Castle Aching

[Hroth]

Clearly, it's a phase you're all going through, but before this topic entirely resembles the walls of a teenager's bedroom, I think I'd better post something that is certain to set the pulse deadening.

 

All the time I had available on Saturday, which was quite a lot of time, was taken up fiddling with the bull head trap points, so I have only been able to make a modest start on the flat bed portion. Again, I foresee the need to adjust the crossing, but, so far, this new mode of point construction does not appear to be any more horrible than the chaired construction of the bull head sections. 

Former teenagers of a certain age, I suspect. 

Not so much a phase, more deja vu...

 

Nice to see the thread coming back on topic!

[Regularity]

Former teenagers of a certain age, I suspect.

 

My teenage years were from ages 13-19, inclusive, what were yours?

Not so much a phase, more deja vu...

So you say: must be a phrase you are going through... Edited January 15, 2018 by Regularity

[Hroth]

My teenage years were from ages 13-19, inclusive, what were yours?

So you say: must be a phrase you are going through...

Much the same, though it seems like decades ago.

[Northroader]

Adjusting to the cold, harsh, realities of a Monday morning and looking at your track, it strikes me it may help if you don’t make the insulation gap midway on each sleeper, particularly when laying interlaced track, until you’ve worked out where the rails are touching that sleeper, and what polarity they will be, and then do the gap/ gaps? Hope this makes sense, as I don’t always express that well. Off now, somebody’s got to design the layout for the Tardis.

Ps edit, when doing gaps, I use a half round file, as it don’t leave such an obvious “notch” to fill in.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Northroader

[uax6]

I can actually help here! Heres some shots of my interlaced copperclad point. For the purposes of illustration I have run a black marker down the cuts in the sleepers so that you can see them better:

 

Andy G

 

Edit, must just strip a bit off the ends of the sleepers where they touch each other, not noticeable in the flesh, but these shots certainly show I should do it to be certain....

 

Edit 2:

When you do the switch rails, miss out a sleeper at the toe. Then thin this sleeper down (rub the back of it on sandpaper or a file, to reduce its height) and then solder the toes to it. It will now move from side to side without touching the ground and you can use this to drive the point over. It will be almost invisible, especially if you drill it and operate from underneath...

Edited January 15, 2018 by uax6

[Edwardian]

 

strip a bit off the ends of the sleepers where they touch each other, not noticeable in the flesh, but these shots certainly show I should do it to be certain....

 

 

 

Ah, now they tell me!

 

Very good point, however!

 

Thanks, chaps, for the continuing guidance.

 

Dutch Master?

 

Model Rail arrived just a few minutes ago, and upon opening it, this is the sight that greeted me. 

 

My first reaction, after "oh, b*gger, I may as well give up now!", was "WOW!"

[Regularity]

Ah, now they tell me!

 

Painful lessons are lessons learned most rapidly!

My first reaction, after "oh, b*gger, I may as well give up now!", was "WOW!"

Surely the, “WOW!” came first? (No chicken and egg jokes, please. Besides, it was the cockerel.)

 

I hope your third reaction, though, was, “Must try harder.”

Or in my case, “Making a start would be a good thing.”

[Edwardian]

Painful lessons are lessons learned most rapidly!

Surely the, “WOW!” came first? (No chicken and egg jokes, please. Besides, it was the cockerel.)

 

I hope your third reaction, though, was, “Must try harder.”

Or in my case, “Making a start would be a good thing.”

 

No, defeatist and self-obsessed though it no doubt seems, "Oh, b*gger, I may as well give up now!" came before "WOW!"

 

But you are quite correct, "Must try harder!" eventually trailed along to achieve a desultory third place (it was rather a prolonged "WOW!" when it came). 

Edited January 15, 2018 by Edwardian

[Regularity]

(it was rather a prolonged "WOW!" when I came).

 

I hope Mrs. Edwardian was pleased.…

[corneliuslundie]

"mishappenstance"

Congratulations. Just the kind of word we need to keep up the standard of this thread. None of the "Sun" headline stuff (or page 3 probably).

Though, thinking briefly of young ladies and art as touched on above, when did artists ever worry about reproducing reality rather than an idealised version thereof - rather like model railways really?

That Dutch layout does look rather nice. it is very hard to tell which is three dimensional, but presumably nicely scaled down as one works back, and which is the backscene. the bridge is really the only give-away.

Back on the most recent turnout, I notice that there is a slight misalignment between the "Vee" and the wing rails, but in a direction which will not matter. Also the ends of the check rails etc need to be bent slightly out from the running rails to "lead in" the flanges to their appointed positions, though if the back to backs are appropriate and the track is accurately constructed they should not have any work to do anyway. I am not worried about the difference in length as track on Castle Aching would not have caught up with any modern standards.

But a lot better than my first efforts.

Jonathan

[Edwardian]

I hope Mrs. Edwardian was pleased.…

 

Oh dear.

 

And, of course, I know better than to expect better .... 

 

It was Tom Lehrer who wrote, jestingly, that "when correctly viewed, everything is lewd ...", and, thus, Castle Aching rapidly descends into "What the Butler saw", yet again! 

