Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.

[Physicsman]

Gordon - great to hear that you are well and I must say that Eastwood Town is coming on a treat.

 

Well done that man!

 

Jeff

[gordon s]

Thanks guys.  Sadly the RBH was much a zero wifi hospital, so I was totally cut off from the cyber world.  Fine for the first few days, but once I'd recovered it would have been great to keep in touch with RMWeb.

 

Interested to hear about Leckford, John as Eldavo, GMR and myself played there last year.  It was most enjoyable although the rough could have hidden tigers and elephants at the time we were there.  As I'm in Wokingham and the other guys in Winchester, we try and meet up three times a year for 18 holes and a chance to put the world to rights…:-)

 

The last port of call was Dummer and we may try Newbury and Crookham next time round.

 

Getting back to modelling. there really is something about trackbuilding which is totally absorbing and relaxing.  Maybe it the technical focus, but either way, the worries of the world just disappear...

[hayfield]

Thanks guys.  Sadly the RBH was much a zero wifi hospital, so I was totally cut off from the cyber world.  Fine for the first few days, but once I'd recovered it would have been great to keep in touch with RMWeb.

 

Interested to hear about Leckford, John as Eldavo, GMR and myself played there last year.  It was most enjoyable although the rough could have hidden tigers and elephants at the time we were there.  As I'm in Wokingham and the other guys in Winchester, we try and meet up three times a year for 18 holes and a chance to put the world to rights…:-)

 

The last port of call was Dummer and we may try Newbury and Crookham next time round.

 

Getting back to modelling. there really is something about trackbuilding which is totally absorbing and relaxing.  Maybe it the technical focus, but either way, the worries of the world just disappear...

 

Thanks guys.  Sadly the RBH was much a zero wifi hospital, so I was totally cut off from the cyber world.  Fine for the first few days, but once I'd recovered it would have been great to keep in touch with RMWeb.

 

Interested to hear about Leckford, John as Eldavo, GMR and myself played there last year.  It was most enjoyable although the rough could have hidden tigers and elephants at the time we were there.  As I'm in Wokingham and the other guys in Winchester, we try and meet up three times a year for 18 holes and a chance to put the world to rights…:-)

 

The last port of call was Dummer and we may try Newbury and Crookham next time round.

 

Getting back to modelling. there really is something about trackbuilding which is totally absorbing and relaxing.  Maybe it the technical focus, but either way, the worries of the world just disappear...

 

 

The rough was not too bad for finding balls as the grass had laid flat, but whey I tried to hit it I kept hitting them fat. Lovely condition (despite floods the hight before) and very well designed and maintained. I am a member of Winter Hill its sister course in Cookham.

 

Keep up the good work, I find it very interesting

[polybear]

Spent all of Tuesday night in the bathroom and finally lost 6lbs of weight in 8 hours

 

Been there, got the T-Shirt......14lbs in 3 days; Mumbai, 1998.  I put it down to a dodgy Chinese meal in this place:

 

http://www.tajhotels.com/Luxury/Grand-Palaces-And-Iconic-Hotels/The-Taj-Mahal-Palace-Mumbai/Overview.html

 

I should've been safe...my mate shared the Hotel lift with (ex) President Clinton, who was staying in the place.

 

I could go into more detail, but you wouldn't appreciate me for it

 

polybear

[gordon s]

Know the place well Brian as I stayed there a few years back.  Of course that was the same place that had the terrorist attack just the year after I stayed there.  A bit like Harrods and just opposite the Gateway to India.  Fascinating place.  I'll have to see if I can dig out some pics.

 

I've played Winter Hill in Celebrity Pro Am's a few years back, John.  Got paired up with Tim Brooke Taylor one year and Rick Wakeman another.  Fun time all round and all for very good causes.

 

Great to be back home and enjoyed my best night's sleep for a week, so all systems go again..

[Ray H]

. . . . .  all systems go again..

 

Not literally I trust!

 

I'm glad you're back home and have recovered enough to try some therapeutic track building.

[eldavo]

Jeez Gordon I should have known you were tempting fate when you said you'd got it sorted last time we were out on the course! Good to see you back track bashing buddy.

 

Cheers

Dave

[gordon s]

Another month and I'm still ambling along.  The balance between golf and modelling is slowly sorting itself and I'm pleased to report that at least some work has been done in the last four weeks, although there doesn't seem to be much to show….

 

First job was get all the turnouts required for this board, made and ready for laying.  The goods loop which will run around the outside is some 5' radius so the sub board required is approaching 8' in length.   I use 12mm ply as a trackbed and buy it in 8' x 4' sheets, cut into four so they will fit in the back of the car and save having to rent a van.  It also makes the sheets easier to manage, although it does mean additional work when creating a sub board of this size.

