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Abbotswood and Norton Junctions - layout build


Phil Bullock
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It looks like a sort of grey mould - possibly precipitated by damp but a relevant question might be how is the cork secured to any of the wood work in that vicinity and was there maybe a tad too much water in any adhesive used to secure it.  Then possibly 'got going' by not having enough air moving around it.  

 

I would be inclined to first sniff the area to se if there's any sort of stale or mouldy smell and if it smells different from the adjacent clean areas   If there isn't any mouldy msells then make sure that it gets a good airing and see if that clears it up.  If it does smell mouldy then get shot of it pdq before it spreads.  I've seen something similar on sheet timber in the past and that was definitely mould but it could be persuaded to improve with the right treatment (which might melt the trackbase for all I know - be warned).  

 

BTW, and sorry to mention it, but it  could have started in and spread from the ply as result of a manufacturing defect or incorrect storage in a damp atmosphere without proper ventilation.

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Thanks folks mouldy damp is what the wife said too! Ply is top quality stuff …. Like iron …. And no discolouration anywhere on it, just on top of the cork . The rails have also discoloured as if there has been a chemical reaction….

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More progress today …. Hurrah! Finished laying low level track on fiddle yard boards… 

 

So back to the previously reported issues. Thanks for all the good input folks. The boards are stored paired up as per photos 1 & 2 and I was putting them back together as soon as I finished work for the day …. With glue wet, track held in place by drawing pins. This creates a pretty well air tight box with the glued track inside. If you look at the board with the biggest problems … photo 3…. You can see that the heaviest discolouration is at the left hand side which was the bottom edge that the pair stood on…. Just the place the heavier than air glue vapour would sink to. Nothing on the other board in the pair which has yet to have work done.

 

The answer? Leave the boards unboxed overnight for the glue to dry before boxing back up. See photo 4 … you can see the difference in track colour, nearest the camera boxed up whilst wet, further away allowed to dry first. Discolouration clearly visible closest to camera.

 

This will be even more critical on the scenic boards as mod podge will be used to attach the foam scenery. Glad I found out now. Haven’t totally ruled out mould - garage is integral and therefore very dry…. But of course moisture would be coming from the wet glue. So will get that board out again when sun will shine on it….

 

Haven’t counted exactly but reckon that must be around 500 track securing screws fitted and soldered at board ends.
 

Next job? Finish wiring on the 9 fiddle yard boards, 5 done, 4 to go.

E7E6160B-96B9-44F9-9404-5BA93C88AC38.jpeg

1D478CD7-C8F6-4FA9-98D7-7E428FFD8B68.jpeg

1BD17079-6E86-49E6-873C-2589E63B7718.jpeg

B40B475C-D1B5-4720-9970-832A3437AA1D.jpeg

Edited by Phil Bullock
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Thanks to the tolerance of SWMBO (and the occasional ear bashing for me when wiring boards in the kitchen!) all 9 fiddle yard boards now have track and wiring done. Just need to check there are no snags then on to connecting and scenic boards. A complete B&G running circuit by Christmas might be tight but still hoping….

Edited by Phil Bullock
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Thoughts turning to the scenic boards ....

 

Abbotswood layout could look like this, with curved and large Y points it should all flow nicely. Its amazing how even with 27 ft to play with space gets eaten up. With 9 3ft wide boards and No1 at the north western boundary this will be on board 7 at 0.75" elevation. The B&G line has to climb to that across two boards from the fiddle yard on board 9 at the south eastern at approx 1 in 80 and drop to 0 elevation at the rail over rail bridge which will be on board 5. 

 

The chord up to Norton has to climb from 0.75" elevation to 2.25" elevation at Norton Junction on board 3 at about 1 in 60 and the OWW line has to climb from 2,25" to 3" elevation at the rail over rail bridge on board 5 ar about 1 in 60. 

 

Hopefully these gradients wont test the diesel traction too much although steam running may be more challenging....

 

 

Abbotswood layout plus routes.png

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Just now, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

So let's see... at the top we've got the lines coming in from New Jersey.  Then some Broad Gauge lines...

 

At the bottom we've got a Broad Gauge Under Ground Line, and some more Broad Gauge.

 

I think I've got that right.


Hee hee ok point taken….:D acronym overload! 
 

