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Lewes (LBSCR, 1886)


Dave Searle
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Having seen the basis of this layout, I decided to join the Epsom club and David has given me the locomotive project of building Epsom. This was a Craven design 2-4-0 tender loco which was updated by Stroudley. To my GWR eyes, it is a bit like a scaled down Stella or Barnum class, or a Duke with fewer wheels! So I have quickly settled into a design and have started with the outside crank fitment for the 11mm diameter wheels.

I machined the axle extensions and discs in my usual way on the lathe and last night at the club evening started to fettle these into the cranks.post-25417-0-83680300-1497990848_thumb.jpg

 

The discs are separated from the wheel and then a crank shape from the Association coupling rod etch was bolted on using cheeshead 16ba bolt and nut instead of the countersunkscrew used with the wheel. The shape is then very roughly cut with shears (disc thickness is about 25 thou) and then filed to the profile of the etch.post-25417-0-25665500-1497990894_thumb.jpg

 

Once happy that the curves are OK, I then bolted the crank to the wheel.

 

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I managed two of these in the evening, along with chatting to Andy, Dave and Michael, so not a bad work rate.

 

The chassis will be one of my usual solid brass concoctions as this very small loco will need all the weight possible. Motor will be one of the little 7mm coreless Farish jobs in the tender.

 

post-25417-0-75538600-1497991691.jpg

 

This is what we are aiming for...........

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I've been making up some test point work samples using copper-clad sleepers and Easitrac parts:

 

First attempt with copper clad sleepers with Versaline chairplates on a Templot plan:

 

post-203-0-53380000-1503386701_thumb.jpg

 

[The eagle-eyed will see that not all the rails have been added]

 

Then I tried an Easitrack point kit (with added brass sleepers for electrical connections):

 

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From directly above, the solid crossing is quite obvious, but, with some metal blacking and cosmetic chairs added, it is less so from an angle. Overall I'm very pleased with the Easitrac pegged point system and think we will be settling on this - possibly with some copper-clad parts for one or two of the more complex formations.

 

I had a quick go at loose ballasting with Chinchilla dust, but that was clearly too coarse, so the hunt for suitable ballast continues.

 

Progress on baseboards has slowed as we are waiting for room to become available in the clubs storage space.

 

Nine club members visited the real Lewes last week and tried to visualise how the second station fitted into the modern landscape and see what buildings and infrastructure remain. Many of the buildings that will appear in the background are still there and will need to be modelled. After a good stroll round the railway end of the town we retired to one of the many remaining pubs in the town and sampled the local Harveys beer.

 

Lewes as a town is very aware of its history and there are plaques on many buildings. We also managed to choose a day when the local photographic company (Reeves) had arranged a town-wide display of photographs (taken in the 1914-18 period) in house, shop and office windows showing local scenes and local people. Reeves started in the 1850s and has an amazing historical archive including many photographs of Lewes' railway stations.

 

Cheers,

Dave

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At the recent RailWells exhibition, I picked up a bag of 'Road Stone' from Attwood Aggregates. It is real crushed stone, in a variety of colours and sizes. Their finest stuff looks pretty good in the bag, although I have not tried using it yet.

 

A Google search did not find a website for them, but DCCTrainAutomation appear to stock some of their products.

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At the recent RailWells exhibition, I picked up a bag of 'Road Stone' from Attwood Aggregates. It is real crushed stone, in a variety of colours and sizes. Their finest stuff looks pretty good in the bag, although I have not tried using it yet.

 

A Google search did not find a website for them, but DCCTrainAutomation appear to stock some of their products.

 

I also bought some Roadstone from them at Wells and also a tub of the Dust. Most of the suppliers of their products don't hold the full range and it tends to the coarser types for the larger scales. However, their postage rates seemed very reasonable (although I can't remember what they are!) so it would probably be a better idea to contact them direct. The link below has some useful information as well as a copy of the leaflet which they have available at shows.

 

https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4951

 

David

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I had a quick go at loose ballasting with Chinchilla dust, but that was clearly too coarse, so the hunt for suitable ballast continues.

 

Dave

 

Sieving the chinchilla dust should give some suitably size ballast. I've got some various kitchen sieves which I use for seperating scenic textures into specific sizes when required.

