RMweb Gold pirouets Posted January 1, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 1, 2016 Hmm, 4th jan. My 1st day back at work, but as its 2016 hope the weather holds, but if your playing later in the week I won't be so optimistic for you :-) Look forward to seeing a train move in 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted January 2, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Gordon, I've discovered your thread, not sure how I've missed it, but I've really enjoyed reading through your progress. I hope your health improves soon too. Kind regards, Nick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Nick and welcome to the world of ET. There's been a few ups and downs and lots of laughs over the last few years. It's certainly kept me amused in my retirement. No worries on the health front. Neither condition will improve and both will be with me for the rest of my life, but they rarely stop me doing anything and I'm in great shape right now. The last family member is back to Spain tomorrow, so hoping to be back on the build shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Evening Gordon, Recuperating after my hernia op. on New Year's Eve - a Scotsman without a dram! Trying to catch up and I really like the way things are developing. I hope both layout and lowered handicap happen early in 2026, Kind regards, Jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Down to 12? I'm most impressed...:-) My target is 2016, but perhaps Jock is right with his typo....2026! Tomorrow is off as our course is now waterlogged, so I may have to wait until Thursday. The day won't be wasted though as I can get going on ET again after a two week lay off for Christmas. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foulounoux Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 My target is also 2016 but other golfers get upset when I get past 100 :-) Although I did once make par on one of the Ryder cup holes. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Kept you amused? It's kept me enthralled. Best wishes for 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 A very Happy New Year to all ET'ers! Christmas has been and gone and the last of the 11 family guests made his way back to Spain yesterday, so life returned to normal this morning. Golf was rained off due a waterlogged course, so I needed little encouragement to crack on this morning. Before I get into that, today's events meant I had to cut some new trackbed and I have been asked about the process I use. The whole of ET is on Templot, so everything can be printed off and stuck onto plywood sheets for cutting out with a jigsaw. Martin has very kindly incorporated a facility for generating any width trackbed in Templot, so you can simply print off the sheets, trim them and then tape them together. I use 3M Magic Tape as you can write on it and it is easy to tear with your fingers. It's not quite as sticky as most tapes, so you can lift it if required without too much damage. I'm ever mindful of waste and cost, so alway try to get the most out of each sheet of 4' x 2' ply. They start as 8' x 4' but my timber merchant cuts them down for me so they will fit in my car. Trim the templates to the trackbed width and then lay them across both sheets and tape them down. Once taped, I use a scalpel to cut the template down the split line between the two sheets. Out to the garage and cut them down with a jigsaw and you end up with something like this. The off cuts are used to make risers with any small bits cut up as kindling for my log burner. Why was I cutting new trackbed? Well 2016 didn't quite start as I intended.... Before Christmas I made the decision to cut down the legs of ET to reduce it's overall height by 90mm. The right decision, but of course when I started this morning it didn't take long to recognise that several Tortoise motors were now going to foul the bannister/balustrade rails as the clearance had been cut by 90mm.... Back to the drawing board to move several turnouts a few inches in either direction and all clashes have been dealt with. Of course that changed the trackbed, hence the new one this morning. Suffice to say, a minor setback, but all done. Here's the storage loop curve loosely laid and by jove, it fits and the loops don't clash with the stairs.... ET terminus will sit directly above these loops with from memory, something like 320mm clearance, so even allowing for 90mm baseboard frames and Tortoise motors, 230mm should be more than adequate. The last safeguard for me will be to make the boards with all the turnouts at either end removable, so should a tie bar fail, I will be able to unscrew and slide out the complete panel for repair. To be continued........ 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffP Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 More woodwork needed...who'd ha' thought it? LOL I still enjoy even the woodworking bits. I have loads more woodworking tools in France than here, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted January 4, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 4, 2016 . The right decision, but of course when I started this morning it didn't take long to recognise that several Tortoise motors were now going to foul the bannister/balustrade rails as the clearance had been cut by 90mm.... Back to the drawing board to move several turnouts a few inches in either direction and all clashes have been dealt with. I have a Tortoise which is in an awkward position so used one of the Tortoise remote mounts* to overcome it, for one it's an easy solution for for several probably cheaper to buy the ply, paper and printer ink. I have had to alter it to suit as its operating mechanism is visible with their instructions but much easier for me with just one motor to deal with. *ordered from Digitrains at 11pm on a Sunday and in my hand on following Tuesday, excellent service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 4, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 4, 2016 Happy New Year to ET and its builder - may we hope that 2016 will be the year of soggy golf courses and great progress at Eastwood Town (P.S. I didn't really mean that about the golf courses ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 I have a Tortoise which is in an awkward position so used one of the Tortoise remote mounts* to overcome it, for one it's an easy solution for for several probably cheaper to buy the ply, paper and printer ink. I have had to alter it to suit as its operating mechanism is visible with their instructions but much easier for me with just one motor to deal with. *ordered from Digitrains at 11pm on a Sunday and in my hand on following Tuesday, excellent service. Thanks Dave. I have used them before and whilst they worked well, although they were a bid fiddly to set up initially. I had the ply in the garage and ideally wanted all the mounts under the board, so took the easiest route. Had to search back, but found my posts here. 21st March 2012. Doesn't time fly...... