples to the front two coaches, and the all important coach near the locomotive from my viewpoint - larger groups to the bigger coaches at the back and nearer the buffet cars which may have sold alcohol....

I should have taken the SLR but travelling light all I took was the compact, which in turn decided to play up during the visit and went away to be repaired on my return.

First up is views in the loco shed....
Bit of a tight squeeze and one for an aerial wide angle lens I suspect...

And then we get to the one that I climbed inside.... 

And then we start to get ready for "the off"

The service was hauled by number 16 - "Medemblik"

With valve gear that looks very similar to the LGB Stainz.

The coaches were very similar to LGB models...

I think I'm pushing the limits now of blogger for a single page/post so onto page 2, featuring the video. 

Chris

Excuse me Madam, an Ebay Bargain and some scenery

Excuse me Madam, but that's a pretty good teletubby impersonation...

One of the relatively more expensive aspects of G scale railways seems to be figures.   I suspect its a limited market , and the stuff has to be tough enough to survive outside.  Following a post on G scale Central then I was alerted to the the Star Wars keyring figures.  OK, so a few Start Wars figures (the original post has an R2D2 unit rather than Padme, and they are hiding at a building alley corner) on a layout aren't going to be to everyone's cup of tea, but at around £3 each off ebay then 'm happy with them for a bit of fun.  OK, so the holes from the key rings will need to be filled in and there's the "official" product on the back of the coat, but a bit of paint will solve that.  

The keyring bits just screw out.  Here's some shots with another Ebay bargain and a Preiser Train Driver and LGB station staff for comparison.  

The Caboose was one of those Ebay bargains that once I'd won it, I began to wonder what had I missed in the pictures ?  Prices for LGB (as opposed to other G scale stuff) has crept upwards over the 12-18 months I've been following stuff providing its unmodified and complete.  I could see that this was missing the chimney but all the handrails appeared to be there.   The original plan was to re-spray it for use as a logging caboose but when it arrived it was in such good condition that I shall leave it for now.  

Trawling the fancy goods shops came up with some more scenery for the layout.  AT £3 each then I consider them to be a bargain.  The VW bus is a German classic icon and much sought after today - I overhead a couple of work colleagues talking about split windscreen (older and more desirable I think) vs single windscreen types.  I ended up with a couple and look set to ultimately respray one for a post service vehicle.  A look for German postal musuem brought up a picture of one (the original is in the Museum for Communication in Frankfurt).

Chris

Advancing in the Dark Arts

Last week saw a major move forward in the dark arts.  Fellow G scaler down here was having problems with DCC and asked for my help: which shows how desperate things were.   Got the gear but  now getting nothing - no sound, no light, no motor - could I pop round....

So, the Monday before  set to and had a bit of a play with the Dimax on decoder programming - scary stuff...   Changed some loco D's and (sound of trumpets please...) some CV's.  In my case it was to get the extra sounds (on Function buttons 10-16) that live on the Massoth chip.

Success on my part and the following night - scary stuff - but a factory re-set by rewriting a CV (which got us sound and light) but no motors and then after a bit of testing and thinking a motor re-set which got the motors working.  End result one happy G scale, one happy G scaler's wife (as G scaler is now not so grumpy as his new toy works) and a success.  Thanks must go to G scale central forum which provided lots of useful help and advice before the big evening.

Since then I've enabled the remaining sounds on the remaining locos.

This is one of the Stainz showing that the yellow functions are now working, and in particular the bell at item 15.  

One of my favourites now has to be the "gong" sound on the U class.

New arrival, nameplates and changes

One year on and all sorts of things are firming up.

The whole idea of the Lake Constance/Bodensee inspired railway - to enable me to have German / Austrian and Swiss stock int eh same place at the same time.  I've been researching that with a bit of a what if as some of the islands compare favourable with the Rügen Islands and Wangerooge both of which have railway networks. More on that later though.

