Ballasting on the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Today, we're ballasting the SHFR mainline extension.
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That home railroad is one of the coolest things I've seen guys, just pure awesomeness
Thanks!
Years back, a coworker and his train friends built a miniature railroad in a local park. That was a fun event for the community.
A good watch of a lovely little railway. Those two hoppers remind me of the ones on the East Broad Top Railroad. Thanks for sharing.
I'd love to find some land and do this. Have fun guys
Great video, thanks! My dad built a 7 1/2" gauge train on our 1 acre in the 80's, it was great fun.
Teacher: when you grow up, what will you do?
Me: the same thing as this guy.
But really tho, this guys really making me jealous. >:{
I run a radio station and a tiny media production company.
The guy who owns the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway builds model railroads for a living. Now there's a cool job.
At least the small hopper was easier/faster to unload ...even with its challenges ...than by shovel as demonstrated by the partial missed load. (and, ...when all else fails, rely on brute strength! -hehe) As stated, the one he designed & built, definitely works better for this setup. Enjoyed the workout gentlemen!
Hey chaps plan B. Looking at the film again looks like both hoppers are open why not try with just one open? And or blocking part of the open hopper may have a bit more control of the spread. May take a couple of runs to dump enough though. Or maybe small V shaped ploughs in front of the bogie wheels close to rail head though you would need them in front of all axles so maybe not such a good idea. Though maybe join the tops of one side the V with a piece steel on the inside of the wagon you might protect all wheels in both directions. I’m full of ideas this morning but then I don’t have to do the work. 😁 Sorry for the ramble but interesting project will follow your site as it progresses. All the best to you.
I agree, The amount of ballast being dumped seems to be an issue. Multiple passes rather than at one go.
Your ballast drop reminded me of working on the NYCYA in training.
We were too green to be trusted with the ballast drop. So an experienced gang were brought in to do the drop. At that time 1974 the hoppers were MANUAL. The notched tie was in place, the man under the hopper door ready, holding the pry stick. Well he missed and the hopper door swung wide open & the experienced gang spent the whole day shoveling. No one was injured, only their pride was severely hurt. Now hoppers are pneumatic & that can't happen.
'you haven't rolled it over yet.' famous last words...
In joke. It was a reference two of my past derailments.
Just like dumping ballasr on the 1:1 scale. The empty weight is enough to slide a "new" tie full of creosote without having the hopper truck derail. However, too much ballast ahead of the tie (due to over-eager unloading or a slowing of the train) when the dump door(s) can't be closed (which is never during manual opening and closing hopper doors), and ballast will flow over the top of the tie, pile up over the rail, and the 7-letter word "ballast" will raise the wheel tread above the rail, the pile of ballast between the rails will press against the back of the wheel just enough to force the flange toward the outside of the rail, and --VIOLA!--the truck derails ever so inexorably in front of you very eyes--long before you can stop the irreversible action or shout some 4-letter epithet.
And it won't help to turn the hopper upside down either. I admit though, that was brilliant.
I get your point. Unfortunately, it is impossible to control the flow from those cars. The gates are either open or closed. Something I mentioned to the owner of the railway. He's still in denial at the moment, but I'm certain he'll come around eventually.
My own ballast hopper was much more easily controlled before the body rotted.
glenn, you made me laugh! and remember. when i was 21 (62 now) i was working on a rail gang for the northwestern railway. we were on a double main at the commuter station in elgin, il. we were replacing one main with all new everything. the brakeman in charge didn't want to wait for the machine that would spread the ballast proper, so he had us chain an old rail tie to the ballast car so as to drag the ballast flat...some of us suggested we should wait....he wouldn't hear of it as it was nearing the end of the day...and soon commuter rush hour.... well, the pour began, and the ballast immediately got ahead of the dragging rail tie, we scrambled with shovels to pull it aside and then one ballast about the size of a fist got under the wheel, we dropped shovels and ran as the whole hopper lifted and fell off the track.... almost like in this video, but as you said, at 1:1 scale.....ha! nobody picking it up....hours to wait for the crane, great overtime and a chuckle when the big white hats showed up and started chewing the brakemans' buttocks as commuters by the droves were scrambling to get around the mess..... these guys on the vid made it look so easy...!!!!
Nice work....I really enjoyed the virtual tour nride.
Русскиееееее отзовитесь!!!
I used think I wanted a functioning hopper car for ballasting. Not sure anymore.
