Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[Rowsley17D]

I think you could get away with a curve through the station if it was even shallower, Gordon. As it is, I agree with you, it doesn't look right. I take it the buildings were made for a straight section of track through the station? No doubt if your curve was on the real thing as you have laid it the canopy would have been curved too.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Rowsley17D

[BoD]

How difficult would it be to make the track through the station straight, but not parallel to the edge of the board, with curves at beyond the canopies.

[gordon s]

Just looking at this now. The critical points are between A and B. I cannot change anything outside these two positions as it would have an almighty knock on effect to pointwork which would totally lose the flow and I'm not even going to consider relaying both ends.....

 

Ideally I would just like to flatten the curve between A and B without losing the transition between the two end boards.

 

I'm glad it's not only me. It just doesn't look right. I thought a 20' radius wouldn't show, but spread over the 4' of the station buildings it is surprising just how much it deviates.

 

The buildings were originally part of Gilberts original Peterborough and there they were on straight track. The need for a curve was my choice.

 

 

 

 

 

[martin_wynne]

Hi Gordon,

 

The straight buildings are fine.

 

What is not right is the straight canopy. The outer edge needs to follow the curve of the platform. Even if you flatten the centre of the curve, you would still need a curved canopy. Or at the least, a series of short straight sections. Can it be modified easily?

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[gordon s]

Possibly by someone who is a good model maker, but as they were built by the late Allan Downes, I'm very loath to do anything with them. It would be way out of my capabilities anyway, so I'll hold fire for a while and give it some more thought. I may have a play on Templot tonight and see what comes of it.

 

I could always leave the buildings out and make it a train spotters paradise.  Join the two bay ends, put in a couple of bridges either end with a wide cutting between them and I could sit there all day watching trains go by....

[Ian_H]

..... but I do have a compulsion bordering on OCD,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't you mean CDO?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CDO, a bit like OCD but all the letters are in the right order ...... as they should be!

 

 

Good to have you back Gordon, and you will have noticed that I never asked if your nephew and his grand children were visiting you this Christmas to see the progress on ET!

 

Keep up the good work, we've all missed you.

 

Ian

[Siberian Snooper]

In the Templot geometry menu there are options of "easement from straight" and "easement to straight". Or you could draw the straight track and an arc off of the turnout and use the alignment feature too make a transition between the two templates. I hope that one or the other options is useful.

[Ray H]

Welcome back Gordon.

 

Could you just straighten the track that will be alongside the buildings and leave the rest of the track in the platform area curved?

[gordon s]

Thanks guys. Just spent an hour or so with Templot and hope I've found a solution. The original plan had a radius of 20' through the station area. I've stripped all that out and increased the radius in the station area to 80', so although it will still have a curve, I'm hoping it will be nowhere near as pronounced and yet avoid the parallel straights that I find disappointing from a viewing perspective.

 

It proved quite tricky to retain the flowing lines from the approach pointwork and the angles that involved. Those lines had to transition to a shallow curve track and yet retain the central length without creating a much sharper transition curve.

 

Just printed off the 50 or so sheets and will trim and stick them tomorrow. At least that will give me a full size visual to play around with and see if that solves the problem. In doing so it has moved the station building closer to the edge, so I suspect I will need to add on a section to the front edge to give room for the approach road and parking areas. No big deal in that particular area as its already set back from the balustrade by six inches or so.

 

Far better to resolve this now before ploughing on any further. Don't you just love railway modelling....   

[trustytrev]

Hello.

      I encountered the same issue after using Templot to recreate part of Lancaster Castle station. I produce a compromised plan that I was eventually able to accept. It did mean curving the visual part excessively at either end but still retain all the track as per the prototype.

It was then that I realised the long goods shed would have to be curved when in reality it is straight. I am still at that impasse as the plan is not viable for the location it needs to fit otherwise.

Life has got in the way since so not much progress has been made. I still ask myself "How many curved goods sheds have existed on the West coast mainline.?"

I suppose building a convincing curved representation of the real one is the only way forward.

PS.Why does spell check insist on Americanising perfectly good spelling like "realised". Or is it right?

trustytrev.

[gordon s]

A good nights sleep and enthusiasm has returned. Stuck all the sheets together and after a few tweaks to alignment that I'd missed last night, we appear to be back in business. Increasing the curve from 20' radius to 80' radius has reduced the offset effect considerably and met both my needs of looking better and avoiding straight tracks parallel to the board edge. They may look straight and parallel but I know different....

