Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[chris p bacon]

Gordon, due to my job (I'm a nurse) I've worked extensively in palliative care, and I still find it heartbreaking at times. For this to happen over Christmas adds to the heartbreak.

Sometimes though, there can be some positive memories: my sons christening was on New Years Day (don't know how that came about), but on the same morning my wife's grandmother died, so every New Year's Day I think not only of my son, but also fond memories of his great grandmother.

This isn't meant as tactless but my Father died on Xmas eve in 98, we think he was aiming for Xmas day just to prove it was just another day but by going on the eve it meant he didn't have to send cards out......I wonder if it's in the genes, might explain my brother.

[The Stationmaster]

Gordon,

 

So sorry to hear the news about your mother and I hope she will be able to take some comfort from family presence and also so very sad at this time of year.  Keep yourself and particularly your mind occupied with other things when you are able and don't feel guilty about doing that. 

[Tony_S]

Gordon.

I am really sorry to read about your Mum.

Thinking of you.

Tony

[60012 Commonwealth of Australia]

Terribly sorry to hear about your mum. 

Take care of yourself, and remember to take things slowly for a while.

 

 

Peter

Edited December 23, 2016 by 60012 Commonwealth of Australia

[trisonic]

94 is a great age! I hope that she has had a great life so far.

My only Grandmother (the other set died before I was born) died on a Christmas Eve. I remember that I thought it was amazing, when young, to find out that all my friends had four Grandparents.

 

Life is full of comings and goings, unfortunately. Wish you and your family well, Gordon.

 

Pete.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Gordon,

 

Sorry to hear your news, and as folk have said already, hope you can have a peaceful Christmas and that the modelling can take your mind off things for some of the time.

 

Take care,

 

Mike

[Re6/6]

Just came across this Gordon.

 

Thoughts are with you at a very difficult time in life.

[KeithHC]

Gordon and Crispy my thoughts also go out to you both at this time. I too lost a Grandmother on Christmas Day many years ago I was in my early teens. It was avery quiet day but just nice to reflect on happier times.

 

Keith HC

[gordon s]

Many thanks for all your kind thoughts and best wishes.  We've been back and forth to Mum's care home each day and she is still hanging in there.  The strength of the human spirit under these circumstances is staggering.  Of course every time the phone rings we all jump up and await the news...

 

Whilst the family have been watching all sorts of Christmas TV, I've been in the back room with my thoughts and several bits of plastic and rail.  Clearly I don't have the physical qualifications to build chaired track.  I have to wear high strength glasses to even see the parts and my sausage fingers are no match for tiny parts that ping off in every direction.

 

I've now spent around 3 hours putting this together.  I know it's the first one and they will always take time, but I can bang out soldered turnouts in a couple of hours, so this really is a challenge and a labour of love.  I won't let it beat me and will complete this C10 turnout, but there have been so many times when I could hurl the bloomin' thing across the room.

 

Close up photography is cruel.  First thing I've picked up is the rough cut ends of the sleepers thanks to blunt Xuron cutters.  The second is that I now see the chairs are handed and the keys are all over the place.  Some left and some right....

 

No doubt I have the wrong chairs in some positions as well...

 

On the up side, I can see despite my glaring faults, chaired turnouts are a big improvement on solder blobs, but with 70+ turnouts to build, this process would send me insane.

 

Gentlemen track builders of chaired track, I salute you!  How you can keep making turnouts with all these fiddly bits is beyond me.

 

Right now the odds are very much in favour of going back to soldered construction, but who knows the penny may well drop and this could be the way forward.

 

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2016 by gordon s

[hayfield]

Gordon

 

Its looking very good, as you say the first one takes ages, as for threading chairs there is a knack, the penny drops and you find the method of threading which is best for you.

