C&L 'thin' sleepers?

[JimF51]

Does any one have any of the above handy they could measure the thickness, of anyone know the thickness?

 

I need 1mm thick sleepers to match AMP EM flextrack for my turnouts.

 

Thank you.

 

Jim F

[JimF51]

Disregard please. I will buy appropriate strip wood over here and make my own.

 

thanks.

 

Jim F

[AndyID]

Don't know if this is any help, but if you need copperclad ties, Clover House in Veradale, WA can supply them. He'll make custom widths for you too. I think they can supply wooden ties also.

 

I have no association with Clover House.

[hayfield]

Plastic ones are 0.82 mm thick. Copperclad were stated as 1.06 mm but the latest packet has 1 mm on it. Ply timbers are 0.8 mm thick

 

If you are going to use the plastic sleepers either make sure the ends of each sleeper is well stuck down as the solvent drying  tends to curl the sleepers slightly as it drys. you could I think treat the rear of the sleeper with solvent to compensate

[JimF51]

Thanks guys. I was given 3 boxes of SMP (not AMP) EM flextrack, and the ties are 1mm thick. Since C&L only state theirs are 'Thin' and 'Thick', and I can't find on their site what dimensions those are, I asked here. But on further thinking, I figured why not just go with sleepers made of wood, and cut them myself. Searched out stripwood, and found what I need.

 

However, I have bought from Clover House in the past, and will check out what they have in wood. I was also given a small bundle of copperclad strips, and if I do use a few ties made from it, I think I have plenty. Just need to order chairs from C&L.

 

Jim F

[hayfield]

Jim

 

Order the Exactoscale ones, price is much the same but the tooling is much newer so the chairs are crisper and the rail gaps still full width (some of the gaps in the C&L range have a bit of flash that needs cutting)

 

Also have a look at the special chairs in the Exactoscale range, bridge chairs well worth a packet as between 7 and 10 used per turnout

 

Common crossing chairs are also usefyll as they have the A nose chairs and block chairs for the C,D & X chairs

Switch chairs again very usefull as they have the block chairs for 3PL. 4PL & 5PL also the switch chair for 1PL

Check rail chairs the 0.8 mm very good when cut for EM & 00sf gauges

[hayfield]

Jim

 

I have attached a few photos

 

 

C&L on the left Exactoscale on the right

 

 

Common crossing chairs, enough for a V5, V6, V7, V8 & V10, the A chairs (nose chairs) are very distinctive as are the centre parts of the block chairs

 

 

These are the switch chairs enough for a right and left hand turnout, either A, B or C's. Plenty of spare half chairs for other jobs

 

 

Left check rail chairs, a packet does 10 turnouts. Centre bridge chairs (packets of 100) Right standard S1 for size comparison

 

 

[hayfield]

Had to go out before finishing the thread. Whilst these special chairs do up the cost of building turnouts in the short term, they also save money on the standard chairs they replace.

 

For instance on a 5 sleeper check rail each section takes 10 cut down sleepers where 5 check chairs costs about the same, but looks better.

 

Common crossings you would use about 16 chairs cut up, now providing you use most of the different sizes it may even be a bit cheaper but you do have both the nose and block chairs, which both are very distinctive

 

The (additional) switch chairs are dearer than the standard chairs they replace, but again they are very distinctive and you do get quite a few spare chairs that can be used elsewhere

 

The bridge chairs are twice the price , but again look so much better than cut up standard chairs and you only use a few at a time.

 

If you only are building a couple of turnouts it may be worth chatting up a track builder, or sell the remainder on eBay. If you are building a few then its a no brainer as the cost increase is minimal

 

What I did forget is the best piece of kit they produce

 

 

Scale functional fishplates, these plastic ones are quite fragile BUT I use them to join the switch rails to the common crossings and as rail joiners. They are perfectly strong enough to hold the rails in line whilst the solvent/glue is setting. Far better than rail joiners, metal ones are also available which I have used as hinges for loose healed switches and double slips 

[Dominion]

Very helpful, thanks John. What flange way gap do the integrated check rail chairs create?

