Burkitt Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Claverton Engineering I started covering the construction of Claverton Engineering in my blog but since it is now an entry to the 2010 layout challenge, I'll post a recap and new progress here as well. Vital Statistics Scale: 1:43 (0 scale) Gauge: 16.5mm (0-16.5) Area: 0.252 square metres, or 390.60 square inches The Plan Virtual concept model of the design, created in Google Sketchup and rendered in Kerkythea Track plan with dimensions and rolling stock to check clearances and siding lengths. They appear a bit generous here, but turned out much tighter in reality Track plan using RCL templates. Only Y points are used to fit the plan in the smallest possible space The layout is based on the classic Timesaver shunting puzzle, and fits on two A3 sized boards to make it easily transportable. At each end the tracks run to the board edge, to permit use of a cassette-type fiddle yard or future extensions. Track geometry is based on the Roy C Link 14mm gauge sectional trackwork, scaled up to 16.5mm gauge. Cosmetic tram-style overhead wires will be fitted. Progress so far This is a fairly good overview of the progress I have made to date. The boards are made from foamboard, topped with a sheet of grey cardboard. Each is A3 sized in area, and about 150mm deep to ensure rigidity. They are held together with three nuts and bolts between them. I have left the front and rear open to allow access for wiring, point mechanisms etc. When the layout is more finished, I will clad the foamboard in black styrene sheet, including a detachable piece to cover the opening on whichever side I am not operating from. Here is a closer view of the trackwork. The sleepers have all been cut from limewood, glued to the track templates and painted in an appropriate dark brown colour. Rails are Peco code 81, tacked in place with superglue then fixed properly with RCL spikes. A more blow-by-blow account of my attempts at track construction can be found in my blog - I'll cover it properly again here when I get the hang of it. This is the only point I have built so far, and indeed the first one I have ever built. Building it was quite a challenge, and took rather longer than I expected. I found that the Roy C Link crossing jig was at the wrong angle for a Y point, so I had to solder together the "v" on a paper template. On my first attempt I got the gap between the rails too large and it looked a bit crude, so I had another go and it looks much better. That seems to be a major advantage of hand building track - if it goes wrong you can pull it apart and try again without damaging anything expensive. It also seems to give the maximum amount of modelling time per pound spent on materials for any railway modelling activity I can think of. Later this week I hope to get the control mechanism for the point sorted out - it will be via a rod beneath the board, with a DPST switch to control the frog polarity. Then I'll press on with the rest of the track, which hopefully will go a bit faster as I get the hang of it. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hello Paul, As i put in my challenge topic, i love your foam baseboards - they're quite a departure from what i've seen before! I've only seen foam boards made using that pink stuff (used by the yanks!) or by our own Celotex or similar - that's where the board surface is replaced by lightweight material but actually needs lots of support. Your method is much more ingenious - just how strong and robust is it, please? Regards, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Nevard Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 My kind of thing - super! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hi John The idea of using foamboard for the baseboards came from Chris Nevard's Catcott Burtle. There are some photos of the board construction on his website at http://www.nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/c1164154.html . I'd heard of foamboard being used for baseboards before, but having had several architectural models ruined by it warping I was not convinced it was suitable to be the foundations of an entire layout. However Catcott has proved that it can work if done properly. The boards I've made are pretty strong - if I pick it up at one end there is no noticeable bending in the structure, but then they have almost no loading so far. I have also included a lot of bracing, after my previous bad experiences of warping. The main issue is damage to the surface and edges of the board from wear and tear, which is why I plan to clad it with styrene sheet. Hope that helps Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Nevard Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hi John The idea of using foamboard for the baseboards came from Chris Nevard's Catcott Burtle. There are some photos of the board construction on his website at http://www.nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/c1164154.html . I'd heard of foamboard being used for baseboards before, but having had several architectural models ruined by it warping I was not convinced it was suitable to be the foundations of an entire layout. However Catcott has proved that it can work if done properly. The boards I've made are pretty strong - if I pick it up at one end there is no noticeable bending in the structure, but then they have almost no loading so far. I have also included a lot of bracing, after my previous bad experiences of warping. The main issue is damage to the surface and edges of the board from wear and tear, which is why I plan to clad it with styrene sheet. Hope that helps Paul Backing up Paul, if doing something bigger it's important to add plenty of high quality ply. Catcott really is a ply box with a foamcore inner. 