Lime Street Station

[Les Green]

 

 

Here we have the 3D prints for the LNWR Ground Signal. Only 9mm high. The holes in the top part are for the signal arm pivot and the curved hole nearest the camera is for the fibre optic to the light!

[Steve Hewitt]

Another small step:

 

 

The buffers have all had their LEDs and Fibre Optics fitted.

Each buffer has received two drops of a fine oil on the shank, which has been left overnight to drain down into the spring etc.

 

Next chance I get, they will be delivered to John for installation during the coming months.

At present only the main "spine boards" are assembled.

This is allowing John to get on with fitting several thousand individual chairs and hundreds of C&L Fishplates.

 

We're all looking forward to having all the boards assembled so we can play trains (Sorry! Operate the Railway) again.

 

Merry Christmas to all our followers.

Enjoy your modelling in the New Year.

 

John, Brian, Geoff, Les, Steve, Rob

[Steve Hewitt]

  

 

   

IMG_1366.jpg

 

IMG_1378.jpg

 

Here we have the 3D prints for the LNWR Ground Signal. Only 9mm high. The holes in the top part are for the signal arm pivot and the curved hole nearest the camera is for the fibre optic to the light!

 

 

FAB - U - LOUS

[Simond]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this forum - I really cannot offer adequate words - the layout is magnificent

 

Where will it be exhibited in 2014?

 

Best,

SD

[Les Green]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this forum - I really cannot offer adequate words - the layout is magnificent

 

Where will it be exhibited in 2014?

 

Best,

SD

We are at the Manchester EM Exhibition 13/14 September and the Halifax EM Exhibition 27/28 September 2014.

[Steve Hewitt]

Snipped...

DSC05392_renamed_14459.jpg

 

And of course John was keeping an eye on everything, giving encouragement when necessary!

 

Steve.

Strikes me John has got it right .... that's the proper way to build a railway .... get a team and then supervise them .... from a chair ..... with a cup of tea .......... luv it  

Chris

 

It's not all sitting around drinking tea.....

 

I called on John today to drop off the buffers.

He showed me the work he's been doing (and still has to do!)

 

This shot shows the extent of the track detailing he's going to tackle before we put up the other boards.

The brown colour of the unpainted chairs shows what he's completed.

 

 

Simple enough?

Here's How...

 

John explained:

These pictures show the process for using the C&L chairs as cosmetic chairs on track built using the rivet and ply method, rather than building the track with these chairs.

(Lime St. track was already well advanced when the C&L track system was first marketed).

 

1) A standard chair as broken off the sprue.

Each sprue has 10 chairs moulded on, 5 L/handed, and 5 R/handed.

 

2) The chair has been cut in two close to the part of the chair that butts up to the outside of the rail. (Side with the key).

 

3) The chair has now been cut in three. ( Cutting away the centre section that would normally go under the rail).

 

The two outer parts are now fitted to each side of the running rails, glued in position using Butanone to fix them.

 

4) A pile of chairs, they still have to have the centre sections cut away.

There's a box with another few hundred sprues in stock.

 

Other bits of trivia !!

 

The outside chairs (The halves with the keys), are fitted so as to alternate left and right on bi-directional track as seen on the attached pictures, but on uni-directional track they are all fitted in the opposite direction to that the trains travel in. The reason for that is that the vibration of a train travelling along the track as the train moves along is supposed to tighten the keys in their chairs rather than loosen them. (That's what I was told anyway!)

Where rails converge chairs are partly cut away to allow them to fit between rails, and in some cases they are bonded together to represent cast double chairs.

 

I have gone through at least two thousand chairs so far with still a great deal to do. And that is all before we even think about ballasting point rodding and barrow ways.

 

Hope the above is of use,

 

Cheers,

 

John.

 

This is the result:

This is "Chaired" track.

 

And with Fishplates added.

 

 

Then there's the point rodding, ballasting, barrow crossings .......

 

Steve.

[Worsdell forever]

I'm not sure what would be worse, cutting chairs and gluing on or feeding chairs onto the rails, I've fed a fair few on to rails but I think something of this scale would tip me over the edge!! 

 

Keep up the good work John & Co.

[Nelson Jackson]

Wow, just simply amazing, well done.

[clecklewyke]

Is there a big enough market for someone to sell pre-split chairs?

 

I guess not because I suspect there is very little Brook Smith ply and rivet track being built, now the ready to lay P4 Track Company track etc. is so good?

 

Ian

[45609]

Wells done chaps! Adding chairs is a thankless task but makes all the difference.

[Steve Hewitt]

In the meantime....

 

Whilst John has been getting on with the Chairing etc. he's had time to think about other items which are required in the area he's working on.

 

One item, which we've known we needed, but hadn't finalised, is a signal to control movements off the "Back Road".

This is the road, with a couple of short sidings which is to the North of Platform 1.

Its where the old LNWR turntable used to be, and near the steam plant.

