Alsop-en-le-Dale (third time lucky?): a return to the drawing board

[Tortuga]

Following the last revision to the Templot plan, I’m finally in a position to move on with some further layout construction!

 

This evening has seen me planning and cutting out some of the framework that will support the hidden 610mm radius curve that takes the track from the scenic section to the Ashbourne fiddleyard (not shown on any of the above plans, but it’s located at the left end).

 

No photos tonight as, let’s face it, it’s just a few lengths of cut timber. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to show a completed framework? Maybe even a completed baseboard? Possibly even with track laid?* Who knows?

 

(*though probably not with laid track)

[Tortuga]

Ta da! Completed and with track!

OK, so not fooling anyone there. The board isn’t even complete as there’s a gap in the surface at one end and the framework ends aren’t attached at the other.

To be fair I probably would have a completed board IF my bench saw hadn’t decided to snatch the other ply end piece out of my hands while I was cutting it to size, and throw it the length of the workshop, destroying a plastic tub of bolts and piercing a can of paint in the process.

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by Tortuga
Reinstated photos

[Tortuga]

Still, I can show the nearly finished article:

 

The gap at the top needs a piece cutting to fit and there’s a piece of framework and ply to go on the right-hand end - which is what decided to emulate a ballista bolt.

 

This is the view from the scenic section of the layout, hence the profiled end. The track curves sharply through 90* as per the Templot template in the first photo on my last post. I intend to extend the left side of the cutting into this non-scenic section and use some form of view blocker (either a tallish tree or a stone barn) on the top of the right side of the cutting to give the illusion that the track continues straight on, at least when viewed normally!

Edited April 8, 2022 by Tortuga
Reinstated photos

[MrWolf]

Looking good, I actually enjoyed making the baseboards for my layout and you can't beat the occasional bits of flying shrapnel in the workshop, it keeps you on your toes! 

[Tortuga]

15 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

…and you can't beat the occasional bits of flying shrapnel in the workshop, it keeps you on your toes! 

I’d prefer if the shrapnel was a touch smaller!

I’ve removed the blade pending getting a replacement - there’s a few teeth actually missing, so perhaps it’s time was up.

I also enjoy the woodwork side of layout construction; could this be why I keep restarting layouts?

[Tortuga]

Here’s the result of last weekend’s work.

 

Pattern-makers dowels fitted at both ends with a test fit of the end of the Ashbourne fiddle yard, cork underlay for the curve and additional storage tracks and a length of PECO code 75 track roughly curved and placed in position.

Other than cutting away the area sticking out nearest the camera, adding some reinforcement behind the  pattern-makers dowels and bolts and filling where I messed up the intended positions for the dowels, this is as far as I can go with this board at the moment.

 

While the scenic boards and fiddle yards are removable (I’d like to exhibit Alsop in the future), this board will remain permanently fixed in the corner of the railway room, uh, loft. The Ashbourne fiddle yard is therefore designed to align with both this board and the Ashbourne end of the layout - I had such a struggle with matching the positions of the dowels and in the end had to drill 8mm holes in four end boards then mark up and drill out the 25mm recesses separately, which is why I have six recesses to fill.

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Tortuga
Reinstated photos

[Tortuga]

Well it’s installed in its final resting place. No photos as I was in a rush yesterday and it’s just the same in a different location! Just need to sort its supporting leg out (I’ve got a temporary one in place atm) and the other bits that I mentioned yesterday sorted.

[Tortuga]

So on Friday my latest purchase from a well know internet auction site was delivered.

Despite not having any track laid on Alsop, I believe I’ve now got all the locos to run both the goods and the passenger services according to the WTT for early 1950s that I derived a while back.

 

Of course, they all need renumbering and weathering and checking whether they actually run or not, but hey, a little step closer all the same…

[Tortuga]

One reason for a lack of progress on Alsop has been an issue with the railway room.

When we had our loft converted to a dry storage space, the guys who did the job put in an odd step in the end ‘wall’, presumably to clear the boiler. The reason I say odd is because a straight ‘wall’ would still clear the boiler.

Anyhow, fast forward to earlier this year and after multiple attempts to work around the ‘step’ in order to maximise the space, I finally lost patience and demolished part of the wall and constructed a new one, which I’ve just finished plastering.

The Ashbourne fiddle yard will run across here and a shelf will cover the pipes. The boiler hole will be covered by a hatch, but as the fiddle yard will be removable as part of the long term plan to allow me to exhibit Alsop, I don’t see occasional access being an issue.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Tortuga
Reinstated photos

[MrWolf]

Progress! Great job on the plastering, I hate doing it. It takes me forever.

