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With baseboard construction underway, I will shortly be able to start on tracklaying. As part of the preparation, I've made a trap point to go in the down line south of the signal box.  It 's made from a piece of peco bullhead rail, with some of the chairs replaced by some old C&L slide chairs.

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Alex

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Thanks Ade. Yes, the track is Peco bullhead, with the web removed from between the sleepers. That makes it a bit easier to spread the ballast, and gives the track a  more open look. I only need large radius turnouts, so  no issue there!

Alex

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This is looking lovely already, Alex. Why for you do cut down the footbridge?  

 

Is it purely from a 'look' point of view? 

 

Rob 

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7 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

This is looking lovely already, Alex. Why for you do cut down the footbridge?  

 

Is it purely from a 'look' point of view? 

 

Rob 

I think  the footbridge stands slightly high in relation to the platform buildings. Looking at photographs the height of the metal legs appears to be similar to the width of the end platforms. Mine are too tall I think. I'll make a decision as to how much to cut once the basic shape of the platforms is in place.

Alex

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3 minutes ago, wiggoforgold said:

I think  the footbridge stands slightly high in relation to the platform buildings. Looking at photographs the height of the metal legs appears to be similar to the width of the end platforms. Mine are too tall I think. I'll make a decision as to how much to cut once the basic shape of the platforms is in place.

Alex

 

 

Yep. Not something to rush into.......

 

Rob. 

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20 hours ago, wiggoforgold said:

Tracklaying complete. Next jobs are to install the droppers for the wiring and separate the rails at the baseboard joints before track painting and ballasting starts

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Alex

Hi Alex does the track come back up to solder the droppers on?

Looking good BTW

Keep it coming.

 Cheers  

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Hi Ade. The track stays down. It's glued in place with pva, in theory permanently, , but in practice it's possible to break the bond allowing the track to be tweaked. I've taken some photographs to show how the droppers are installed.

The droppers are made from a length of single core layout wire, with the insulation stripped from the last 15mm or so. The last 3mm of the core is bent at a right angle.

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A 1mm dia hole is drilled immediately adjacent to the rail on the outside, and the wire fed through the hole. The right angled end is turned so it passes under the bottom of the rail.

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The dropper is then soldered in place

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Edited by wiggoforgold
Blxxdy auto correct
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Hi again Alex ah right, was aware of that method.

I thought if you had laid the track (which you have) you may have had a clever idea to solder under the rails.

Your method no doubt easier than mine, and if soldered on the back side of the rails from the viewing side, no doubt when weathered is barely  seen. I’ll see how you proceed.

 Cheers for the detailed reply.

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Bloody good show, Wiggers. 

 

Spiffing progress indeed!!

 

Rob 

20190815_063251.png

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On 27/03/2020 at 22:14, AdeMoore said:

I thought if you had laid the track (which you have) you may have had a clever idea to solder under the rails.

Your method no doubt easier than mine, and if soldered on the back side of the rails from the viewing side, no doubt when weathered is barely  seen. I’ll see how you proceed.

In fact, it's often very difficult to spot discreet soldered joints, once the track is painted, weathered and ballasted.

 

I have a method whereby the flat section of Alex's 'L' is soldered directly to the underside of the bullhead rail, which can be a bit tricky, but does ensure that the side of the rail doesn't have any solder on it at all.

 

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7 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

In fact, it's often very difficult to spot discreet soldered joints, once the track is painted, weathered and ballasted.

 

I have a method whereby the flat section of Alex's 'L' is soldered directly to the underside of the bullhead rail, which can be a bit tricky, but does ensure that the side of the rail doesn't have any solder on it at all.

 


Interesting  Tim how do you hold the L against the underside of the track while you solder? 

Cheers

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On 29/03/2020 at 21:02, wiggoforgold said:

The scenic part of the layout, from the north end of the station. I've made a start on cutting the wood for the second half of the proscenium, and need to put it all together.20200329_205632-01.jpeg.691a77e6aec1dd48e12951f019195b7e.jpeg

 

 

Initially, I looked at this and thought, "Crikey! . The top is quite high......."..then I remembered......

 

Looking very nice indeed. 

 

Rob. 

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