2 1/2 years down the line and it is still warp free with the outer ply skin absorbing any impacts without damage http://www.nevardmedia5.fotopic.net/p43374512.html Anyway, back to Claverton, I really like this project! I presume is is somewhere near the real one near where you live? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted November 17, 2009 Author Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hi Chris Thanks for your compliments! The name comes from Claverton Down, home of the University of Bath, where I am studying. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 I've finally finished the first point. This has taken rather longer than I had hoped, partly due to general busy-ness and distractions such as Warley, but also because I have been on a very steep learning curve trying to make the thing work. The point is controlled by a bar running from front to back beneath the board, connected to the blades by vertical wires. Most of my modelling time recently has been spent burning my fingers on the soldering iron as I attempt to join these parts together and get them to stay that way. The (steel?) push-rod could not be soldered to the (brass?)vertical connectors, so they had to be glued together. I also made a mess of attaching the DPST frog polarity switch to the rod, getting it wrong the first time and having to pull it off, which un-did a lot work that then had to be done again. Anyway, the point seems to be working now, the blades move back and forth and wagons run across it smoothly in all directions, so I can now get on with building another four. I managed to get some useful materials at Warley, brick-embossed plastic, vacuum formed corrugated sheet and some black styrene to cover the foamboard with. I had to resist the temptation to buy ever more cheap four wheel wagons for conversion though, as I already have more than enough. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 I've got a week off uni between exams ending and lectures starting again, so I'm hoping to make more progress with track laying. This is the second point, with all rails cut and filed, the nose soldered, and one stock rail pinned in place. Next I need to fix the rest of the stationary rails in place then do the tricky job of assembling the switch rails and their mechanism. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 3, 2010 Author Share Posted February 3, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF2hE_PFUTk The second point and its mechanism is now installed and wired up. With the experience gained in building the first one, and a handy tip on soldering wires to point blades posted by Trevor H in the thread on his 2mm South Wales entry, this second point was a lot easier to put together. Two down, three to go, then I can paint the rails and start thinking about buildings. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7s5PHNUrC0 Three points complete now. Here's another video of me testing them with the loco. It's nice to be able to run right from the front of the boards to the back via the ladder of points. I'm starting to run low on spikes to fix the rails down - hopefully they will last for the remaining track, otherwise I will have to wait 'til the 20th to get some more at Shepton Mallet. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scanman Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Excellent Paul - real progress and an interesting approach to many issues. Look forward to seeing more! Regs Scanman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks Scanman. All the trackwork is now complete, so here's another video of me testing the layout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T605XDzC8jE I've been using the wagons I've made so far to check the lengths of the sidings and passing loop are correct for a timesaver layout. Not sure what I'd do if they weren't, though. Now all the points are done, I thought I'd do an explanation of the method I used to build them. They are built to the Roy C Link 14mm design, scaled up to 16.5mm gauge. The components, full instructions and templates are available from KBscale. Here we have the template glued to the board and the limewood sleepers glued to it. An RCL rail bender is used to curve the rails to shape. The curve it produces is correct for left- or right-handed points, but to tight for Y points, so the rail needs to be slightly straightened by hand. This still produces a smoother curve than bending it by hand from straight rail. Peco code 82 rail is used. Checking the stock rails for fit on the sleepers once they have been cut to length and bent. Part of the inside face of the foot of the stock rail needs to be filed away where the blade meets it. The correct profile is illustrated in the RCL instructions. Two pieces of rail are cut for the nose. The nose rails need to be filed to a very sharp profile where they will meet. There is a jig available to hold the nose rails at the correct angle while they are soldered together. However, it is at the right angle for left- or right-handed points, but not for Y points. Instead, I superglued the rails to a copy of the point template while I soldered them. Once they are soldered together, they can be pulled off the paper and any remaining glue scraped off the bottom of the rail. The downside of this is that the fumes from superglue heated by the soldering iron are really noxious, making my eyes sting very badly. Excess solder is filed away to bring it flush with the surface of the rails. More pieces of rail are cut and bent to form the