Channel Title: Mill Brook Railroad Channel Description: The Mill Brook Railroad is a 7-1/4" gauge freight hauler in Vermont. Follow along with the ups and downs of this cold climate minimal gauge railroad. Along the way, we'll visit other miniature railroads and do a lot of track maintenance. <video> Let's plow some snow! (At night) Description: It's time to test the repairs on the plow! </video> <video> You can cut ALUMINUM on a TABLE SAW? Description: Yes! You can cut aluminum on a table saw! The SFPM of a 10 inch 40 tooth blade works out to be on the slow side for aluminum, but it's within the range that, if you feed it carefully, it will cut without coolant. Just be careful. Aluminum likes to buck if you're not holding the stock firmly. Why am I doing this? We have a lot of used ties here on the Mill Brook Railroad. They call them relay in the business. That's because they've been part of a railroad track before, then pulled up from their original location and re-laid in a new location. We have a lot of relay ties and a bunch of them are now splitting out from the ends, which is releasing the screws that hold our track together. We did a bunch of work to the track before it got cold out and thought we'd nipped our problems in the bud, but with the cold comes new cracks in the ties and a need to get out and pull the rails back in gauge. Normally, we'd just replace these ties with new ones and not have to deal with it again for several years, but with the cold weather comes frozen ballast. It's very difficult to change ties in frozen ballast and even harder to get the ballast back in place with the tamping rod when everything around it is frozen. Our solution: gauge rods. Very simply, they're a rod with clamps on each end. You set the distance between the rails (the gauge) by adjusting the nuts holding the clamps. Nobody makes gauge rods for this size track, so I'm making my own on the table saw out of aluminum. Join us over on Patreon for early access and exclusive content! www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad </video> <video> Switchbacks and powder: Plowing Snow on the Shady Pines Railroad Description: Today, we visit the steep grades and switchbacks of the Shady Pines Railroad as owner, Tony, plows snow off the track with former Mill Brook Railroad 71, now Shady Pines 17. Join us over on Patreon for early access and exclusive content! www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad </video> <video> Wood Pellets and Bitter Cold Description: It's one of the coldest days of winter here at the Mill Brook Railroad, and we have a ton of wood pellets to put away. Due to the cold weather, we're also having track problems, so there's a weight and speed restriction on the main line. This means we need to run less weight on each car than we normally do, so we need to split the train up into two sections. Enjoy the run! Join us on Patreon for early access to videos and exclusive content! www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad </video> <video> Measuring for a cement pad in the snow Description: Today, we're measuring for a cement pad for our loading lift. We won't be pouring cement until spring, but why not get ahead on the planning stage and measure it out with Moasure 2 PRO? Now that I have accurate dimensions of the area available, I can export to a landscaping design program or CAD. The folks at Moasure have agreed to sponsor today's video and they have supplied a special code to give you a discount on your purchase of a Moasure 2 or Moasure 2 PRO. If you are interested in @moasure, head to my link https://bit.ly/millbrookmoasure and use code X8MILLBROOK at checkout for a discount. #AD </video> <video> Plowing miniature track! ...and derailing a freight train Description: Welcome to the Mill Brook Railroad. Today, we start the day off with snow plowing, then a shift change and our resident freight conductor somehow puts a loaded gondola on its side. I'm not sure how that happened. </video> <video> Mill Brook Railroad is live! Shop Board and Q&A Description: If you like this channel, please consider supporting us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/Millbrookrailroad Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnhoHF_-jNb1klVWlj6X4BA/join </video> <video> Just wingin' it! (fixing a plow wing) Description: The other day, I hit something hard with the plow wing and ripped the lower hinge off, so today, we're in the shop welding on new hinges and reattaching the plow wing. </video> <video> Merry Ho Ho Train 2024 Description: It's that time of year again! Time for our annual Christmas Special: the Merry Ho Ho train. This year, our sponsor is Plum Cove Studios! Check out their locomotives, cars and parts at https://www.plumcovestudio.com/ </video> <video> Clearing SNOW! ...with a POWER SWEEPER? (The Plow is better) Description: Today, we're getting ready for our annual Christmas train! Before we run that, we need to clear lay night's snowfall off the track. Join us over on Patreon for exclusive content and early access! www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad ...or if you just want early access, join this channel now! Thanks! </video> <video> Making coasters with a LASER! Description: The folks at AlgoLaser sent me one of their 20W lasers to try out, so I thought I'd make some coasters for my loyal Patreon supporters. So, what do I think of the AlgoLaser Alpha Mk2? It's a good machine if you're just learning laser engraving. The assembly instructions are helpful. There are safety glasses included (very important), and the app is fairly straightforward and easy to figure out. Laser engraving produces a LOT of smoke, so I highly recommend buying the enclosure and the smoke management system they offer on their website. Or, If you have the space, you could build a fume hood out of plastic, like I did in the corner of my shop. If you are interested in purchasing your own AlgoLaser Alpha Mk2, follow the link below... Algolaser Alpha MK2（20w）：https://gozbx.com/r/OQRZqPRuT9Ht Code: MK100(5% off) </video> <video> A Winter Wonderland on Mill Brook WP-2 Description: It's a cold sunny winter day. Today, my daughter needs wood pellets in her house, which is the old barn on our property, and I need to bring my old machinist tools out of storage and put them in the workshop. So, we're running a one car freight train to get a couple things done here on the Mill Brook Railroad. Join us on Patreon for early access and exclusive content! www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad </video> <video> New series! Redesigning locomotive trucks with Alibre design (Pt 1) Description: Today, we start a new series where we design a set of locomotive trucks for a client project. I'm going to start with the truck sideframe beam and journal box pedestals. I'll cover the test if the parts in subsequent videos. Now, I am by no means an expert. There are real engineers out there who could design this in their sleep, but they charge more per hour than the license fee of today's sponsor, Alibre Design. I've been using this software for a while now, and it works very well. I heard about the software, bought a license, then I liked it so much that I reached out to Alibre to sponsor this series. Find out more about Alibre design software at www.alibre.com. #ad #alibre </video> <video> Plowing snow with a broken plow wing Description: Winter railroading can be hard on the equipment, even when there isn't much snow. Somehow, I managed to break the lower hinge on the left plow wing on this run. I'll fix that later in the shop. Would you like early access to videos, exclusive content, access to our discord server and a way to make a positive impact on an independent creator? Join us over on Patreon! http://www.patreon.com/millbrookrailroad </video> <video> Shady Pines Railroad: Winter on the Switchback Description: Today, we visit the Shady Pines Railroad for a run in the snow. </video>

Contacts and Links

Description

The Mill Brook Railroad is a 7-1/4" gauge freight hauler in Vermont. Follow along with the ups and downs of this cold climate minimal gauge railroad. Along the way, we'll visit other miniature railroads and do a lot of track maintenance.

Videos from channel