 

Mark

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Fascinating project Dave. The track ballasting issue is tricky if you were opting for soldered construction using a thicker chairplate would give you a bit more clearance. If you go the easitrac route I wonder if you could stick down the easitrac at the edges and once set cut out the middle which would give you a bit more clearance so whatever ballast you were using would not interfere with the flanges. I did wonder about using sandtex paint but that could well end up thicker than the ballast. I would try using something to infill to sleeper level then a coat of paint and shakes Talc onto it giving a finer texture. You could even just drill the holes for the chairs in a shaped track base (using the easitrac point base as a template) That would avoid the need to infill and just need some texturing for the ballast. You might need longer screws to fix the crossing down and a channel in the trackbase for the tiebar (or use an under base method).

While typing that I remembered the mortar in our bungalow is some horried ggrey stuff ( power station ash?) which is very fine.

 

I like Nigel's start on Epsom. I am having space problems with my planned 7mm Cambrain & GWR layout. It occurred to me how doing it in 2mm would solve the space problems but I am not sure I could cope with building a Stella, a couple of Dukes, 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 Sharpies and especially the Sharp Stewart 2-4-0 Albion class which may well be smaller than Epsom with a small 4 wheel tender. In 7mm Kirtly Pete has some lovely early LBSC locos on his Saltdean Layout. Look out for it at exhibitions.

 

Don 

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Evening all,

 

Just a quick update to show progress has been made on Epsom. The loco chassis has now been shaped and is effectively now complete.

 

post-25417-0-39833700-1506288643_thumb.jpg

 

I have still to fit crank pins and rods, but everything else is ready. The screws sticking up are in insulated bushes and will allow connection to the footplate.

 

I hope to make a bit more progress on this and bring it along as part of a few bits and pieces we will bring to the 2mm AGM to show progress on the project.

 

regards

Nigel

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Ballasting experiments continue, with Chinchilla Dust and Aquarium Sand loosely poured over some Easitrac.

 

Chinchilla dust:

post-203-0-36437500-1506704273_thumb.jpg

 

Aquarium sand (slightly finer)

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Together (Aquarium sand at bottom)

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Next step is to try some Road Stone and Scenic Dust from Attwood Aggregates.

 

Cheers,

Dave

 

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Hi Dave,

 

Found your topic after my post about Eve Garnett from Lewes on ‘Layouts inspired by literature’. Delighted to see Lewes being modelled and look forward to seeing the layout when it is finished.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/132490-layouts-inspired-by-literature/&do=findComment&comment=3094885

Edited by Marly51
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Those who came to the Epsom club show may have seen the club stand with evidence of some progress on the project.

 

Andy's wagons were on display along with Tony's revised baseboards and Dave's templot print showing how fiendish some areas will be.

 

The loco Epsom has also made progress

 

post-25417-0-61319600-1525205939_thumb.jpg

 

I still have to create the distinctive Stroudly roof profile, so we just have a flat base at present. I bought a dome from N-Brass that will need a little fettling to match the drawing, but easier than starting from scratch. However, with a chimney and smoke-box door turned on the lathe it is starting to look like a locomotive.

 

There is loads of detail to add yet, but it has run very well in testing, so we should be able to run it at a scale speed and stay within the 10mph restriction of the Lewes station environs.

 

This did seem to catch the imagination of some potential new members, so we may be adding some new faces to the team if the reception at the show is anything to go by.

 

Although this loco won't be at the club open day this Saturday, many other bits will be on display if you fancy a closer look.

 

Nigel

 

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10 hours ago, Dave Searle said:

I wasn't totally happy with this approach as it made electrical connections an issue, so I've gone for a composite method using copperclad sleepers for the pointwork and Easitrack for plain track. 

Not sure what you mean by electrical connections being an issue.  I used this approach on Kirkallanmuir without any problems.  As you can see in that post, I made the first two sleepers carrying the closure rails pcb and so that made the electrical connection between them and the adjacent stock rails.  The wing rails are separate from the closure rails and get their power from the crossing.  The switches are true 'loose heel' and are attached to the ends of the closure rails by home made copper shim 'fishplates' soldered to the switch and then slid onto the closure rail.  The attachment to the operating mechanism stops them sliding off.

 

Jim

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Hi Jim,

 

With hindsight and more experience, I agree with you, but at the time I wanted to be confident of good electrical connections because we had had issues when using standard Peco points on our previous layout. I felt that with multiple paths provided by soldered chairs and sleepers, we would avoid problems. 