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/3422-eastwood-town-ecml-in-00-sf/page-32 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Another day of fun and games.... Started off the morning with the intention of getting the elevated tracks in place over the stairs, but decided to install the hidden storage pointwork trackbed first as that has a bearing on the risers to support the raised continuous loops. No problem whatsoever until I realised you only need to be one or two degrees out in the facing angle on one side to find you are several inches out of alignment when you get to the other side. I have total faith in the accuracy of Templot, but sadly the builders of our house didn't work to such precise measurements. No matter where I tried to establish a datum and then take measurements on Templot at the same position, I could not get the pointwork to be in the right position. Setting it correctly in the X plane meant it was out in the Y plane and vice versa. I must have spent an hour or two trying to resolve this one, but finally accepted I will need to build the storage yard boards and lay the track across the room so that the correct angles at each end will ensure the pointwork lines up with the continuous loops. Those that have followed ET for some time will know I did use Brilliant Baseboards on earlier versions. Whilst this version is using a different construction based around 90 x 20 softwood frames, the BB's did not go to the tip, but were stored away hopefully to be used in the future. That day has come and I will now use three or four to bridge the gap across the middle of the room. The rest of the day was spent printing, trimming and sticking over 70 sheets of A4 to form the hidden storage track layout. The only empty place I could find was across the hall floor so here's a taste of what the storage will look like. Apologies for the quality of the pic. My camera battery ran out so I had to use an iPad to get the pic before the dogs decided that this new plan would be a good place to have some fun.... Thankfully I got away with it. Using the BB's means I may be able to fit some additional storage as they are 600mm wide. The planned storage at present is just 330mm wide, so that is an option but until I get the boards laid out across the room and ply tops in place to lay out the paper plan, I'm not sure which way I will go. The downside of using BB's is that they are deeper than 90mm by some way and I have already dropped the boards by 90mm, so what was a gentle duck down will become a bit more of a limbo dance. Not a problem for you youngsters, but those of us getting on, every obstacle such as this takes it's toll. Thankfully I designed ET with the minimum involvement that side of the layout. All the action is on the right hand side in the operator area, so hopefully the times to duck under will be minimal. Once these boards are up and the design finalised, I will take them down again and store them as they will certainly obstruct my working area. That was the reason why they would have been last in the build cycle, but now having seen the issues, that would always have been a challenge. Golf is creeping up on Thursday, so that will get me out in the fresh air again....:-) 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNER4479 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Congrats on p.100 - and keep up the progress (don't go on too many long walks looking for little white balls - we want to see trains circuiting!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 7, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) Got up this morning full of the joys of Spring? only to find the course was closed after days of rainfall that had turned all the greens and fairways into one large soggy field. Funnily enough I wasn't that upset as there was something not quite right with the storage yard prints that I had carefully taped together a day or two ago. It didn't help that my Dell laser printer cartridge was almost empty so prints were getting lighter and lighter as the toner ran out. A replacement cartridge was £104, so I didn't bother and bought a brand new Samsung laser printer for another £20 and the Dell will go off to landfill. What a waste. It's no wonder that we have problems on rubbish disposal when a perfectly good printer is destined for the tip on pure commercial reasons. Anyway the Samsung is up and running. Sharp, dark prints that I can read and no missing rails which was the party piece of the Dell printer, now deceased. One of the reasons I couldn't get the prints to align with each end of the layout was operator error once again and printing the wrong version of the storage loops. Despite a few profanities, I have been taught to keep calm and carry on, so another 70 pages were printed off this morning and taped up. The rest of the morning was spend rescuing three BB's and adding new legs to form the base for the storage loops. The prints now all make sense and both ends now connect with just a 1.5" gap in the middle which over 16' plus is a real result. The gap is in the plain track area, so that can be easily filled at the tracklaying stage. I've decided to leave a gap in the BB frames. That will allow a gap for my plan chest which will now slide in easily, but also to increase the headroom in the duck under section. The storage boards can have stiffeners added to the top side so they don't sag over the gap between the two BB's. This additional width has throw up the possibility of adding one or two addition roads through. I suspect the length will be compromised because of radius issues each end, but one or other could simply become the through route and free up a longer storage road. The BB frames are just bolted together with 2mm MDF sheet giving a flat surface to rest the prints on. As it stands these frames can be rotated a degree or two to maximise the available space once I get to that stage. This exercise was simply to get the alignment correct at each end and allow me to progress further road the loops. The central section will now be dismantled and stored to free up room in the centre of the room. Happy days... Edited January 7, 2016 by gordon s 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Excellent work Gordon, and you must have the patience of a Saint to stick all that lot together. And as for Printers, I bought a Cheap Cannon last time mine gave up, I now get CHEAP COPY CARTRIDGES from Sainsburys and its still churning out good prints. All the best for 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted January 7, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2016 Looks good Gordon. The track work has a nice flow to it. And I agree with Andy, that's a lot of templot sticking! Kind