The best bottom dump car I have operated is the tried and true Cannonball model. It's plow is simply a built up "L" that swings off the carbody. Two pockets can be opened independently and there is a deflector plate to move the rock more to the shoulders. I haven't gotten the deflector plate to do much more than get in the way with my 5/8" minus ballast but it does show promise.
In practice it is pretty good at evenly distributing rock to rail height over about a 14" width. I tamp and level through the rock and occasionally need a second run if the sub roadbed wasn't very good. Better results than bucket and shovel and way more fun.
I had a homemade ballast car with a sliding gate and chutes. I had it set up so I could ballast without anyone helping. Sadly, that car was all wood, except for the chutes, gate and floor and the wooden pieces rotted to death. I still have the tin but the trucks are now under the snow plow.
It's nice to see the attention to detail like the little poling sockets. On the loco.
I'll bet Hobo Shoestring would enjoy this..🤣
Maybe even stop n tag your hopper too.. Lol..
Yea he would..I love shoestring
And don't forget jawtooth he would definitely scream out LIVE ACTION..start the video son😊
@@lornperkins4270
But wait, there's more..
🤣😂🤣😂
@@SaltyNationalist yaaaay. ...there always is
Two legged trucks
You two make an interesting representation of a pair of Hulcher side booms
Nah! RJ Corman.
@@MillBrookRailroad marvelous! LOL big time!
Wish I had the property to put one of these and would love riding around on this thing all day…!!!
We have a Fantastic Railway here in Oregon, "Train Mountain" ... kinda like this but much , much, much bigger... and it is so much fun to visit on weekends..... but to have one of your own........... Hmmmmm.........too much fun ! and REALLY COOL.
I'm familiar with Train Mountain. Some day I'll visit.
It will be time well spent and Lots-O-Fun during a big train meet,... check out the web site .
I see a need to design a system that ill control how fast the ballast drops out of the gate. Maybe a ratchet system, or maybe presorted ballast that has been run through a set of screens. Depends on how often they run and drop ballast. Is all that work designing and building all that worth it is another question.
I've solved the ballast dropping issues on my railroad. I built a hopper with a gate that allows me to control the flow rate and added chutes that allow me to control where the ballast drops. Unfortunately, the body was plywood and spent a winter in a snow bank, which caused it to start to delaminate. It didn't last many years after that. I still have the steel parts, so I'll rebuild it at some point.
At 2:10, I was thinking this would be a smoother operation on a 15" gauge railroad, then at 8:20 I thought, "nope."
I love trains when I was 8
Perhaps building a separate detachable hopper would save all that shovelling...
Next project: a ballast tipple so you don't have to shovel.
Lol i was going to say the same!
Naw. It makes a man feel good. Builds up testosterone
A slot machine would be better. Several gons with a convaer belt and unload it off the end
They don't make Giant Humans like this anymore. They could come in handy.
The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. Great video. Keep up the good work.
For scale sake, I wonder why you don't use a smaller size gravel, may also work better with the hopper cars?
Looks like a fun toy to ride and play with ;-)
It is fun, but you do have to be careful with it. Those small cars hold more than a half ton of ballast each. The big ballast hopper holds over 2,000 lbs and the only brakes on the whole train are on the engine.
Great video!! Looks like a beautiful railroad.
Thanks, I’ve learned so much from this video!
Yep, dumping ballast just like the Class One's. 😂😂
Reminds me of a place I used to know many years ago
Dobwalls railway
*Realism lost **9:37**. Sorry!* 👀🙄
A work in progress. Always good to see how people develop solutions. The big hopper does give a good shoulder. How about a hopper that dumps lengthwise between the rails, or limits the width of the falling ballast to less than track gauge.
That's something I'll have to design special. I haven't had a lot of success with hoppers that drop stone between the rails but I haven't done a lot of experimenting with it, either.
I would think maybe a v shaped trowel with a rail scraper.
Having worked on (3) such railroads, think you were on the right track (no pun intended) with your side dump hopper car. Dumping ballast between the rails creates all kinds of excess work and effort. Put the ballast where it's needed...at the end of the ties. Level and line the track and then fill in the center for looks. Don't worry about building ANOTHER hopper car to ballast between the rails. You'll be wasting your time.
