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We have been doing things, honest!


craigwelsh

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Whoops, I've forgotten to update this in a while! Well we have done a bit since last November when we were building pointwork and testing track ideas for the relay.

 

As these pictures show we now have some of the plain track laid (glued and ballasted in one go) and i've been wiring the dropper to it as we go. The ballast is a mix of two Greenscenes bags and i'd much prefer them now over Woodland Scenics due to the tonal variation in each type even before you look at weathering it.

 

The holes in the ballast are dugouts where the droppers are currently soldered to riveted tags. These will be filled in once they are all tested and ballasted over.

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This shot shows how i've been setting the outer track using the inner as a guide. The spacers were made by Dick Petter and the spacing is 6ft on the front but 7ft by this point shown to allow the long coaches to avoid each other on the curve. There is also a transition curve to deal with.

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All major pointwork for the new junction and surrounding was completed in March and the first bit is now in place. This 3-way leads into the goods yard but also transitions between the full height sleepers of the mainline and the 1/2 height sleepering in the goods yard. The difference taken up by 0.8mm thick balsa planed to a gradient perpendicular to the rails.

 

The point was made by Andy G as shown in an earlier post but was subsequently modified by Dick Petter to match the double junction which he'd realigned slightly compared to the Templot output. Ignore the missing sleeper support at the moment, I think that'll be readded when the connection to the slip is put in. This has also been modified from the trackplan to allow the fitting of a correct length detector bar for the FPL on the double junction. The alternate is putting the bar through the switch blade area which would have mean part of it would have to move with the blade.. :blink:

 

Ballast here is a dirtier mix and I think its going to be ash into the yard, not sure at the moment though.

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The layout is probably going to be quite unusual in having both 1/2 and full height sleepers as well as copperclad, plastic and ply sleepers in the mix. Rivets are also used on most of the new points and some of the power feeds so its really a mixed bag to demo to new builders!

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Just a quick question what kinds of shades did you use from Greenscenes for the ballast & also how did you weather it??

I think it looks bob on in regards to shades & i wouldnt mind trying it out on my next project.

 

Cheers

 

Simon.

 

 

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Just a quick question what kinds of shades did you use from Greenscenes for the ballast & also how did you weather it??

I think it looks bob on in regards to shades & i wouldnt mind trying it out on my next project.

 

Cheers

Simon.

There hasn't been any weathering of the mainline ballast yet and it was a mix of two bags. Not really sure what they were called as we just picked up the two that looked right while at Wigan show. They do quite a few shades but I don't think they have names on the bags in the way Woodland scenics do.

 

I think the darker ballast may have been done by adding ash and coal dust into the ballast but i'll have to check with Dick on that.

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The layout is probably going to be quite unusual in having both 1/2 and full height sleepers as well as copperclad, plastic and ply sleepers in the mix. Rivets are also used on most of the new points and some of the power feeds so its really a mixed bag to demo to new builders!

 

Sounds a bit of a nightmare for keeping railhead height consistent - what are you using for trackbed adjustment, just card or plasticard packing?

 

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Sounds a bit of a nightmare for keeping railhead height consistent - what are you using for trackbed adjustment, just card or plasticard packing?

0.8mm thick balsa takes up the difference between 1/2 and full height sleepers and also when sanded dealt with the transition into the yard.

 

The AGM on the weekend got in the way of completing the next metre of track for laying but i've taken it home this week to work on tonight.

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Craig,

 

When painted, does the diffrence in texture between ply sleepers and the plastic ones stand out?

 

I have always been a bit shy of mixing them due to this reason.

 

 

 

Mark

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Craig,

 

When painted, does the diffrence in texture between ply sleepers and the plastic ones stand out?

 

I have always been a bit shy of mixing them due to this reason.

 

Mark

The 3rd,4th,5th sleepers on the right track are ply in the top pic, some of the sleepers in the bottom left of the 2nd picture are also ply, I can only tell because of the silver tags sticking out of the sides that haven't been hidden in the ballast yet.

 

I'll try to take some better pictures sometime but you have to look really closely to make out the grain on the ply sleepers or possibly a chair that isn't quite square.

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