regards, Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted January 7, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 7, 2016 I swear given my earlier post I will never mention the weather again - promise, and suspect my course will be closed this weekend. If your interested there is a place in Thame with an indoor golf system you can hire if the itch really needs scratching. Your right about printing costs these days. It may have taken over from a coke in the pub or an apple device as greatest profit margin thing to buy on the planet. However I do like the way it has turned out for you. In a post some way back you did mention being able to sit there with some wine watching trains go round and I can picture you where the trestle is in the last picture admiring your world. Question is did you leave room for a comfy chair to do that in :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 7, 2016 Author Share Posted January 7, 2016 (edited) I have, but a comfy chair will now be too low to see anything. ET terminus will be some 1300mm from the floor from memory. I'm quite pleased the way things are developing. I know it's only paper, but I can see track and Templot is invaluable in that respect. You can see the finished product and are able to pick up on any spots that do not flow correctly long before you have laid one single line. Being able to correctly align each end of the storage sidings has been a real challenge and would have been impossible with being about to create a full size replica of where the lines will run. I'm sitting here now with thoughts of adding a couple more storage roads. If they end up much shorter than the others then they will be used as a through route, if I want to run a quick out and back for demo purposes. The one thing that is still a challenge for me is trying to imagine the finished product as a lot of what you can see in these pics will be hidden from view, yet hopefully still easily accessible. Edit: Meant to say I know Thame reasonably well. One of my ex work colleagues plays at Studley Wood and has promised me a round over there one day. Edited January 7, 2016 by gordon s 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 8, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8, 2016 Why not stick the old Printer on Freecycle? Someone may find a use for it. Not only will it keep it out of landfill, it also avoids getting a puncture when visiting the local dump.... Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 11, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 11, 2016 Another four days have been and gone, but they have been productive. After much soul searching I decided to completely relay the storage roads as firstly, there was space to add a few more and secondly, you can never have enough.... Of course that meant numerous hours sliding templates back and forth on the screen, mainly to avoid baseboard joins, but at the end of it I now have nine storage roads against seven in the earlier design. The shortest one will probably be used as the through route, although it is still capable of holding a pacific loco plus seven Mk 1's. The longest storage roads will hold much more, typically 12-15 Mk 1's or at least 30-40 wagons on a long freight. Having said that, it's very unlikely trains of that length will be run other than for amusement as the maximum platform length at ET is a loco and seven coaches and the few freight roads at the terminus are probably geared to no more than 20 wagons. Space is always at a premium, so I have decided not to use the Brilliant Baseboards after all. They are much larger than needed and the additional depth makes ducking under slightly more difficult. Looking at the ply trackbeds I have cut today, I will construct custom frames to fit the outline of the trackbed and no more. I like the idea of gentle curving lines to baseboards and that will ensure they sit snugly under ET terminus baseboards and not project outside the line of the terminus. I just know I would smash my knees on any projection at some time in the future, so moving them inboard eliminates that risk So there we have it. Nine storage roads with new approach pointwork that extends further around the curve. Of course all of this will eventually be hidden from view but easily accessible from the side. All pointwork has been carefully positioned to be accessible. Spirits are still high, even after the considerable number of hours spent marking out and sawing 12mm ply sheet. Golf is still some way away. Today's competition was once again cancelled with a waterlogged course. Nothing like other parts of the country, but I can't recall the course being closed so much before. Next chance will be Thursday, so fingers crossed all the drainage kicks in soon... 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Evening Gordon, Good to see some coaches out there My friend, even running on paper. Must say that your signature prototypical looking curves look to be in this version as well - really looking forward to seeing the track down, as no doubt you are! Well done, I'll look back through at a later time, having been a bit restricted on time lately due to medical issues! Kind regards, Jock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted January 11, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2016 Before I say anything, where's my coat - ah there it is. Right. That fiddle yard layout reminds me of a layout that was called Striven/Striving, can't remember which name but it was lovely flowing track with industries either side for freight to be dropped off at whilst mainline expresses plow through. You don't fancy starting again to build something like that do you as I think you are ready now with your woodwork to do buildings as well Coat on :-) On a more serious note may I pose a proper question. Will it be wired to hold multiple trains in the fiddle yard so some lines may hold 2 or even 3 things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 You and I are going to fall out.... Nice idea, a really nice idea, but not right at this moment. In fact no chance... All the roads have been designed to hold multiple trains. The max length of the platforms are a loco plus seven Mk1's so each road is likely to hold two or three trains at once. No need for special wiring as ET is DCC controlled. The big plus is the operator will be sitting in and around ET itself. These storage roads sit about a foot below ET terminus, so no problems seeing which roads are empty or how far to run into a road before hitting the train in front. Off to search out the layout you refer to now. Purely for interest, no other reason.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) That didn't take long...Beautiful trackwork. 1.33 onwards Edited January 11, 2016 by gordon s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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