The sixty degree crossing from Bertram Heyn has arrived. Back in February I talked about the Trouble with gardens and curves and the need for a piece of track that only he makes to be able to link up four LGB R1 points. (Browsing through the PIKO catalogue/brochure I see that they envisage making one.... sometime....).
One think that I wasn't aware of was its DCC use and electrical isolation. So, its out with some track, and testing locomotive (Red Schoema again - I wonder if is prophetic that it arrived with DCC ID number 13 and I've not changed it).
So, we have the test run and no stalling over the connection and electrical independence was there, since when I placed it on the unconnected tracks then there was no power.
There is a slight downside though - the straight bits to fit between the points are 125mm long (I asked Bertram Heyn). This size of track is not a standard LGB size but is available from Herr Heyn. So, I guess its time for some more shopping.....
I also played around with what I propose to do (see the earlier track plan) at the bottom end due to the way the garden path and flowerbeds are. In my earlier plan I used R3 point, whereas in this example I used the R1.
A couple of years ago when I started the G scale stuff then one of the plans was the logging layout with a Shay (the "bendy train"). That soon faded upon discovering the cost of G scale shays made by Bachmann (LGB have done some as well I believe but only brass and in partnership, so they are even more expensive) were £800+, and that the circuit boards would need to be ripped out before going anywhere near LGB stuff as LGB operates at 24 volts and the Bachmann circuit boards were designed for 10 volts. If I knew then what I know now, then I should probably have bought a Bachmann Shay from G scale online and had the circuit boards ripped out. I keep looking at the Bachmann On30 stuff and thinking it would be nice to see some of the shays in the large scale.
The very first thing was the Schlitz Beer reefer LGB, and the ATSF caboose from a starter set (but no chimneys - so I wonder if they came from the demise of LGB). First locomotive was a PIKO 0-6-0 Switcher at a bargain price as some of the detailing was broken. My thoughts were to spry it blue as I liked the Darjeeling B class that was doing the rounds at that point. Management decided that they liked the black look of it though when it did Christmas tree duty in 2011. Then an LGB Porter (DCC chipped, but no sound) at a bargain price from an estate sale. And then the Cabooses.. The idea started to become that the American stuff could be played with by those who wanted to "play trains" on visits, keeping the European stuff for those who would value it.
By dint of buying stuff off ebay and cheap sales, then I've ended up with ATSF, Rio Grande and Union Pacific although there are places where they have running rights and could meet. For a long while the ATSF had two (nice) Red Cabooses but no locomotive. I'd like an LGB Forney but they never seem to go particularly cheap.
Last week I won an LGB ATSF 2-4-0 probably liberated from a starter set. I'd been put off by the pictures which always made it look a bit oddly proportioned but it arrived today, and I must that I think its rather a sweetie. It's also my first tender locomotive (again I would like a blue LGB Nicki Frank S but can't justify, or really afford the £600-£800). Bargain price felt, although I still hadn't seen one at a show. Not chipped - but DCC ready. I've done a short video to show off the valve gear - the ambient lighting is very poor, and my quick attempts to edit in i-movie have done some improvement to show off the valve gear but the actual engine is now quite poor.
The lights work, and wheels and skates would suggest little use.
And to finish, a couple of pictures of it posed with the PIKO 0-6-0, and an LGB 0-4-0 Porter.
OK, so last year was a bit of a washout on the progress front.
I'm determined this year to make some progress to enable the situation where I can come home on a balmy summer evening, connect all the wires up, and with a "toot" be off....
As part of that, then today I have just ordered a particular piece of track from Bertram Heyn which has a specific place within what I'm intending to do, and if works OK I can see me getting a couple more.
It's a simple X piece of track - but one which LGB don't make.
(Pictures are unashemedly borrowed from Bertram's site).
It's usefulness is the ability to end up with this, using four R1 points...
Which I estimate will have a width not exceeding one of my decking boards.
As always, with brand new things its not especially cheap, but there's no LGB alternative (the double slip is probably too shallow.
Looking forward to getting this, and report on how it works with LGB will follow.
I'd mentioned in my 2013 a brief update that I'd been doing infrastructure of various forms, one part of which was the rolling road. Well, they finally arrived and very useful they are too...
Friday saw the collection of the latest upgrade/addition although the twin had been done before Christmas. The is the LGB Spremberger loco, which seems to have been a staple of starter sets (and digital starter sets) for many years now, despite the original currently believed to be rusting away in a warehouse in France.
I quite like the industrial, squat shortness of the design compared with the Stainz.
The original ran on the Spremburger Stadtbahn
There's some modern pictures of the Stadtbahn here:
The loco was factory chipped by LGB but no sound. With the original currently awaiting restoration then there is no dedicated chip and to get away from tthe Stainz and small loco, it was fitted with Massoth 8210120 which is the HSB Fiffi and Pfiffi
LGB do a model of this (e.g. number 22801) which is a 2-6-0 in real life.
Here's a vido of the real Pfiffi in action on the Harz. As I'm unlikey to model the Harz in a "realism" sense, then its doubtful that I will ever own one of the LGB models. The LGB Harz and Rhb stuff that I've seen often has a higher build quality and detail than some other items, presumably because of the demand from collectors and hobbyists.
The end result is a definate throaty "chuff" sound which I think suits the square and squat Spremberger very well. The nameplates and renubmering need to be fixed, but that is another blog post as they say.
