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Hi Darren some smashing trackwork indeed.

What make is your ballast and did you airbrush the track and sleepers etc? The colours are really spot on :-)

 

Regards

Craig

 

HI

Thanks for the kind comments on the track work, the ballast is C+L 2mm light grey with a little bit of dark grey, the sleepers are ply and stained with C+L track stain.

The rails I painted with Humbrol no 29 RAF brown, this was spot on to photo I have of Southern BR track.

The ballast still need a little bit of weathering with the airbrush to tone it down a little .

Hope this helps.

All the best

Darren

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
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Thought I'd post some pics from my blog here just in case it got missed.

 

Here's some GOG-F trackwork I built at the recent Mansfield Show

 

post-6717-0-86839900-1331112296_thumb.jpg

 

post-6717-0-79017400-1331112318_thumb.jpg

 

post-6717-0-26481500-1331112340_thumb.jpg

 

The simple turnout was a bit of a cheat being reworked components from an old Waverley kit. The double slip used completely scratchbuilt components. The Vs used Brain Harrup's excellent method and are all 1:5.

 

Rail is bullhead on pcb sleepers. Tiebars will be Ambis/C&L, possibly with pcb actuating bars using lace pins for safety. Actuation will be by TT3000 slow acting motors

 

As I only had a standard roller gauge I found setting some of the flangeways difficult - until I got out my old car feeler gauges, two together gave me the 1.75mm needed, give or take a thou or two and proved VERY useful laid lengthwise to ensure a straight path through the common crossings in both directions. The Parkside van certainly seems to nip through without trouble :)

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Thought I'd post some pics from my blog here just in case it got missed.

 

Here's some GOG-F trackwork I built at the recent Mansfield Show

 

post-6717-0-86839900-1331112296_thumb.jpg

 

post-6717-0-79017400-1331112318_thumb.jpg

 

post-6717-0-26481500-1331112340_thumb.jpg

 

The simple turnout was a bit of a cheat being reworked components from an old Waverley kit. The double slip used completely scratchbuilt components. The Vs used Brain Harrup's excellent method and are all 1:5.

 

Rail is bullhead on pcb sleepers. Tiebars will be Ambis/C&L, possibly with pcb actuating bars using lace pins for safety. Actuation will be by TT3000 slow acting motors

 

As I only had a standard roller gauge I found setting some of the flangeways difficult - until I got out my old car feeler gauges, two together gave me the 1.75mm needed, give or take a thou or two and proved VERY useful laid lengthwise to ensure a straight path through the common crossings in both directions. The Parkside van certainly seems to nip through without trouble :)

 

As tidy a bit of track building as I've seen in a while. Very neat soldering if I may say so. I do sincerely hope that the insulation gaps in the pcb are so well hidden that I can't see them. Nice work, Brian.

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Sleepers arn't gapped yet, but then you knew that ;)

 

I was discussing this subject with Cav at the Mansfield Show and he favours "feathering" the copper off using the edge of a cutting disc, me, I do a little slit as close to the viewing side rail as possible, once painted they are all but invisible to the viewing hoards :lol:

 

Very neat soldering if I may say so

 

A mix of 145 and 188 deg leaded solder and 9% phosphoric acid flux. I only use the lead free for soldering the Vs - no chance then of them unsoldering when I assemble ;)

 

 

I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to paint it though ......

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As I only had a standard roller gauge I found setting some of the flangeways difficult - until I got out my old car feeler gauges, two together gave me the 1.75mm needed, give or take a thou or two and proved VERY useful laid lengthwise to ensure a straight path through the common crossings in both directions.

 

I make an 0-MF+ 'gauge-widened' roller version: which is 31.75mm. gauge and has 1.5mm. flangeway at one end; 1.75mm. at t`other......might that have helped?

 

0MFGaugesLarge.jpg

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Ha, maybe Debs, but around the K crossing of the double slip it was very tight, and I had the foresight to invest in an expensive set of Sykes Pikavant gauges years ago :) The inside slip rails were set using a digital vernier.

 

Layout will be ready when it's ready Pete, although I do have a provisional booking for Wycrail 2013 ....... If it's not raining on Friday afternoon I'm planning to bash the second baseboard together - family commitments permitting ;)

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Funny, I was talking to my son about the chap who makes impossible track and couldn't remember his name, then Brian Harrap's name appears on here! I saw his dock layout at Utrecht a while back and some other remarkably silly stuff like like 2mm scale with narrow gauge and thought "only a Brit would be daft enough to build that"! Son agreed...Keep up the good work Brian.

 

Meanwhile I'm trying to finish my layout to DOOGAF standards using C&L and SMP with handbuilt points from Templot, and quite nice it looks too.

 

To the earlier post about the penny dropping with Templot, it does eventually! I'm still not au fait with most of it, but have managed to design and build a layout with double and single slips, a double junction and all sorts of turnouts! none of which really lined up with the baseboard, but no doubt the penny will drop on that front one day! Thanks to Martin for his help replying to my posts on Templot forum a while ago.