 

After much deliberation, I chose to cut the curve in four separate pieces and then join them together.  I used a router table to cut slots in the ends and then used biscuit joiners to make the joints between the individual pieces.  If done carefully this gives a flat join and one that has a certain amount of strength.  In the past I have found that even 12mm ply will go out of true if not adequately supported.  The method that seems to work for me is to use 70mm strips of 6mm mdf glued along the edges of the trackbed and supported with 70mm blocks of 45mm x 45mm softwood.  Apologies that I keep changing from Imperial to metric measurements, but I'm of that age that was at school with Imperial and had to adopt metric once I started work, so end up using a mix of both.  Of course my wife then confuses everything by using cm's, so no wonder I get lost occasionally….

 

I'd really like to thank a genius on RMWeb who without knowing, solved a big problem for me.  I've always had an issue transferring a Templot plan to the 12mm ply trackbed until I read on RMWeb the solution.  Tape the plan to the board and then simply take a mini drill and drill holes every 50mm or so through the rail on the plan and into the track bed.  Remove the plan and voila!  A neat row of holes that show exactly where the lines will run...

 

Please accept my thanks for a brilliant idea and again, apologies that I can't recall who had that brainwave.  It's been bugging me for years!

 

So the board is in place, cork trackbed laid in the right place and with any luck, track will appear in the next update, hopefully before Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2013 by gordon s

[trisonic]

Good work, Gordon....

You remember recommending a Jig Saw to me? Was it DeWalt? I can't find your PM - which means I inadvertently deleted it....

 

Thanks, Pete.

[gordon s]

I do indeed.  I have a DeWalt, DW321.  Had it for several years now and it still performs 100%...

 

Might be worth looking here. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=DEWALT+DW321+VARIABLE+JIG+SAW

 

No doubt DeWalt probably has an even better newer model though….

[Brassey]

Nice curved baseboard Gordon.  I pinched your technique on my own curved boards using the 45mm x 45mm blocks idea.  I, however, have stuck the Templot plans directly to the cork and will build the track directly onto these.  That is the next stage once I have finished the earthworks on the embankment as I don't want to have to do any more heavy sawing (jigsaw or otherewise) once I start building track.  I doubt I will get that far before Christmas though....

[gordon s]

Thanks Brassey.  It's great to hear that you found my ramblings of help!  I use cork strip for underlay http://www.charlescantrill.com/model-railway/ and found that three strips of the 7/8" cork roll are perfect for double track mainline.  The three strips measure 67mm from edge to edge, which is very close to a 50mm track spacing which I have found fine on curves to prevent overhang clashes.

 

Laying the Templot sheets onto the 12mm ply and then drilling through the plan on one rail line every couple of inches or so, gives me the exact position of one rail, so I can lay the first strip and then butt the other two up to it.  Finding a simple method and accurate method of completing this process has been bugging me for ages, so I was really pleased to read on RMWeb of the drilling process.  

 

Whomever it was, stand up and be applauded! 

[hayfield]

Another month and I'm still ambling along.  The balance between golf and modelling is slowly sorting itself and I'm pleased to report that at least some work has been done in the last four weeks, although there doesn't seem to be much to show….

 

First job was get all the turnouts required for this board, made and ready for laying.  The goods loop which will run around the outside is some 5' radius so the sub board required is approaching 8' in length.   I use 12mm ply as a trackbed and buy it in 8' x 4' sheets, cut into four so they will fit in the back of the car and save having to rent a van.  It also makes the sheets easier to manage, although it does mean additional work when creating a sub board of this size.

 

After much deliberation, I chose to cut the curve in four separate pieces and then join them together.  I used a router table to cut slots in the ends and then used biscuit joiners to make the joints between the individual pieces.  If done carefully this gives a flat join and one that has a certain amount of strength.  In the past I have found that even 12mm ply will go out of true if not adequately supported.  The method that seems to work for me is to use 70mm strips of 6mm mdf glued along the edges of the trackbed and supported with 70mm blocks of 45mm x 45mm softwood.  Apologies that I keep changing from Imperial to metric measurements, but I'm of that age that was at school with Imperial and had to adopt metric once I started work, so end up using a mix of both.  Of course my wife then confuses everything by using cm's, so no wonder I get lost occasionally….

 

I'd really like to thank a genius on RMWeb who without knowing, solved a big problem for me.  I've always had an issue transferring a Templot plan to the 12mm ply trackbed until I read on RMWeb the solution.  Tape the plan to the board and then simply take a mini drill and drill holes every 50mm or so through the rail on the plan and into the track bed.  Remove the plan and voila!  A neat row of holes that show exactly where the lines will run...

 

Please accept my thanks for a brilliant idea and again, apologies that I can't recall who had that brainwave.  It's been bugging me for years!

 

So the board is in place, cork trackbed laid in the right place and with any luck, track will appear in the next update, hopefully before Christmas!

 

DSCF5358.jpg

 

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DSCF5366.jpg

 

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DSCF5365.jpg

 

DSCF5360.jpg

 

 

Gordon

 

Nice bit of woodworking and Templot planning. Great to see you back on the layout

[gordon s]

Morning all! Another Sunday and yet another Christmas draws near...

 

The last week or so have been spent track laying and this board appears to be taking shape. Having everything printed out full size is an absolute bonus and takes me back to my early career days as a draughtsman. Even now it surprises me that things are where they should be once transferred from Templot to a real baseboard. I half expect the dimensions from the wall to a specific turnout to be way off kilter, but thanks to the wonders off this invaluable chunk of software, things are where they should be and as yet there have been no horrible surprises...

