Using the easy-assembly Finetrax pointwork kits in 00 and EM (and in P4 from the S4 Society)

[Jeff Smith]

There is nothing wrong with thick sleepers, that's the point!  In fact thick sleepers are more prototypical and when ballasting is a bit minimal will show as such......

[martin_wynne]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

In fact what did the thin track bases of both SMP or C&L match? certainly not RTR turnouts or crossings, neither 1 mm or 1.6 mm copperclad strip (it fell between the two). I have been told C&L thin sleepers and timbers were to match Ply and rivet track

 

Hi John,

 

Some history.

 

SMP Scaleway were the very first to supply code75 bullhead plastic-based flexi-track, in the 1970s. They made the thickness to match their existing SMP copper-clad pointwork kits. Which used 3/64" (1.2mm) SRBP copper-clad. That was a less-common thickness for copper-clad (and still is), so it's a bit of a mystery why they used it in the first place. But having supplied thousands of such kits they had little choice but to make the flexi-track match them. 

 

It was a happy coincidence that this was also a good match for traditional Brook Smith ply and rivet construction. Which uses 1/32" (0.8mm) ply sleepers and rivets having a 0.5mm head thickness. After clenching the rivets into the timber, the typical overall height is 1.2mm.

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[hayfield]

Martin thank you, I remember the old paxillin sleeper strip, which I think was abandoned years ago. I remember using SMP plain track years ago and the plastic sleepers being prone to bend if the track pins were pushed in too hard, again from memory the C&L strip also suffered a bit from this issue

 

I assume most copperclad sold now is metric being either 1 or 1.5mm thick

 

Marcway have been supplying SMP products for quite some time and the quality of the older SMP strips were not very uniform, I think soon after acquiring the brand Marcway started supplying their own strip. As it happens I paid today for a SMP turnout kit I ordered many weeks ago, so will be in a position to confirm what's in their kits next week    

[martin_wynne]

1 hour ago, hayfield said:

a SMP turnout kit I ordered many weeks ago, so will be in a position to confirm what's in their kits next week

 

Hi John,

 

It will be interesting to know if they are still using 1.2mm SRBP copper-clad. In which case it will be interesting to know where they are getting it from. I did find a supplier a few years ago, but I'm afraid I have forgotten where. Here is a list of Chinese suppliers of electrical laminates:

 

 https://www.alibaba.com/srbp-phenolic-sheet-suppliers.html

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Hi John,

 

It will be interesting to know if they are still using 1.2mm SRBP copper-clad. In which case it will be interesting to know where they are getting it from. I did find a supplier a few years ago, but I'm afraid I have forgotten where. Here is a list of Chinese suppliers of electrical laminates:

 

 https://www.alibaba.com/srbp-phenolic-sheet-suppliers.html

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

 

I will do a review of it on RMweb, this was the reason for buying it. Many of us started off track building with these kits, for some reason those making the kits/parts have forgotten they need to encourage new entrants into the market.

 

Whilst not wanting to steal any of Waynes thunder, it will be interesting to see both how his range develops plus how folk kitbash  these kits, the easiest being a crossover, then someone might make a diamond and a couple of catch points from two standard kits, I don't know if curving a turnout is really kitbashing ?

[gordon s]

The SMP kits I bought as a trial many years ago, we’re pretty basic with a few lengths of single sided pcb strip and a few lengths of rail plus a drawing. From memory there was also a small bag that had a square of aluminium for setting gaps and a couple of feet of solder. Light years away from what is being discussed here.

 

Even though I use thin sleeper flexible, 1.06mm pcb strip for turnouts and a minimum C10 crossings, I wish you every success with this new venture.
 

Anything that raises the bar should be welcomed with open arms.......

[Stanley Melrose]

From the Marcway online catalogue:

 

Copper Clad Sheet 4"X2" Paxoline 1.2mm Thick (SMP)  £ 1.70

Copper Clad Sheet 9"X4" Glass Fibre 1.2mm Thick  £ 5.25

[PMP]

Might I suggest left and right catch points as an early element to the range. They’re not available in Peco, (so extra market potential) and because they don’t need the full crossing construction, they might work as cost effective ‘tasters’ or introductions to the range for modellers not used to track building.

Edited January 2, 2021 by PMP

[Michael Hodgson]

A double blade would be a vast improvement over the peco single blade traps.

 

Another thing you can't get from Peco is the wide-to-gauge trap.  Granted, they've never been that common on the prototype either,

For those who've not come across them, see this example at Moor Street, see the exit from the track on the right.   It's essentially a Y point but with point blades which move in opposing directions - ie not connected by a simple tie bar!  Or you can think of it as two single-blade catch points opposite one another.

https://warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrms1710.htm

 

Also Ely Station, at each end of the Front Road, this protects adjacent running lines on either side.  No 47 points at Station South, the ones at the far end were controlled by Ely Dock Junction as his 33 points.  These are on Owen Stratford's excellent website of East Anglian signal box diagrams.

Not to be left out, Ely Station North 18/19 points could drop you in the dirt.  One blade is moved by 18 lever or the other by 19 to allow a movement.

 

[The Evil Bus Driver]

On 03/12/2020 at 09:39, Wayne Kinney said:

Hi Patrick,

 

Thanks for trying out my prototype B7 kit. You've done a great job assembling that without any instructions, these will of course be included in the production version.

 

Yes, a few things will improve on the production version, namely the machined switch blades will be pre soldered to 'pins' that locate into pre drilled holes in the tie bar. So assembly will really be a 'cut rail to length and slide in' affair. As with any track laying, even with 'set track', power feeds would need soldering to the rails.

 

I am happy you managed to assemble in 30 minutes, this was what I was aiming for in the design. Should hopefully be less than this with the pre soldered switch blades.