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Came across this during a clearout the other day. It's one of my early practice pieces. Oft-times, between layouts or just when I feel like it, I might cobble something together so as to keep my hand in as it were. Some of you will have seen it before and indeed run a wagon up and down it, but for those that haven't I thought I'd pop it in here. Code 40 rail (Micro Engineering), coppeclad construction (glass fibre type), Proto Z scale (that's 0.2mm flangeway gaps - likely the thinnest one in your feepost-5773-0-30717200-1344672880_thumb.jpgler gauge set). Brian.

post-5773-0-30717200-1344672880_thumb.jpg

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I am about to embark upon the construction of the track & points for my OO-SF layout. The plan is to use C&L nickel FB rail and pcb sleepers.

 

There will 27 (mostly curved) points with a variety of crossing angles largely in order to accommodate the desired fiddle yard trackplan.

 

Did I read somewhere on here fairly recently - which may not be the same as posted fairly recently - about production of component parts using a wet stone grinder. Would that make crossing vee production even easier than Brian's method?

 

What does fill me with dread is the thought of filing 54 switch blades (of varying lengths) for the aforesaid mentioned points plus a few for some dummy trap points. I know prepared blades can be bought but that's a lot of money at just under £10 a set. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to ease the blade production task? Is this also something that could be achieved with a wet stone grinder?

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I am about to embark upon the construction of the track & points for my OO-SF layout. The plan is to use C&L nickel FB rail and pcb sleepers.

 

There will 27 (mostly curved) points with a variety of crossing angles largely in order to accommodate the desired fiddle yard trackplan.

 

Did I read somewhere on here fairly recently - which may not be the same as posted fairly recently - about production of component parts using a wet stone grinder. Would that make crossing vee production even easier than Brian's method?

 

What does fill me with dread is the thought of filing 54 switch blades (of varying lengths) for the aforesaid mentioned points plus a few for some dummy trap points. I know prepared blades can be bought but that's a lot of money at just under £10 a set. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to ease the blade production task? Is this also something that could be achieved with a wet stone grinder?

 

Ray, here's how I do mine. Look up the taper lengths which are in a table within Templot. I can't recall exactly where, but think it was within a help reference. Take a block of wood and mark out the distance. Clamp the rail in position and file away. Takes less than a minute to produce them to the required taper and works well.

 

I used to dread making blades, but this simplifies the task considerably.

 

post-6950-0-57184000-1350644290_thumb.jpg

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Thanks Gordon. I recall seeing that before and think I tried it. Either I didn't clamp it tight enough or I did something else wrong, as I think I remember the piece of rail roaming all over the place as I filed it. Do you file straight across, diagonally or along the blade length to stop the rail moving? Is the rail laying flat on the block through its length or is there a grove in the wood under the clamp in which the rail sits?

 

Out of interest do you use Brian's method for producing Vee crossings or do you have another way?

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As you can see from the pic, the rail is held under the clamp against the block and both are clamped to my workbench. I file directly along the rail, never across it. The end of the rail is flush with the end of the block and I file a few degrees below the horizontal with a 6-8" medium flat file. There is no groove at all in the wooden block. Perhaps in this pic, the clamp could move a little closer to the line, but once you have bent one, you learn to take it carefully in terms of file angle and pressure.

 

I wasn't aware of Brian's method a few years back, so I have a set of Portsdown filing jigs to construct vees. They work very well, but then so does Brian's method and looking at the superb pointwork he has built over the years, there is no contest. Some superb pointwork and way beyond my capabilities at this time...

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I decided it would be good fun to make my own three point gauges for EM gauge track.

 

My trusty digital vernier is telling me that the code 75 bullhead I have in stock, has a variable size head!

 

could anyone recommend what size slot drill I should be using to mill out the grooves for the gauge.

 

The vernier seems to vary between about 0.84mm and 0.95mm along a typical length of bullhead.

 

Would I be best using a 1mm slot drill, or is this going to end up giving me too much 'slop'?

 

If I was doing my usual stuff in 1:12, I would sneer at such small discrepancies, but in 4mm scale it's a whole new ball game.

 

Regards

 

Richard

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could anyone recommend what size slot drill I should be using to mill out the grooves for the gauge.

 

Hi Richard,

 

The scale rail head width should be 0.92mm (2.3/4" scale). SMP rail is known to be under scale width.

 

For precision milling you need to rough out the slot under-size and then finish it to size. I suggest using a 0.8mm (1/32") slot drill or D-bit. Finish it to 0.94mm min / 0.96mm max. This is the 00-SF check gauge tool:

 

2_151030_530000000.png

Martin.

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Martin,

 

Thank you very much for the swift and comprehensive reply.

 

It's exactly what i needed to know.

 

I had thought I was either going slightly mad with the varying rail head sizes,or the vernier gauge was on the blink you have put my mind at rest now.

 

Regards

 

Richard

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