Our scrapbook - Barchester Towers Railway (Page 6 - 2011 and 2012)

Started in February 2006, these scrapbook pages are where we can put some of the photos and stories that don't belong elsewhere. If you want to print these photos, you might care to ask for the original as the ones on this page are compressed for display. Of course if you have any story or photos to add please send them to us! There are some YouTube movies on this page - you might have to tweak your browser to see them.

Back to Barchester Towers Railway home page.

Scrapbook - Page 1: 2006. Page 2: 2007. Page 3: 2008. Page 4: 2009. Page 5: 2010. Page 7: 2013.

Summer holidays, 2011 - Not a good start to the year. We thank everyone for the sympathy expressed..


In this place the line passed through some creeping vines. Rather than clearing them we hope to be able to train them out of the way of the trains (Valentina inspecting). The truck load of bricks is for proving the bridges.


Here's why growing fruit around here is not such a good idea. These young deer are feral, their parents are worse.


Alopi, Madeleine and Rani at the top end

...
Willy wag-tail in her mud nest.


The boys helped Maddy to make this catmaran.

Sometimes it feels like we need to wear earmuffs. The Barchester Blowflies are upon us ...

and on the phone ...


and checking a spanner.

An ABC story about cicadas is here.
Shizuka's first visit - not so much light at this time. She does seem to be enjoying herself while driving from bottom to top. We have had a record wet autumn so the bush is quite green for winter.　Other than a dead juvenile red-bellied black snake, there was not much wildlife this trip.


しずかさんは可愛いね？

Later we found that the snake was made of rubber, probably dropped by a disappointed kookaburra! And later Shizuka decided that she had had so much fun down under that she came back from Japan - not once, but twice more within seven months.
Service Suspended!


This tree came down in a spring storm, fortunately missing the rails, unfortunately falling foul of the track. We are not going to run short of firewood next winter.

October 2011; The antechinus was here.


Green parrot


Ha and Annie


Caterpillar congress


Not my house, not my cat.


Soon open for traffic again.


January 2012: Sienna driving with Edith.


Sienna with Edith's camera.


They tell us that this fellow is a not a Brown Snake, rather it is a legless lizard! The difference is that we can see the holes which are vestigal ears. So watch what you pick up.


March 2012: John came to visit and so was conscripted to fill a few trucks.


April 2012: Annie and Asami, including walk in Bouddi National Park
November 2012 - Some work on the home garden railway.


To fit into our small yard we need very tight curves, more like a street tramway than a heavy railway, so our latest vehicle is a tram.


Here is a quickly built truck for carrying tubs of soil etc.

For those who might be interested, the wheels are made from pressed steel. They are very narrow (as were the wheels on the old Sydney trams). While they are working well on the garden line I expect there will be problems on the main line with imperfections and point frogs (as happened sometimes when the Sydney trams were transferred over the heavy rail main line).

On the left is a proof-of-concept maximum-traction style power bogie built using an electric tricyle geared motor. Most of the load is carried by the driven axle while the remaining load is carried by another pressed steel wheel set. As this system might be an economical way for others to get into home railways, here are some of our suppliers:

Observations: The chain is noisy because the motor comes with a bicycle sprocket while the chain and the axle sprocket are industrial 08B style. Possible solutions are to grind out the sprocket to better fit the heavier chain rollers, find a way to fit a bicycle sprocket to the axle or make a special platewheel for the motor. The motor itself seems to have ample speed and torque, even when running on 12V (it is rated 450W at 24V).

As with all our proof-of-concept devices, it either will not work and it will be improved until it does, or it will work and will not be improved much, beyond perhaps a coat of paint.

Some pictures to end the year:


Eatern Water Dragon


King Parrot


Cycad in fruit


Lace Monitor (goanna)


Jinhwa


We found this under some lantana. If you ever wondered where your milk bottle tops went, or why your knickers are missing or on the ground (but only the ones you hung up with blue pegs), then here is the culprit. A satin bower bird built this to attract its mate. They then nest elsewhere, but don't return the decorations.


Last run for the year, the soil is for repairs rather than building anything new for the time being.


No rest for the wicked! Low rainfall on the Central Coast this year gave us a chance to get some fallen timber out of the dam. We might turn this one into a fence post.

Back to the main page: BTR. Scrapbook Page 1: 2006. Page 2: 2007. Page 3: 2008. Page 4: 2009. Page 5: 2010. Page 7: 2013.

This page is: http://dazed.org/btr/2011/scrpbk11.htm (Page 6: 2011 and 2012).

This line last edited: 1 January 2013.