 

With timbers I cut them with a razor saw in a mitre square with an adjustable stop block, takes seconds. As for threading chairs . Whilst doing a demonstration at a local show a young girl asked to have a go. Took 10 mins to thread the first one, then milliseconds to do the rest. Just file the rail end to a point, thread the chairs then cut the rail. With plastic sleepers the odd chair in half is OK as plastic welds its self to plastic

 

Just noticed the crossing nose chair is on the B chair position not the A chair. The numbering of the Exactoscale plan and Templot looks to differ, but don't worry only the likes of Martin and a few others will know and unlike me he is too much a gentleman to say

 

Must say far better than my first attempt

[Rowsley17D]

Hi Gordon, just to say my thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.

 

Your first go at a chaired turnout looks a lot better than mine did. As Hayfield says, you do speed up and the results look great. You may already do this but pre-bend the curved rails as they do try to straighten out when released from the plan. There're not as robust as soldered turnouts. I also use a couple of copped clad sleepers. One under the crossing nose and another further back. I use these for the electrical connections rather than trying to solder wire to rail.

Edited December 24, 2016 by Rowsley17D

[hayfield]

Jonathan

 

I agree there are several ways of doing things, copperclad timbers with either very thin copperclad risers or using cast chairs works very well. I make the 3rd timber out of copperclad and solder metal slide chair bases to them, then solder the switch rails to these, makes an almost invisible tie bar

 

Also by using cut up check rail chairs on the wing rails saves soldering up the common crossings, no doubt many other little dodges around

[Andrew P]

Looking very good to my eyes Gordon, but the amount of time it will take to do 70+ would drive me insane as well, at the end of the day, it's YOUR LAYOUT but I would rather see Trains running, guess that's why I'm back to Peco I suppose, BUT I will be watching with great interest my friend.

[Oldddudders]

Your sublime trackwork has long been the envy of many, Gordon, while your present personal circumstances are simply hideous. The shoal of warm and supportive comments above demonstrate your substantial following on here. Whatever your success rate with new materials and techniques, I hope that you can find some comfort over the Season, to help you face that which is surely to come.

[BoD]

I notice that the second photo reads SILLY. Is that the timber numbering or your comment.

 

My thoughts are with you and yours, especially at this time.

[gordon s]

 As for threading chairs . Whilst doing a demonstration at a local show a young girl asked to have a go. Took 10 mins to thread the first one, then milliseconds to do the rest. Just file the rail end to a point, thread the chairs then cut the rail. 

 

There's a couple of words there John that might explain my difficulties.

 

"Young" could be one and "girl" could be another..

 

Even with the end of the rail chamfered and all the burrs removed, I found difficulty holding the chair and then had a problem seeing the gap between to the two sides of the chair to slide the rail through.

 

I hadn't noticed there were left and right keys, so that's another dimension.  It took a while before I saw the keys, let alone the left and rights.  Out of interest which way should the keys face?

 

I laughed about the B chair as I got them muddled up on the bench, but at the time couldn't see any difference.  Nothing slips past you guys....

 

That will get fixed before final inspection.

 

 

I notice that the second photo reads SILLY. Is that the timber numbering or your comment.

 

My thoughts are with you and yours, especially at this time.

 

 

Well spotted, BoD, and very apt, this lark is SILLY...

 

I was showing the fruits of my labours to my wife and Brother in Law.  Comment from my wife was "is that all you've done" and BiL asked "why don't you just buy points from Hornby"  A few minutes of wasted breathe then were passed as I tried to explain the differences between hand made track and Hornby.  Unfortunately they then played the ace card....

 

Well if you'd bought Hornby you'd have had trains running years ago.  Game over.....

 

They've now gone off to the garden centre with MiL, so peace at last. 

 

Another three arriving tomorrow and then sixteen on Boxing Day including three young children, but not counting the five dogs.

 

Don't you just love Christmas....

[hayfield]

Looking very good to my eyes Gordon, but the amount of time it will take to do 70+ would drive me insane as well, at the end of the day, it's YOUR LAYOUT but I would rather see Trains running, guess that's why I'm back to Peco I suppose, BUT I will be watching with great interest my friend.

 

 

Whilst you cannot knock one out in two hours, once you have the knack three hours perhaps, especially if made in batches. Cutting the timbers I find quicker and preparation of rails much the same, except for the common crossings, but a couple of dodges will speed things up, then its just threading rather than soldering. 

