Wantage Road 1880 4mm Broad Gauge

[Charlie586]

12 minutes ago, bgman said:

 

Hi Charlie,

 

I still have a few bits, including some BGS rail but if it was used to start something else I would have to be very pragmatic with its use, that said I have been tempted !

As for the etch I agree it is rather expensive now, I think I probably paid around half todays price many years ago when it first appeared and even then it was expensive.

 

My resin cast also included the ballast insert which made it quite stable and was deliberately done to save the messy business of ballasting. I'm certain even in small lengths it could be 3D printed and as and when I get myself one I will definitely give it a try.

My only concerns would be the small tolerances for gauging hence producing single lengths for each side.

 

The one other possible problem is the longitudinal timber ties wouldn't match if they were scarfed as the original ones were but at this scale I wouldn't let it concern me. Oh ! not forgetting the metal tie rods too ! ( Getting a bit too "hair shirt" modelling now !  ).

 

G

 

 

I don't mind the ballasting, though I've only  got one board half ballasted. I like the look of the occasional very deep ballast dips that you see in photos. I haven't done any tie rods yet,  I better get cracking on them. 

 

[Charlie586]

Bit of good and bad this week. 

I dropped the 3d print head onto the printer vat

It seemed okay but I set off a print and the resin leaked and set all over the screen 

I think it will come off but it's pretty stuck solid. The rest of the machine seems to work okay. I'll need a new sheet for the bottom of the vat as it's got a hole in it.

 

Put pick ups on the hawthorn (I've tried to copy DLT's way of doing them, the messy soldering is all my own though). They work, it's putting the rover to shame. The hawthorn body was only half made but I might get it back out as I cut some bits out but never soldered them on.

 

 

I made some gauges,  they're close but not really accurate enough, so will have to get a p4 roller gauge for the standard line. The 3d printed ones do start to melt when too near the iron so they need very careful placing. I made up some vees, some were disasters but a few were okay. 

I had to take some of the copperclad off and re fix it as the rail wasn't in the middle.

Did some soldering on the point today 

 

 

 

Seems to go through the first v okay for both broad and standard. Just to the left of the crossing there's a bit of a step up, but I'm not taking it apart and redoing. There's still 2 more crossings to solder to this. worked out what I think will be a better order to put it together for the next point. 

Have to say, I'm a bit surprised it works.

[Charlie586]

 

Had a look today and I've gone off the line for the broad line,  see just right and under green blob. The template was photocopied a few times and I'm wondering if it's got reduced by accident. I'll hopefully add the other crossings in next few days.

Shouldn't be a problem again as I've got a plan to build the next one a different way (famous last words)

 

 

For wiring it up. I think the yellow block needs to be switchable, while to the left of the light blue is one polarity with the right of blue the other polarity.

 

Meant to post this last week and forgot. The BGS have a guide to track building (in 7mm) on their site, I think it's new, I can't remember seeing it before. 

 

https://www.broadgauge.org.uk/modelling/bgs_tracklaying_7mm.html

 

 

[Charlie586]

 

Found what was going to be wiring switches from my old layout from 20 years ago. I think I spent more time building this bit than I did the actual layout.  Should come in handy now though. Needs a few more switches and a dial that goes to 11 I reckon.

 

Did some more soldering but got to this point (no pun intended) and got confused 

 

 

Where the narrow meets the broad it has to end at a stub and not a v frog with wing rails. I struggled for a bit to work out where the wheels and flanges should be. I got out the broad gauge data sheets and it kind of made sense afterwards. But there shouldn't be a frog on the right, unsoldering it wasn't much fun.

The BGS do a proper mixed turnout plan rather than the thing I've cobbled together so I'm ordering that for the next ones. I'll probably do 3 and pick the best 2 for the running lines with the worst in the yard.

 

 

This is as of now.  Not far off the basic bit done. Have to say I've enjoyed putting it together. It's a lot more forgiving than I thought it would be with the tiny flanges.  One bit of rail needs adjusting and I need to sort out the height difference on the frog towards the right. I'll eventually convert the test board to be able to test the points as they're being made with a run on bit before and after.

 

I'm going to have break from it for the weekend and then try to rotate between it, the hawthorn and the carriages. I'm still waiting for the screw for the rover gearbox to come from China so that's on hold at moment.

[Charlie586]

So I didn't have a break from it over the weekend, far too cold outside for anything else.

 

 

I managed to slowly scrape most of the resin off the screen using a finger nail very gently and a bit of ipa. Doesn't appear to be scratched. However while trying to change the vat film sheet, a couple of the cheap allen bolts that hold it together threaded. I'll have to drill the one above out. I've ordered some more bolts from the ebay. 

 

 

Got the hawthorn body bits out and had a play around. It needs a little bit filing off for the splashers to fit. The coupling rods need moving out a tad as they hit the lower, middle bit of the splasher. I'll make some tiny washers, I've got sone 0.8mm brass which should do it. I need to do a tender chassis,  I've started it but not in photo. 

