Track Progress

[Shawki Shlemon]

Hi DJ
I just checked my toes , they still have hair on them and i am 71 , does that means , I am still OK ? ;D

[drjohn]

Dunno if I should put these pics here or not, but here goes:-

First steam-up with my new grease-top courtesy of the long-gone circlip:- As I can only put one pic in each post with this strange upload facility, I'll post a few posts.

DJ

Attachments:

[drjohn]

Och this picture posting is beyond primitive - next try - and this will be the last one:-

DJ

Attachments:

[russell]

Careful of those hot coals!

Russell.

[ozzie46]

DrJ< A question If I may. On the axles I figuren they have to be pretty spot on from left to right as far as distance from each other but is there an allowance of a few thou difference?

Ron

[drjohn]

Hi Ron - the distance between them front back is not important, it's just a matter of making the coupling rods fit the wheel spacing. If the driven axle (the middle one) is not in the designed position, it will mean recalculating some of the lengths of things like eccentric rods etc.

DJ

[ozzie46]

Thanks DrJ.


Ron

[drjohn]

Not really track progress as such - just some of my home planted stuff fruiting - mainly for Tel

Bananas



And mangoes grown from seed-



DJ

[Shawki Shlemon]

How big is your army of workers , four in one picture , our club sometimes will be lucky to get that many . ;D , are they paid workers or volunteers ? Your track looks good , your relaxed rules even better , Good luck to you , we can't all have the same , can we ?

[drjohn]

Eat your heart out Shawki - I have 6 workers doing the cement work on the wall at an average of $100 AUD per month wage.

And they do all the heavy work like carrying the loco, setting up the trolleys etc etc - I'm spoilt rotten - that's why I live here and not in civilisation.

DJ

[Shawki Shlemon]

Good for you DJ , I am very happy for you . I can't complain as I am in an established club which has a good facility and unlike a lot of clubs we have monthly play day ( every third Sunday ) plus we can go and play/test our engines on any Saturday which is essentially money earning day during which we run 1 or 2 large locos to haul passengers but we are allowed to run our engines as well . We also have all gauges 2.5 , 3.25 , 5 & 7.25 inch .coal/ char is supplied by the club free . I am sure that you will still make the choice you have and I can understand the benefits . I was just curious of so many workers there . Good luck to you , we can't all be/get the same .

[drjohn]

Since it's all a bit quiet on the forum, I thought I'd post a few pics of the track progress. I now have signboards for the various bits:-

In the background of this one is the ladies' toilet! Lol - too lazy to go into the house!



Hawoo halt refers to my now 6 foot long monitor lizard (called a Haw - pronounced "how" here) who lives out of shot on the right!



This will be where the "tunnel of love" will be constructed, but that's on hold just now as I'm excavating a swimming pool in the front garden - just a wee one - 45 feet by 15 feet.




Continuing round the track -




My favourite bit -



And then the bloody awful 1:20 climb which I can only manage with me and one other passenger.



Followed by the precipitous descent at 1:17 back down over the bridge to kitchen depot. Gotta be ready with the pole reverser to hold it from running away on the downhill - it would be extremely difficult with a screw reverser unless there were efficient brakes fitted to the loco - brakes on the driving trolley do nothing - just sledging!

I had a visit from 30 engineering students on the island last sunday - pics can be seen on my website www.dr-john.org if you go to the Bantayan section and click on the picture of a load of students in black tee-shirts.

Very gratifying. To me this hobby is all about bringing enjoyment to myself and others and stimulating a desire to get the fingernails dirty.

DJ

[drumkilbo]

Awfy braw, min

[Shawki Shlemon]

DJ , you certainly have made a good choice for how and where to live and play , enjoy and all the best .

[drjohn]

Thanks Shawki, but as you might imagine it isn't all a bed of roses. The major drawback is not having anyone else who understands what I'm doing, plus having to carry the can for absolutely everything that goes wrong - burst water pipes, blown up generators, massive termite attacks, etc etc etc. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I've always been a loner, so it suits me pretty well.

DJ

[Tel]

Now how did I miss all these updates? Never mind, I've caught up now. I do envy you your banana tree tho'

[drjohn]

A bit off topic but fun!

Getting a bit bogged down as I'm now building a swimming pool in the front garden so I can get a bit of exercise and get the belly down as everyone here is complaining!! - the digging by hand is almost done - over 100 tons of stuff dug out.



Video of the climb up bodega bank will follow if I can extract them from my buddy's fancy camera.

DJ

[Tel]

Swimming pool? Are you sure that's not a disposal pit for old crab shells?

[drjohn]

Good heavens Tel - what do they teach you at school in the land of the aborigines?

Old crab shells get sold to Japan where they crush them and make some restricted substance which they either snort or rub on their bottoms - never found out quite what the little Nips do with it! ;D ;D ;D

DJ

[gwr1475]

Now pay attention to the doc Tel. What have you learned about crab shells? lol ;D