Ballasting with the new tipper cars on the Stoddard Hill Farm Railway

Today, we're visiting Bill Banta and his Stoddard Hill Farm Railway where we build a ballast train fill it, and empty it on the track.
Help us make more videos and build new projects by becoming a patron on Patreon! / millbrookrailroad
Check out our online store at www.millbrookrailroad.com

[@brianr4077]

I personally loved Bill’s input/talking to the camera. Made me laugh out loud. You have got a good friend there. You guys do some great work together for sure.

[@phillipcottrille3296]

Guys; consider picking up an old corn conveyor to be used for loading the ballast cars. Utilize an electric motor for the conveyor where as you could actually stay on the engine while loading. Build a dump area that is self feeding into the conveyor so you will no longer need the Mahindra.

[@DjPorkchop73]

After seeing the newer ballast tipple, I bet you all are happy to no longer need to use the bucket and shovel method any longer. The tipple sure is nice in the newer videos. Always a treat.checking out the work / videos, fellas. Stay safe out there.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Bucket and shovel ballasting got old 13 years ago when I started building track.

[@joewnav]

You sure like to play with that horn. LOL Great video of the two of you working together thanks for sharing you made my day.

[@mattsmocs3281]

Thats a nice 47 tonner. A few roads had these such as Canadian National (on the Newfoundland railway), Oahu Railway, East Broad Top (kolshavic era ownership), Bethlehem Steel.

[@alanm3438]

Wow what a setup.😃😃😃😃

[@Reimu__Hakurei]

You got a lovely little railway there.

[@Jjonathanhart]

Bill looks like Treece's henchman Kevin in THE DEEP.

[@bb-ov3pi]

You need a power brush to spread the ballast, it also could be used to clean the tracks of branches, leaves, and debris. Be something like a ballast regulator for the railroad

[@mischef18]

The ballast not only has a function but makes it look tidy too. Enjoyed this video bro. Safe travels

[@mr.skipper4544]

That looks like teadise work, I'm to big for light work and and to little for hard work, now I'm tired of watching every one work, I'm going to take the rest of the day off Thanks for sharing 👍

[@kennethwilliams9175]

It’s not work it a hobby.

[@lelandlycette8178]

This take model railroad to a whole new meaning. I love it.

[@tn65s]

First, great show, new cars are great

[@MillBrookRailroad]

They do work well.

[@GinosGarageUSA]

Very nice, those cars are really the cat's pajamas! I was thinking for loading the cars all he needs is a peaked piece that sits between the two cars and then the ballast will flow right into the two cars, no more shoveling. Bill is a worker, guess that's what keeps you young!

[@danielfantino1714]

Gorgeous, efficient, what a dream day.

[@margaretragle1337]

That was a great show and the new cars.

[@bobvila4381]

Dang... I would hang out with you guys any time!

[@backwoodssolutionsllc9823]

Lovely engine!

[@Mr.DNS.94]

Wow so amazing the Sound of this beauty are awrsome...

[@StanFerris]

Nice work, guys!

[@mrowl-the-dsm1304]

Great video, nice to see/hear Bill. loved teh comments about how to be a cameraman and always derails, made me chuckle, it was that knowing wink he gave :-)

[@T.W.I.T.]

absolutely beautiful setting to have a railway..

[@rukinaa]

A really nice addition to that ballast loading point would be a big hopper above the track where the carts are located so you can feed it down into the carts without needing planks and a shovel. Just dump it in the hopper with the tractor or even a conveyer and park the train below to load it up

[@williampugh6699]

Nice place you’ve got there.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

It wasn't always this nice.

[@ronaldrondeau7870]

Thats a big layout to run, lots of work on it

[@lisapeters5554]

nice to see progress and work gettin' done and all the rest. really did enjoy the video. let me try to give you some advice. only stick 1 corner of the bucket into the pile of rocks. don't cram it as full as you can get it, only about what the car might hold. that way, you can put rocks in 1 car at a time simply by dumping the bucket. practice it a few times, you'll get the hang of it and save yourself all that shovel work. keep on keepin' on my friends.