rails between the nose and the blades... ...glued to the template for soldering... ...and filed smooth. With all the fixed rail complete assembly can commence. The stock rail to the rear is lined up with the existing track and glued in place. It should also be spiked to the sleepers, but by this point I was running low on spikes, and wanted to save them for any rails that would not stay in position with glue alone. Roller gauges were then used to position the next piece of rail. The nose has to be aligned with the existing straight track, the stock rail and the rail between it and the blades. Getting it in the right place for smooth running is quite tricky and took me several attempts for each point. Roller gauges can then be used to position the front stock rail... ...?and the final piece of fixed rail. Once all the fixed rails are in place, I cut the blades to length and bent them to the required curve. The blades need to be filed to a very sharp angle so that they meet snugly with the stock rails. This took me quite a while to get right, with the profile having to be checked and adjusted several times. A length of brass wire soldered to the bottom of the rail is used as the pivot for the blades. Another piece of wire is used to link the blade to the rod beneath to board which controls the points. To hold the rail in place for soldering, I glued it upside down to a piece of masking tape. By doing this next to the point itself I could ensure that the position of the wires was correct. Excess solder could then be filed smooth, taking care not to break the wire off in the process. Two holes need to be drilled through the sleepers for the pivot wires to pass through, and some material removed around them to allow for where the wires are soldered to the bottom of the rails. A slot also has to be cut in the board for the control wires to pass through. I also had to file down the middle sleeper, because it was marginally too high and the blades were see-sawing on it. The tie bar keeps the point blades the correct distance apart. It is cut from brass strip. Spikes are used at the pivot to hold the blades down. Having built the point, the mechanism to control it can be assembled. As this is beneath the board it is rather hard to get a good photo of, so I have built a simple Sketchup model of it based on the one I used to plan the layout. The two vertical brass wires attached to the blades pass through the board and are glued to the horizontal control rod. I wanted to solder them, but whatever metal the control rod is made from seems to be completely impervious to solder. The control rod runs through holes in the front and rear of the board, which hold it in place, and through the lever of a SPDT slide switch. The switch controls the polarity of the point, and provides the over-centre spring to hold the blades in place on the right or left. Here's a final photo of the complete layout. The rods which control the points can be seen protruding from the front of the board. As they stick out at both sides, the layout can be operated from either the front or the back. Next I need to glue cosmetic fishplates to the rail joints, and then paint the rails. I also want to put couplings on the wagon and loco so I can test the operation of the layout / have fun playing trains! Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted February 9, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 9, 2010 Great to see the progress here - I must admit that I held my breath when watching the video as I kept expecting the loco to run off the end or knock the wagons onto the floor Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 That may have happened a few times... I need to put some sort of bufferstop at the end of the tracks. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 12, 2010 Author Share Posted February 12, 2010 Progress on the real thing has been focused on fitting couplings to the loco and wagons so I can try proper shunting operations. Meanwhile, I rather liked the Candy Mills version of the Inglenook sidings design featured in the latest Small Layout Scrapbook, and wondered if an O-16.5 version could be fitted on 2 x A3 boards like my Timesaver. Some playing with Sketchup followed, and the result was this design: It can fit the full standard Inglenook number of wagons in the three sidings, and uses the current layout as the headshunt to the right. There's also a through line so further boards could be added to the left. The plan with Claverton Engineering has always been that it could be extended in a modular fashion, and features like the "through line" being the same distance from the front of the board at either end have been designed with that in mind. Extensions won't be happening for quite a while though, as I want to complete the first stage before getting distracted by extra bits. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 15, 2010 Author Share Posted February 15, 2010 One conclusion of my initial tests was that the Black Beetle beneath the loco required some running in, being rather stuttery at low speeds. It was really put to shame when I tried a Bachmann On30 tram, which crept over the pointwork at a beautiful smooth crawl. So, I purchased a circle of setrack and now have the loco running in circles on my floor to get it properly run in. I have also ordered a big neodymium magnet to operate the couplings from beneath the surface of the board. I plan to attach it to a stick so that it can be used to uncouple wagons anywhere on the layout without resort to the hand of God, which will be particularly important when I eventually get the overhead wires up. