Lewes in P4

[10800]

Very enjoyable Scaleforum last weekend as a demonstrator with Lewes, and thanks to all who dropped by and made very encouraging comments.

 

 

 

Excuse the warped temporary mockup platforms!

 

 

 

Now to tackle that problematic turnout/diamond combo!

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by 10800

[10800]

The basic solution is to replace the C10L with a B8L. This brings the toe of the turnout a few sleepers nearer the platforms, which fits with the photos I should have scrutinised more carefully in the first place. Ignore the straight road of the template, this is just to get the curved road right.

 

 

This now gives the required smooth curve through the diamond and into the platform.

 

 

The P Way gang have been in removing rail. The stock rail on the right can remain because that alignment is fine; and it is still far enough along to be beyond the very slight bend to accommodate the planed section of the switch, which is now a bit closer for the B8. The engineer's 16 ton mineral is filling up with the smaller stuff. 

 

I'm going to try to retain as much of the timbering as I can, but some will inevitably need replacing.

 

 

That's better!

 

[10800]

Time for some high tech jigs - my eyes, a length of rail and some Blu-tak.

 

 

Assessing the angle and position of the turnout crossing vee. It's a curved B8L (effectively a 'Y' although I understand there's no such thing outside RTR model track), so the actual crossing is 1:6 not 1:8. 

 

 

You have to be careful here with gauging, because you have a fixed stock rail (bottom) and an upper stock rail on the new alignment you want. You wouldn't normally do it in this sequence so you just have to be careful to gauge in the vee otherwise you box yourself in. Fortunately the nose falls on top of an existing timber. Obviously the check rail bottom left will have to be removed and replaced further to the right. You can see how far the original Templot plan has been departed from as I strive to get this right; redundant rivets can be removed with Xurons, and a few timbers will need to be replaced with new ones and newly placed rivets.

 

[10800]

Not had too much time on this the last few days, but the replacement turnout is now done apart from the check rails.

 

 

 

I did replace a lot of timbers eventually (of course, who was I kidding?!) but given the provenance it's worked out OK.

 

Now on to the diamond - I've kept the 'alignment rail' in position as long as I can, and now added one for the other road to define the bend point in the outer stock rail. This is key, once that's in and I'm happy with it all the other rails follow automatically with gauging. I've taken out a couple more timbers for replacing to ensure the bend falls between timbers. 

 

I hope I don't have to go through this process again, even though it's been worthwhile. If I'd left it as it was I'd certainly have regretted it. Much easier to lay track on top of Templot plans that fit what you want to do!

 

[phil_sutters]

There is a link above to my photos of Lewes since 2009, in an album that got lost in the great platform change disaster. I have now created a new album with a few extra photos as well - 

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by phil_sutters

[10800]

A bit more progress today. It's good doing this in short bursts because it gives me time to think about what I've just done and what I've got to do next - for instance, today I remembered that there is additional check railing on the road going into the double-faced platform, so I've prepared for that in the work done, making reference to a suitable photo.

 

So, the crucial upper stock rail is in place, although not all rivets are soldered yet so there's plenty of scope for tweaking. I then gauged in the 1:5 common crossing assembly (left). The gap in the rail to the left of it can be infilled later - I'll probably cut the incoming rail back a bit as well, as I hate dealing with really short bits of rail. The wing rails to the right of the vee will also be trimmed to make for longer point rails, but while they are this length it's easier to curve them slightly to follow the alignments - pre-marked on the timbers. You might be able to see that the flare on the check rail below the vee has been straightened because there will be more check rail coming from the left to join it.

 

At the other end a 1:4 common crossing is loosely in place, held by the triangular gauge. Strictly speaking the gauge is the wrong way round as the clamps on the base of the triangle should be on the outside of the curve to allow for gauge-widening, but I doubt the curvature is significant in this case!

 

The two timbers by the bend in the stock rail have not been replaced yet, but they will go in next to provide rivets for anchoring the point rails.

 

Eyeballing the alignments is encouraging!

 

 

[10800]

Replacement of turnout and diamond now complete, after quite a bit of faffing with check rails and rivet-extenders.

 

 

 

 

This is what it looked like before - not much difference you might think, but in real life the new alignments are much more pleasing.

 

 

Now waiting for the arrival of some laser-cut platform templates so that I can lay plain track into the station.

 

 

 

 

 

[Re6/6]

The curved crossing into the double sided platform road looks nice and slightly curvy.

[Siberian Snooper]

Good to see some positive progress on this project, hopefully with the arrival of the platform templates things will progress nicely.

 

 

[10800]

A brief respite from the rain (but not the wind) gave me a chance to check out the laser-cut platform templates. One bit of approach track needs to be slewed to the right a bit (middle of first picture) but otherwise it's all looking good. Plain track further down the platforms can be realigned to fit.

 

 

[DLT]

Hello Rod,

Thanks for taking the time to chat at The Exeter Show, about trackwork and Lewes.

We mentioned Side By Side Georeferenced Maps, here is the link:  Side By Side

You can  view it is various ways.  As it is, your mouse moves in tandem on both sides.  There's a button at the top to turn Swipe on or off, and you can choose whichever map or view you want from the dropdowns on either side.

Be careful, you can spend hours on it!

Cheers, Dave.

[St Enodoc]

Glad I found this! I worked with Glen at Brighton Lovers' Walk Depot in the mid-1980s. One of the fitters, knowing our interest in modelling, asked whether he and his mates could build a model of Lewes in the attic above the Stores. I thought for a minute and told him that if he built all the stock first then they could start on the layout. 15-all.

[10800]

On 31/07/2023 at 13:54, St Enodoc said:

Glad I found this! I worked with Glen at Brighton Lovers' Walk Depot in the mid-1980s. One of the fitters, knowing our interest in modelling, asked whether he and his mates could build a model of Lewes in the attic above the Stores. I thought for a minute and told him that if he built all the stock first then they could start on the layout. 15-all.

 

Haha! For me it was 'don't think about how you're going to operate it or you'll never build it'! Most of the stock will come as a byproduct of Balcombe and Eridge 😎