Perhaps a smaller screed (More to the scale of the train/tracks. Just a thought!
wondering if you had a heavier hopper car and metal flashing to direct flow and contour the ballast. seems the car is too light and derails easily heavier car may help
You all need to watch user NorthviewRailroader for the correct way to spread ballast he has a spreader that pushes the ballast while making it also level on the line
Other then that you have a very nice line and looks fun
Those guys really should seek out some sun on those legs. I mean, really, at times they were blinding. Hah.
This mini railroad is so awesome
You live your dream. Greetings from Germany.
German Feldbahnen have definitely had an influence here. Thanks for watching.
_"Sure it's supposed to be done this way?"_
😊😊😊😊😊
Should just build a cab around that flat car you sit on with the chair and make it look like another diesel engine
This would be awesome to have on my property then I really wouldn’t have to get out and actually see people
Socializing is half the fun for me.
Ma che cosa serve per metterci la poltrona ho metterci sopra non sai com'è buttare via i soldi e allora dammeli a me che ne ho bisogno
They should make the hopper cars release the ballast underneath the car
That was amazing...
where's the location of this
Dummerston, Vermont
ruclips.net/video/swWh45knSms/видео.html :: museo del ferrocarril aquí cerca aún paseos en Antiguas máquinas de Vapor, es bueno reconocer el trabajo del museo para hacer cosas así
Where are the helper district engines????......It would have been fun if your mill brook didn't have trackage rights and double headed engines
That's a thought. The 70 hasn't been to the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway in 8 years.
That's very close to how the prototype does it...
I like this home railroad train
I really do feel for this poor man, all he ever dose is ballast his rail way.
Scale is off. You need smaller gravel. You ought to see the size of my gravel. 3/4" scale uses tiny stuff!!!
3/4" stone locks the ties in better. Scale matters less than function here.
This is so freakin cool!!!
seems to me a little redesigning of those hoppers is in order
Wouldn't it be easier to use a machine for this? I mean it's cool you're trying to mimic the process. but a machine would be so much faster
Once the track is down, trying to bring a machine in will damage the track. There are more suitable cars than we used in this video, but this is what Bill wanted to use. It is noteworthy that this was the last time they were used.
All for the love of trains, excellent.
There must be more to the ballasting story than shone as most of your track is so smooth, even the curves.
First, you need a good, level roadbed with ditches. Then you need at least two inches of ballast under the track, pack that down, lay the track, level the track, add more ballast, tamp, regulate and move on to the next section.
There is more to the story.
ruclips.net/video/fxA2cFXxtlk/видео.html
Who called the authorities concerning the derailment?🤣🤣
I don't know. Did you call them? :-)
Okey, thats good gaes
Very Nice! Do you have plans for the Box Cab/Locomotive?
That's the primary power for the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway
Wondering why all the ties are on their sides, would think you would get more out of them if you ripped them down the centers.
You can get more out of them if they're ripped down the centers but Bill prefers doing this way and his budget can support it.
Nice line!
That must have been so expensive and taken lots of time setting down all that track. I'm guessing those engines are electric since they don't sound like they're run by gasoline like those at amusement parks.
The track cost about $10 per foot at the time. It is a one-time expense.
It takes about an hour to build and install 10 feet of track.
The engines are battery electric. Most of this stuff is homemade.
When you compare it to other motor hobbies, it's cheaper than things like classic cars and motorcycles. You can use it year-round, and you don't have to worry about other drivers on the road trying to kill you or wreck what you just spent years building.
Well I must say, having that railroad must cost a lot in liability insurance and made your taxes go up.
Are there regulations regarding miniature Rail Roads, such as the types like this or that at Knott's Berry Farm?
Most states have regulations on boilers, so if you have live steam they can be subject to that. If you charge money to ride the train you may become a common carrier. Insurance companies have operational and maintenance requirements if you wish to insure yourself against getting sued for something that happened with/near/while looking at the train. Once you get up to 3' gauge or start crossing jurisdictional boundaries then you trigger attention as well.
Just what the world needs, more regulations.
Beautiful area!
I love ballast I also collect ballast
Banta Model Works?
Www.bantamodelworks.com
The old ballasters would work fine if you had a kind of plough behind it, putting a piece of wood under it just pushed the bogies up.
Also, slightly smaller chutes would control the flow.
If anybody has blue prints for these cars I can build them.
