West Kirby Town: narrow gauge may be coming to town.

[woodyfox]

The sweeping pointwork looks great. Just the slight change in geometry makes a big difference to the eye. 

Lovely. 

[bgman]

8 minutes ago, woodyfox said:

The sweeping pointwork looks great. Just the slight change in geometry makes a big difference to the eye. 

Lovely. 

 

Totally agree and also for a realistic cost too.

[muddys-blues]

Hello Rod, those Greenwood points are an improvement on the Peco points, the timbers being in a non uniform varying length on the sweep, do give a nice pro-typical look.

 

Best regards

Craig.

[Dmudriver]

I'm really enjoying doing this!!!

 

I've finished the first point and I thought "I'll just see how the next ones will look" .... and 2 hours later, I was still in the shed!!

 

Here's how the first one looks now:  you can just see the wires joining the blades to the stock rails - 2 sleepers away from the fishplates at the frog:

 

I've fixed down the frogs on the next 2 points and done the straight stock rail on the second:

 

 

It's a bit complicated getting the stock rails the correct length but that's part of the enjoyment - to me, anyway!!  I'm aiming to cut down the number of track joints.

 

To make sure everything is in line I use a pocket mirror:  looking at it along a line really shows whether the rail is straight or not.  It's a tip I picked up a few years ago - after years before that of getting my head down to baseboard to make sure track was straight, or the curves consistent!!  I took a picture of how it looks:  it goes out of focus as I don't think the phone camera could cope but you can (just!!) see that I've got the rail nice and straight:

 

 

I'm not wiring them in yet as I want to make sure they all fit correctly first.  I'll feed to the stock rails and I'm going to try leaving the frogs dead as I reckon that with long wheel base locos and DMUs picking up off 2 bogies and the shorter wheelbase locos having stay-alives fitted, I should be OK.  Time will tell!!

 

I'm quite pleased with the way it's going!!  More soon.

 

 

Rod

[daifly]

It would surely be prudent and easier to ensure now that the crossing nose is electrically bonded to the wing rails and also to install a dropper from the common crossing rather than try to do it later after you've fixed and ballasted everything.

Dave

[Hal Nail]

Are all these points roughly the same length? I think it's an optical illusion but they look quite different depending on the angle of the photo.

[Simond]

I’d concur with Dave,  

 

My crossings are all bonded so the wing rails and nose are a physical & electrical unit, but soldering a dropper on and drilling the hole before gluing down & ballasting seems like a no-brainer to me, even if you’ll never need it.

I remember the mirror trick from an MRJ article by Norman Solomon, I think, back in the mists of time.  Saves contortions.  And a little jiggery-pokery with a smartphone can provide similar visibility farther from the baseboard edge.  
 

The new track flows.  

 

atb

Simon

[Barnaby]

Your enjoyment shows clearly in your work Rod very good.

The mirror tool is a smart way to check for alignments and is one technique I use when critical aligns are required.  I don't remember where I got it from but I have been doing it since the 70's, maybe it was the mrj as Simon mentions but I recall it more from my work environment.

 

Best

[Dmudriver]

7 hours ago, daifly said:

It would surely be prudent and easier to ensure now that the crossing nose is electrically bonded to the wing rails and also to install a dropper from the common crossing rather than try to do it later after you've fixed and ballasted everything.

Dave

 

Hi Dave.

 

The whole crossing comes bonded together, as here:

 

 

This is what I referred to as "the frog":  sorry if I caused confusion - should have said "common crossing"!!  As both you and Simon say wiring it up is sensible - after all, I'm drilling 2 holes for the feed wires so, yes, I'll wire them up, and the wire from the Tortoise is in place anyway.  Just laziness, I suppose!!!

 

4 hours ago, Simond said:

The new track flows.  

 

It does, Simon.  I think it's to do with the point blades as the geometry is exactly the same as the Peco points.  In my opinion, they make the point look much more realistic.

 

6 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

Are all these points roughly the same length? I think it's an optical illusion but they look quite different depending on the angle of the photo.

 

Yes, they are - well, the straight points are all the same length but the Y points are a bit shorter than the straight ones (but both of those the same length).  It could be an optical illusion but also perhaps because I'm adding straight track bases to them?