[polybear]

Jim

 

Order the Exactoscale ones, price is much the same but the tooling is much newer so the chairs are crisper and the rail gaps still full width (some of the gaps in the C&L range have a bit of flash that needs cutting)

 

The Exactoscale chairs are also very slightly lower - the wheel flanges on older locos such as Lima are less likely to strike the chairs - HTH

 

polybear

[JimF51]

Andy, I checked Clover House for wood ties, they seem to only carry them for N, TT and O, now. But I think I will do a bit more research, just to see who makes what.

 

John, excellent info, thanks so much for it and the photos. Since I am going to bother building the turnouts, yes, I want them to look good as well, cosmetically.

 

Polybear, I'm lucky in that regard At the moment, I only have a new Bachmann C Class that will be getting A Gibson wheels. My future locos will be kits, and will also have AG wheels.

 

Thanks all.

 

Jim F

[martin_wynne]

For anyone wondering where the special chairs go, here's a diagram:

 

 

L1 bridge chairs are used where there isn't room for a full S1 ordinary chair. The handed check rail chairs provide the flare angles at each end of the check rail.

 

Martin.

[hayfield]

Very helpful, thanks John. What flange way gap do the integrated check rail chairs create?

 

The Exactoscale system was designed for their P4 kit range, but is in most cases equally at home in other 4 mm gauges. They do 2 types of check rail chairs. The P4 0.68 mm and the 0.08 (which was a mistake), but when one cuts through one part of the chair, it allows both EM and 00sf to be used with the check rail gauge setting the position of the rail exactly, and the 0.2 mm gap is not noticeable.

 

I slide the 2 outer chairs and central chair on to the check rail, with the 2nd and 4th chairs slid on to the stock rail. 

 

 

As I said I cut through the un-used part of the chair and just slide the two parts together. 

 

 

The half chairs are now stuck in the resulting gaps

 

The Exactoscale chairs are also very slightly lower - the wheel flanges on older locos such as Lima are less likely to strike the chairs - HTH

 

polybear

 

You are correct that the older coarse scale wheels will not work, but modern RTR stock is fine

[martin_wynne]

They do 2 types of check rail chairs. The P4 0.68 mm and the 0.8mm (which was a mistake)

 

Hi John,

 

I don't think it was a mistake! The 0.8mm check rail chairs are for use where there is gauge widening. In sharply curved pointwork, and for continuous check rails on the inside rail of sharply curved plain track.

 

To maintain the correct P4 check gauge, the track gauge must be widened by 0.12mm to 18.95mm when using these chairs.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[Dominion]

Extremely helpful. So for a 1mm check rail gap buy the 0.8 chairs. Then it is the same in concept as using the regular chairs that I used and split for my first trial plastic chaired turnout, as the integrated check rail chair functionality is lost when the chairs are split, but should it still look better as each "half double chair" ends up very close to its original mate ?  And also on Martin's post about the running line being slightly tilted and the check rail being vertical perhaps this is also preserved ?

[hayfield]

Hi John,

 

I don't think it was a mistake! The 0.8mm check rail chairs are for use where there is gauge widening. In sharply curved pointwork, and for continuous check rails on the inside rail of sharply curved plain track.

 

To maintain the correct P4 check gauge, the track gauge must be widened by 0.12mm to 18.95mm when using these chairs.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

 

That's what Len told me, but you do have a point there and Len may have been pulling my leg

[hayfield]

Extremely helpful. So for a 1mm check rail gap buy the 0.8 chairs. Then it is the same in concept as using the regular chairs that I used and split for my first trial plastic chaired turnout, as the integrated check rail chair functionality is lost when the chairs are split, but should it still look better as each "half double chair" ends up very close to its original mate ?  And also on Martin's post about the running line being slightly tilted and the check rail being vertical perhaps this is also preserved ?

 Dominion

 

They virtually slide back in place with a 1 mm gap when cut, Once stuck down the gauge is kept intact if the method I showed is used