 

 

 All running rails are in now, need to do check rails and switch at start of point. The rails are ready just need to finish filing the copperclad down into ridges to represent the plates. Then fill in gaps between baulks, put transoms in and paint some of it to see how it looks.

[Charlie586]

Had a bit of a mare trying to get the threaded bolts out of the 3d print vat

I managed to get 2 out by opening them up a bit and using a flat screwdriver, but the one above was a real pain. In the end I drilled most of it then used a bolt extractor bit in the drill and eventually got it to catch.

The new film screen is now in and ready to go (no pic of that, sorry). The printer doesn't like cold weather so not test printed anything because it will probably fail anyway for that reason. I'll give it a week or so and hope it warms up a bit.

 

Soldered some brass offcut around the hawthorn weathershield and side bits

 

Then filed back. The weathershield looks a bit like a face to me, or am I just going mad.

Scraped a bit more copperclad from the switch part of the point. It's slow going, I'll do the others a different way. I've started doing some 3d ones, but there's no rush until I know the printer is reliable. 

I've got some 0.8mm brass that I'll use for the tie bars. Starting to think about operating them. I've got some piano wire and loads of old guitar strings and a few boxes of assorted stuff so I should be able to cobble something together.

[lezz01]

Humans are programmed from before birth to recognise faces which is why we see them in trees, clouds, rock formations and even the front of cars/trucks so no I don't think your going mad mate.

Regards Lez. 

[MrWolf]

You're not the only one having problems with chocolate bolts. No way are those Allen screws 10.9 grade, you wouldn't be drilling the heads off with a regular HSS drill bit.

 

We've had the bolts strip on a repro motorcycle side stand, the clamp slips round on the frame until it hits the exhaust and the bike is at an unstable angle.

Never mind, it's only two 5/16" bolts....

Except.... That to get at them, you have to take the engine and gearbox out. 

 

I think that the quote goes something like: There is nothing that one man can make, that another cannot make a little cheaper and a little less well.

 

Good to see that you've sorted it though and managed to bash on with other constructive jobs.

 

Seeing faces in things is quite normal as lezz says. 

One of my friends has a 1955 Bedford van, the memsahib says that it has a face like a big happy dog...

[Charlie586]

1 hour ago, lezz01 said:

Humans are programmed from before birth to recognise faces which is why we see them in trees, clouds, rock formations and even the front of cars/trucks so no I don't think your going mad mate.

Regards Lez. 

Thanks Lez, I didn't know that. 

[Charlie586]

9 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

You're not the only one having problems with chocolate bolts. No way are those Allen screws 10.9 grade, you wouldn't be drilling the heads off with a regular HSS drill bit.

 

We've had the bolts strip on a repro motorcycle side stand, the clamp slips round on the frame until it hits the exhaust and the bike is at an unstable angle.

Never mind, it's only two 5/16" bolts....

Except.... That to get at them, you have to take the engine and gearbox out. 

 

I think that the quote goes something like: There is nothing that one man can make, that another cannot make a little cheaper and a little less well.

 

Good to see that you've sorted it though and managed to bash on with other constructive jobs.

 

Seeing faces in things is quite normal as lezz says. 

One of my friends has a 1955 Bedford van, the memsahib says that it has a face like a big happy dog...

I was drilling with bargain shop drill bits as well, the bolts are awful. The photon printer was about 300 when it came out and I bought it, but being made in China they've saved a few pennies on a fairly crucial piece.

I'm no good at car repairs, I almost destroyed a Ford escort in the 90's while trying to change the oil myself and have gone to a garage ever since.

[lezz01]

When we are born we don't see so well so recognising faces is programmed into us so we can recognise and bond with our mothers. It's also why when a child is given up for adoption at birth they don't really like the birth mother to hold the baby before they hand it over to the adoptive mother. It's not done out of cruelty, although it seems so, It's so that the birth mothers face isn't imprinted on the the baby. It's a little harsh but it is done out of kindness for both the child and the adoptive mother. You really don't need your baby screaming it's head off every time you pick it up do you!?....and yes before you ask I do know what I'm talking about from personal experience. I grew up in care from a very young age and my foster mother had a very trying few months to start with as my mothers face was imprinted on me.

Regards Lez.  

[lezz01]

..and yes I do still carry the trauma of being taken from my birth mother. In fact it has shaped my life for the last 61 years and the repercussions of my mothers illness are still shaping the younger members of our family two generations later.

Regards Lez.  

[Charlie586]

I managed to test the printer the other day, did some tiny springs 

some failed, but most are okay so printer is okay. Need to test a bigger piece, and do minor tinkering, but the temperature is still too low. 

 

Apart from that it's been mainly bitting and bobbing 

Soldered some more door hinges on the coach (I'm putting them overscale then filing down) and laminated a few brakes 

 

I tried to order some 0.2mm brass to test a different way of doing the packing, but I accidentally ordered 0.02mm thick brass instead. I thought it seemed cheap. I think I need new glasses. It's basically like kitchen foil, I can't really think of a use for it. 