BG Birmingham and Gloucester , up to Brum down to Gloucester

 

GL - goods loop

 

And the New Jersey branch goes via Norton Junction… 

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54 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:


Hee hee ok point taken….:D acronym overload! 
 

BG Birmingham and Gloucester , up to Brum down to Gloucester

 

GL - goods loop

 

And the New Jersey branch goes via Norton Junction… 

You knew what you were on about, that is the main thing.

 

He is only jealous that you (and I) are gentlemen of leisure since being put out to grass as we are too old to be worked. 

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17 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Abbotswood layout plus routes.png

 

You could try applying the patented LNER4479 Grant Ham bending process to Peco long points... it will give you gentler radii on the inside of the curved turnous and help avoid the dogleg into the crossing you'll get using the Peco standard Ys, and consistent turnout lengths which always looks smart I think.

 

Grantham_C12_coal_zps05cbf44c.jpg.9eb9210c14904926a214484d5ddc8df8.jpg

 

 

 

 

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30 minutes ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

 

You could try applying the patented LNER4479 Grant Ham bending process to Peco long points... it will give you gentler radii on the inside of the curved turnous and help avoid the dogleg into the crossing you'll get using the Peco standard Ys, and consistent turnout lengths which always looks smart I think.

 

Grantham_C12_coal_zps05cbf44c.jpg.9eb9210c14904926a214484d5ddc8df8.jpg

 

 

 

 

Cheers will look at that 

 

Phil

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Braved the great outdoors yesterday! It was nice when the sun was shining but parky when it wasn’t….

 

Still, managed to lay in new pointwork on board 1 …. A trailing crossover so trains can reverse direction in BG up Loops 2-6 on to the down main… and also access to the down goods loop via double slip. Down good loop bifurcates on linking board to give an easy place to add rolling stock. The lead to the down goods loop will be behind the backscene on the scenic boards whereas the BG running lines will be in front but hidden by the Norton scenery which will be 4 to 7 inches high along that part of the layout. 
 

BG up loop 1 (RH track at bottom of photo) is mega long …. Should accommodate the load 14 motorail and one other train or 3 standard length trains…..
 

Hope that makes sense if not more photos will follow as track laying progresses. 7130E97E-1ACD-44A0-9209-73B938E3CB7D.jpeg.9e902ccdecbb8b74b2a052cddda5dead.jpeg

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44 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

Braved the great outdoors yesterday! It was nice when the sun was shining but parky when it wasn’t….

 

Still, managed to lay in new pointwork on board 1 …. A trailing crossover so trains can reverse direction in BG up Loops 2-6 on to the down main… and also access to the down goods loop via double slip. Down good loop bifurcates on linking board to give an easy place to add rolling stock. The lead to the down goods loop will be behind the backscene on the scenic boards whereas the BG running lines will be in front but hidden by the Norton scenery which will be 4 to 7 inches high along that part of the layout. 
 

BG up loop 1 (RH track at bottom of photo) is mega long …. Should accommodate the load 14 motorail and one other train or 3 standard length trains…..
 

Hope that makes sense if not more photos will follow as track laying progresses. 7130E97E-1ACD-44A0-9209-73B938E3CB7D.jpeg.9e902ccdecbb8b74b2a052cddda5dead.jpeg

 

Hi Phil,

 

Looking good. Do you temporarily pin track down into the cork with drawing pins to get the alignment, then drop in glue with the track remaining in situ?

 

Regards,

 

Cameron

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Mophead45143 said:

 

Hi Phil,

 

Looking good. Do you temporarily pin track down into the cork with drawing pins to get the alignment, then drop in glue with the track remaining in situ?

 

Regards,

 

Cameron

 

 


Hi Cameron

 

I lay cork first…. 

 

Then put in a few temporary pins to establish line of track and to get flexi bent to something like correct alignment…. And also mark holes for feeds and point motors. Important to do this with correct rail joiners as it’s amazing how much the bit of plastic spacer in IRJs can alter alignment.
 

Then lift track , drill and cut holes as needed before applying glue along line of track, keeping away from point motor holes and tie bars, then feed point and frog feed wires through holes before final alignment and pinning down until glue is set. Can run glue between sleepers if careful but it’s a faff…
 

it’s a challenge finding decent drawing pins … as mentioned before this plywood is like iron and 50% self destruct when tapped in with hammer. So regard them as single use only. 