One of the nice things about Austrian G scale is the Austrian U class.  The Zillertal loco (0-6-2T) was an early purchase and had a nice feel to it and a comfortable size (340 mm long) and ever since then I look longingly at the others as they come to ebay.  Within the others there were two particular favourites, a Green lined yellow or a Grey lined red compared with the black of the Zillertal.  Well, when I collected the things detailed in the Long overdue update Part 1 I saw a Grey U class.  After some thought I thought I'd go for it, and its been chipped with the dedicated Massoth chip.  Its a tiny bit pre-loved (like lots of my stuff) with tiny details like a broken whistle but I've bought my stuff to run, not become shelf queens.  

Unfortunately darkness fell before I could get any really good pictures or video outdoors, so this is a quick indoor shot as I checked out all the functions on the chipping.  

This should double head with the Zillertal too: hopefully at the weekend I should be able to check if that is feasible.  More pictures of the Austrian Stock when I cover the Lake Constance. 

Tonight also saw a bit more more of turning things around.  The Spreewald (see the Boys just wanna run trains post) was given its own dedicated sound card, which meant that the sound box van was now redundant on the same ID number.  

A long while back (just after christmas) I took delivery of some custom nameplates from Narrow planet following them featuring on the Elly, James and Keith light railway where James had been doing some scratchbuilding.  I need to do a photo of what I had done, but they included a set for Ann to "name" her own loco (Projekt X having gone on the back burner a little) and she's chosen one of the Borsigs..

I still need to fix the nameplates on (rather than using white tack) and I know (before the purists say anything) that the running number is completely wrong for a narrow gauge loco (which should start 99) but this number will have some meaning for Ann. There's a makers name badge as well which I haven't fixed on.  

The Borsig is LGB factory chipped (but with no sound), so I altered the box van ID to match the loco Id, so there is sound.   There will be a slight issue as the whistle button ID is 1 which is also the same as the smoke generator but that will just have to be lived with for now.  With no specific chip for the Borsig (the original has been in a warehouse I think since 1982 and not fired up) then it may be one of the last locos to be given sound as an alternative is chosen.  

   

One year on: Of magazines and help

As a complete newcomer then its been a learning curve since day one.  (I'm working on my post of things that I shouldn't have done or bought).

One thing I intend to cover is what books have made it onto my bookshelf but first I remind people of the magazines and some helpful videos.

Garden Railways is the American bi-monthly magazine and I was bought a subscription last year for my birthday and I really look forward to the magazine coming through the door. I've even bought a couple of back issues on specific topics.  What I discovered today is that they have put some introductory videos on line.

Whilst from a more English perspective there is The model Railway Channel which has put the Mark Found videos up on the internet.  There's a link to part 1, but there are lots on the whole series which I didn't see first time round.  

And then there is the English published Garden Rail which I always have a look at and have been buying most issues, but if there is too much live steam and/or brass scratchbuilding then I have occasionally not bought it and put the money into the train fund instead.  

Unsung Heroes

At the one year stage then it's taking stock and lessons learned etc.

One of the things was my 'unsung heroes".  I got both of these fairly early on, both second hand and both off ebay (on which I think have been lucky loco wise, and not bought any problems.  I'm somewhat wiser on rolling stock, where mistakes are fortunately somewhat cheaper).  And they weren't extremely expensive either.

When I want to check if track is live, or run something quickly then these are the two engines that I reach for most, especially the diesel with its handy compact size, shape and handling.  There doesn't feel as if there is too many fragile bits to come loose.

Boys just wanna run trains....

So, after a week's holiday in the Outer Hebrides which was train (if not railway) free, then on the first weekend back AND a dry Sunday then I wanted to be able to run trains.  Ideally show off in video the new track cleaner and bo-bo diesel that were pictured in the last post.

So, we had one quarter that is nice and level on decking as a result of previous labours.  The rest was a bodge job to get a circuit up and run trains.

Alas, I learned some lessons.  First of all the track was grubby - no surprise there given the amount of rain we have had.  Much more important was a lesson about points (turnouts) - some of the ones down haven't got motors or manual switches - which means that they are free to move.   With a bogie engine (bo-bo) or truck (Snowplow) this seems to meant hat after the front bogie has gone over the point, the blades decide that they would like to move.  This causes both a derailment, and in the case of the bo-bo a short circuit.

