Andrew P Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Evening Gordon, Well I must say, your not just building a Model Railway, but its a major civil engineering task as well. All the best with the next step, and MAY IT NOT BE OFF THAT LITTLE BEAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Twas lovely out on the course this morning bar 2 mins when it felt like a lake turned it self upside down. Just had to aim some what left or right when it was a cross wind. With the stairs, what's the head room that will be left as you come up? Will we be seeing picture of a plasters on your head or is there more room that it looks? In actual fact this new layout has raised the boards above floor level and in doing so increased the headroom even further. The front edge of the stairwell board sits right above the front edge of one of the stairs. Clearance there is 6'6", but because you are moving either up or down the headroom is probably over 7' from the next stair down. I'm 6'3" and there is no chance of me hitting my head. Thanks Andy. ET feels like a major civil engineering task at times. I have no idea how others, including your goodself seem to magic a new layout in a few days….:-) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 All dressed and ready to go to golf this morning, but it was not to be. Torrential rain last night just added to the already high water table and now fairways and greens are waterlogged. Provided there is no more serious rain for a day or two we should be back in play by the weekend. Thankfully my other hobby has managed to fill a few hours and carpentry was back on the agenda. Stairwell frame was completed and I then had a doh! moment. I had always envisaged the joins between the three boards to take place outside the stairwell itself, so as to maximise the support over the join each side. Once the boards were completed and joined together, I suddenly realised I had two turnouts right over the join. Thinking back this was probably as a result of adding the bay platforms and sliding turnouts around the curved approach tracks and then continuing to use an earlier overall plan to construct the baseboards. Choices were to remove the bay platforms, which was a non starter as I think they add some operational interest or rejig the baseboards. This meant shortening the stairwell board by around 300mm and adding that to the station board. This will allow the pointwork to be laid away from the join and won't mean wrecking everything if ever I had to take the whole thing apart. I've had to do that a few times before, hence my paranoia about turnouts over board joins. I have some concern regards the board join being unsupported and the possibility of sagging at the join itself. This new board section is cantilevered out over the stairs and I may well need to add a batten to the stairway wall to provide addition support underneath the two boards. Adding the board is the easy bit, but it brings into play another problem in as much the board will now be too wide to slide behind the stair finial. It will now mean removing the legs from the board and then lifting the board over the finial to get it into position. Once in position the legs can be refitted and all should be well. This room really is a pig to deal with and trying to move sections around really is akin to a Rubiks Cube at times. Still the deed is done, the cork underlay down and tomorrow might just see the first preliminary attempt of laying track in position prior to wiring, painting and ballasting. 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Afternoon Gordon, sorry I just did a LIKE but changed it to F/S, your having a right Mare at this end and I feel for you, I have one point over a board join but its almost strait and seems O.K. so far but with all that curved track and the Points I think you've done the best solution to the problem. Good luck and please keep the pics coming. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 15, 2015 Hi Gordon Despite the trials and tribulations the project is still going forward and you haven't gone for a massive reworking of the master plan. SS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Gordon, You deserve a great big thank you from anyone following your thread - the skill you apply to problem solving is a lesson to us all and many lesser mortals would have given up by now! It truly is good of you to share everything, 'warts and all' with us! Sorry that the weather has been against you as far as your other pursuit is concerned but golfing's loss is certainly our gain! Kind regards, Jock. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 17, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2015 Thanks for your kind words, guys. This has been a bit a bit of battle again, but I have learned from the mistakes of the past and so far so good. Weather was a bit better today, but no golf until the Captains Drive In tomorrow. One of the biggest fun days in our golfing calendar, we should have the best part of a 100 golfers out for a shotgun start and then a few beers to welcome in the new Captain, but that is tomorrow and today some track went down. Whoopee! Yesterday saw all nine turnouts sprayed with red oxide primer and then a 'brown' track colour as a base. It's actually emulsion mixed to the same colour as Humbrol 'chocolate' applied with an airbrush. I'm quite happy with this as a base colour and once the rail tops (or bottoms!) were cleaned a good coat of PVA was painted onto the cork base and the turnouts slid into position. Whilst the PVA was still wet, I tipped on a mix of Woodland Scenics Medium and Fine Grey Mix ballast and hoovered up the excess. This is the only way I have been able to ballast pointwork without making one huge mess and even though it appears the sleepers are floating on top of the ballast, it's one hundred times better for me. Once the PVA/ballast has set, I then fill in all the gaps with plain unpainted SMP track and connect it all up. Plain track I paint afterwards as I am quite happy ballasting with a small paintbrush as I have spoken about before. Overall it's been a good morning and at last I can how the approach to ET station will look. Reading from the left it will be slow/fast up then the bay platform followed by fast/slow down and finally the relief line on the far right. Each of the platforms are 8' long and will accommodate a seven coach train plus loco. I've left the tail end of the track about 4-6" short of the ends. This is deliberate as my intention is to set alignment dowels in the end cheeks, pull and bolt the two boards together and then lay a 12" length of track over the gap and substitute the last three sleepers with pcb sleepers firmly glued to the ply base. Once the track is fully soldered to the new sleepers, then I can cut the track exactly over the gap. This should give perfect alignment and provide a 6" lead in to the track layout on the next board. Very pleased to see some track down at last and with most of the pointwork either side of ET station, the rest of the loops will just be plain track apart from a couple of crossovers and should be quite quick to lay. Running around a full loop shouldn't be too far behind, so watch this space….:-) 37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 17, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2015 Very good Gordon, it's all finally coming together, it won't be long before we see trains running on ET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Great progress, Gordon! Not long now and we can expect to see a video..... All the best, Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted January 17, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2015 Very pleased to see the progress you have made. The track looks very good. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Great work there Gordon, very neat as well. Superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Gordon, That is truly prototypical looking - just wish I had space for such radii! Excellent workmanship, Kind regards, Jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 22, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 22, 2015 Afternoon fellow modellers/followers….A week of golfing in the frost one morning and muddy, wet conditions the next, so no real idea what the weather is up to. In between the decent walks in the country, I've managed to get some more track down and complete the track joins between these two boards. Only time will tell if this is strong enough, but unlike an exhibition layout, the only real time that ET will need to be taken down is in the unlikely case of moving house. C & L alignment dowels have been used in 12mm ply end cheeks and then the track laid right over the join. Four sleepers were removed and replaced by pcb sleepers and soldered to the rail. Once all the joints had been completed, I dripped superglue by the sleepers and allowed capillary action to take it under the sleeper and hold it firmly in position. I learned the hard way that superglue and the heat from a soldering iron do not mix and the fumes they give off are horrendous and possibly dangerous, so always use glue after soldering. Once everything is fixed in place a quick cut with a slitting disc and that's it, job done. Other than that, the platform tracks are now down and ET is starting to take shape. Apologies for the beat up MK1's and the Hornby N2 that seem to appear in most shots. Everything else is still packed away. I do have a few more loco's etc and they will make guest appearances and the build goes on…:-) 52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ray H Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Is there a green with envy smiley? Even more awesome than the last time I said it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Afternoon fellow modellers/followers….A week of golfing in the frost one morning and muddy, wet conditions the next, so no real idea what the weather is up to. In between the decent walks in the country, I've managed to get some more track down and complete the track joins between these two boards. Only time will tell if this is strong enough, but unlike an exhibition layout, the only real time that ET will need to be taken down is in the unlikely case of moving house. C & L alignment dowels have been used in 12mm ply end cheeks and then the track laid right over the join. Four sleepers were removed and replaced by pcb sleepers and soldered to the rail. Once all the joints had been completed, I dripped superglue by the sleepers and allowed capillary action to take it under the sleeper and hold it firmly in position. I learned the hard way that superglue and the heat from a soldering iron do not mix and the fumes they give off are horrendous and possibly dangerous, so always use glue after soldering. Once everything is fixed in place a quick cut with a slitting disc and that's it, job done. DSCF7250.jpg Other than that, the platform tracks are now down and ET is starting to take shape. Apologies for the beat up MK1's and the Hornby N2 that seem to appear in most shots. Everything else is still packed away. I do have a few more loco's etc and they will make guest appearances and the build goes on…:-) DSCF7234.jpg DSCF7235.jpg DSCF7252.jpg DSCF7255.jpg DSCF7251.jpg DSCF7249.jpg Really strange but I feel very happy looking at that collection of photo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Great progress G. Those buildings fit very nicely into the scene. Soon be time to play trains! Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted January 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 22, 2015 Gordon, It's staring look like a railway now, I look forward to seeing further updates as the plain track advances around the layout. Nearly time to start playing trains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 WOW! Kind regards, Jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Great work Gordon, looks wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAL 'O THE WYND Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Hi Gordon, I've been meaning to check out your recent progress for ages; finally got around to it. I'm so glad you have taken all your space to a total advantage. I always thought the Peterborough buildings looked sheer class. I'm glad they've found a worthy home. As everyone's saying: as soon as you can, run some trains! Following! Hal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danstercivicman Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Amazing Stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Just caught up, hence all the "likes". Amazing stuff, looking forward to seeing more progress. Regards, Brian. PS Just a thought. To hurry things along, why not give up the golf which I've heard is "a good walk ruined" and spend more time on this fantastic project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2015 PS Just a thought. To hurry things along, why not give up the golf which I've heard is "a good walk ruined" and spend more time on this fantastic project. Agreed - never could see the point in losing a ball down a hole . And not just once, but eighteen times. C'mon now Gordon, think of our health - waiting for all these updates can't be good for our health... polybear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Its all made up by walking into the clubhouse with a winning card, and leaving with a piece of silverware or cut glass, and until you get the bar bill seeing your ball disappear down a hole after hitting your tee shot. Nothing like taking a nip out of a flask on a cold and frosty morning, or that first pint after a round on a very hot day. As they say old golfers never die their balls just fade away A good walk ruined is climbing up a mountain and finding no pub at the top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Of course, you can have both. Up early this morning to tee off at 08.22. Completed the round at 12.10 and into the clubhouse to partake of a beer or two. Back home at 1pm for a quick bite of lunch and been working on ET all afternoon, so a further update may yet happen this week. This is all new territory for me. A complete set of boards including gradients and track being laid as we speak. Anyone going to start a sweep when the first train will run? Forget about days or weeks, the year and then the month would be a good start... By the way, I'm staggered to have 298 followers. I did read somewhere on RMweb that someone got really bored if all they read about was a bit of track being laid for 12 months…. No staying power, some people. You guys have been reading about it for over 5 years……. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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