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A weekend of track laying - Update Oct 2018

londonbus

Entry posted by londonbus

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This weekend the stars were aligned, the wife was away, I had a light week travelling and managed to get work finished for the week by Thursday evening. Tidied the railway room up and had a plan. Basically not to get distracted and ONLY lay track. This is the result. The station area is now basically laid. There are some bits to finish off in the loco servicing are (on the right) and i'm thinking about an ADM turntable (haven't done much research beyond check out the price and pictures.

 

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Very little is wired up, hence the droppers all over the baseboard. But these will be drilled through and connected to the BDL168 occupation detectors. The Cobalts will then be fitted (holes already drilled) and then testing will start. I've already noticed a few mistakes with some missed insulated connectors, so i'll just dremel and stick a little bit of Plasticard in to ensure the two tracks don't touch.

 

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I have cosmetically improved the PECO points (Electrofrog code 100) by trimming the sides. They are all wired up for DCC. Everything's stuck down with copydex and every single seperate section of track is independently wired to avoid any poor connections once the ballast is down (not relishing that).

 

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One of the many little projects i've been busy doing to avoid laying track is experimenting with different couplings. I've settled on Kadees for the locos and either end of fixed rakes. I will also have a number of loose wagons (parcels, vans and other) for shunting around the station's sidings and bays which will all have Kadees or at least in small rakes of three. I haven't yet settled on which couplings to use everywhere else. The cost of Kadees for the entire stock I have would be prohibitive.

 

Travelling now for a few weeks, but do hope to speed up the progress a bit. I am quite mojo'd up to get it wired and working. Then I will be laying the storage sidings.

 

Anybody with experience of motorised turntables I would greatly appreciate your comments. I will research fully in due course.

 

Tremayne

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Corbs
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What an epic build.

Regarding couplings - kadees I have found to be the most versatile for operation. Does the majority of your stock have NEM pockets already? The NEM kadees are much easier to work with than the ones where you have to build the housing box yourself.

If you are running short fixed rakes, have you considered semi-permanently coupling the vehicles using wire or rod bent to a hook and loop?

 

My stepdad has recently bought the Heljan turntable, expensive but the control system is very neat and works on DC or DCC. The indexing is programmable by the user quite easily.

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londonbus

Thanks Corbs, on couplings the stock is mainly with the NEM pockets, however a reasonable amount of early stuff, already ordered 2 x bulk packs of standard whisker couplers and the corresponding draft gear boxes. Yet to be fitted. Have tried the NEM Kadees #17, #18, #19 and #20, the closest coupling I can get (and without buffer lock on the non-scenic 3rd radius curve) is a combination of 1 x #17 connected to 1x #18. I will experiment with 3 link coupling, Sprat & Winkle, some 3D printed NEM 3 link ones, all the proprietary ones and will knock up some hook and loop ones - all in due course, trying to focus on getting the track down, wired up and tested, i’m far too easily distracted!

 

On turntables, there are two on the layout, one in the station area and one in the storage area. I have a Heljan already which will be used in the storage area. It’s still boxed but thanks for the comments, it’s a bit too “continental” looking for use in the main scenic section which is why (cough) i’ve Just ordered the ADM turntables version with detailing which is a very close match to the actual TT at Leicester C. This is expensive, but the reviews are exceptional and it really looks spot on. By far the most expensive single item on the entire layout.

 

Mojo is currently high to get more work done, it always is when i’m travelling and not at home.

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Chamby
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Tremayne, you’ve obviously put a lot of thought and careful execution into this layout, which is as faithful to the prototype as you could achieve within the available space and the constraint of proprietary trackwork. Good job!

 

I’ve recently made a similar decision to use Kadee’s, they are very versatile. You might want to think about how and where you’ll place the under-track uncoupling magnets before you progress much further with the track. If you’re using electromagnets, which are operationally preferable, you’ll certainly be doing a bit more hacking about under the tracks!

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londonbus
...If you’re using electromagnets, which are operationally preferable, you’ll certainly be doing a bit more hacking about under the tracks!

 

Thanks for the positive comments Chamby... The uncouplers were certainly an afterthought and there has been so much to think. The Kadee magnets are unsightly, but I suppose could to some degree be partially disguised with weathering. Not ideal though. I’ve bought some 3mm x 3mm neodymium magnets, but haven’t had time to experiment. Off to Warley next weekend so will no doubt purchase one of the Kadee electromagnets for a trial before I settle on the final solution. Current thinking - normal Kadee magnets (or the neodymium) for the storage sidings where the cosmetics don’t matter, and electromagnets for the station area. I’ll need at least 10!

 

 

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