 

We've now agreed it should be a short LNWR signal with a short arm, located quite near the buttress of the bridge.

 

John has been surveying the ground in the area, and has sent me these site photos:

This is the location for the signal, showing the footprint for the baseplate, with the drill marking the centre of the post, and therefore the 1/2in dia Foundation Tube which will pass through the baseboard..

 

Looking up from below the baseboard we can see its all a bit congested!

The pilot hole is shown at the 16mm mark on the ruler.

The track runs immediately over the adjacent point motor.

The buffer stops are to the right from here, so direction of travel for this signal is to the left.

 

Rather than start re-routing the cables etc. I've decided to mount the servo motor and LED for the signal on a "Stand-Off" board, which will allow the mechanism to be located clear of everything.

 

I can see a happy hour with the off-cuts of wood, and superglue in the near future.

 

I'll post the details of the signal build on my Signalling topic 4mm_Signals

 

John is also keeping up is "Chairing", as this shows:

That's Platforms 3 and 4, with the foundations for the gantry exposed.

Since he took this shot and before our discussion on the phone, he's managed to complete this point apart from the Fishplates.

 

More soon I hope....

Steve.

 

 

[Steve Hewitt]

John has prepared this sketch to help me design the signal's installation:

 

From this, and the photos I received earlier, I think I can use a spacer between the baseboard and the servo mounting board which will not fould the Point Motor and allow the servo board to clear the wiring loom.

 

Steve.

[Mike T]

Hi Steve

 

Whilst a short arm signal might look nice you should really have a look at the last image in my post here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37994-liverpool-lime-street-2mm-finescale/?p=413765

 

Regards

 

Mike

[Steve Hewitt]

Hi Steve

 

Whilst a short arm signal might look nice you should really have a look at the last image in my post here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37994-liverpool-lime-street-2mm-finescale/?p=413765

 

Regards

 

Mike

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks very much for that.

Its information I've not seen previously, or not recalled.

It might mean we review our plan, particularly if the LNWR Ground Signals we're working on are successful!

 

Steve.

[Steve Hewitt]

John and i have agreed that we'll try to install ground signals as shown on the plan Mike referred us to.

The signal I have under construction will be completed and held "in stock" for use elsewhere on the layout.

 

Steve.

[Steve Hewitt]

Steady progress.....

 

Just to show John's keeping his nose well up to the grindstone, here is his latest progress report!

 

 

Compare this shot taken just two weeks ago.

 

 

I believe he hopes to complete the remainder of the pointwork in these shots before Rob comes to do the painting etc.

 

Then we hope to get all the boards up and do some serious running again!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That will still leave more than half the platforms and sidings still to be "Chaired".

 

Steve.

 

p.s. I've heard from Les today that he's received the etched parts I need for the ground signals, so I hope to get my hands on them in the not too distant future.

From his comment, "How the **** you are going to handle and solder the small bits is beyond belief!!" they may be a bit of a challenge.

 

 

edited for spelling

Edited January 10, 2014 by SteveAtBax

[Steve Hewitt]

IMG_1366.jpg

 

IMG_1378.jpg

 

Here we have the 3D prints for the LNWR Ground Signal. Only 9mm high. The holes in the top part are for the signal arm pivot and the curved hole nearest the camera is for the fibre optic to the light!

Another step forward......

 

Les called round this lunchtime and brought me the 3D Printed Ground Signals and the Nickel Silver etches he's been doing for me.

First I tried out the printed signal bodies, to ensure the holes will be usable.

 

There are two which will carry the pivots for the Signal Arm and Balance arm.

These are 0.45mm dia, and will have suitable Lace Pins for the shafts:

The third hole is for the Optical Fibre which will carry the light from the LED below the baseboard to shine through the spectacles

This is printed on a curve, so that the fibre will avoid the blinder when it emerges from the rear of the signal body.

 

 

These are the etched parts for these signals:

First the Back Blinders, with two holes in each, one for the pivot and the other for the operating wire.

 

These are the arms. Each is in two parts which will be soldered together.

The rear part has a hole to locate the pivot shaft, the front is half etched to give the distinctive beading around the arm.

 

Finally the balance weight on its arm.

This again is in three parts to give the weight some "body".

The front hole is for the pivot, and the rear one for the operating wire.

 

I just hope my eyes and hands are up to assembling this lot!

 

Steve.

[Mark 37]

They do look good. Good luck with the assembly.

