Not quite just another clay line

[R A Watson]

Having lurked in the background for some time I think it is now time to show my own efforts.

 

I have always been attracted to the more unusual subjects and therefore my own train set is of a type not normally seen here. I have tried to re-create a section of a local line but have been forced to think "outside of the box" as I cannot find any manufacturer who makes R T R 4'6" gauge horse drawn clay wagons, especially in 7mm.

 

Firstly a few words on the prototype, anyone who is familiar with the Plymouth area (especially Laira) will know of the clay line which crossed the G W R main line by the entrance to the loco sheds, and which could claim seniority and, therefore, priority over the crossing when faced with a main line train.

 

We are not concerned with this part of the line today but further inland where there is a larger landmark. Anyone who has visited the Plym Valley preservation project will have walked along the foot path which paralels the former Yelverton, Princetown, Tavistock and Launceston line. This path is the Lee Moor Tramway track bed and at Plym Bridge where the two lines part company you wll find the bottom of Cann Incline which over one and a quarter miles rises at an average slope of 1 in 11. This then, is the layout, a rope worked inclne on a hose drawn tramway as I said earlier definitely not a RTR project.

 

So to set the scene here is a photo of a replica train two (unfinished) wagons pulled by a horse plods off towards Laira and a spot of loco number taking whilst passing the shed.

[steve howe]

Fascinating project, I would be interested to know where you intend to hide the mechanism in the horse!

Steve

Falmouth & District MRC

[R A Watson]

Base boards

 

Having been involved with many club layouts both fixed in the clubroom and exhibition types over the years I have come upon many types of construction involving both methods and materials. Some of what follows may not have been experienced by many of my readers but I offer it as an alternative, what works for me may not work for you.

 

One of the most important things to bear in mind when developing a new exhibition layout is the ability to take it to pieces and put it in the van at the close of show with minimum fuss and delay. I have vivid memories of the only time when I was involved with an exhibit at the Warley N E C show. We had the largest exhibit there (David Shepherds 9F Black Prince) and I was driving the lorry which delivered the rails and sleepers on which it was stood, we loaded loco and tender, each on one of two low loaders, then dismantled the track 6 20' rails and 18 sleepers and put them on my lorry leaving the hall at 10.29, one poor individual was visible in my mirrors still packing away his layout as I drove out.

 

As a result of this the ability to dismantle efficiently is always considered a priority in designing any layout.

 

Cann Incline is 8 metres long by 660mm wide divided into four boards of 2 metres each but they are light enough to be lifted by one man although sheer size makes this imposible to attempt.

 

The first action was to go to B & Q and buy several sheets of 6mm ply and a pack of 18mm square PSE timber. The nice man cut the ply into 6 inch wide by 8 feet strips, this results in the final strip being narrower than the others but this did not really matter as it was earmarked for another use.

 

Also purchase was several lengths of 95 x 18 mm to become the legs which was carefully checked for twist before puchasing together with some 140 x 18 for the inner end pieces.

 

Back at the clubroom the ply was cut to 2 metre lengths for the outer skins and slightly shorter for the inner skins with additional saw cuts aproximately 2 inch deep at 12 inch centres along the length of the inner pieces. Using 6 inch lengths of 18mm square as spacers the two pieces of ply were screwed and glued together to form the side bearers.

 

This picture will explain things better than I can.

 

 

The outer ends of the layout have shorter cross pieces made as above but the inner (joining) ends are different, anyone who has put up an exhibition layout will know of the problems of vertical and horizontal alignments with many devices being proposed over the years. My solution is to take the joint to a solid state where movement is virtually impossible. Two pieces of the 140 x 18 together with five pieces of the 18 x 18 were all cut to the length matching the dimension between the inner edges of the outer ply sides (660 - 12 = 648mm) then all the components were clamped together, working alternatively three (outer, centre, and outer) lengths of 18 x 18 were screwed to one 140 x 18 plank and the other two to the other plank, the result was a matching pair of ends. These are then fitted to the sides with 9mm of the teeth protruding beyond the end of the ply, when the two boards are brought together they socket into each other snugly and only require over centre clips to hold them together.