 

Currently working on the EM Gauge prototype, should have this ready to send to you in a week or so.

 

 

 

Wayne that's a great looking kit. You might want to head up to Brighton MRC and show them. They build their turnouts there but I think they'd be interested in your kits. Just tell them I sent you and there'll be a free cup of tea available too.

Edited January 2, 2021 by The Evil Bus Driver

[St Enodoc]

7 hours ago, martin_wynne said:

It will be interesting to know if they are still using 1.2mm SRBP copper-clad.

The last lot of SMP point timbering that I bought, about 3-4 years ago, is definitely 1.2mm thick. I like the fact that it's single-sided too - less scope for mystery shorts...

[The Evil Bus Driver]

£22.50 seems a fair price for one of these turnouts. I looked up bullhead ones from Peco and Gaugemaster are selling them for £31 each and they have a RRP of 34. I reckon once word gets around these will sell like hot cakes, Maybe put ads in BRM, Model Rail, RM and Hornby magazine and they'll fly out.

Edited January 3, 2021 by The Evil Bus Driver
typo

[KeithHC]

4 minutes ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

£22.50 seems a fair price for one of these turnouts. I looked up bullhead ones from Peco and Gaugemaster are selling them for £31 each and they have a RRP of 34. I reckon once word gets around these will sell like hot cakes, Maybe put ads in BRM, Model Rail, RM and Hornby magazine and they'll fly out.

If they fly out why waste money on advertising. Wayne has a good website and no doubt there will be a review or three/four in the model press with website noted.

 

Keith

[The Evil Bus Driver]

5 minutes ago, KeithHC said:

If they fly out why waste money on advertising. Wayne has a good website and no doubt there will be a review or three/four in the model press with website noted.

 

Keith

True. Lets see what happens

[The Evil Bus Driver]

18 hours ago, gordon s said:

The SMP kits I bought as a trial many years ago, we’re pretty basic with a few lengths of single sided pcb strip and a few lengths of rail plus a drawing. From memory there was also a small bag that had a square of aluminium for setting gaps and a couple of feet of solder. Light years away from what is being discussed here.

 

Even though I use thin sleeper flexible, 1.06mm pcb strip for turnouts and a minimum C10 crossings, I wish you every success with this new venture.
 

Anything that raises the bar should be welcomed with open arms.......

I have a C&L kit for a curved turnout somewhere in my kit box. It might still be down south though but that is pretty much as yo described. Not sure if I should build it or put it in a museum.

[martin_wynne]

17 minutes ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

£22.50 seems a fair price for one of these turnouts.

 

It's actually £22.99 - see: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/160234-new-range-of-simple-to-assemble-00em-gauge-pointwork-kits/&do=findComment&comment=4222677

 

The internet is one endless battle to correct misinformation before it spreads across the entire planet. If this isn't corrected it will be quoted again and again in this topic, and then Wayne will get it in the neck for making a price increase when he finally releases the product. 

 

Martin.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

1 minute ago, martin_wynne said:

 

It's actually £22.99 - see: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/160234-new-range-of-simple-to-assemble-00em-gauge-pointwork-kits/&do=findComment&comment=4222677

 

The internet is one endless battle to correct misinformation before it spreads across the entire planet. If this isn't corrected it will be quoted again and again in this topic, and then Wayne will get it in the neck for making a price increase when he finally releases the product. 

 

Martin.

Yes I was looking for that post so the 0.50 came from memory so 22.99. Still a good price though.

[hayfield]

21 minutes ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

I have a C&L kit for a curved turnout somewhere in my kit box. It might still be down south though but that is pretty much as yo described. Not sure if I should build it or put it in a museum.

 

If its a C&L kit I doubt if its a copperclad kit, the one Achilles heal these kits may have is if they have thin plastic timbers. If so they are easily updated with using either the C&L or Exactoscale thick timber sets.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

1 minute ago, hayfield said:

 

If its a C&L kit I doubt if its a copperclad kit, the one Achilles heal these kits may have is if they have thin plastic timbers. If so they are easily updated with using either the C&L or Exactoscale thick timber sets.

I think it has ply with a couple of copperclad strips iirc. I am not sure where it's stored so I can't get a photo

[hayfield]

2 minutes ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

I think it has ply with a couple of copperclad strips iirc. I am not sure where it's stored so I can't get a photo

 

Well could be quite sought after, will attract interest from several groups if only for the parts enclosed. Doubt if any museum would want it

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Heh I might just plan a micro layout around it. See what I can come up with.

[Robert Shrives]

7 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

Well could be quite sought after, will attract interest from several groups if only for the parts enclosed. Doubt if any museum would want it

Back in the day when we had shows - we did a 1960s model shop at Warley and from members we were able to stock with many a  treasure - even Barry O in a smock and I was the Saturday shop boy for a while.  so you never know.    

[The Evil Bus Driver]

I really hope Warley can run this year now that it's more practical for me to get there.

Edited January 3, 2021 by The Evil Bus Driver

[KeithHC]

The other issue that I am sure Wayne will have thought about is capacity of production. What we do not know is this a one man operation or do he have a backup plan when the kits takeoff. I for one will need three kits for my first layout with Peco for off scene.

 

Keith

[Wayne Kinney]

43 minutes ago, KeithHC said:

The other issue that I am sure Wayne will have thought about is capacity of production. What we do not know is this a one man operation or do he have a backup plan when the kits takeoff. I for one will need three kits for my first layout with Peco for off scene.

 

Keith

Thanks Keith.

 

It's fully scalable, so don't worry

 

I'm sure there will be an initial influx of sales at the very beginning, and this will then calm down a little. I am going to be spending most of January making up kits ready for stock before release.