Merry Christmas, kids... er gentlemen!

Now that's the way to build a railroad! Buy once cry once!!!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

I don't think you'll do much crying with a railroad this size, unless you run over your foot. In that case, you'd want to get x-rays.

What a difference having all the gadgets and gizmos make in laying new track.😄

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

I haven't laid any new track since 2020. I'm falling behind.

Great video! I could watch this all day, laying track and ballast. The camera work, especially having it low mounted in front of the ballast hopper while depositing the ballast was especially interesting. Hope to see more of this on both railroads!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Nice to see Bill working in the big stuff...I have a few of his kits.

Hahahaha!!! I had to laugh...when I was a kid, I recall my dad, who was a machinist by both hobby and vocation, judging hardware stores as being worthy of the term by whether or not they carried "10-32 brass screws!"

Keeper on railroading! Thanks for the Clip, greetings from Austria 🎉

Yup wheels at the back seems the most logical thing to do, since wheels in the front of the broom would also obstruct the ballast to move forward.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

I sit mine on a truck. Works great!

I really love watching this being done but maybe you might be able to show how you put a curve in the rails and keeping them in gauge? THANKS Ron

@MillBrookRailroad

6 ай бұрын

I was going to reply with a link to a video, but I couldn't find one, so I'll describe it and plan to make a video when the weather is more conducive to laying track. When I'm laying track on a curve, I might give the rail a slight bend over my knee, but not too much bend. Then I lay one stick of rail around the curve and spike it down. Then I'll go back to the second rail, and using a couple of gauges, I'll spike it down, following the first rail. If it's a wide curve, no bending is necessary. The secret is to plan out the route ahead of time and make the curves as wide as possible.

@ronaldjoyce7374

6 ай бұрын

@@MillBrookRailroad Thank you for your reply and I’ll look forward to seeing this done, it sounds pretty interesting. Ron

I enjoy seeing good engineering. From the tipple to the ballast car designs. Smart is always less work.

Made for great viewing guys so thanks for posting bro. Safe travels. Ken.

Always enjoy, thanks.

Very interesting video's. I love the mechanics of it....

The heavy duty ties are impressive. Awesome video, thanks much!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

They're not really heavy duty. They're just easy to cut.

You guys are really living the dream. I love these vids 😀

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! The only reason we're living the dream is because we decided to stop dreaming and make it happen. I've built most of the MLBK on a very low 5 figure income until I got a mid 5 figure income job. I still dream of the day when I make $60k a year. That's part of the reason I have so many unfinished projects. I don't know what Bill makes a year, but he's a model manufacturer, so he's got a lot of overhead and a business that works on a feast or famine cycle. Living the dream takes a lot of work and dedication, but it's totally worth it. I would encourage you to live the dream also.

Its so cool seeing how its done! Thank you for sharing!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching! This is just one way to get it done. Browse around the channel, and you'll see alternative methods.

Looks like fun!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

It is! Thanks for watching!

You´re both incresing track mileage and that remake of transcontinental golden spike ceremony is sure interesting. Sadly it´s snow covered now.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

Everything is snow covered now.

Glad to see you guys getting a lot of track installed on the SHFR. Now it's getting close to time to put more down on your expansion of the MLBK.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

That won't be until spring. Can't wait.

@BriggsCanyon

7 ай бұрын

@MillBrookRailroad yes, me too! I love watching the expansion projects you have in the works. Really excited for Woodchuck Siding, the expansion, and connecting the turntable to the end by the Sugar Shack.

That battery operated ballast regulator was cool! I wonder if we could make some sort of a cart with that doodad on the end and put some sort of a bucket-lift on it to raise and lower the brush. Do they make insulated rail joints for using electrified blocks of track? I would absolutely love to experiment with railroad signaling on this scale. I've worked on the 12-inch:foot scale, and I dabble with tabletop scales. But ever since that guy in Florida had me build him some signals for a siding, I have always wanted to see if I could put some sort of system in on this scale that would operate like the big guys.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

You absolutely can build track circuits in this size railroad. You can cut your own insulated joints out of 1/4 inch ABS sheet. Being that the rails are aluminum, if you find aluminum joint bars, you can use Noalox to prevent corrosion in the joints and maintain electrical continuity, thereby eliminating bond wires. It is my ambition to have something like the old-fashioned GRS Automatic Train Control system on the MLBK.

@SD40Fan_Jason

7 ай бұрын

@@MillBrookRailroad would you use something simple such as an AC/DC track circuit or go more intricate by using a phase motion detector / predictor?

Have you considered Numbering your videos, especially the track laying ones, so they can be watched in sequence?

My last name is Stoddard 😂

Where yall at 😊

Blz esse trinho e dique material parece alumínio

is there that much of a difference using a 2x4 on edge, and a 2x2 ? does it help with lateral shifting? nice to see the progress on the laying of the track, and love the dual action hoppers with the inner and outer filling of ballast. thank you for sharing a part of your day!

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

2x2's are more stable and use up less ballast than 2x4's. 2x2's are also half the price. ...I might be a little biased in this one.

@schwarzermoritz

7 ай бұрын

Supposed to make them last longer, which I'm also very sceptical of.

Great video thanks for sharing! what size ties is bill using?

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

Bill is using full width 2x4's standing on the long end. I use half width 2x4's, ripped down the middle. Bill's ties are 16 inches long, and mine are 12 inches long. Bill's tie cost is around 80 cents each, and mine are 35 cents each.

Would Trex artificial boards work for ties? They would last longer.

@MillBrookRailroad

6 ай бұрын

They do work, but they're not as strong.

cant you pull some of that crushed stone out of the center before sweeping? seems like youre trying to push too much material.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

It could be tamped more. That would take up most of the excess stone.

@Stealthmode72

7 ай бұрын

@@MillBrookRailroad Thanks for the reply. Love the videos. Really interesting how the track is put together

What material is the rail made of? Is it really rail stock or just angle.

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

The rail is made of extruded aluminum to roughly the shape of full sized railroad rail.

I’m curious where rails and railcars are manufactured.

@MillBrookRailroad

5 ай бұрын

These rails were made in Ohio by Mill Creek Central Railroad. The tipper cars were made at the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway shop, better known as Banta Modelworks, in Dummerston, Vermont.

Where do you get the mini rails and ties?

@MillBrookRailroad

7 ай бұрын

You can find suppliers at discoverlivesteam.com

Haven't seen an update on this in quite awhile. Any updates?

@MillBrookRailroad

Ай бұрын

None at the moment.

I noticed there is no allowance for the rail expansion ?

@MillBrookRailroad

Ай бұрын

You don't need more than an eighth inch.

What’s scale or train is this for ?

@MillBrookRailroad

6 ай бұрын

This is 7-1/4 inch gauge. The Stoddard Hill Farm Railway has 2-1/2 inch scale equipment, but he also has some 1-1/2 inch scale equipment. As long as the equipment is made for 7-1/4 inch gauge track, the scale doesn't matter.

@anthonydail6596

6 ай бұрын

What size is the train?

Top track construction. Due to the brass lugs, the rail joints have a better tracking. Question: If you can sweep this electric broom to the ballast, not also attach a locomotive, then you can sweep the snow with it even in winter. I'll link to a video of a garden railway from Germany........kzread.info/dash/bejne/hY55zNqzaaafZaQ.html Greetings from Berlin/ Germany. Sven

@MillBrookRailroad

4 ай бұрын

In a normal year, the snow gets too deep here for a sweeper of that size. The motor would burn out easily. We use wedge plows.