 

The downside is that the station building is now nearer the edge, but at least the transitions from the approach pointwork either end remain intact. Next job will be to try and lift the 4m of track laid yesterday and take up all the cork underlay. Once all that is out of the way, I can sand it flat again and lay the new cork strip.

 

The loss of a few bits of track at this stage is small compared to the possible implications of carrying on and then finding something really grates with you.

 

Here's a few pics showing the new layout and an overhead comparison between the two.

 

 

 

 

[Rowsley17D]

That looks much better, Gordon. I'm glad you have found a solution that you're satisfied with. It looks as though you could bolt on an extra couple of inches to the front and not foul the banisters.

[Siberian Snooper]

Gordon, that's a huge improvement! Crack on!

[calvin Streeting]

Hi

I was out and about (happens every now and then when allowed ) and i when i walked past this cutting in maidstone, it reminded me of yours. there is a lot going on down there, alot of old disused and disgarded stuff, so many different materials  in the wall and even a bunch of pipe runs under the foliage ontop of the left wall..   

 

edit: helps if i actually hit attach file button  

Edited January 23, 2019 by calvin Streeting

[gordon s]

Thanks Calvin. That's a great shot and something I will certainly go back to when the time comes. Took me back years to one of the first versions of ET....

[trustytrev]

Hello,

      I think you have the issue sorted now Gordon.

trustytrev.

[gordon s]

Had a good day today and managed to get all four lengths of track up without damage. Sticking down SMP with PVA seems to provide a fairly brittle joint and sliding an old fashioned flat knife under the sleepers seems to break the joint and if you’re careful you can almost peel the track off the cork underlay. Virtually impossible once it’s ballasted, but OK at this stage.

 

Managed to get six of the eight track underlays down and the 4m of original track back down. Hopefully the weather will pick up tomorrow and the snow will be gone as my other hobby awaits......

 

Really enjoyed today despite the setbacks of yesterday. Funny how your modelling mojo comes and goes without reason. If anyone knows why, I’m all ears.

[martin_wynne]

Funny how your modelling mojo comes and goes without reason. If anyone knows why, I’m all ears.

 

A change Is as good as a rest?

___________________

Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 29 August 1857 - author unknown

 

    Ye votaries of sofas and beds

    Ye sloths who exertion detest,

    This maxim I wish to drive into your heads -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    Ye children of Fashion and Wealth,

    With countless indulgences blest,

    Remember that indolence preyeth on health -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    Ye sturdy old sons of the soil,

    Who work through the day with such zest,

    'Tis little ye have beside labour and toil;

    But little of change or of rest.

 

    But ye of such leisure and cash

    The sweets of employment should test;

    To lavish your time is degrading and rash -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    That porter just over the road,

    Of this bit of knowledge posess'd,

    From shoulder to shoulder is shifting his load -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    That student, in sciences deep,

    (With time's sterling value impress'd)

    Now turns to My Novel, not thinking of sleep -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    That merchant gets up with the lark,

    His duties are aught but a jest;

    These over, he rides with his son in the park -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    My wife, in the kitchen below,

    For dinner provideth her best,

    Then crochets a nightcap for "dear little Flo" -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    More relish of life is decreed

    For all who this truth have confess'd-

    Who grants it in heart, and confirms it in deed -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    They have no Utopian desires,

    Their spirits are seldom depress'd

    Well-occupied leisure contentment inspires -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

    Mark I then, fellow-mortals around,

    All ye who would wish to be blest,

    Much wisdom in this simple phrase may be found -

    A change is as good as a rest.

 

[gordon s]

Even though the snow only fell for a short while yesterday, golf was cancelled today, as much of the evening snowfall was still there this morning. I'm really glad ET has got me going again as without that I would have been kicking my heels most of the day. No doubt I would have eaten too much and started on a beer or glass of wine around 4pm and that would have added to my Christmas waistline....

 

I can see why so many people go on dry January's or enrolling at gyms and Weight Watchers after Christmas. This year wasn't helped by my dear BiL who was over from Spain. He insists on doing most of the pubs in town and loves a decent curry. Of course I have to be dragged kicking and screaming to join him, so is it any wonder the pounds pile on. At 6'3" I can get away with a lot (providing I breathe in), but I know the pounds have to go, so ET is a great fallback when golf is off.

 

Today saw the rest of cork strip down and the bulk of the track laid in ET station. It looks pretty patchy right now, but sleepers have to be replaced in the gaps and a healthy dose of track paint wouldn't go amiss. Hot off the press, the up and down pairs are in place plus the two bays and the outer relief road and goods loop.

