Model Railroading

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:11 pm

What is your favorite era, scale, prototype, and location?

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:06 pm

My favorite location is the northern iron range in Wisconsin. I love the long, heavy trains with 2 locomotives double-heading a train of 100, 20 foot long ore cars. I also like the small town, branch line, short trains with their own character. My favorite thing about the hobby is switching. I don't care if the scenery is done (yea it is nice, but as long as I can switch cars, I'm happy) I love the thinking aspect of the local freights. I run any locomotive that catches my eye. I run a Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-0 alongside of a Canadian National 2-10-2, which I run alongside of an SD45. I run Shay's alongside of Fairbanks Morse Trainmasters. I call it "The Pacific Eclectic". I even have a GG1, and I don't have catenary!

Kiwi#1 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:30 am

I hand tram my 1:1 18 inch gauge timbercars around my property. Now that's real model railroading.

Chris
in New Zealand

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:12 am

live steam?

Kiwi#1 · **Posted:** Mon Dec 10, 2012 5:28 am

Nope, hand tramming, all grades in favour of loads except the 75ft incline, no live steam. Just too much work in building, operating and maintaining for the occasional use I have. I couldn't be bothered with light ups to get 1/2 an hours use. Can you imagine how big an 18" gauge loco's boiler would be? That would attract the regulatory bodies and require my sitting of a boiler cert. Hell I didn't even want do that when I was a diesel fireman!
What I do have though under construction, is a Type A Mancha battery electric but I just haven't had the time this past year to get it completed. Maybe this coming year.

Chris
in New Zealand

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:00 am

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:10 pm

Photos? So "hand tramming", you push the cars around with the strength of your body, like I would do on my HO (I call it "using the old 0-5-0"). I need to see a picture to understand the part about the incline and what do you mean "in favor of loads"?

Chris · **Posted:** Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:06 am

mines are usually set up in favor of loads when conditions permit. tunnels and drifts are driven up hill usually at the rate of 1 foot in elevation to 100 feet of tunnel length. easier to haul empties uphill in and loaded cars downhill and out.

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:07 am

ok. so it is like the slate quarry in Thomas The Tank Engine, where the empties are hooked to a rope, and the rope is wound around drum in a cable house, and then the other end is attached to the loads, so that when the loaded cars are going down the hill, they are pulling the loads up. correct?

Doug · **Posted:** Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:49 pm

I depends on the size of the mine. On the Dirty JObs episode that mine used a Mine Loco or Motor to move loads. Very small mines may had push the cars.

Kiwi#1 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 13, 2012 6:15 am

I best chime in here before this gets out of hand Haha! My incline is at 35-37deg upwards. It is single track not a ballanced incline, the most simplest form not requiring much engineering or complexity and can have any of my cars use it. The track length is 75 ft down from the top. I use a 100ft 3/8" wire cable to lower mty's and hoist loads with my Ute on the drive way, I have several rollers at the upper vertical curve and a dragline fairlead halfway to align the cable to the driveway. This is used to move 4ft long logs out of my lower otherwise inaccessible plantation.
The rest of the tram has grades as steep as 5 % but only for a short distance. Until I get the Motor done I just push around 500lb loads, no sense in doing myself in just yet. Mostly it is all downgrade from the plantations and trailer reload to the cutting deck. All downgrade from the storage sheds to the back door and the potbelly stove.
If one has to shift a lot of firewood around why not do it in style? Maybe one day I'll drive a short tunnel into the hillside and have a sublevel off the incline.

Chris
in New Zealand

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:58 am

Quote:

If one has to shift a lot of firewood around why not do it in style?

Amen to that! that is what I plan to do when I get older and retire. (I want to be a locomotive engineer, always have. My grandparents house is within hearing distance of a yard, so I was (and still am) lulled to sleep by the chanting of 567's and others)

Kiwi#1 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:14 pm

Here's the incline... to give you an idea of the grade, the wooden rails at the bottom are level.

Chris
in New Zealand

Miner Dave · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:37 pm

so it is a derail? that is cool! what is the (scale) percentage? if it were a real railroad what would it be? I'm hoing to get a shay for the one I want to build. To me a shay says "Logging"

Kiwi#1 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:04 pm

Not really a derail like as in trap points but a removable "ladder" so there is no physical connection of the incline itself and the track at the top which curves onto a trestle out of sight to the left. That is a safety feature so no-one can leave the switch open for the incline by mistake. My young Greatniece and Greatnephew roam around here either off or on the timbercars.
The gradient is 1:2 so about 50%. I wouldn't be on it without the haulage rope. I'd like to see a Shay try to get up that!

Chris
in New Zealand

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