 

Here's a few pics showing progress and in particular a couple of detail shots. Joining flexi track to hand built turnouts always was a bit hit and miss for me, especially where the rail had to join to a frog and yet leave an insulation gap. It seemed the rail was unsupported and a totally dependent on the join between the sleeper base and baseboard. I played around for a while and came up with this solution. It may be nothing new, but it does work and holds the rails into position far better. When building the turnout, stagger the rails and leave the frog rail a couple of sleepers short from the outer rail. This allows the rail to be soldered to a sleeper and ensure the fixed gap to the frog remains constant and stops it closing up either by temperature cycling or just mechanical movement. I have found on several occasions that this is the first place to look when tracing an electrical fault. Soldering the rail into a fixed position has stopped that completely and reduced the number of spurious faults.

 

The second pic shows the increase in turnout length as the crossing angle reduces. The inner turnout which will take locos to and from the shed is the shallowest I have built with an E14 crossing to ensure my 3' minimum radius is maintained. The main line turnout is a C8.75 with a radius of 47" which surprisingly comes out 6" shorter than the 36" radius E14. Quite a change and certainly one to bear in mind when laying out fiddle yards with access on the curved sections either end.

 

Next stage I guess will be to complete the wiring on the first board which will mean removing it from the stairwell, but once done I will be able to lay the pointwork across the join (I know!) and continue the walling around the goods loops. There's a ton of a ballasting to be done on the plain track. Whoopee! I shall look forward to that immensely...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2013 by gordon s

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Gordon

 

Another fine selection of turnouts built, good luck with the ballasting.

 

SS

[Guest bri.s]

That's some very nice track work well done .

Won't be long before we see trains going round

 

Keep up the good work

 

 

Brian

[The Great Bear]

Won't be long before we see trains going round

 

Don't tempt fate

Edited December 8, 2013 by The Great Bear

[hayfield]

Gordon

 

Lovely piece of track work again, love the stair acorns sticking out of the scenery !!

[fishytrains]

Very impressed with the track work.

 

Mike

[92220]

Beautifully built Gordon, a pleasure to see as ever.

 

Iain

[Portchullin Tatty]

I do enjoy popping in to see your progress from time to time; you are creating a beast of a layout!

 

I particularly enjoy the flowing trackwork.  Templot is wonderful isn't it!

[Chimer]

Just to say that having just taken three days to work my way through four years of trials and tribulations, I simply have to know what happens in the end. 

 

To throw away things I couldn't dream of achieving .......... amazing commitment to self-imposed stratospheric standards.

[gordon s]

I hope you've all had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to 2014.  The good news is that I haven't given up yet and even better news is that the last granule of ballast went into place on this board a few hours ago. Looking back to the 8th December, we've had Christmas and all that entails plus various golf commitments, so in reality I've probably only been working on ET 30% of the time.  I used to really hate ballasting with a vengeance until Capt Kernow let me into his secret.  When he told me about painting PVA between the sleepers, my first reaction was "you must be joking.  I have a few hundred feet of track to ballast and doing it all with a ultra fine paint brush, a few sleepers at a time would send me over the edge".  How wrong I was….

 

Several abortive attempts with the 'normal' method made me look at CK's method again and I have to say, it's been a revelation for me and stopped me scrapping pointwork and plain track that had been completely ruined.  I'm trying to estimate how long this board took me in total to ballast.  I probably attacked it say over ten days, with periods of work up to an hour at a time, so I'm guessing the total time was around 20 hours.  That may seem horrendous, but with some relaxing music in the background and the odd glass of wine, the time seemed to just fly by and I'm very pleased with the overall result.  Rather than facing the task of having to ballast a whole layout, this building one board at a time process, means lots of variety and stops that thought of looking up a mountain and eventually giving up through boredom or doing a rush job that looks naff….and you don't have to wait a few days for the PVA to dry and there is no rework whatsoever, so that's a real bonus.

 

I've also printed out the sheets from Templot that make up the storage yard approaches and I was very relieved to say the least that the tracks appear to come out in the right place and not halfway across the stairs.  That would have been a real disaster..

 

Next stage will be to paint the boards and add the cess to the ballast edge.  Then I'll probably get stuck into the next overbridge, retaining walls and bridge supports.

 

Wherever you are, have a great New Year and may 2014 bring you good health and happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Physicsman]

Really splendid work, Gordon - the curves look spectacular.

 

Your "ballasting salvation" may have come from the good Captain. Mine came from you! The CK method may be a little tedious, but it really does work and I'll be doing the same again when KL2 is reborn.

 

After so much work on ET don't ever dare to give up - or I'll send the Lunester squad in your direction. Inspirational!

 

Best wishes,

 

Jeff

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Gordon

 

Some luverly trackwork, I think the ballasting will look somewhat better after A touch of weathering. As ever Martin and Templot come up with the goods as far as S & C templates are concerned, where would we be with out it?

 

Happy New Year

 

SS