Fiddle yard cassettes

[woodbine]

I have a nice flat ply surface for my scenic boards and want to use cassettes in the fiddle yards.

 

I am planning to use 12x12 aluminium angle for the fiddle track and sides, mounted on ply strips, and each exit from the layout will have its own, attachable, short 50mm connecting piece.

 

I haven't as yet decided whether to lay the real track directly on the ply, paper template, or cork or foam, so I don't yet exactly what height the top of the track will be, and anyway it may turn out slightly different for each exit by human error.

 

I have Googled around but not found a definitive detailed approach, everybody seems to make it up for themselves, but I don't particularly want to re-invent the wheel if I can avoid it!

 

So three questions arise.

 

1. How can I be sure that any individual cassette will line up heightwise with any one of six exits?

 

2. What height should I make the surface of the fiddle yards relative to the surface of the main baseboards, given that I don't know the finished height of the top of the track in advance.

 

3. What extras are recommended for the cassettes, e.g. to stop the trains running off the ends by accident?

 

What other tips would people give regarding cassettes?

[10800]

As you say there are many examples of different ways modellers achieve this, and I'm sure some will be along later .

 

But I would say that 2) depends on what you decide as a track-laying methodology for the cassettes (which you say you haven't decided on yet) and 1) depends on effectively carrying out the design in 2).

 

3) could be anything from 'taking care not to' (risky), to some kind of physical buffer or an electrical cut-out.

[Stubby47]

I'm always intrigued why aluminium angle is used for cassettes. Generally the height of the angled metal is not sufficient to prevent stock from falling over, and the necessity to ensure the correct metal is used (ie without the insulation), to me seems more effort than laying a piece of spare flexitrack (or lengths of rail and copper-clad sleepers) on the same piece of ply with some suitable ply walls.

 

I have a Peco loco lift, and the ability to just drop the edge of that onto the track (for those that don't know, the lift has a profiled, thin copper edge which fits over each of the rails and also passes the power) means that both vertical and horizontal allignment is made at the same time.

 

As the loco lifts are reported to be no longer in production, I will be experimenting with a suitable sizes of brass u-channel to achive the same result.

 

Stu

[shortliner]

After reading the final sentence in Stus post - and possibly needing two more, I rang Peco - They are still being produced

[Phil Traxson]

It will almost certainly pay dividends to design and make the cassettes first and then make the exit track heights to suit, its almost the only way to satisfy item one.

 

Our group cassettes have rail soldered to brass plates at each end that slide under similar brass tags on the exit roads, the brass plates are also used to ensure horizontal track alignment, because they slide against one another they are self cleaning too.

 

A few photos of our cassettes are attached, they are very belt and braces with protection against damage on the ends and slots which ply plates fit into on the ends which are used EVERY time we move the cassettes with stock on them. They also stack, but never more than two together with stock on them or they become to high to be stable! These are the loco/railcar length ones, we also (and mainly) use some longer, about 3' 6", ones for complete trains.

 

These are for 0-16.5, so could be narrower and lower for 4mm standard gauge, ours have clearance for 7mm standard gauge plus a bit, as we have transporter wagons in use similar to the Leek & Manifold Light Railway.

 

Hope this helps a little,

 

Phil T.

[Stubby47]

I stand corrected then - I'm sure I heard they were no longer in the catalogue, hence my comment. I'll also be buying a pair, to use between the track proper and cassettes.

 

Stu

 

 

[Re6/6]

Have a look here on the old forum. A pic from there:

[woodbine]

Thank you for all your suggestions and for the link to the old RMWEB topic. I have a bit more to get my teeth into now.

[George Woodcock]

Hello

 

On 2 0f my layouts I use cassettes. The baseboard are 6mm Ply therefore the cassette bases are 6mm ply with softwood sides. The track is Peco Code 75 on the layout and the same glues into the cassttes. Connection is made by soldering Code 100 fishplates onto the ends of the track in the cassettes. Just enough to align the track and make the electrical connection but loose enough to get on and off easily. The cassettes are in various lengths up to a just over a metre. They take a Bachmann 4CEP. Anything longer would be unwieldy. Simples.

 

Cheers

 

George

[ANT]

Hello

 

Here is a couple of pics of the cassettes that we are using on Rannoch Junction

 

 

The cassette shown is for a loco. We have longer ones for wagons and coaches.

6mm MDF base, with 2mm MDF sides. The higher sides allow for better protection of the stock.

Aluminum angle used to connect them,

Peco Code 75 track with copper clad to secure the ends.

 

Thanks

SEEYA

ANT