Elderbury & District Light Railway

[philipy]

I thought it was probably about time that I started a proper thread fro my line, rather than simply putting up individual posts for various goings on.


The civil engineering dept have just installed new bridge sides, obtained pre-fabricated from Bazzers Bridge Works, and the PW Dept are using their newly constructed track sweeping machine, to test it out.

[Gralyn]

I do like that track sweeping machine. Is it scratch built or a propriety item?.

[philipy]

I do like that track sweeping machine. Is it scratch built or a propriety item?.

Hi Graham,

A bit of both. It started life as a Playmobil 0-6-0 diesel which I got from e-bay 5 or 6 years ago. Somebody had fitted basic r/c taken from a toy car and I kept that as being good enough for simple stop/start and reverse.
The brush is  a round hairbrush, which is belt drive from a motor under the flat top panel. The  brush frame is Meccano, bolted to the chassis under the diesel bonnet (with cut-outs in the sides to clear ).
Add a couple of yellow flashing LED's to the roof and red and white LED front and rear lights, glaze the windows, install a driver and re-paint - job done!

I have a lot of overhanging trees all round my line and I've been thinking about constructing something like this for quite some time and then in one of Mr Isle's reports (Does anyone know where he is BTW, we haven't heard from him for months?) he commented on a 'ferocious machine' of this type that he had encountered, with no safety features, so I thought I'd better make a proper job of it!

[bazzer42]

What sort of leaves are you dealing with? I suffer from piles, of copper beech leaves that are quite thick and wysteria that are easily brushed aside. Some form of mechanical sweeper may be better than continually removing my ballast with blower/sucker. The beech also releases a bountiful harvest of nut shells that can derail anything.
Does it clear away or bulldoze into a heap?
ps nice bridge sides

[philipy]

What sort of leaves are you dealing with?   I suffer from piles, of copper beech leaves that are quite thick and wysteria that are easily brushed aside. Some form of mechanical sweeper may be better than continually removing my ballast with blower/sucker.  The beech also releases a bountiful harvest of nut shells that can derail anything.
Does it clear away or bulldoze into a heap?
ps nice bridge sides  

I have almost every sort of leaf imaginable!: Elder, Cotoneaster, Photinia, 4x Ash, Virginia Creeper, 3 x Plum, 7x Apple, Cherry, Ivy, Forsythia, Lonicera ....!!

I've only just finished it so it hasn't really had any use, but my hope is that it will flick leaves up and then push them to the sides ( it might need an angled 'snowplough' type top added to the flat plate to achieve that, though). At the moment all the leaf drop is soaking wet and it pretty much needs a scrubbing brush to shift it. TBH, I don't think the machine will be of much practical use except for the odd bit of light random stuff during dry periods.

[Gralyn]

Still think it is Magic Phillip. Do you have any other photos from different angles.
I am looking for inspiration for a sweeper to attach on the front of my Danny as a first pass clear the track (Which in my case is Holly leave most of the year but leaves and berries at the moment).

[IrishPeter]

Cool!

I have often contemplated a similar machine for the IJ for removing ponderosa pine needles. They are vicious buggers about 4 to 6 inches long which seem to be nature's patent derailing devices. The up side is that they seem to be amendable to the sweeping brush even when damp. The remaining leaf fall is scrub oak, which is fairly easily dealt with.

Peter in AZ

[philipy]

Do you have any other photos from different angles.

Thanks Graham.
I hope these help but if there is anything specific that you want, let me know.

[Gralyn]

Now where is that old Meccano set?.[/b]

[Big Jim]

What a splendid little device.

[MDLR]

That's a cracking little job - useful, too! Could you write it up for the Association Web Site (or SMT)?

[philipy]

Thanks Brian.
I hadn't thought about it before, but since you think it's of interest I'll knock up some words for SMT.