 

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

On 13/03/2021 at 14:25, 313201 said:

Can I ask please if you are planning to sell the peco turnouts / points ( whichever term members prefer to use ) at all.

 

If so, may I ask how much you would want for them as a job lot or individually.

 

I started in O gauge about 10 years ago when I built the hachette flying scotsman loco then later bought 3 of the 16 ton mineral wagons at the model shop in chester after buying a brake van at the chester Northgate model fair when it used to be held there.

 

I would like to someday build it all up into a project eventually and thought I would start finding any track that may be available even 2nd hand no problem.

 

I would have to do some saving up before I could buy the items but I would be interested.

 

Hi 313201.

 

I haven't a use for them so I'll PM you.

 

I would point out though that they have been modified.  All the points have had the electrofrog isolated and the point blades bonded to the stock rails.  The frog is fed by a microswitch either on the Tortoise motor (for the straight points) or by a separate microswitch for the Y points.  There is only 1x Y point, however, as the other one proved difficult to lift and got permanently damaged.  

 

In addition, I have removed the spring from the straight points and slimmed down the tiebars so they need either a motor or point lever to operate properly.

 

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Some more progress today.

 

The first point is finished bar the rust spraying of the rail sides, then it will be nailed in position: I don't intend gluing timber track bases down as I may well want to recover them in the future!!   I've added a couple of thin wires from the point blades to the rail on the other side of the common crossing.  You can see one in this pic - the green one and there is a black one just behind:

 

 

All being well, the rust paint will hide them.  Here's what the completed point, with extension looks like:

 

 

I think the transformation from a Peco point is remarkable!!

 

The second one is coming on well: the curved blade is still to be fitted and the extension bits added:

 

 

followed by soldering the tiebar in place and electrical bonding.

 

I thickened the tiebar by adding a piece of plasticard underneath: I found the wire from the Tortoise motor had a tendency to come out of the hole as it's a tad short:

 

 

Hopefully I'll get some more done tomorrow.  Watch this space!!

 

 

Rod

Edited March 14, 2021 by Dmudriver

[Dmudriver]

And yet another post!!  Hope it's not getting boring for you - certainly making the points up isn't boring me!!

 

The second point is virtually finished now - just the electrical bonding to do.  Oh, and then stain it!!  Here's how it looks on the bench:

 

 

The end of the diverging track has no chairs yet as the rail joiners cover those sleepers.  Eventually I'll put a couple of cosmetic ones on.

 

And here's how it looks in situ:

 

 

I've run the 205 over both of the points in all 3 directions and it's so smooth it's incredible!!  And even though I've not put the main feed wires in yet you wouldn't think so as there's no power interruption at all.  This will be because the rails and joiners are still clean so are feeding the tracks from the existing feeds from the bus bars.

 

I am rather pleased!!!  I've always enjoyed track laying but these kits have taken that enjoyment up a level.   So much so that I'm wondering what comes next!!  The curved crossover definitely,.... but then???   Maybe a new micro layout?  Probably not - I'm getting a bit carried away!!!

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[pwr]

Would there be a video of that?

 

Paul R

[Dmudriver]

1 hour ago, pwr said:

Would there be a video of that?

 

Paul R

 If you mean running over the new points, Paul, I don't see why not.    I'll leave it until they're both rusted up, fixed in position and wired up.

 

It'll just be a shunting video!!

 

 

Rod

[bgman]

These kits certainly make track building much easier and fun Rod, I had a call from Mike to say my double slip is ready, can't wait to build it. Yours are making a far more realistic replacement to my eyes keep up the good work.

 

Grahame

[Dmudriver]

And more progress yesterday and today!!  I've finished the second point, fastened it down, wired it up and tested it.

 

Here's how they look:

 

 

You may notice that the stock has been moved around.  That's because I was testing the points.  Everything went extremely well and I have to say I am really pleased - everything ran so smoothly, including the 03 and 08 shunters which aren't in the pics.

