RhB in the USA

[MichaelE]

This will be my thread I will add too as my RhB line progresses.

 

Yesterday and tonight I installed catenary. This is my first time working with Sommerfeldt, but I didn't find it difficult. The hardest part was trying to get the holes for the masts drilled exactly vertical on a slope. This is a lot harder than it looks, at least for me. Some of the masts are slightly canted, but the casual observer probably won't notice. In a few cases they are canted away from or towards the viewing angle and can't be seen at all from that viewpoint.

 

You will notice in the photos which are not perfectly vertical. The soldering is probably the easiest part once the wire is in position.

 

All of this wire was positioned using the locomotive to make absolutely certain the wire was within the limits of the pantographs. I'm happy to say that even if it doesn't look perfect, it operates perfectly with the pans on the wire.

 

I have about 9' or almost 3 meters finished and many more meters to go. I'm using 380mm wire between the masts on the straights and it has proven to be taut enough that there is no flex in the wire from the pan pressure on the wire.

 

I'm pretty pleased so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Salmotrutta]

I stuck a small round spirit level to the back of my drill when I drilled my mast holes. I think it came from a kit for setting up my Hi Fi turntable many years ago. It may have come from a previous rechargeable drill where it served a similar function. 

 

I didn't have any slopes like yours - there's also going to be a tendency for the washer under the baseboard to force the mast to lean "downhill".

 

Nice work so far!

[David Bell]

Looking good.

It all comes together when the overhead goes up

Cheers

David

[JimFin]

4 hours ago, David Bell said:

It all comes together when the overhead goes up

And there is all the fun of painting the wire! Tip on that front, it is one job where acrylic paint is a waste of time, you really need enamel. Humbrol Rust Wash was my pot of choice. https://www.humbrol.com/us-en/enamel-wash-rust-28ml.html

 

[MichaelE]

I've used wedges on one side of the mast base in cases where it really wanted to lean over and that helped somewhat.

 

As unrealistic as it looks, I sort of like that copper wash on the wires. I may keep it as-is instead of painting. Maybe.

 

Thank you for the kind comments fellas.

[MichaelE]

Question for the RhB experts:

 

Does the RhB use the longer coaches on the Bernina Bahn portion of the RhB? Say from Chur south to Tirano?

[JimFin]

No - my understanding is the radius are too tight on the Bernina section from St Moritz to Tirano. section for longer vehicles.

[MichaelE]

Thanks for the answer. I'll have to get that longer coach replaced then.

[JimFin]

Rule 1 - your railway, you run what you like!

[MichaelE]

I now have about 4 meters of catenary installed. 

 

Much of the recent work was attaching plywood to the side of the sub-roadbed so I had somewhere to mount the masts. Particularly the last meter I did yesterday that crosses the mainlines below. A few more attachment points and I'll be on solid benchwork again.

 

 

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

Not thinking about the Rhätischebahn over two years ago while building this railroad, I cut the mountain spur sub-roadbed pretty narrow. Most areas as the grade climbs don't have a spot to locate a mast where needed. This was originally going to be a Diesel spur only.

 

I cut a couple of conformal strips of plywood that will be attached to the side of the sub-roadbed to locate the needed masts to get me back to solid benchwork. These strips will also serve as an anchor point for terrain building using wire screen and plaster cloth.

 

The first photo shows several tabs cut from 5mm Luane plywood and attached to the underside of the existing sub-roadbed using Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue and set in place until dry with C clamps. 

 

The second photo shows the wood strips I cut that will rest on these tabs and glued down with Elmer's too.

 

The third photo shows the transition to solid sub-roadbed again (painted green).

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

That allowed me to install three masts to get back to the solid roadbed (green painted plywood).

 

Installation of this catenary on level sub-roadbed is a breeze. It goes up fast too. 

 

 

[MichaelE]

A short video showing the RhB under the wire I have installed so far.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by MichaelE

[JimFin]

At some point, it would be good to see a trackplan, love the different levels you have achieved.

[MichaelE]

There have been additions to this since it was built, but this is the original drawing;

 

[MichaelE]

I completed the catenary around the curve up to where the train(s) will enter the snow shed.

 

I visited Northeast Scale Lumber on line and ordered the material I need to replicate one of the snow sheds on the Bernina Bahn portion. It will be roughly 480-500mm in length. H beams will be used for support and the roof is corrugated aluminium.

 

I'm going to suspend a piece of code 83 rail under the roof for the catenary for continuity. 

[MichaelE]

This is the small snowshed I've been working on for a couple of weeks. 

 

It's only 15" long with an open side and is loosely based on a snowshed found on the Berninabahn portion.

 

I abandoned the use of a piece of rail for the catenary under the shed roof. Instead, I mounted registration arms from the underside of the beams supporting the roof and used the B string from a string change on one of my guitars for the catenary wire. I soldered this to the underside of the registration arms at the same height as the normal catenary wire on the masts. All I have to do now is tie it into the rest of the catenary as the masts come around.

 

In the position the shed is in now, I think two more masts will be required to reach the shed.

I'll tackle this on Wednesday after painting the roof supports. I started to paint them silver, but as can be seen in the photo, it did not flow very well and coverage is spotty. I'm going to paint them green instead. 

 

The long shot is to show the shed in relation to the rest of the mountain side and surrounding area. I still have to scenic this area though.

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

A short video with the snowshed installed and the cat wire attached. You can see the pan duck under just a bit as the heights didn't match exactly. It works though.

 

 

[MichaelE]

I've been doing some work on the RhB scenery lately.

 

I filled in the area between the RhB track in the center of the layout to the back track where it makes it's return loop.

 

I used hardware cloth with a cheesecloth and plaster slurry to cover it. It was much faster to cover it in this manner than to cover with individual strips of plaster cloth.

 

There are also some new structures being built. I have two more to complete and then place in this area before the roadwork and grass laying starts. The two on the white spots have been leveled on Sculptimold the same as the Litzirüti station was.

 

I also have 100 fir trees to plant in this area when the buildings are placed, the grass is finished, and the road is laid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

I was able to level the buildings with the Sculptimold the other afternoon. I was going to also place the church on the hillside with the rest of the structures, but it was getting too cramped. I did not want them all nestled together as this is supposed to be just a small village/farm area. The church will be placed somewhere else.

 

Now I have to work on the road and driveways to the structures.

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

Some further work was done yesterday. I still have to do the left side with the driveways and grass. I have to remove the grass from the roadway. It looks like it was just mowed.

 

I'm also going to put down some foot paths from the front doors of the chalets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MichaelE]

 

[MichaelE]

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Just came across this thread today while “wandering around Overseas Modelling” - very impressed: exactly the kind of continuous run layout I really like, and a wonderful choice of prototype.  Look forward to seeing more.  Thanks for sharing, Keith.

[MichaelE]

I finished up the left side of this section yesterday. I also added some foot paths to the chalets and more trees on the right side.

 

On to the next project...