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21 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:


Hi Cameron

 

I lay cork first…. 

 

Then put in a few temporary pins to establish line of track and to get flexi bent to something like correct alignment…. And also mark holes for feeds and point motors. Important to do this with correct rail joiners as it’s amazing how much the bit of plastic spacer in IRJs can alter alignment.
 

Then lift track , drill and cut holes as needed before applying glue along line of track, keeping away from point motor holes and tie bars, then feed point and frog feed wires through holes before final alignment and pinning down until glue is set. Can run glue between sleepers if careful but it’s a faff…
 

it’s a challenge finding decent drawing pins … as mentioned before this plywood is like iron and 50% self destruct when tapped in with hammer. So regard them as single use only. 

I use a staple gun to keep the track in place until the PVA has grabbed then remove them.

No problem with the staples into ply but don't put pressure on the staple head when you pull the trigger so you absorb some of the force. The staples either touch or leave a gap to the rail so I tap these down to just touch the rail using a pin hammer. I don't wait for the glue to fully dry, just enough for a reasonable grab. With a staple on each rail, you can still adjust alignment while the glue is drying. There should be only slight pressure on the rails to avoid causing and dips but I remove the staples anyway, just in case. I use foam underlay so the risk of dips is greater than cork, especially at rail joints.

For point motors, once I've marked the position for the hole to be drilled, I cut a small cork rectangle that will fit under the throw bar area, use this as a template to cut out the cork already laid in that area. Clean up the exposed plywood surface, mark and drill and clean up the drilled edges. I transfer alignment marks to the small cut section of cork then cut out a slot in the cork for the motor wire to fit through. I then glue the slotted cut section of cork into the area of exposed baseboard. This reduces the size of the hole that might be seen through the point timbers.

Hope you understood some of that.

Bob

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1 hour ago, RBAGE said:

I use a staple gun to keep the track in place until the PVA has grabbed then remove them.

No problem with the staples into ply but don't put pressure on the staple head when you pull the trigger so you absorb some of the force. The staples either touch or leave a gap to the rail so I tap these down to just touch the rail using a pin hammer. I don't wait for the glue to fully dry, just enough for a reasonable grab. With a staple on each rail, you can still adjust alignment while the glue is drying. There should be only slight pressure on the rails to avoid causing and dips but I remove the staples anyway, just in case. I use foam underlay so the risk of dips is greater than cork, especially at rail joints.

For point motors, once I've marked the position for the hole to be drilled, I cut a small cork rectangle that will fit under the throw bar area, use this as a template to cut out the cork already laid in that area. Clean up the exposed plywood surface, mark and drill and clean up the drilled edges. I transfer alignment marks to the small cut section of cork then cut out a slot in the cork for the motor wire to fit through. I then glue the slotted cut section of cork into the area of exposed baseboard. This reduces the size of the hole that might be seen through the point timbers.

Hope you understood some of that.

Bob


Like the staple gun idea Bob will try that 

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1 minute ago, RBAGE said:

Give it a go but gan canny bonny lad.

By the way, it's not an office type stapler. 

On the one I have you can adjust the force so I have it on minimum.

Edited by RBAGE
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4 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Braved the great outdoors yesterday! It was nice when the sun was shining but parky when it wasn’t….

 

Still, managed to lay in new pointwork on board 1 …. A trailing crossover so trains can reverse direction in BG up Loops 2-6 on to the down main… and also access to the down goods loop via double slip. Down good loop bifurcates on linking board to give an easy place to add rolling stock. The lead to the down goods loop will be behind the backscene on the scenic boards whereas the BG running lines will be in front but hidden by the Norton scenery which will be 4 to 7 inches high along that part of the layout. 
 

BG up loop 1 (RH track at bottom of photo) is mega long …. Should accommodate the load 14 motorail and one other train or 3 standard length trains…..
 

Hope that makes sense if not more photos will follow as track laying progresses. 7130E97E-1ACD-44A0-9209-73B938E3CB7D.jpeg.9e902ccdecbb8b74b2a052cddda5dead.jpeg

Could I suggest that you have a word with your neighbour's about that snot coloured garage door. Maroon would bring a bit of class to the street.

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