 

And, this time, I have only myself to blame, it seems! 

 

 

 

Back on the most recent turnout, I notice that there is a slight misalignment between the "Vee" and the wing rails, but in a direction which will not matter. Also the ends of the check rails etc need to be bent slightly out from the running rails to "lead in" the flanges to their appointed positions, though if the back to backs are appropriate and the track is accurately constructed they should not have any work to do anyway. I am not worried about the difference in length as track on Castle Aching would not have caught up with any modern standards.

But a lot better than my first efforts.

Jonathan

 

I can easily (a relative term) adjust the wing rails, though I have not spotted the issue.

 

As you say, WNR standards.  Thank Goodness that I do not need to comply to the standards and practices of any other pre-Grouping company. 

[Nearholmer]

You will understand the significance.

[Northroader]

So I suppose the other thing to mention with sleepers in close proximity, is if you go round the top edge with a file angled to around 45degrees, you will put a very small chamfer and the copper cladding will have been pushed back from the edge enuff to stop shorting of adjacent sleepers.

Moving on to the Dutch layout you posted, it is very skilfully done with the buildings reduced in scale as you move further back, the old forced perspective thing, and nice touches like the people round the pump, so the depth of the layout is less than the thickness of a Gouda cheese. The Nederlandsche Stoomtram scene is awfully tempting with just a small tram engine and two 4wheelers for a train, and settings like that, I started to accumulate “gen”, but thought “no, eh? You’re trying too much already” I have posted this before, but as you’ve expressed an interest, here’s a piccy I took of a static 1/50 scale layout by Mr F. Saunders of Slough, at Southampton Eurotrack in 1999, also a link to the folksy artist who inspired it. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=anton+pieck&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=sinv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_99_i-9nYAhVHDcAKHal7AhcQ_AUIEigC&biw=1024&bih=698

So sorry, no illustrations from our Nicola today, I must let the Roundheads calm down before another charge from the Cavaliers.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Northroader

[Edwardian]

You will understand the significance.

 

That is very neat, and better and finer work than I had dared to hope from the pictures available.

 

Certainly a step up from WNR practice.

 

Gentlemen and Ladies, following expenditure of some £20 odd, and the very, very, kind services of Kevin in collecting the boards, it very much looks as if in due course we may be starting another layout topic!

 

Pre-Grouping, of course.   

[Caley Jim]

I can actually help here! Heres some shots of my interlaced copperclad point......

Except in the area of the crossing and the knuckle of the wing rails the closure rails should only be attached to the sleepers to which the relevant stock rails are attached. Not to every sleeper.

 

Getting that right on a tandem turnout with interlaced sleepers is a real test of concentration!

 

Jim

[Northroader]

You will understand the significance.

Gotcha, days very good deed done by an old Boy Scout. Thought you might of been tempted to swap the track for something somewhat larger, shall we say?

Edited January 15, 2018 by Northroader

[Shadow]

......

 

Gentlemen and Ladies, following expenditure of some £20 odd, and the very, very, kind services of Kevin in collecting the boards, it very much looks as if in due course we may be starting another layout topic!

 

Pre-Grouping, of course.

 

Any advance images for our perusal? (I.e. a sneak peek)

[uax6]

Except in the area of the crossing and the knuckle of the wing rails the closure rails should only be attached to the sleepers to which the relevant stock rails are attached. Not to every sleeper.

 

Getting that right on a tandem turnout with interlaced sleepers is a real test of concentration!

 

Jim

I know Jim, I got a bit carried away, with what is my first point. I was going for strength, but will re-visit it before it gets laid. In fact I want to go along and put some solder chairs on the insides too, as it just looks odd.

A learning curve....

 

Andy G

[Compound2632]

One request... before you paint it, but after you test it, please fill the insulation gaps in the pcb!

 

If aligned, might not the gaps represent the trail of damage left by a derailed wagon that ran amok on this lightly-constructed pointwork? After all, in such situations the prototype was sometimes less perfect than the model.

 

Amazing rapid progress!

[Edwardian]

Arrange the following into a model railway layout:

 

 

[uax6]

Interestingly complex pointwork on the station throat for a branchline, but it looks like it should have good operating value. Does it look a tad like the upper middle fold of Norfolk? I can see a small tankie wandering around here.

 

Whats the dimensions of that sweeping curve?

 

Andy G

[Shadow]

Arrange the following into a model railway layout:

 

A bit like this then!

 

 

And with highlights

 

 

Now, depending upon the gauge of that loose track at the top,

if it's N Gauge, then this an 00 Layout, or

if it's OO track, then this is an O Layout!

Edited January 15, 2018 by Shadow

[sem34090]

Psst, James...

 

If yer make it Brighton, I'll buy it off yer when yer don' wanit no more...

 

 

Would make a nice LBSCR Layout, or is this Bishop's Lyn? Not big enough for Achingham!

[James Harrison]

Is this going to become 'Castle Aching to Castle Aching Road'?

[uax6]

Or has he now moved into the P4 sector??

 

Andy G