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Making an Exit


richbrummitt

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After the emotional strain of the switch surgery I needed a break and considered what else needed doing soon. I wanted to plan out the right hand end of the board and make sure there was space for the planned signals to fit around the major engineering structure that is Sandford Rd overbridge.

 

I measured up and comparing to photographs in my reference books marked and cut out a portal from mount board. This was duplicated by using this as a template. In my memory the road wasn't particularly wide and so I made a spacer to make a dry run.

 

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It didn't look nearly wide enough and it turns out my memory deceived me regarding the use of traffic calming measures at this location. I had thought that there was a single footpath and that pinch points controlled traffic to a single file over the bridge. I had estimated the width as less than 20' on this basis. Looking at photographs in a local history book and my own photographs it is clear that I was mistaken. The pinch points are either side of the bridge but there is plenty of width. There is still only a footpath on the side nearest the station.

 

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Looking North

 

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Looking South

 

Remeasuring the available space on the baseboard I settled on a width of 60mm over faces. This allows space for the signals each side of the bridge to be accommodated on the baseboard.

 

A good deal of cutting and several scalpel blades later I had a full kit of parts, excepting the wing or retaining walls. I've 'upgraded' to a Swan Morten No.4 handle recently and it is preferable to the X-Acto No.2 type knife I have used for many years. I won't be giving this up but now have a choice depending on the suitability for the task at hand.

 

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An hour later they were fully assembled.

 

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I can be somewhat impatient at times and used superglue for speed of assembly. I will likely go back and strengthen the assembly before finally securing to the baseboard but there is a way to go before that time yet. Painting and ballasting are two operations that will be difficult to accomplish unless it can be removed! It is placed temporarily for the moment to see that it looks okay.

 

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The over high coach nearly passes under. I really ought to swap the wheels for 6mm ones.

 

Now I need some sticky backed ashlar stonework in the colour in the photograph that follows

 

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This is the best picture I could get of the bridge without trespassing. The path I was on two years ago when I took this is so overgrown now that it is not easy to get to this location any more but it offers a better glimpse of the prototype than is possible from the deck.

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  • RMweb Gold

Good progress Rich. The prototype views north and south look remarkably similar!

 

Jerry

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Good progress Rich. The prototype views north and south look remarkably similar!

 

Thanks Jerry, Now fixed. The view south was there as an attached thumbnail but I had managed to add the one picture twice by mistake and then not notice when I previewed it. 

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I have four of those Dapol coaches. They do look rather large in comparison with other stock although (on another thread) Chris Higgs suggested that they are correct 'N' scale and I think I measured mine and agreed with his conclusion.<br /><br />Not sure where the extra 'bigness' comes from but I concluded that there were not many straightforward options for lowering them. As I think you are intending, I swapped the wheels for 6mm ones which lowers them by 0.5mm.<br /><br />I still like them as models though in spite of their shortcomings.<br /><br />Regards, Andy

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  • RMweb Gold

I think we all tend to underestimate the width of roads. At leasst you have realised this and corrected it before completing and installing it. The proportions look right now.

Regarding the coaches a common problem is they often have extra clearance for the bogies to swing on those tight N gauge curves especially with the deeper flanges. If you fit the smaller wheels you may be able to drop the body a fraction too.

Don

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'........ I've 'upgraded' to a Swan Morten No.4 handle recently and it is preferable to the X-Acto No.2 type knife I have used for many years. I won't be giving this up but now have a choice depending on the suitability for the task at hand'....

Rich -

 

Thousands of surgeons cannot be wrong!  Just remember the blades are so sharp the pain normally hits  after the work gets covered in blood!

 

Regs

 

Ian

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  • RMweb Gold

Been using SM handles and 10A blades for years...unlikely to swap as they are just great.

 

Some more nice work Rich - the nice thing about making the carcass structures is that even if they don't get clad for some time, they start to help pull a layout together - this is all looking rather fab now :good:

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I think we all tend to underestimate the width of roads.

 

I worked in the street lighting industry for nearly 4 years so I know how big roads/parking spaces/other random amenities are this was just a case of memory failure: A further sign I am not getting younger.

 

 

 

Thousands of surgeons cannot be wrong!  Just remember the blades are so sharp the pain normally hits  after the work gets covered in blood!

 

So they say. The cut to my finger is healing but you are absolutely right that I didn't notice until the opening had allowed a tricklle of blood down the handle and I noticed it was strangely wet...

 

 

 

Some more nice work Rich - the nice thing about making the carcass structures is that even if they don't get clad for some time, they start to help pull a layout together - this is all looking rather fab now :good:

 

Thanks Pete. I'll be off to get some full page sticky labels soon to move this along. I have some bricks to draw for the arch, which will be challenging going by my recent efforts starting to draw the walls for the main buildings. I hope to acquire the remaining materials for linking up the switches and making the signals. Hopefully it will start to come together more quickly once those under baseboard timesucks are dealt with. 

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Thanks Pete. I'll be off to get some full page sticky labels soon to move this along.

'Staples' (the shop, not the wire...)  Not far from you (next to Maplins..) G>

 

Regs

 

Ian

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Cheers Ian,

 

I have various sizes of self adhesive labels but no full page ones. I had long since wondered what the purpose of a full page label was but I fully understand now that they make them for modellers :yes:

 

I'm not going over there today though.

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  • RMweb Premium

Having struggled with the tall coach issue I came to the conclusion that Dapol use 6mm wheels for clearance but deepen the underframe to remove the large gap between the bogie and body, as has existed with many of the Farish ones of the past. So fit the correct sized 7mm wheels and it's too high, but you can't lower the body on the bogies to compensate, as you can with the older Farish. 

 

Izzy

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