 

Again speed is not everything and I thought the main initial aim was something running, with turnouts and crossings to follow ?

[hayfield]

There's a couple of words there John that might explain my difficulties.

 

"Young" could be one and "girl" could be another..

 

Even with the end of the rail chamfered and all the burrs removed, I found difficulty holding the chair and then had a problem seeing the gap between to the two sides of the chair to slide the rail through.

 

I hadn't noticed there were left and right keys, so that's another dimension.  It took a while before I saw the keys, let alone the left and rights.  Out of interest which way should the keys face?

 

I laughed about the B chair as I got them muddled up on the bench, but at the time couldn't see any difference.  Nothing slips past you guys....

 

That will get fixed before final inspection.

 

 

 

 

Well spotted, BoD, and very apt, this lark is SILLY...

 

I was showing the fruits of my labours to my wife and Brother in Law.  Comment from my wife was "is that all you've done" and BiL asked "why don't you just buy points from Hornby"  A few minutes of wasted breathe then were passed as I tried to explain the differences between hand made track and Hornby.  Unfortunately they then played the ace card....

 

Well if you'd bought Hornby you'd have had trains running years ago.  Game over.....

 

They've now gone off to the garden centre with MiL, so peace at last. 

 

Another three arriving tomorrow and then sixteen on Boxing Day including three young children, but not counting the five dogs.

 

Don't you just love Christmas....

 

 

Keep the chair on the sprue, thread the rail on then cut the chair from the sprue

 

Or finger nail on the back of the chair, then push the rail through, keep a chair near the rail end as it keeps the rail at the gap (0.5 mm ) not bench level. Many will not see the keys just the really nice chairs, those who do notice will stay stum

 

As for Hornby points  !!!

 

Looks like a few turnouts may be on their way from Essex as a bit of a support. Though once you get into it, its very addictive and definitely something to be proud of  when finished

[gordon s]

Quite right John, but it was something I quite fancied trying and it's been a great distraction with everything that's going on right now.  A bit like a large jigsaw, you can pick it up and put it down numerous times without being anti social.

 

These are just my personal findings.  It took me numerous attempts to get my head round Templot and that's now second nature.  Copper clad pointwork was much the same and I have no doubt I will get these down to a similar production time once I build a few more.  This is a great learning curve for me and even though it is infuriating at times, it's still really enjoyable.

 

It's certainly renewed my enthusiasm for this hobby of ours.

[hayfield]

Quite right John, but it was something I quite fancied trying and it's been a great distraction with everything that's going on right now.  A bit like a large jigsaw, you can pick it up and put it down numerous times without being anti social.

 

These are just my personal findings.  It took me numerous attempts to get my head round Templot and that's now second nature.  Copper clad pointwork was much the same and I have no doubt I will get these down to a similar production time once I build a few more.  This is a great learning curve for me and even though it is infuriating at times, it's still really enjoyable.

 

It's certainly renewed my enthusiasm for this hobby of ours.

 

 

Gordon

 

That's good, now its sorted time to check out the local ale house, hope all goes as well as it can over the next few days

[martin_wynne]

Hi Gordon,

 

If you don't mind tedious, but prefer soldering copper-clad, you might like to try the 1mm Vero pin method. The pins lift the rail off the copper clad so that dummy half-chairs can be added afterwards. Use a smear of 179deg solder cream (2% silver) to keep the solder to a minimum.

 

The pins have barbs under the head to be a firm push fit in the copper-clad:

 

 

You can put off adding the half-chairs until the track is down, wired up and running. It can be done in odd moments a few at a time. The only tools need being a headband magnifier and a pair of tweezers, so easy to pick up and put down. If you make a mistake it is easy to remove a chair and replace it.