 

Both points are now wired up to the main feed bus and the frogs from the Tortoise motors.  The wiring is here:

 

 

It looks really crude in this close up pic, but that's just how I did it 8/9 years ago and I wager it's not obvious at all - particularly after spraying with rust, then ballasting, then sprayed with track dirt.   I was going to spray these with rust now but I've decided to leave it until all 5 points are finished: masking/covering up the layout round about will be a bit of a bind so I'll do it just the once.

 

The points are nailed down - you can just see 2 nails in the second pic, on the left just beyond the common crossing.  They look as though they are hammered down tight but that's not the case:  I've drilled holes for the nails so they are little more than an interference fit.  I just wanted them to hold the track in place - the Tortoise motors move them around if they're not fastened down!!

 

I'll make a short video in the next day or two - if the weather's decent I'll have a play!!

 

More soon.

 

 

Rod

[daifly]

Hi Rod

I’m just wondering why the green (and black) continuity wires are above the baseboard instead of being looped out of sight below. 
Dave

[Dmudriver]

29 minutes ago, daifly said:

Hi Rod

I’m just wondering why the green (and black) continuity wires are above the baseboard instead of being looped out of sight below. 
Dave

 

Hi Dave.

 

Basically because I am getting on in years and am not as supple as I was - the less time I spend under the baseboard the better!!!

 

I've used decoder wire which is really thin and I'm thinking once painted with rust and track dirt, it will be near enough invisible.

 

On the second point most of the wire is in the common crossing looped in and out of the wires that join the crossing together.

 

Oh, the joys of old age!!

 

 

Rod

[Barnaby]

Nice work Rod those point kit really are the business.

Looking forward to the soon to be made video of the new track getting a test run through.

 

I'm with you on the aged body "canna do it Captain"  all that bending down to climb under the board has to be kept to a minimum these days.

I have just obtained the Cobalt surface mount point motors and I'm in the process of making up a swing down control board to hold all the terminations and PCB's.

 

Regards 

[daifly]

1 hour ago, Dmudriver said:

Hi Dave.

Basically because I am getting on in years and am not as supple as I was - the less time I spend under the baseboard the better!!!

.....

Oh, the joys of old age!!

Hi Rod

Probably no one knows better than me at the moment. I’m currently in hospital having had my fourth hip job done yesterday! I’m not a quadruped. The left has been done three times in the last 22 years. This time, the right is getting the treatment. I know all about supple and old age!

Dave

[Simond]

Dave,

 

hope it all sorts itself out pronto, you’ll not be headbanging for a week or two?

 

get well soon!

Simon

[Hal Nail]

Funnily enough I was asking my physio yesterday why everything seems to be aching at 50 despite being reasonably fit generally and we concluded we werent designed to live this long!

[pwr]

I had a torn cartilage sorted last year and was told prior to that Op that I would need new knees at some point - not looking forward to that!

 

Paul R

[MarshLane]

On 18/03/2021 at 08:24, pwr said:

I had a torn cartilage sorted last year and was told prior to that Op that I would need new knees at some point - not looking forward to that!

 

Paul R

 

I have the same problem (left knee) after somehow tearing it in 2019 and having physio for eight weeks, and was told the same thing ... although at 42, I hope its well into the future!  I did ask if there was a Kwik Fit option, the stand in GP didn't get my sense of humour!!!

 

Love the work that you've done on the points Rod, they will look superb when weather and I can imagine the running qualities, especially with the 08 and 03 will be wonderful and so smooth.

 

Rich 

[hayfield]

Like my farther I have dodgy knees, part down to football but mainly down to arthritis

 

15 years ago I went to the doctors with a sore knee which would not mend. After getting the results after an x-ray I was told the knee without the pain was worse that the one I have having issues with. I was told that I would need to at least have the joints cleaned out, but there was no guarantee it would work and it might make it worse. I was too young to have more invasive surgery

 

Within 6 months the treatment had changed completely, I was given stronger pain killers and told if I could get through the pain barriers it would get better. I gave it a go and it worked. There were times the pain was awful and I could hardly walk, other times I just need to sit down for a few mins for the pain to stop, then all is well again

 

Recently I got an allotment, my ability to bend is coming back again. It seems with my ailment its "use it or loose it ". May not work for all, but the doctor was right