Guru
Joined: 03/06/2019
Location: AustraliaPosts: 1581
| Posted: 02:57am 14 Nov 2021 |
Most impressive.
I don't know what G gauge is, only know enough to relate to the run of the mill HO gauge. Does G stand For "Giant" ? There is a local toy store which has a layout of the big gauge stuff in the window. It's huge compared to HO.
This is pretty next level stuff to me. Making your own rolling stock. When I was a kid my grandfather bought "me" a model train set and spent endless hours on it with multiple sets of tracks, electric points, elevated track and so it went.
He used to get the bogies and make his own carriages out of wood. Nothing as detailed as what you have done here but nice enough especially for 40+ years ago.
He expanded that to literally the size of the spare bedroom. When he hit the walls and my Grandmother hit the roof, it was deemed it would have to go up the shed.
Next thing an extension to the shed was built, covered in and that was it's new home although Grandad wasn't so happy about that. Too cold, hot, too dusty and not inclined to go up there at night... even though he finally had the power put on up there after 30 + years of running an extension cord.
There was a Local Servo up the road that was closed down and a couple turned it into a Hobby store but it was about 90% Trains. My grandfather and Uncle knew the place very well.
My Uncle up north has a Muther of a train set. Takes up most of the top floor Mezzanine of his shed... which can hold 3 Tourist Coaches and thats just in the centre where the roof is highest. It's not a little shed and the Train set must be 30 ft Min long and 15 Ft wide. It's huge. You lift a section of the track and walk through to the control point when it would be easier to get a Train drivers qualification than to work out the dozens of switches and controls on this thing. Many years ago I gave him a couple of old computers. When he upgraded his one inside, he put one of the old ones to running the train set. Different locos will run at different times, pull up at different stations, wait for one to go though the crossing before proceeding and so on. it's incredible.
He had this huge old transformer that was from a telephone exchange or something and put out fantastic amps but he was very proud of how little power each loco would pull after he worked on the motors to get them running " Right", even when they were brand new. He and some other Train enthusiasts would make up tools like spot welders to join track for perfect electrical connection and their own speed controllers and other things. Mu uncle used to come down to the Train show in Sydney every year but hasn't been down for some time now. Always brought down things he'd made for show and tell with the other enthusiasts and exchanged ideas.
I was visiting once and this large parcel arrived. It was box of 200 sets of Bogies from Germany worth over $5 grand. I asked why he spent so much on them and he simply said "because they are the best ones." He wanted to upgrade the wheels on his "worthwhile " rolling stock. He was showing me some of his Locos and I asked what this impressive piece was. He said oh, that's only a cheap one, it's only worth about $900 but have a look at this good one. It was made of brass and very detailed.... and heavy. He said was about $5k worth. He then proceeded to show me I don't know how many more "good" ones. I must have had the " Is he for real?" Look on my face when I looked up at my aunt and she said " Yes, I know" and went back to cooking dinner.
Next day he took me out to the little shed, the 3 car built onto the side of the house where the back wall was just built in Shelves with all these hand made boxes. Each box was padded and Comparmentmentalised with 12 Carriages/ locos in each one. I couldn't count how many boxes but there had to be 100 and my aunt said oh, that's no where near all of them.
I caught up with my cousin a few months later and was telling her what her father had been showing me and she said, lucky he didn't show you all of it, you'd still be there. I mentioned the bag of Bogies and the "good" locos and asked how much he had tied up in it? She said when it comes to Trains, Dad has lost the plot with Money. He won't buy a bottle of water when he's out if he thinks it's .50C too much but when it comes to trains, money doesn't count. I can't imagine what he has tied up in it all.
He seemed to have lost a bit of interest in it when I was last up there a few years back. He'd started relaying all his tracks, putting the "sleepers" down by hand individually (!!!!) which must have required tens of thousands of the things but hadn't finished and didn't seem to have made any progress since I was there the time before. I asked him about it and he said he was having a bit of a break from it. He hadn't been well so that may have had something to do with it.
I'd like to get back up there and see them before too long.
I don't know if the other people in the train club do what you are but it's quite amazing what can be done now with 3D printing and your application of other materials is very creative and skilful as well. I have thought about getting one myself a printer but I'm very unsure I'd have the smarts to program a machine and I can't really think of anything I'd want to do if I did have one. I would like a plasma Cutter table but they all seem out of the budget of what I'd be prepared to put into one and again there is the whole thing if I'd have the smarts to be able to make it do what I wanted anyway. I keep reading of "Cheap" ones but can't seem to find anything under $10K.
I am sure my grandfather and uncle would be very impressed and intrigued with what you are doing mate.
I certainly am!