You'll have to talk to Bill Banta about that. www.bantamodelworks.com
🇵🇱🌏🍀👍👍👍
I like the Mann's Creek Railroad inspired Hopper car I May consider building two of those for dirt service
👍🤔🤭😂😂😂
Holy smokes... had to adjust the gamma for the glare off those legs!
They're neon.
Nice of you to help out an other railroad
Why don't you build a chute at the railhead that sits just above the hopper height, but is smaller than the internal dimensions of the hopper outline. It should be flared enough to be bigger than the width of the tractor bucket. Four trapeziums, (two short, two long) welded or if wooden angle ironed together would sure save a lot of shovelling.
I think you'll find your answer in this follow-up video.
ruclips.net/video/aBAyw4lR8Qg/видео.html
@@MillBrookRailroad WOW That's impressive overkill lol. !!! Nice work :)
Pretty cool. Where do you find a railroad and all the amenities?
There's a directory of live steam tracks at discoverlivesteam.com.
Let the train run around on the line on its own well if it doesn't come back the you go look for it the worst thing that could go wrong is it's on the ground or over a hill.😁😁😁😁😁☺️☺️☺️😊😊😊😄😄😄
How the hell could you drop THAT much ballast before you Realized you were missing the rail car???.... Just sayin'...
I would design a hopper car more along the ,lines of a dump truck that discharges the stone off the back of the car> using a sloped towards the rear floor so as to let gravity do the work. You could install a sluice type tailgate for it so as too control the flow rate :)
Bill came up with something different. Stay tuned.
@@MillBrookRailroad sweet :)
Not gonna lie that little box cab is powerful
. Like that cab..it looks just like a railroad crane...and thoes adorable windows that open really sealed it...little exaust stack too.
need to fill a hopper with the tractor and use like a funnel
A hopper would surely make the job easier.
How many deep cycle batteries do u use in the engine
The box cab has 4 batteries in it 2 series sets in parallel for a 24V pack.
You need more time on a shovel . I’ve never seen it used like that .
That wasn't me. That was the owner of the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway. I think he shovels left handed most of the time.
Very nice guys. But, no air brakes???
No brakes at all on the cars. Only the independent brake on the loco.
The hopper car kick at 14:36 was the icing on the cake for me! Good stuff!!!😊
That derailment and equipment failures been at a place I worked at.
My eyes deceive me? Was a switch thrown with a car on it?
first
Which term do you prefer when referring to a rail line?
Railroad or Railway?
They're interchangeable terms. I have no real preference.
@@MillBrookRailroad ok
Railway in UK. Also I’m a train driver not engineer as you guys are across the pond. Re the ballast dropping would it be possible to install a V shaped bit steel behind the hopper before the bogie to push ballast off the rails and save the derailments? ( if enough room )
@@jdavis460 A V blade is certainly a possibility. We tried it with the smaller hoppers a few years ago, but it didn't work so well. There's probably a better way to do it than what we did.
@@jdavis460 Brian, as a 1:1 scale supervisor of ballast dumping with my own record of derailed axles and trucks ("bogie" is not in the nomenclature), I wonder that the engine would have the power or adhesion to drag a loaded ballast hopper with a plow through a pile of ballast. Good idea though.
I suspect the plow device would have to be retractable (like a flanger) or detachable. Oooooh! Watch out for tht switch!
What size ballast do you guys use? 1/2" or 3/4" crushed?
I think he's using 1/2" ballast.
@@MillBrookRailroad awesome, thank you for the reply!
Looks like yall need to build a tipple... four legs and a couple sheets of plywood, maybe a loading chute to fill the cars... top wide enough for the loader bucket without the board, and bottom narrow enough to dump into the ballast car. Plus it'd make good trackside decoration LOL:) OL J R :)
Yes. This was discussed off camera.
Great video, guys. I am truly envious. BTW You have a new subscriber in England !
How much does a set up like this start at?
If you have to ask, you can't afford it.
I would like to get two hopper car please Thanks. msg me. Thumbs up!
ein sehr intresantes hobby abewr wieso benutz ihr aluminum das ist für schienen ein viel zu weiches material
It is 6061-T6 hardened aluminum. It is softer than the steel and cast iron wheels we use but strong enough to easily handle 180 kg per axle.
Beautiful Railroad Bill. A tunnel along the way would be nice ! Jim Australia.
Hairless legs! Get some new socks. Thanks from.St. Paul Minnesota.
Just like being kids again, so cool love the vid.
Thx
P