[Tortuga]

Second attempt. The plaster for the first attempt turned out to be out of date, a fact I only realised after I got around to putting it on the wall…

[MrWolf]

Been there. That's one of the reasons I hate plastering.

The problem I have with builders is that each stage, or brickies, plumbers, electricians, cut corners and then say that the second fix joiner / plasterer etc will sort that out. Then you end up with annoying bits either unfinished or strange bitß of boxing in.

On the upside, you now have more room for railway!

[Tortuga]

Very true!

At the very least I can start to sort the framework Alsop will sit on, then maybe, just maybe, I can lay some track…

[Tortuga]

In other news, I found a photo of Alsop on t’internet that I haven’t seen before, which clearly shows partial interlacing of sleepers at the Buxton end of the loop.

I also discovered a photo/scan of LNWR point work drawings that shows the arrangement of sleepers in 3-way points and crossovers as well as confirming that the LNWR employed equalised sleepering through their point work.

 

Both bits of information have provided a much needed kick up the a*** to finalise the Templot plan and get started on track building.

[5BarVT]

On 19/11/2021 at 17:28, Tortuga said:

When we had our loft converted to a dry storage space, the guys who did the job put in an odd step in the end ‘wall’, presumably to clear the boiler. The reason I say odd is because a straight ‘wall’ would still clear the boiler.

 

The Ashbourne fiddle yard will run across here and a shelf will cover the pipes. The boiler hole will be covered by a hatch, but as the fiddle yard will be removable as part of the long term plan to allow me to exhibit Alsop, I don’t see occasional access being an issue.

I’m glad that the FY will be easy to remove for access, but have you considered how a service engineer would get at the sides of the boiler to remove the cover and access internal components?  (Sorry for being a pessimist!)

Paul.

[martin_wynne]

4 hours ago, Tortuga said:

as well as confirming that the LNWR employed equalised sleepering through their point work.

 

Hi,

 

All such drawings are "typical". They don't show the timbering of any specific piece of pointwork, which is determined by the layout, site conditions and traffic requirements.

 

For example in a double-junction, where both routes see similar traffic levels, the timbering will be equalised cross both routes.

 

Diamond-crossings and slips are always equalised, so it is often easier to continue the skewed timbers into any connecting turnouts.

 

On the other hand, turnouts and crossovers in curved fast running lines will normally have square-on timbering, to provide the maximum resistance to gauge-spread on the main line.

 

Martin.

[Tortuga]

3 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

I’m glad that the FY will be easy to remove for access, but have you considered how a service engineer would get at the sides of the boiler to remove the cover and access internal components?  (Sorry for being a pessimist!)

Paul.

I’m guessing the same way as they would have done previously? I’m not sure how the cover comes off to be honest, but there’s as much access to the sides of the boiler as there was before!

[Tortuga]

Thanks @martin_wynne.

Unfortunately, in most photos of Alsop that I’ve found or seen, the relevant pieces of point work are either obscured by locomotives / wagons, so far in the background as to render any details unclear or just out of shot.

I’ve found two clear shots of point work out of all five of the books I have that cover the Buxton to Ashbourne line. One of those is of the scissors crossover at Parsley Hay, where all of the sleepers are square on, and the other was taken at Higher Buxton during track simplification. That one shows a crossover on a curve with the sleepers square on, some long timbers crossing the full width and some interlaced timbers.

I’m pretty certain that the point at the Buxton end of the loop had equalised sleepers. As for all the point work at the Ashbourne end, none of the photos are conclusive.

[MrWolf]

To put your mind at rest, the front cover of the boiler is usually held by two screws underneath and unhooks from the top. All regular servicing is done from the front or underneath.

[Tortuga]

Cheers @MrWolf! I seem to remember the whole cover coming off last time I saw them service it.

I know I had to cut the access in the original wall bigger so the engineer could access it from underneath; this being a month after I’d checked with the boiler engineer whether there were any specific requirements for them to access the boiler and being told “No, nothing.”

[MrWolf]

That sounds about right. 

[Nick C]

We've got the same type of boiler, and had it serviced a few weeks ago - the engineer did everything from the front or underneath (or outside, to check the flue)

[Tortuga]

Leaving boiler issues aside, I’ve spent the last couple of evenings shoving point timbers around on the Templot plan. Following a rediscovery of a photo in one of my books, it appears that the timbering of the points forming the goods loop are not equalised as far as I can tell.

I’ve chosen to equalise the timbers on the point at the Buxton end of the main loop as it appears to be so from the photos I have and the loop would have equal movements of traffic over the ends. Likewise I’ve chosen to equalise the timbering in the tandem point that forms the Ashbourne end of the main loop for the same reason. I haven’t got access to or seen any photos of this end, so I freely admit to employing educated guesswork here!