 

The astute amongst you, however, will spot that with the interlaced sleepering (with chairs for each track on different sleepers), there still aren't many electrical paths, but it is easy to slip a small piece of nickel silver shim under the rail when needed – I've been learning as I go along :)


I have used the Association's new etched chairs soldered on to the sleepers and the rail using small solder balls to deliver a consistent amount of solder. There are three types of chair (plain, slide, and check rail) and I have found them easy to use with a bit of practice. They have the advantage of allowing you to fold up the jaws of the chair far enough so that the rail can be dropped in from above, or the chair lifted from below, if there isn't space to slide them along the rail. I have a small jig which allows the preparation of a complete sheet of etches quickly, pushing the jaws partially open, so the chairs are prepared in bulk ready for use.

 

Here is an early test, where I haven't trimmed the etched tabs completely off the chairs, it is also a challenge is to get a consistent final angle when folding the jaws back down onto the rail.

 Image-09.jpg.e49b5b5c2a96ee7363feeca4c5c9d9d0.jpg

 

Note a small solder ball trying to escape at the bottom centre of the picture.

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

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Re soldered turnouts on Templot -

 

What glue do folks use to stick the PCB sleepers to the Templot print-out?

 

What glue do folks use to stick the Templot turnout to the baseboard?

 

I assume the construction takes place on the baseboard.

 

Howard.

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6 minutes ago, wusko said:

Re soldered turnouts on Templot -

 

What glue do folks use to stick the PCB sleepers to the Templot print-out?

 

What glue do folks use to stick the Templot turnout to the baseboard?

 

I assume the construction takes place on the baseboard.

 

Howard.

 

Howard,

 

When building 2FS track I have always used ordinary pva to glue it down. This applies to track constructed only in pcb and also my current preferred method of ply sleepers and Easitrac chairs which only requires four pcb sleepers. These are two under the crossing vee, one to provide an electrical connection between closures and stock rails and one at the switch ends. I have never experinced any problems with using pva.

In recent years my Templot prints have been printed onto A4 self-adhesive labels which are stuck to the baseboard. Anyone who doubts their adhesive qualities has never tried to get them off again! A small wallpaper roller is used to really make sure that they are down for good.

I have constructed pcb track off the baseboard usually in sections rather than discrete units of separate points and plain track. The labels in this case are stuck to offcuts of mdf and the sections built onto the prints. Once the track is completed and cleaned up the pieces of mdf are put into the bath with a few inches of water and left to soak for a while. As long as you haven't used waterproof pva (!) when the mdf is retrieved later the track can be eased off the templates. Even then it can be an amusing procedure to try to remove the template prints from the mdf. Not easy. As the full layout print will have been stuck to the baseboard and will be identical to that used in construction, the assembled sections can then be stuck in place on the layout.

 

Hope this helps.

 

David

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I've always used pva for both purposes, laying track direct onto the baseboard. As David says, using a small roller helps to unsure the tempt print is down flat without any distortion. 

 

Jim 

Edited by Caley Jim
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17 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

I've always used pva for both purposes, laying track direct onto the baseboard. As David says, using a small roller helps to unsure the tempt print is down flat without any distortion. 

 

Jim 

 

I couldn't get on with sticking down Templots with pva, Jim. May be my incompetence but too many wrinkles! Andy Hanson pointed me at A4 self-adhesive labels and I've never looked back! As always, the joints between sheets are the difficult part but if you haven't rollered the offending sheet it can be ripped up and replaced by a new one.

I also use the labels for making mock-ups of buildings. I still use hand drawing but even with computer generated artwork it is possible to print onto the label, cut it out, stick to card and cut out the building outline.

 

David

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Hi Howard,

 

I use 3M Spray Mount for both sleepers to plan and plan to  baseboard. This allows re-positioning and stays tacky for a while. I've also used a generic spray adhesive, but that doesn't stay tacky for very long.

 

Cheers,

Dave

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I use narrow double-sided sticky tape. Too wide and it is hard to remove if required. When used to stick track to the baseboard, it allows some movement and tweaking. Once ballasted with PVA, it does not move.

 

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Templot templates are easier to use if printed on thicker paper than ordinary office paper.

 

I suggest 160gsm paper which is almost a thin card. It can be trimmed to the red lines and butted together very precisely like tiles. The extra thickness makes it less likely to cockle with water-based adhesive such as pva.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002YCH5OG/

 

Martin.

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