The above is bridge rail soldered on a small strip of 10thou brass then on a cut down lolly stick (or craft stick as the pound shop calls them). The rail needs cleaning up, but it's a bit if a faff and I still need to stick the rail to the lolly stick.

Tried to stage a comparison photo but didn't quite paint the bits right.

 

Then had a thought (which can be dangerous) and tried a broken piercing saw blade against copperclad 

I think it will pass for the points. I'm still working on doing 3d baulks, along with the metro, the mekarski and a V8 luggage van. Plenty of things on the go.

[Charlie586]

Forgot this the other day, but I said a week or whenever ago I was cutting a strip of 0.8mm brass for the switch tie rod (probably not called that). I kind of realised the other day that brass conducts so it won't work, it will just short out. Seems a bit obvious now.

 

I'll use copperclad instead, with a isolating cut through it, it's 1.6mm thick so I'm filing it down (the left chunk on its side above). As the rod moves 3 rails , getting it spot on might be tricky , especially the standard and broad end. There is also a distance rod to fix in, which looks similar to the tie rod, not sure why there's two? I can't post the bgs data sheet to show what I'm working from, but  the second rod might come in handy to do tiny adjustments.

Also in picture is the 0.02mm brass. I'll try soldering some for a laugh and see what happens.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Charlie586
Autocorrect

[lezz01]

I think turnouts have two "stretcher bars" for safety reasons Charlie. If one fails then it doesn't split the train.

Regards Lez.

[Charlie586]

Thanks Lez, that makes a lot of sense now to have two of them. 

[Charlie586]

I need to start packing things away for Xmas as I've spread a bit over the dining table and surrounding area (and the kitchen as well)

 

 

Quick photo before it's packed away. Didn't got around to finishing the bridge or other stationy bits. I've reverted back to the 3d Rover chassis and it's an improvement. The old chassis had a slight warp, not really visible but it was enough to keep jumping off the rails. Need to add pickups now.

 

I'll start on the next board when the table is free again after Xmas. I've started on the second point, you may have realised that in the picture the other day, and have still got to add check rails and the switch bits to the first one. For the next board I'm using cork underlay as the first one is a bit noisy. I thought the track being on baulks would muffle it, but it hasn't. 

 

did a 3d test of part of the point switch baulks. I think it will be okay. The one I'm manually carving out is taking forever. I've done a test piece of baulk, packing and bolts

but it needs painting to see what's going on.  I'll do that and some soldering over the weekend. You can just see the bolt heads, but only in a photo. I don't think they're needed in 4mm, they just scale down as too small.

 

 

[Mikkel]

That first shot nicely illustrates that GWR layouts don't all have to look the same. It's good to see it all gradually coming together, I look forward to more after christmas.

 

PS: I see that you are experimenting with horse-less road transport. It looks a little hazardous 

[Charlie586]

58 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

That first shot nicely illustrates that GWR layouts don't all have to look the same. It's good to see it all gradually coming together, I look forward to more after christmas.

 

PS: I see that you are experimenting with horse-less road transport. It looks a little hazardous 

Thank you, Mikkel. The horse refused to be part of a cliche and wandered off.

I am going to need various horses soonish, I think there's some free 3d print files on thingiverse (or a similar site) that should come in handy. 

 

[Charlie586]

 

 

Bit more done to turnouts 1 and 2. I added a few check rails but they're difficult to see. Also removed the standard rail that diverges as it was just enough out of gauge to annoy me. After spending ages doing the switch plates manually, I think I'll use 3d ones instead as the test piece looked a lot better. Also hawthorn splashers now have backs (I soldered oversize bits of nickel on and filed back, this seems to work a lot better for me than cutting out to size then soldering exactly in place)

Been meaning to do name plates for ages, but keep forgetting. Just a test, had to manually change the letters to get nearer the right font. Needs a bit more work. The printer is set to print at 0.04mm for everything I do, but for stuff this small I'd be better trying 0.02mm.

The tiny chassis pieces above it is for the hughes tram. I've got a motor and gears that fit and wheels that are close enough so that's one more thing on the go.

[MrWolf]

You certainly like to keep busy. I thought that I had a lot of spinning plates!

Have a great Christmas and I can see yet another loco leaving the works by about January 3rd. 

[Charlie586]

Thanks Mr Wolf. I'm easily distracted and also like to make a start on a thing before I forget. I need something to test the standard gauge and as the body for the hughes is already printed, it's more than half done already. 

[Charlie586]

I tried to make a snowy picture but it won't load, so here's plan b

 

 

Have a great Christmas and best wishes for next year. Thanks for all the support and button presses over the year, I really appreciate it.

 

 

[Annie]

And a merry Christmas to you as well Charlie and all the best for the New Year.

[lezz01]

Merry Christmas to you and yours Charlie.

Regards Lez.