 

Of course it means drilling 1mm holes all over the copper-clad timbers with a mini-drill, but Templot can produce a drilling template of rail-centre lines over timber centre-lines (generator > generator settings > rails > rail head centre-lines only). Print on tracing paper and lay over the copper-clad timbers:

 

 

 

 

Work on a soft board so that you can drill through deep enough for the pins. After prising the finished turnout from the board, trim the excess pins flush on the underside. If it is double-sided copper-clad don't forget to gap it and test it on the underside too. Alternatively you could pre-drill individual timbers and countersink the holes on the underside instead of gapping.

 

For me the biggest single advantage over using functional threaded chairs is not having the utterly dreadful pong of butanone, which I can't stand for more than a few minutes. The half-chairs are purely non-functional so can be stuck on with any adhesive of your choice. 

 

Vero pins are not desperately expensive:

 

  http://uk.rs-online....-posts/6319596/

 

Here's the manufacturers drawing of the pin:

 

  http://docs-europe.e...66b80e578ba.pdf

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[Indomitable026]

Hi Gordon,

 

If you don't mind tedious, but prefer soldering copper-clad, you might like to try the 1mm Vero pin method. The pins lift the rail off the copper clad so that dummy half-chairs can be added afterwards. Use a smear of 179deg solder cream (2% silver) to keep the solder to a minimum.

 

The pins have barbs under the head to be a firm push fit in the copper-clad:

 

vero_pins.jpg

 

You can put off adding the half-chairs until the track is down, wired up and running. It can be done in odd moments a few at a time. The only tools need being a headband magnifier and a pair of tweezers, so easy to pick up and put down. If you make a mistake it is easy to remove a chair and replace it.

 

Of course it means drilling 1mm holes all over the copper-clad timbers with a mini-drill, but Templot can produce a drilling template of rail-centre lines over timber centre-lines (generator > generator settings > rails > rail head centre-lines only). Print on tracing paper and lay over the copper-clad timbers:

 

 

 

 

Work on a soft board so that you can drill through deep enough for the pins. After prising the finished turnout from the board, trim the excess pins flush on the underside. If it is double-sided copper-clad don't forget to gap it and test it on the underside too. Alternatively you could pre-drill individual timbers and countersink the holes on the underside instead of gapping.

 

For me the biggest single advantage over using functional threaded chairs is not having the utterly dreadful pong of butanone, which I can't stand for more than a few minutes. The half-chairs are purely non-functional so can be stuck on with any adhesive of your choice. 

 

Vero pins are not desperately expensive:

 

  http://uk.rs-online....-posts/6319596/

 

Here's the manufacturers drawing of the pin:

 

  http://docs-europe.e...66b80e578ba.pdf

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

Thank you Martin, you've solved me a problem on my layout.

 

cheers.

[gordon s]

Ooh, that's food for thought, Martin.  I assume the thickness of the head is constant and that is the correct height above the sleeper.  It did start me thinking about building jigs etc to position the sleepers and hold the pins, but of course, few if any of the turnouts on ET are standard designs.  

 

Managed to steal another hour or so this afternoon, so back to the magnifiers, scalpel and superglue.....

[pirouets]

Gordon, which will cause more mayhem on Boxing Day, 3 kids or 5 dogs? You could always ask the kids about what you've made - either they will be in awe of your skills or it will be an out of the mouths of babes moment, so its whether you take the risk.

 

Also, don't forget if needed, find a driving range and use golf balls to express your feelings as they don't argue back when you whack em.

 

Wishing you well.

Edited December 24, 2016 by pirouets

[martin_wynne]

Ooh, that's food for thought, Martin.  I assume the thickness of the head is constant and that is the correct height above the sleeper.

 

Hi Gordon,

 

The heads are fraction under scale (0.5mm nominal, should be 0.58mm exact scale, but the plastic chairs vary too), and you need to allow a thou or two for the solder. In practice the chairs are soft plastic so a push fit under the rail. The pins I have here are fairly consistent around 0.47 - 0.48mm heads. Any unevenness is cured by a light rub over the timbers with a flat file before adding the rail (the pins are tinned brass).

 

The pins are too small to handle with sausage fingers, but easily picked up and inserted with a bit of blu-tack on the end of a stick.

 

regards,

 

Martin.