 

Mark

[Michael Woolford]

Steve,

 

As has been recently posted, John is currently in the process of detailing the trackwork. I know you posted a description of the method he is using (cosmetic half chairs) but I was woundering if he is going to any effort of representing the special chairs (I'm sure I saw a comment about the crossing nose). If he is or not, either way do you think he would be interested in some standard pway drawings showing switch and crossing detail with chairs etc? I am currently in the process of creating electronic copies of original film drawings from the BR drawing office. Scaned copies are very large files (too big to share without transrefing to a hard drive etc.) but if he is interested then I could get some printed and send them or give them to him (or someone who can pass them on) at a show I may be attending? I have offered the drawings by request in a seperate topic which will fill with pictures of the drawings over time but could take a while. If this may be of some interest then feel free to take a look at the topic below for a list of the drawings I have access to.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74206-standard-permanent-way-drawings/

 

Michael

 

(edited to add link)

Edited January 16, 2014 by Michael Woolford

[Steve Hewitt]

Michael,

 

That's very interesting. Its amazing what information comes to light among RMwebbers.

 

I've sent you a PM on this subject.

 

Steve.

[hayfield]

Steve,

 

As has been recently posted, John is currently in the process of detailing the trackwork. I know you posted a description of the method he is using (cosmetic half chairs) but I was woundering if he is going to any effort of representing the special chairs (I'm sure I saw a comment about the crossing nose). If he is or not, either way do you think he would be interested in some standard pway drawings showing switch and crossing detail with chairs etc? I am currently in the process of creating electronic copies of original film drawings from the BR drawing office. Scaned copies are very large files (too big to share without transrefing to a hard drive etc.) but if he is interested then I could get some printed and send them or give them to him (or someone who can pass them on) at a show I may be attending? I have offered the drawings by request in a seperate topic which will fill with pictures of the drawings over time but could take a while. If this may be of some interest then feel free to take a look at the topic below for a list of the drawings I have access to.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74206-standard-permanent-way-drawings/

 

Michael

 

(edited to add link)

 

Michael

 

C&L do the special chairs, on the common crossings most of the chairs are really just half chairs, however as you mentioned the crossing nose chairs are quite distinctive. Also the block (I think thats the correct name) chair centre parts are completely different from a couple of standard chairs which have been spliced together.

 

Block chairs should also be used after the slide chairs on switches, And there are a verity of chairs used in crossings.

 

What is interesting with the Exactoscale Diamond and slip chairs is the number of chairs which are not used in their kits (these are the sizes of kits available, 1 in 5,6,7 & 8 for diamonds and 1 in 7 & 8 for slips). I believe they are for crossing angles which are not currently available in their range (33 chairs on the slip sprue's are not used for existing kits) also if building a 1 in 8 then the chairs that are for the 1 in 7 only are also spare.

 

For cosmetic purposes the un-used chairs on the sprue's do come in very handy for adding that extra bit of detail on turnouts being constructed using only standard chairs. Crossing nose chairs being a good example as there are plenty of them, that if not exact copies are not far off what is required and are much nearer in looks than a standard chair

Edited January 17, 2014 by hayfield

[Steve Hewitt]

End of "Chairs" for now?...........

 

John has sent me an update on his "Chairing" which he's completed as far as intended on the "spine" baseboards:

 

Hi Steve,

 

As promised, attached are two shots of the completed track work. The first one is taken from the same viewpoint as the last ones for comparison. The second one hopefully shows better all the work done.

 

 

Next job (I've already started), is to run through a wheel set with the deepest flanges to check for flange clearance, then check for any electrical faults I may have caused to the droppers etc. Then it's over to Rob with the airbrush to paint it all an overall track colour. Finally all the rail sides will have to be painted. (And that's before brew time !!)

 

After all that, we start on point rodding/facing point locks, and barrow ways !!!

 

Cheers,

 

John.

 

P.S. BALLASTING LOOMS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

[7APT7]

Hi mate

 

what great track you have made, looks excellent and better than most others I have seen...

 

great work

 

do you add any weathering to that now or flocking...

 

Jamie

[Steve Hewitt]

Hi mate

 

what great track you have made, looks excellent and better than most others I have seen...

 

great work

 

do you add any weathering to that now or flocking...

 

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

As John said in his progress report, the track will be painted overall, then the rail sides picked out to show the rust.

Point rodding, facing point locks and barrow ways will follow, the ultimately the ballasting will be done and weathering completed.

Steve.

[Steve Hewitt]

Some more progress reported by John:

Sunday:

"All is now ready for Steve and Rob's visit on Wednesday.

The area to be sprayed with the sleeper colour is now masked up ready.

Hopefully Steve and I will then be able to determine where the new ground signals have to be located and how the servos will be mounted on the underside of the baseboards.

 

Another little job done is the pre-fitting of the buffer stops. Rob will be able to take them home for weathering on Wednesday. On their return, I will fix them, and then wire the lamp LED's up to the 12v. supply."

 

 

Monday:

"Had Brian here today, so we put boards 10A, & 10B up so I could finish pre-fitting all the buffer stops ready for Rob to take on Wednesday for weathering. They don't half look impressive all lined up !!

 

Note the roof is off the booking office. Brian has taken this home (homework), to remove the plastikard from under the skylights so we can see the light coming from the internal lights I am going to fit. (LED's.)"