Either way, a couple more evenings of shoving timbers around will hopefully result in a final plan that I can use and hopefully start start constructing track!

[Tortuga]

Here we are on the first day of a new year and a chance to look back at how far Alsop has progressed - even though it’s only eight months since I started!

 

Other than actually starting this project, 2021 saw me trying out a totally different method of baseboard construction (unashamedly stolen from @LNER4479‘s Shap Summit) and mastering Templot (for a given value of “mastering”) to finally produce one and a half baseboards and a full size track plan of the layout.

 

The “half” a baseboard is shown above - none of the framework has been started for this - together with the relevant section of the track plan stuck down. I now need to order some more cork and figure out the lie of the land on this board - ground level drops from well above to just below track level through the length of this board and there’s the remains of a quarry behind the station as well as the siding snaking it’s way toward the front.

 

An early false start at the track laying stage meant that I’ve only just begun laying timbers again and I finally lost my temper and demolished and rebuilt a wall in order to make a better fit for the Ashbourne fiddle yard. I also got the baseboard for the sharp corner between the Ashbourne fiddle yard and the layout proper built and installed in it’s permanent location and constructed some of the permanent support framework (again stealing ideas from @LNER4479).

 

Corner and first board in place, held together by coach bolts and aligned using pattern makers dowel - another new adventure in baseboard construction; one I’m not entirely happy with, but, hey ho, I’ve got other joins to improve on.

 

As can be seen above, I’ve still got baseboard construction ongoing - I’m leaving the ground at the front until I’ve dealt with the trackwork - but I have finally started laying timbers! In fact, the above photo is slightly out of date, as today I’ve managed to finish laying all the timbers for the three-way point, solder the green wire to one common crossing AND drill the hole for it!

 

So, eight months on and we have a permanent framework and the beginnings of track laying! Going forward, I’m now in a position where I can make some progress in less than a day - get ready for daily updates of single chairs glued in position!*

 

I’m going to take this opportunity to wish a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you following this thread! Here’s hoping 2022 sees further movement on this layout!
 

*only kidding, given my previous geological rate of progress, it’ll be a few more weeks before anything new gets posted!

Edited April 3, 2022 by Tortuga
(Belated) Seasons Greetings!

[Tortuga]

I haven’t really done any soldering since around the time of my A-Levels, but after yesterday’s failed attempts to solder a dropper to a common crossing, I was determined to master the skill, or at least, solder one piece of wire to a frog before T’Missus and kids got home.

Yesterday, try as I might, I couldn’t tin the wire; the solder only melted when in direct contact with the tip of my 15amp (2015) Weller iron. Becoming frustrated, I tried several times to solder the un-tinned wire directly to the frog, but gave up in disgust after all attempts resulted in weak joints that easily failed. 

Today, following some break time reading, I decided the problem might have been that the bit wasn’t clean enough or that I hadn’t heated the wire enough before trying to tin it. So I cleaned the bit, left the iron to warm up for longer and tried heating the wire. No difference.

Next I got out my father-in-law’s ancient soldering iron - massively unsuitable for delicate work, but still worth a go - still no success; neither iron seemed to heat the wire sufficiently to melt the solder.

I switched back to my soldering iron and decided to change the bit. It didn’t look particularly clean despite my efforts, but I guess even though it’s only been used once, that was many years ago, so worth a shot. Nope, still not heating the wire sufficiently to melt the solder.

Finally, in desperation, I tried the solder that came with my soldering iron when I got it - it was a present from my parents, but I can’t remember if the solder actually came in the packaging with the iron or as part of the present. I say “in desperation” because there’s no indication of its melting point and the C&L point kit instructions say to use Carrs 145 degree solder (which I had been) to avoid causing the pre-assembled common crossing to come apart, BUT…

 

…it worked! No problems tinning the wire and no problems achieving a strong joint with the frog. This is the 1:6 common crossing for the part of the tandem point that leads into the goods loop. The other three points that form the goods loop also have 1:6 crossings, so if I’d properly FUBAR’d it, I suppose I technically had a spare or three.

 

Oh, and to prove it wasn’t a fluke, here’s my second attempt!

This is the common crossing that sits between the other two. I’m not certain what ratio it is, so if this one came adrift during soldering, I’d be up a certain creek without means of propulsion…

 

Now I’m looking forward to trimming the rails to length and fastening these to their timbers, so I can start construction of the point proper!

Edited April 3, 2022 by Tortuga
Reinstated photos