Warren Branch

[Gopher]

3 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

Thanks Steve

 

I can honestly say I wish I’d not bothered with point rodding, it’s a proper pain in the rear....especially when you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing 

It looks good Chris, but I know what you mean.  I had plans to install point rodding on Dewchurch.  Did a bit at Harewood Halt, and then gave up.  Part of my problem was the track, ballasting, buildings had been in situ for a while, so retro fitting the rodding was always going to be difficult, especially at Dewchurch with the amount of points, crossings etc.  The other part of my problem is I did not have a clue what I was doing.  

[Andrew P]

2 minutes ago, Gopher said:

It looks good Chris, but I know what you mean.  I had plans to install point rodding on Dewchurch.  Did a bit at Harewood Halt, and then gave up.  Part of my problem was the track, ballasting, buildings had been in situ for a while, so retro fitting the rodding was always going to be difficult, especially at Dewchurch with the amount of points, crossings etc.  The other part of my problem is I did not have a clue what I was doing.  

That was also my problem, along with fat fingers, shaky hand, and in a hurry to get it done so bodged it, bal*sed it and generally regretted it.

[chuffinghell]

12 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

It WILL be worth it in the end Chris, look at Kevin's Little Muddle, although having said that, I wouldn't do it in OO again, I would go for Al's and Sheep Man Rob's options of just levers, as that looks right in their and Yards. Or for modern image, Electric Motors. 

That reminds me, I MUST fit some levers on Seven Mills..

Little muddle was the inspiration, fortunately the rest of the points will be lever operated

 

I knew there was another good reason to go modern 

[chuffinghell]

12 minutes ago, Gopher said:

It looks good Chris, but I know what you mean.  I had plans to install point rodding on Dewchurch.  Did a bit at Harewood Halt, and then gave up.  Part of my problem was the track, ballasting, buildings had been in situ for a while, so retro fitting the rodding was always going to be difficult, especially at Dewchurch with the amount of points, crossings etc.  The other part of my problem is I did not have a clue what I was doing.  

 

Thank you

I can’t imagine retro fitting would be very easy, it’s difficult enough without buildings and ballast in the way

 

I’ve found it easier to do it on the bench so to speak by laying it out on a thin strip of plasticard, it’s only 0.5mm thick so hopefully will be covered with the ballast.

[Fishplate]

Hi Chris, 

 

Thought I'd just stop by and say it was great to see your layout featured in the Virtual Exhibition over the weekend. I look forward to seeing more of your modelling.

 

Best regards

 

John

[chuffinghell]

2 minutes ago, Fishplate said:

Hi Chris, 

 

Thought I'd just stop by and say it was great to see your layout featured in the Virtual Exhibition over the weekend. I look forward to seeing more of your modelling.

 

Best regards

 

John

Hi John

 

Very good of you to say, thank you
 

Chris

[MrWolf]

I have obtained the parts needed to install point rodding and have been putting it off because I don't have much idea how it should be.

Looks like I must take the bull by the horns and install it as soon as I have completed the track. Next job, followed by signalling, then the joy of ballast!

Thanks all, hearing of your progress is helping me to seriously prioritize jobs on a layout probably for the first time ever!

 

RW

[PeteN92]

This book by the 2mm association is very good at explaining how to plan rodding runs accordingly as well as explain how it all worked it's deffo worth a purchase if your interested. I've used it so that I can plan my rodding runs on my layout.

 

 

Cheers 

 

Pete 

[MrWolf]

Thanks Pete, got a copy on the way. It will be a first for me to build a signal box that has point rodding coming out of the base.

Good old OCD strikes again. But then again it will justify the money that I already spent on dummy point rodding.

[chuffinghell]

I’ve not done much today other than finishing off the double run of point rodding

 

And I do feel that I have turned a corner, figuratively.....

 

.....and literally
 

Not that much left to do with regards to the rodding as there are only the four rods going into the ground level box

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by chuffinghell

[Alister_G]

On 28/04/2020 at 18:08, chuffinghell said:

I can honestly say I wish I’d not bothered with point rodding, it’s a proper pain in the rear....especially when you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing 

 

I think you will be glad you did it now, and not later. And I think you've made an absolutely cracking job of it, it looks good, and moreover it looks right. It's a definite enhancement to the layout, and adds to the believability of the whole scene.