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRPNunsQLmA A short video of the loco running in on a loop of track on the floor. It's smooth running on way now, but a bit noisy running the other way, so I'll give it a bit more running over the next few days. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnL4BdjfaDo While RMweb has been away, I've fitted Greenwich couplings to the loco and wagons, so I can test / play with shunting operations on the layout. The Greenwich couplings are assembled from a simple etch, a nail and a length of iron wire, a fairly simple task that only takes a few minutes. My first attempts at running wagon behind the loco resulted in frequent derailments as a result of the couplings sticking out too far, so I had to slowly move them further in until everything stayed on the rails. Test running has also shown up a few issues with dodgy trackwork that also had to be rectified. Greenwich couplings are normally operated using small fixed magnets at strategic points around the layout, but on a small dense shunting layout like the timesaver that would mean a lot of magnets. Instead, I have taken advantage of the thin baseboards and am using a big neodymium magnet which can be held beneath the board to uncouple wagons anywhere on the layout. This allows uncoupling without intervention from the Hand of God wherever I want, which will be particularly useful once I get the overhead wires up. The video shows me testing / playing with moving a pair of wagons from one side of the board to the other, via most of the points and with a lot of coupling and uncoupling. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 After my trip to Narrow Gauge South West a couple of weeks ago (pictures and video here), I mentioned on another forum that I was disappointed not to find KBscale there, as I was hoping to buy some extra rail spikes and fishplates from them. To my surprise, the owner of KBscale saw my post and offered to send me some free of charge. They arrived the other day, so I have been able to finish detailing the trackwork and spent this morning starting painting sides of the rails. Many thanks to Dave for being so generous with his products. One of my inspirations for this project was the Sittingbourne and Kemsley railway, which has beautiful overgrown and moss covered track. I'm working from photos of the line I took in 2008 at what may still be the line's final day of operation. So far I have applied a mixture of Humbrol 62 and 29, which gives an effect close to the colour of the SKLR rails. Once dry I'll try adding a light wash of darker brown to tone down the slightly bright orange effect I've got so far. Also in the photo is one of two wagons I've built from balsa wood strip on cheap old OO chassis. It's had a first coat of grey, which I'll weather by partly sanding off to reveal the wood beneath. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
persistent_bodger Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 It seems to be coming on really well, track looks so realistic, I like the wagon,good luck best Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoRS1 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 loving the layout, have to give you a big thank you for helping me work out a problem I had, that was moving the switches, you method works well for me, so thanks. What loco is in your avatar? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Well, the 2010 challenge deadline has come and gone and progress on Claverton Engineering has been stalled for several months. However I certainly haven't given up and intend to continue work as time allows. One of the issues that put me off a bit was that my loco I had built from plasticard, based on the one at Hellingly, had become badly warped as the plastic had been melted by the UHU I stuck the lead weighting in with. I've now scrapped the first attempt and all that remains of it is the chassis and motor bogie. A new bodyshell has already been assembled , and I'm actually happier with the appearance of this one as it's rather straighter than the original and the windows are better shaped. I've also remembered to make provision for a DCC decoder should I wish to fit one in the future. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burkitt Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 More work on the Hellingly-based loco today. To create the raised frames around the cab window, I've made a former which fits through the window from the inside. Styrene strip can then be wrapped around the former and glued in place. After a bit cleaning up the frames look much neater than I could manage by gluing them on freehand. I've experimented on them with using tip-ex as a filler for small holes and imperfections; it seems to be much easier to apply than milliput or squadron for such applications, and produces a better finish when sanded down. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 That looks really nice! Super running with such a short wheelbase engine! I had no idea that Chris N.'s was the first layout utilizing Foamboard? By the way we should differentiate between "Foamboard' and "Rigid Foam Insulation" two completely different products in my view. A couple of questions: Which roller gauges did you use with that rail stock? Is the Foamboard held together with "Hot Glue "or what (I may have missed this detail)? Great stuff, thanks. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Ooops, sorry just noticed you used Peco code 82! It looked heavier in the close ups! I've been looking for that rail in the USA........... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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