I did get the bo-bo to push the snowplow with a brick in it for a quarter circuit though until it encountered a point though.  So, there's clearly enough "oomph" in the engine for the job for which it was bought which is good.

Because the night was drawing in, and therefore getting cooler and damper, then we had a derailment caused by a slug on the track.  I'd like to report a fatality but unfortunately we just have a bit of a squish...

Unable to show off the new toys (and the Pulsed smoke Stainz may have stopped making smoke) then it was out with the newly revised chipped (Massoth XLS - so with Sound, rather than the more basic decoder it originally had) Spreewald and a carriage with lighting..

Long Overdue Update - Part 2

July is my birthday.

Despite dropping heavy hints the CFO (SWMBO) didn't see fit to say that she had ordered me in advance the new LGB Allegra set with sound (a mere £1,500 plus), the brass LGB/Aster shay or the Sports Car.   I do have a bit of cash to get a goods wagon with brakesman's hut that is raised up on steps, but the Jever versions seem to be commanding high prices on German ebay at the moment and it may well have to go to plan B for an alternative.   No news on that as I haven't ordered it yet and it will not now be done until after my return from holiday.

My brother - who if he had the time and money would I guess be a live steam fan (he has had Mamod's but I get the impression that the Accurecraft/Brandbright models are just so much better and powerful) -  sent me a wooden signal box to go with the tunnel he had made me for Christmas.

Together with some winter warmer for the signalman after he goes home.  

Roof, floor and base are all detachable.   I will probably fit some plastic "glazing' and paint it, although not sure about colours.  Meanwhile, the CFO is convinced that the "tunnel" is really an engine shed, waiting for some doors....

Long Overdue update - Part 1

I've not forgotten the blog - more busy with the trails of life (mum and dementia, OR me and a bad back/sciatica) and have been busy reading books/magazines (its been rather wet to get into the Garden), and forging ahead.   If I regret anything at the moment it's lifting the "temporary" loop that I put down in the good weather in Feb/March as I could easily have then nipped out and run trains in the few clear spells we have had.  

Iscatalbahn has moved forward on several fronts since the last post....

Digital Control - I've upgraded to LGB MTS 3.  Essentially this means the purchase of a new 'central station" capable of handling the Dimax Navigator.  For an LGB MTS user then the upgrade benefits seem very negligible (one extra address, possible other benefits) but the MTS 3 kit works with the Dimax Navigator.  The digital starter set that I purchased came with MTS2 but with a booklet (typical LGB at the end of days) that suggested it had an MTS 3 central station and would therefore work with the Dimax Navigator.  Around Christmas time I got a second hand Dimax Navigator and wireless receiver through an offer via the G scale central forum after discussions about DCC/MTS/Dimax.  Seems like I'm getting lots of stuff from estate sales or (older) people giving up, although I suppose they know its going to a home to be used and I've offered running rights on visits if appropriate.  For me, the big difference aside from access to 128 loco address (rather than 22) is the access to 16 sound buttons rather than 8.   Dragon G scale used to offer a 5% discount to member of the G scale Central Forum AS WELL as probably the cheapest prices in the UK and a nice postage structure but a decision was taken to end the discount.   With already probably the cheapest prices then I can't say I was surprised but it brought forward the purchase of the MTS 3 central station from my viewpoint.  The idea had always been that I could have this as the reward for breaking the 16 stone weight loss barrier, but with current interest rates giving pence on accounts, then the decision was made (by me) that I could have it early....  

And I have to say that I am very pleased with the Massoth Dimax Navigator.  No pictures I'm afraid as I really need to understand the control booklet and post something meaningful.   Equally so, I'm glad that I have the LGB controls for the ham fisted adults / responsible grandchildren from next door which are simple to use and with 99% of what I have deliver all that there is.  