 

Bit of a pain having to relay what was done, but infinitely better than having to mess around with the buildings. Gilbert must have had them for a few years before me and I've had them for another nine years, so they've stayed together fairly well. The glue has dried out in a number of places and I have five or six lengths of brass valance that will need to be re attached once things move on but overall they still look the part.

 

 

The forerunner of Peterborough North also had the station building facing a wall, so there was no need whatsoever for the inside faces of the buildings to be finished. They would never be seen, so it would have been a waste of Allan's time to finish off the inner building faces. ET is exactly the same, so here's a view you will never see....

 

 

With the station board in the middle of the room, it makes access so much easier, so it will stay there whilst I complete the track laying, wiring, ballasting and even some basic scenic work before it goes back in place. I also have all the platforms to build, but I suspect that will come after the running trials to check everything works and trains run faultlessly.

 

Searched high and low today, but have run out of SMP track, so had to order some more. The downside of large layouts is they gobble up yards of track and at the best part of £40 for a box of 10 lengths, it easy for a siding here and a siding there to run away with the overall cost. From memory there is around 22m of track on this board alone and no matter how carefully you use it, there's always a stack of 100-200mm bits left over.

 

Another day 'home alone' tomorrow, so I'll try to get this board wired and ready for running. It's quite tempting to push it back and join it up to the other boards to see how far a train can run, but in some respects that just means work to take down again when finishing comes around. Ballasting will certainly be far easier in the middle of the room rather than bent double under the sloping eaves....

 

Getting there....

Edited January 24, 2019 by gordon s

[Siberian Snooper]

Great work, Gordon. You certainly made short work of that and it's all looking good, hopefully not too long before that major step forward a train running all the way round. i think that great day has been awaited for some years by us avid followers of this thread.

[hayfield]

Looking the part, as usual excellent work, as for the off cuts of track, remove the rail to be used fot track building and thread new long lengths of rail

[Siberian Snooper]

Looking the part, as usual excellent work, as for the off cuts of track, remove the rail to be used fot track building and thread new long lengths of rail

There's an idea and the short bits of rail can be used in the construction of switches and crossings.

[calvin Streeting]

on that.. how hard is building points etc ?.. (oo scale) as never done it but might want to for part of my layout, and i love the sweeping curves and flow they make

[Siberian Snooper]

on that.. how hard is building points etc ?.. (oo scale) as never done it but might want to for part of my layout, and i love the sweeping curves and flow they make

It's not that difficult, but it can be a bit time consuming. The most important bit, is too have a good set of track gauges, especially for the flange way gaps in the crossings and the check gauge. The check gauge should have only three grooves, one for the wing rail and the V and one for the check rail. The V end should have a flat on it too allow for the V itself and the check end should just be parallel to allow for gauge widening.

 

Take your time filing the components.

 

On a good day and I'm in the groove, I can knock up an all soldered plain turnout in a couple of hours.

[gordon s]

As SS has said, making your own pointwork is fairly straightforward, but take your time and use the right tools.  There are a dozen and one ways to build turnouts and PCB construction is a good place to learn. I'm far from an expert, but was encouraged to have a go maybe 10 years or so ago. It seems like yesterday, but time flies by as you get older.

 

I'd sat on the fence for years, believing I didn't have the skills for what I thought was a quite complex process, but once you start, you'll learn from your mistakes and soon be able to make some simple turnouts and the pleasure you will get from seeing your own stock run through something you have made is immeasurable.

 

A few years back I did run though the process that works for me. It's not the only method and we each have our own variation, but the basics are there. It starts with post 894 on this page...

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/3422-eastwood-town-where-did-10-years-go/page-36?

 

The station board is now back in place, track down and fully wired. Took a while to track down a short once the wiring was complete. Normally I hook up a small continuity tester as I solder all the wiring. It's an absolute godsend and bleeps at you the minute you go to solder a wire that is incorrect. Unfortunately I'd left it on and the PP9 battery had gone flat and of course there wasn't one to be found anywhere....

 

I'd checked the track before wiring and that was OK, so it was a surprise to find the smallest of whiskers on a PCB sleeper was causing the problem.

 

Here's a visual of the modification required to realign the track through the station. Around a foot or so will need to come up of each set of lines with the trackbed. 

 

 

 

Here's a blast from the past. These are invaluable for realigning track where there are small adjustments to be made. Nothing can beat Templot when there are major changes, but these old bits of hardboard have been in my drawer for years and have proved really useful to make these changes. Sadly Red Dog went out of business several years ago.

 

 

I suspect I may be on DIY duty over the weekend, so it may be another week before the lines are joined....