 

Legs are made from the 95 x 18 and are long enough to nearly come out of the top of the side girders the only critical dimension is that of the top cross bearer on each leg the upper surface of which must be a constant distance from the floor level, as they protrude to carry the side bearer on both inner and outer faces. The legs slide up inside between the side plates and when a 6 inch section of the timber is glued and screwed in place a socket is formed which retains the leg, the size of both socket and leg top means there is no movement and the layout becomes extremeley stable without any bracing or bolts. Whilst we were putting the boards together the oportunity was taken to put leg sockets on all corners allowing single boards to be erected as required. Normally only the first board erected has two legs with the outer end of each subsequent board having a leg inserted the other end just piggy backs onto it's neighbouring board.

[R A Watson]

Goodbye to the flat earth society.

 

The picture in the previous post shows the area at the top of the incline including the winding house, which is below track level.This forms the datum for the top of the bank, as I have said previously the prototype was 1.25 miles long on a rise of 1 in 11 so a full model would have a variation of some seven feet in vertical levels between the ends, therefore a compromise had to be reached. The model bank only runs for four metres giving a rise of just over 12 inches staying with the original gradient.

 

This photo shows the length of the four boards looking down the hill during the fixing stage, a consistent fall was obtained by running a taut piece of string between top and bottom levels then putting in the supporting piers so that they just touch the bottom of the string, before fixing the track bed (more 6mm ply) using short lengths of 18 x 18 glued and screwed to the uprights and the underside of track bed. Where any sag was detected longditudinals of more 18 x 18 were fixed below the ply.

 

During the description of putting together the base boards I mentioned that small 2 inch cuts were made at regular intervals along the top of the inner members, now it becomes apparent why; where a vertical riser is required the cut is opened out with a chisel to accept a cross bearer of yet more ply in an interference fit. These cross bearer are only glued in place but are cut to the correct length to touch the inner faces of the outer skins, this gives considerable rigidity to the whole assembly.

 

The more eagle eyed amongst you will notice a gap in the track bed just after the winding house, this is to accomodate a bridge (one of two on the layout) if you look at the bottom of the gap a horizontal piece of ply forms the base on which this structure will be built.

[R A Watson]

Adding the scenery (part 1)

 

Having completed the majority of the woodwork and as well as starting the trackwork (more details to follow) I moved on to putting in the basis of the landscape.

 

Once again a lightweight design is used with chicken wire mesh stapled between the track bed and the raised side of the board, which was first cut to the required contour then attached to risers of more 18 x 18 slotted in between the two skins of the side bearers. This mesh can be manipulated without any further support to form the base of the ground surface.

 

The covering is glass fibre mat and resin in a method which is not recomended to be undertaken in any area which is inhabited by other members of the family. It produces lots of smelly fumes, I was lucky to be doing this in the clubroom, which was a stand alone former church hall to which we had sole access, but had to restrict myself to the last 15 minutes or so of a club session in order to give my fellow members a reasonable visit that evening. On the other hand this was a good tactic to stop them standing round chatting when we wanted to lock up and go to the pub for the "second half" of the evening.

 

The first layer is applied in a manner similar to papier mache with small sections of fibre mat just a few square inches each being saturated with resin whilst laying on a piece of board then placed on the mesh. The mat turns from a stiff medium to very soft and pliable and will follow the mesh easily with no need to do anything to secure ito the mesh. When dry a second layer of larger pieces can be laid by brushing more resin on the laid surface then stippling more resin into the mat as it lies in place. A further layer is eventually laid but this time a brown pigment is added to the resin to give it a soil colour, this is followed by a layer of finer mat known as Surface Tissue also using the coloured resin which gives a convincing earth look as it will take on a more matt finish due to the closer weave.

 

The three photos are of the area around the upper bridge referred to in the previous posting and show the progress of the method through the various stages. Note also the difference in size between the standard 0 gauge wagon and the part built Lee Moor wagon, this to me is one of the attractions of this prototype.

[R A Watson]

Trackworks

 

About the same time as I was contemplating starting this project I read a review in the M R J of a new product called Templot which helped you design your track, enthused by what I read I immediately sent money to Martin Wynne and duly recieved a C D through the post (no download facilities in those far off days). After a period playing with the programe, and finding out how it works, I embarked on some trial designs.

 

Anyone who has used Templot will know that the first step is to set the design constraints for your prototype track, well, I had to set up a custom specification, which in my case was 7mm scale model with 4'6" full size or 31.5mm model gauge with 2 foot sleeper spaceing, turnouts to be 3.5:1 crossing angle with 6 foot straight planed blades all using code 100 F B rail. I distinctly felt the computer raise an eyebrow and say PARDON? before it set to work and produced the goodies. If anyone out there is dithering about buying this programe I say go straight ahead, if it can do this for me it can do anything you may want.