Rolling stock.  Ever since the Chief Financial Officer (CFO - SWMBO) discovered that I had what purported to be a "working snowplow" then she has been waiting for the winter and snow to see it in action.   Problem here was something with enough 'oomph" to push it forward, meaning a two engined locomotive.   I'd been considering the 251 class (diesel), and the Saxon IV K (Meyer) with cardboard mock ups of both (The PIKO Taurus would have had the oomph but at 71.5 cm long would just have been too big for the garden): the 251 class seemed quite specialised (only 3 made) and the Saxon seemed long and I didn't relish the the thought of letting it near snow in the event of real snow, given all of its cubbyholes and intracacies.  So, when someone on the G scale central forum starts pulling up a garden railway and mention is made of a digital double engine diesel then I enquire about the price.  

End result is a number of further acquisitions for the Iscatalbahn line...

So, there is:

a) LGB 21950 - Austrian Diesel...  built for the narrow gauge lines (sixteen at least)

b) Track cleaning loco (digital) - I asked if there was anything else digital and the reply was this at a very reasonable price.  The extreme wet weather this year as caused to me see the sense of this.  And it can also be run in non track cleaning mode, giving me an ordinary looking big diesel.  

c) Two blue/cream short coaches.   In some ways these go with the blue Stainz but are also (I believe) typical Austrian colouring from a particular era.  A later post (I wont have time tonight to set up the photographs) will expand on the passenger coaches/steam locos on the Iscatalbahn line and which will reflect the inspiration of a Lake Constance/Bodensee line, with mixed Austrian/ German/Swiss traffic.  

d) Blue Stainz.  Very much of a "why not" purchase.  I've wanted a blue loco for some time now after seeing pictures of the real life Darjeeling loco that was on loan around England...

 

and which had featured in Narrow Gauge World Magazine.  

e) Lastly the DB Otto.  I've been going down an American sideline for alternative running after getting first of all some brightly coloured reefers/box cars and cabooses for the ham fisted adults / responsible children to play with (whilst keeping the quality German stuff away from them) when I got hold a PIKO 0-6-0 dockside Switcher (small fittings broken - so bargain price - yet to digitise) and an LGB 0-4-0 Porter (second hand at a good price) on which I just liked the colour and lines.   This had led to the discovery that the Porters made by LGB in the early 1990's (e.g. Casey and Rusty) were sourced out to Korea and there were quality control issues over the plastics.   The chassis is shared by the Toy Train " Otto".  Fred (forum member) offered me the chance of a Porter at a good price whilst I was discussing Korean Porters on the forum.  Not until I get there do I discover that it is in fact a DB Toy Train rather than an "Otto" and is rather fetching in fairly dark green livery.  Being DB it also fits in very well with what I already have.  So, rather than go to be base of an American themed Porter, this will be chipped as is.  

Chris

Rain Continues to stop play: but I have a new friend (LGB 50040)

Domestic life has been a bit up/down with mum now in/out of hospital twice in the space of a month.  Nothing especially serious - although nothing should be taken for granted given her age - but draining nevertheless as one deals with the endless round of hospital calls / meals on wheels calls / carer calls...

Rain has continued to frustrate play on Iscatalbahn...
The following should give an indication of how wet and unpleasant it has been.

We did have a brief gap of a few hours one Sunday ( I think) when I managed to fashion a curved trackbed for the R3 outer loop.  A few hours work - measuring and cutting and fitting and checking -.   

It may not seem like much but aside from cutting the board there is also the base of the blue brick beneath it  so that the wood is not in much contact with the soil to prevent rot for a while.

As an indication of how much rain we have had though here is a bit of track - which was going blue from the weather...

Which brings me to a new good friend - the LGB Track rubber (part no 5004/50040).  The abrasive pad is some sort of acrylic mix (rather than sandpaper) and cleans track quickly and with a minimum of mess - there is some degrading of the material to clean away, but it is far superior to Brasso (which I had been using - and which is smelly and messy) and appears to be nowhere near as harmful to the actual brass as sandpaper.  Equally good is that replacement pads are available from Massoth too...   Following results are after only a minute or so of work on the aforementioned track.  Second pictures shows two of the cleaners (I discovered a "used" one in one of the second hand train sets I have bought).