[@Arkay315]

It's such a beutiful little line you have there

[@rhythmsoftherailroad6484]

Another great clip of a working Railroad. It was good to see the ballast cars finally put together & operational. All the efforts and design improvements sure look like they paid off well. Sure makes it easier than buckets.

[@billcannon2125]

That's the size locomotive you need on the Millbrook

[@MillBrookRailroad]

It would certainly be handy.

[@indycar101]

You guys are having too much fun!

[@MillBrookRailroad]

I can neither conform or deny that.

[@wesleylatham6572]

Pika cool 😎

[@tn65s]

Wouldn't it be nice to have a loading hopper over the track. Fill with the tractor, load cars and haul neat clean loads.

[@martynbuzzing3327]

I was going to suggest a conveyor to load, or possibly spliting the tractor bucket with a sliding plate. 🤔

[@MillBrookRailroad]

A loading tipple is definitely planned.

[@user-sg6wh7vy2q]

L G B made a tipper car for G scale similar to your tipper car .

[@railroad9000]

Bill will have to design and build a ballast regulator!

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Got a Harsco 6700 we can measure?

[@DaveSalamon]

love the design with the center dump! Nice touch. Would Bill ever be interested in making the drawings available? He has a really nice looking layout he is building...appreciate you sharing it.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

That's a question for Bill. www.bantamodelworks.com

[@DaveSalamon]

@@MillBrookRailroad thanks, will do!

[@vettebecker1]

Very nice equipment and railroad!! Loved the tall switch stands, where did they come from??

[@MillBrookRailroad]

The switch stands are built by Banta Modelworks. Not in the catalog, though. www.bantamodelworks.com

[@s16100]

those are nice dump cars.

[@bobcox2580]

Love your videos. I realize I'm commenting to a video that's a year old,but I really like Bill's 45 center cab. I would like to have more information. I'm thinking about getting started in 1/8 and this is the engine I would like to start with.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

That's a Tom Artzburger Hartford Shops loco. www.tacllc.biz/

[@bobcox2580]

@@MillBrookRailroad Thank you for the reply. I had looked at that one. It's a beautiful example. Honestly, what I think would be perfect is one of your es-2-500 on a stretched chassis with my own hand built body. I have always built my own when I see something I like. I'm finishing up a kayak and getting ready to build a truck camper. I've watched your build videos and of course I think "I could build one of those". I have been looking for plans but there doesn't seem to be plans available that I can find. Do you have plans for the es-2-500? For a guy like me, half the fun is the building. I've been building RC Planes for forty years and always from kits or plans. Never had one of those "Ready to Fly" jobs. In this case doing research has been part of the fun. I have found your videos very informative. Keep putting out the videos.

[@mhbpodnk]

Nice work and does bill have a you tube channel so we can follow along on his railroad build

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Bill uses this channel to keep people up to date on his progress. There's more to come very soon.

[@artillerest43rdva7]

Great cars ! what a great design both bottom discharge and being able to side dump so the entire track can be ballasted with out having allot of hand work. I can not imagine the cost to make the cars with custom cut panels. were all the drill holes cut when they were cut? were the shoots under neath added or original part of the design? great thinking! good luck, great video, have a wonderful day. 20-30 yards of stone in the pile? barry

[@MillBrookRailroad]

The cars were designed as you see them. All pieces, including bolt holes, were laser cut out of steel (1/4" or something close). These would be his second biggest laser cut kit if he were to offer them. He has a G gauge roundhouse kit that's actually bigger.

[@danbaublitz]

You guys are amazing ! Can't believe the things you can build. Did you build those hopper cars ? Your tractor is kind of large for ballasting. I wonder if a compact tractor like my John Deere would be able to just straddle the tracks, run up & down & move a whole lot of stone more quickly, assuming there are no narrow passages. But maybe you guys are liking the journey more than the efficiency. Beautiful set up !

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Bill built the tipper cars, the side dump, the caboose, riding car and the big box cab. The two bay hoppers were built by Cannonball, Ltd. and the center cab was built by Tom Artzberger but purchased secondhand. The bigger tractor just means he can fit more in the bucket. No matter what the size of the tractor, it's not recommended that you straddle the track with it. Any wrong move can wreck hours and hours of hard work, so if you want to use the tractor to lay ballast, spread it out before you lay track. This was a test of the tipper cars. Shortly after filming this video, Bill built himself a ballast tipple, so now he fills the hopper on the tipple and fills the cars from that.

