Trains @ Station Studios

I was fortunate this weekend to surf over to the SE Lounge website and caught sight of a “for sale” announcement for a 7/8″ scale live steam locomotive and some rolling stock. The seller was Canadian and so I made contact and made arrangements to purchase it all. The photo above shows the engine, a 7/8″ scale kit on a Accucraft Eldrig chassis.

I also got three slate wagons as part of the deal:

So, the Pen y Fan Quarry Railway is now officially begun!

So I didn’t jump on buying the Roundhouse Katie back a year ago. Rather today I made a purchase of the 7/8″ scale Davenport made by Back to Bay 6 in the UK. I follow the SE Lounge Forum rather religiously and have always been impressed by the size and quality of the 7/8″ scale model presented there. I don’t have too much invested in 1:20.3 rolling stock at the moment and several people have kitbashed Regner Konrads into 7/8″ scale. Here’s one example done by Rob Bennett:

I’m thinking of adding to my live steam collection in the new year. Keeping with the small size of the rolling stock I already have for the Lost Hollow Railway, I was thinking that the Roundhouse Katie would be a good addition. I’m definitely considering the radio control option this time around. Black or green? That is the question.

While surfing around the blog entries on the Model Railroad Hobbyist website, I came across a link to the Upper Canada and Algonquin Railway group, who are building an On30 modular layout based on the Free-Mo standard. Unlike other modular systems like Ntrak, Free-Mo sets some basic requirements, particularly around the module height and the module-to-module interface, and then lets the module designer a great deal of latitude on all other aspects. Prototype modelers have taken to the standard very quickly as it allows them to reproduce real track patterns very accurately. It also allows a lot more creativity removing the “slot-car” look of other older module systems.

I’ve always liked the Free-Mo concept especially now that I don’t have room for a full layout. I could build a couple of modules and participate when I’m around and store the modules away when I’m in the Netherlands. In addition, with Bachmann’s recent releases of On30 locomotives including Shays, Climaxes, 2-6-0′s, 2-8-0′s and 4-4-0′s, there are a lot of possibilities to mimic the Key Valley’s locomotive roster in On30.

I’ve been in touch with the UC&A group and am looking to add the Pakesley Mill and Timber Company to the consortium of companies making up the UC&A.

At long last, I’ve decided to move the train pages from an old Frontpage-based system to WordPress.  Please update your bookmarks if you are arriving from www.stationstudios.ca/pmtco or www.stationstudios.ca/gardenrwy.

I’ve taken the opportunity to update many of the research pages on the prototype Key Valley Railway. You can find all the posts on the KVR here.

If you are looking for posts on my moth-balled On3/On30 Pakesley Mill and Timber Company, please use this link.

If you are looking for posts on our first (and also moth-balled) garden railway, the Lost Hollow Railway, please use this link.

March 8: The first version of the Lost Hollow Railway has been decommissioned due to a job-related move. I still hope to make it out to the various steamups in the southeast Texas area over the next few months and rebuild the LHR at our next place.

I learned many things on the first version of the Lost Hollow:

1. The hardiplank roadbed system I used worked great for the soil here in Houston. Everything was rock solid and I had no problems with track alignment. Thanks to John Frank for his advice in this area. Details on the hardiplank roadbed system are available here.
2. I put ground zero too low. I should have raised it about 1-2″ more than I did. I had some problems with the lowest level train getting filled in with earth from higher points of the layout.
3. I should have used a retaining wall between the the upper and lower mainlines. Through the center section of the layout, the upper and lower mainlines were separated by 3 inches in vertical height and about 9-12 inches horizontally. I had difficulties keeping the earth on the upper mainline from running down onto the lower mainline. A retaining wall or crib system would have helped.
4. Switches were mostly unnecessary for this live steam layout. The small radius Aristocraft ones that I used were probably too small anyways.
5. We should have put down a weed/plant barrier in the loop sections of the layout to get a handle on the weeds. The layout got very weedy in the last couple of years.

Once again, John Frank hosted a group of south Texas live steam fans at his house for the Spring 2008 Katy Steamup. I’ve made a photo set available on Flickr.

I was a little sad because I knew that this would be my last Texas steamup for a while. Thanks to John, Steve, Ed, Dave, Caleb and all the others for welcoming me into the live steam community.

January 14: Not much to report in early ’07. I did have problem with the Konrad at a steamup just before Christmas; it failed to light properly. After ripping things apart, it looks like that there was something plugging the fuel valve.

April 28: I’ve finally resolved my firing issues on the Regner Konrad; turns out the screw joint between the brass jet fitting and the steel jet holder was leaking, which was causing poor fuel delivery to the burner. A little Teflon tape and I’m back in business! The garden has got away from me again and I’ve got some weeding and cutting back to do.

May 6: I purchased another rolling stock kit from Twin Mountain Model Works; this time, a plantation-style boxcar. It should look good at the end of the logging train or with Coach No. 2.

June 2: Construction on the boxcar is complete and it has been put into service on the LHR.

October 12: You can watch several videos of the Lost Hollow in action at our Youtube account: stationstudios.

Robin and I visited my dad and stepmother at their house in Florida over the last week. While there, we were invited by a friend of my parents to visit the Ridge Live Steamers layout in Dundee. The Ridge Live Steamers have a large 7 1/2″ gauge layout covering several acres. Our host Allen Newcombe took us all for a tour of the facilities and a ride around the layout on his diesel-powered train. Very impressive. A photo set is available on Flickr.

I’ve now also put a short video up on YouTube.

Once again, John Frank hosted a group of south Texas live steam fans at his house for the Fall 2007 Katy Steamup. There was a good turnout today and the rain held off until late in the afternoon. A wide range of live steam locomotives were run including Fowlers, Russells, C-16′s, K28′s, K37′s, Konrads, Shays, and Heislers.

I ran my Konrad for a lap or two, but spent most of the day photographing John’s terrific layout and the passage of trains across it. I’ve made a photo set available on Flickr.

I’ve also made a short video which I put up on YouTube. Another fun day.