 

The layout is divided into three sections the upper (Cann Wood) and lower (Plym Bridge) operating sections which are connected by the incline itself. Both ends follow a similar theme of single line appearing from offstage dividing to form a passing loop with a short siding coming off the loop. The main line and loop both continue as a short length of double track which leads to the start of the incline. Arrangements on the incline are (from the top downwards) double track passing over the top bridge which merges to form a three rail section with the centre rail common to both tracks then dividing again to provide a passing loop after which the two tracks interlace before crossing over the lower bridge and becoming two paralel tracks on the approach to Plym Bridge.

 

 

The last three (W I P) atached photos follow this sequence with the first one showing Cann Wood during tracklaying, the Templot printouts were stuck directly to the trackbed with dilute 50/50 P V A and the sleepers (cut from E M G S point timbering) were then stuck down with bottle strength P V A. You will notice that I used the Peco code 100 rail uncut to provide a more flowing run through the turnouts where possible on this end. At Plym Bridge the turnouts were built off the layout and put in place later, if I was doing this again both ends would be built in situ.

 

All rails are attached prototypically with rail spikes through the sleepers, this entails drilling 0.55mm holes either side of the rail and pushing in the spikes with fine nose pliers, on plain track this means four spikes per sleeper but more are needed on turnouts or special sections, some members did question my sanity at this stage but I am used to that and carried on regardless, the resultant product justifies the effort; to me at least.

 

The second picture shows a view taken much later, when scenery was advancing, from the start of the passing loop looking back up the hill and also shows the start of fitting the cable guides and rollers for the haulage cable which can be seen running down adjacent to the right hand rail.

 

Picture three is of Plym Bridge looking towards the hill and clearly shows the short length and angle of divergence of the turnouts, switch rails are of the loose heel type pivoting on a Peco insulated fishplate which is cut short at the blade end to allow flexibility, soldered to tie bars of SMP 4mm PCB sleepers driven from tortoise motors mounted below the board, if you look closely a drive wire can be seen protruding through the tie bar on the two nearest points. In order to ensure electrical continuity the crossing nose and wing rails are bonded together by soldering to short lengths of self adhesive copper tape on the nose timber and the timbers on either side of this. Complete isolation of the crossing is maintained by further insulated fishplates on the nose rails and the previously mentioned switch "hinges" polarity of the complete crossing is controlled from the auxilary switches on the Tortoise motors

 

Also to be seen in the last picture is the hole which will be spanned by the lower bridge together with the start of the interlaced track passing over it.

 

As a taster of what is to follow when scenery is described later the first picture is of Plym Bridge Viaduct taken at a much later date after track laying was completed.

[R A Watson]

Building bridges,

 

Having put the base boards together and constructed most of the track bed the next major project was to span the two large gaps where the bridges had to go.

 

Luckily the support pillars of both prototypes are still in place, so several site visits furnished me with all necessary dimensions and lots of detail photos which simplified the job considerably when used in conjunction with the available pictures of the railway in operation.

 

Starting on the Cann Wood Bridge first I found that the local model shop had plenty of suitable wood from which to form the span but in not in the sizes required. Luckily I had already a Mini Craft circular saw bench so bought some of the wrong, but larger, size and set about making it fit.

 

As with everything about this project construction was started, in what would normally be the wrong order, the span deck was built in place first the supporting piers added later. The three longitudinal main beams were first to be put in place; slung securely from below the adjacent track beds, and then the cross bearers fixed with every sixth one cut longer than the others to form the supports for the distinctive side guard supports.

 

Next to follow was the four longitudinal baulks which actually carry the rails these were adjusted to give the correct alignment for the track. Once the rails had been pinned down fencing started, with the bottom horizontal pieces glued in place first taking care to keep them all in line. Later after the glue had set the vertical and inclined pieces followed to give the triangular supports which carry the wooden guard rails.

 

At the same time as the deck was going in a start was made on the supporting piers.

As I stated earlier the original piers are still in situ and we had noted that only the downhill pier had protruding support stones to carry the main beams whilst the other three piers had distinctive notches where we assumed the supports had either fallen out or been removed during demolition when the deck was removed. The piers are made from ply which was coated in Das compound and scribed using Dave Rowe’s method then painted to suit. These are deeper than finally shows which was a help as the finished item did not look right when we put it together the first couple of times, more, deeper, scrutiny of the original photos revealed that the notches actually carried timber intermediate bearers so the modelled stones had to come out and be replaced with short lengths of wood.