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

I believe that the Durango & Silverton has one of those

[@MillBrookRailroad]

I was thinking about that at the moment but I couldn't recall if it were the D&SNG or the C&TS.

[@erickstrainworld5488]

I know that crossroads village in michigan has a center cab like that and it’s a 50 tonner

[@joehall4155]

Where do you buy your rail from?

[@billcannon2125]

It would look good in the Millbrook colors

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Everything looks good in Mill Brook colours.

[@billcannon2125]

It's plenty big and beefy

[@MillBrookRailroad]

@@billcannon2125 I do like that I could pull a fully loaded ballast train out of the pit without a lot of effort.

[@billcannon2125]

It reminds me of the locomotive we use to have on the Yancey in North Carolina and on the Alexander in North Carolina

[@billcannon2125]

The Yancey is gone but the Alexander is still around

[@danielunger9340]

A would love ta have a railroad like that that would be a dream come true for me but with ma budget A know A would never get ta have something like that all A can do is dream

[@MillBrookRailroad]

How much do you think it cost to build?

[@danielunger9340]

@@MillBrookRailroad close ta one thousand or more A know they're not cheap

[@MillBrookRailroad]

@@danielunger9340 You're not far off, actually. The track is $8-10 per foot. Steel strap in grooved ties is the cheapest while 1" tall steel rail on plastic ties is the most expensive. This is somewhere in the middle.

[@my3boysonly]

Bill, was there a prototype tipper car you referenced when designing your cars? I want to make some for my HO scale layout but only find a few photos and no manufacturer info in my research.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

I'll have to ask him on my next trip down.

[@billbwks]

tipper cars came in a variety of designs and sizes. I used several prototype photos and drawings and also looked closely at Colin Edmundsons cars. I liked his bottom opening bins and added the hopper below to keep the rock in the center andnot on the rails...

[@LordPhobos6502]

Nice loco 🙂 How many watts is it, and are all 4 axles powered?

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Not sure how many watts but all four axles are powered.

[@billbwks]

two motors per axle, not sure about wattage, runs on 24volts, 4 batteries...

[@jsmith198095]

Where are you located? This would be one cool get away vacation.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

It is one of a small handful of private 7-1/4" gauge railways in Vermont.

[@RamonInNZ]

Does this railroad use heavier track than Millbrook?

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Yes. Much heavier and much newer. SHFR has 1" (25.4mm) tall rail. Most of the rail on the MLBK is 5/8" (15.9mm) tall and about 70 years old.

[@michaelsullivan9500]

Now you just need to come up with a gravel auto loader.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

All on good time.

[@davidsprague6385]

Possible to ad a gas powered small compactor/ tamper, I'd bet they have one with a smaller plate. Just wondering.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

A tamper isn't a difficult thing to build. We have one started, as a matter of fact. The hard part is getting it higher on the list of priorities.

[@alantorrance6153]

Wouldn't a narrower bucket not exceeding the width of the rail hoppers make loading of the hoppers easier and faster?

[@MillBrookRailroad]

That would be a very expensive custom bucket. A tipple is a better solution.

[@bradfordthompson8326]

Neat videos .. Could he had made a "V" SHAPE SHOOT THAT TEMPORARY INSTALLED BETWEEN TWO CARS DURING LOADING BALLAST...SO GRAVEL WILL POUR INTO TWO CARS...THUS LESS SHOVELING....😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ FUN WORK DAYS

[@geoffreykail9129]

Is this loco 2-1/2" scale?

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Yes.

[@Mr_Tea_Rexx]

have to agree i dont like the horn going ita self

[@ahalfsesameseedbun7472]

What's the reason for using scale models as opposed to building something like a simplex? I guess I could see that since the track is already set for a scale model that it might be an issue.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

The track is already set for 7-1/4" gauge and some of this equipment, like the locomotive, is pre-owned.