 

Al.

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, Alister_G said:

 

I think you will be glad you did it now, and not later. And I think you've made an absolutely cracking job of it, it looks good, and moreover it looks right. It's a definite enhancement to the layout, and adds to the believability of the whole scene.

 

Al.

Thanks Al

 

All that’s left to do is the rodding into the signal box

 

This is just a rough mock up using some offcuts (of which there are many)

 

 

[chuffinghell]

This has been quite difficult even with my patience which have certainly been tested

 

I admit that at one point (no pun intended) I nearly give up but as well as been patient I’m also stubborn

 

So here it is, third time lucky

I needed a straight linkage so had to improvise with a left over rod that’s used for the FPL assembly and some round bar.

I cut the clevis ends off and drilled a hole in each all the way through which allowed me to adjust the length in situ

 

Modified the FPL ramp to cover the less than perfect joins

The ramp is on stilts so hopefully when ballasted it’s not buried

 

I’d like to say it was a labour of love but it wasn’t it was a right pain in the ar....

 

 

I’m going to have a lay down now and give my therapist a call

 

[chuffinghell]

Luckily the rods just miss the platform ramp....phew!!!

 

 

Thankfully the rest of the points are lever controlled 

[Nick C]

I hate to say it, but I think you've got the cranks on the two leftmost rods the wrong way round, they should be the same as the one on the right (i.e. 180 degrees out from where they are now), otherwise they wouldn't work.

[AlfaZagato]

Shh!  Don't tell the man.   Just might be too much for him.

[chuffinghell]

Suppose I’d better redo it then

 

If a jobs worth doing it’s worth doing four times

 

Let me guess, it’s still wrong 

[Andrew P]

19 hours ago, Alister_G said:

 

I think you will be glad you did it now, and not later. And I think you've made an absolutely cracking job of it, it looks good, and moreover it looks right. It's a definite enhancement to the layout, and adds to the believability of the whole scene.

 

Al.

Totally agree 100%.

[chuffinghell]

 

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

I hate to say it, but I think you've got the cranks on the two leftmost rods the wrong way round, they should be the same as the one on the right (i.e. 180 degrees out from where they are now), otherwise they wouldn't work.

 

I should have mocked it up and asked the question first 

 

2 hours ago, AlfaZagato said:

Shh!  Don't tell the man.   Just might be too much for him.

 

Its okay I have a very good therapist

 

23 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

Totally agree 100%.

To be honest I’m close to giving up, I’m getting a bit fed up of doing things more than once 

[chuffinghell]

Shame to cover it with a ground level box

I’m still going too though

 

[Alister_G]

1 hour ago, chuffinghell said:

Let me guess, it’s still wrong

 

No...

 

If you think about it, any action in the direction of the red arrow, in the first instance, would try to push in the direction of the green line, straight through the pivot point, so it's not going to go far. In the second instance, the same force will push the crank round as shown, which is the desired effect.

 

 

Al.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Alister_G
hexplanationary

[Andrew P]

51 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

 

 

I should have mocked it up and asked the question first 

 

 

Its okay I have a very good therapist

 

To be honest I’m close to giving up, I’m getting a bit fed up of doing things more than once 

No No No No Nnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Alister_G]

1 hour ago, chuffinghell said:

To be honest I’m close to giving up, I’m getting a bit fed up of doing things more than once

 

Don't be daft. This all the fun of railway modelling.

 

And look at all the things you're learning! The next time Network Rail rings up you can tell them how to do the point rodding...

 

Chin up mate.

 

Al.

[chuffinghell]

16 minutes ago, Alister_G said:

 

No...

 

If you think about it, any action in the direction of the red arrow, in the first instance, would try to push in the direction of the green line, straight through the pivot point, so it's not going to go far. In the second instance, the same force will push the crank round as shown, which is the desired effect.

 

 

Al.

That’s what I thought but I’ve changed it now and it does look better that way....I’ve no doubt got the heights mixed up now 

[Nick C]

15 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

Suppose I’d better redo it then

 

If a jobs worth doing it’s worth doing four times

 

Let me guess, it’s still wrong 

Nope, that's great!