 

Only when the piers were fitted correctly was the scenic ground level put in place as described earlier and the road way passing underneath modelled together with all of the vegetation.

[Jenny Emily]

Very impressive work! Nice to see a more unusual subject being tackled. I was especially interested in your use of glass fibre. I've used this stuff lots in boat repairs (when you have a forty year old Bosun dinghy, glass fibring becomes a routine winter task!) but would never have thought to use it in making scenery. It works very well though by the look of it, and I bet it is really strong yet light too.

[R A Watson]

Thanks for the comment Jenny, yes it is realy light and one man can lift a board by himsely without any trouble although sheer size of the object prevents it being done safely.

 

Attached is another view of the top bridge board (taken the same time as the other) but from further way, this shows the extremely thin shell this method gives, and, yes the layout is totally hollow below the surface.

 

We first came across this idea when repairing a previous clubroom roof made of corrugated asbestos sheeting which was starting to split. I must add this incident predates my becoming "the company Health and Safety Man" at work.

 

Please forgive the new the new roll of haulage cable laying in the roadway, this must have dropped off the lorry during delivery.

 

Wally

[R A Watson]

Building bridges 2 (and a half)

 

I have repeatedly referred to the layout having two bridges, but in reality there appears to be a third in the background at Plym Bridge, some of my readers will no doubt consider this to be the only real railway bridge as it carries the G W R Tavistock and Launceston line over the road.

 

 

In prototype practice this bridge will mark the first terminus of the Plym Valley project, on the model it is only a background feature but it does carry track (three 45 foot track panels of C+L components) which appears from behind the trees and then disappears into the woods again at the site of the former Plym Bridge Halt.

 

The face of the arch is constructed from more Das covered ply, scribed and painted to replicate the original stonework, with the underside formed from black plasticard and a black painted section of the backscene board to give the impression of depth.

 

To return to the tramway structure, this is similar to the one at the top of the hill in as much as the deck was built in the same manner of transverse decking laid on three longitudinal beams with the distinctive flying handrail design. Track work in this instance was just rails spiked directly to the decking without the carrying baulks of the upper bridge. Only the wagons ran over this bridge whereas on the upper section the two Locos (0-4-0 Pecketts introduced in 1900) were liable to run onto the deck whilst shunting meaning a more robust construction had to be used.

 

Underneath the bridge deck things are totally different with three wooden trestles of differing heights standing on masonry piers, these are assisted by radial timbers running from the base of the trestle to locating points of smaller timber fixed below the main beams.

 

The masonry piers were put in place first to ensure they are all on the same level then the deck was constructed to span the gap and the rails laid for the interlaced trackwork.

 

Finally the “supporting†structures were made to fit the resulting space. All three are obviously of differing heights and were made on the bench before fitting. Four pieces of timber were cut, one full width to fit under the deck, then two verticals the correct length to reach from below the deck support to the pier with the fourth piece fitting between the verticals to hold them square.

 

When the supports were fully cured the tensioning devices had to be fitted. If you look at the pictures you will see the X shaped steel rods joining the legs; these are made from Evergreen rod and strip. I did this by sticking small lengths of the strip directly to the timber with MEK-PAK to represent the strapping around the leg then taking a thin slice of large diameter tube as the centre piece finally joining it all together with lengths of rodding to give the finished effect.

 

After the main legs had been firmly fixed the other timbers were cut to size and fitted; carefully reaching under the structure to fit them one at a time, after putting the first couple in place with P V A I realised that it is a better plan to cut and fit all of the components “dry†before fixing as there is only limited space to get your fingers in especially if something slips before the glue is dry.

 

When starting this part of the project I was inspired by an old photo of the bridge taken from a high vantage point showing it surrounded by trees which were just about the same height as the deck. Consequently several trees were made from twisted wire and Woodland Scenics foliage material and the bridge gradually disappeared in a sea of green, but it does give a different aspect to the railway.

 

The road was surfaced with Green Scenes textured concrete paint suitably weathered and mixed with their tarmac paint to give the necessary finish of a 1930’s rural road. Boundary walling is Skale Dale Cotswold or Granite suitably repainted; I was not too worried which I bought as it all appears to come out of the same mould originally and although marketed as a four mill scale product fits very well on a 7mm scene.