[@ahalfsesameseedbun7472]

@@MillBrookRailroad Ah ok, it's really cool still. I really would like to do something like this on my property.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

@@ahalfsesameseedbun7472 the Backyard Railroading Facebook group is a good resource.

[@ahalfsesameseedbun7472]

@@MillBrookRailroad Thanks for that, I'll take a look

[@Ajwatters]

I like to toot my own horn 😏 🤣

[@crazyfvck]

:)

[@WHJeffB]

Nice setup and that GE locomotive is fantastic... Bets on how sick Bill was of you laying on the damn loco horn so much? Give it rest next time. Definitely a case for silent locomotives. LOL!

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Half the time, it was the locomotive blowing the horn itself.

[@tn65s]

@@MillBrookRailroad And it's required at grade crossings. Wouldn't want to run into a lawn tractor.

[@lindamattingly3783]

Just wondering if you have a connection to the Stoddard Hill Farm railroad? Are you and Bill just friends, or do you have more of an interest in the railroad, than just two buddies getting together? Never see Bill at your Mill Brook location. Just curious….. JDM (not Linda)

[@MillBrookRailroad]

We're just friends. I get out his way more than he gets out my way, which is why you see me at the SHFR more than you see him at the MLBK. Bill is a model railroad manufacturer, which keeps him fairly busy most of the time.

[@lindamattingly3783]

Thank you for the feedback…..JDM

[@daleroth236]

Another whistle blower. The real railroads place a tie across the tracks in front of the wheels to keep the ballast off the rails, and the tie is also used to spread the ballast evenly. This would prevent the tipper cars from derailing.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

Doing something just because "the real railroads" do it doesn't always work. Using ties to spread ballast works so well that we had to pick the old ballast hoppers up off the rails to get the job done. That's why the tipper cars were built.

[@edwinmoore4560]

Would you consider making six more rock cars to sale me?

[@MillBrookRailroad]

You'll want to talk to Bill Banta about that. bantamodelworks.com

[@13thBear]

Idk...kinda looks like real work to me rather than a relaxing hobby. :) Think I’ll stick to HO scale.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

I don't have to build trees, simulate dirt or build benches to hold the track up. I also don't have any track wiring and if my track gets dirty, it doesn't affect how well the locomotives run. I think HO might be more work. Much easier to lift, though.

[@dewittkandle5674]

Whenever you finish working on this layout, were you planning to open this up to the public,to take grown ups and children for rides and make money with this,seems like you have a big enough layout all you need to buy is some Passenger cars, maybe a couple of steam engines.

[@MillBrookRailroad]

I don't think many people will be climbing the hill to Bill's place to ride the trains. He's pretty far out there! He is working on getting steam, though.

[@fordnut4914]

Looks like expensive hobby

[@MillBrookRailroad]

It can be if you're not careful but it doesn't have to be any more expensive than any other hobby. I built the Mill Brook Railroad (one of the other railroads regularly featured on this channel) when I was making less then $10k per year as a freelance video producer and voice over artist. This was in 2010. That wasn't a lot of money at the time. My wife worked and made $25k per year and we had five kids at home at the time. The railroad was built using a lot of previously used material and by recycling a lot of scrap lumber from construction sites. Rolling stock and locomotives were homemade or used. You learn how to fix things on a budget that small. Construction was slow but we built 1024 feet of main line, 120 feet of sidings and a 40 foot engine house lead. All over ten years and without taking money out of the household budget. We got really good at saving up for things like rail, screws, ballast and property tax. We already lived simply, so there wasn't anything we did without because of the railroad. To date, I have put about $12k into the railroad, including the locomotives and rolling stock. That's less than $1200 a year. I know a lot of people who spend more than that on other hobbies in a year. If you don't make that much, you may be able to find a private railroad to help on nearby. No matter what the size, private railroads always need help with things like track and facilities maintenance. Same goes for museums and tourist railroads. You may even be asked to run a train or two on a private railroad because the only rules are the ones the owner sets. My point in all of this is that if you want something bad enough, you'll make it happen no matter what the obstacles are. I have more examples of people with little to no money getting into this railroading hobby and sometimes it leads to a career. I hope my answer was helpful.