Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 There's no way you'll fall flat on your face with your modelling ability Gordon. Regards, Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92220 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Looking fantastic Gordon. I would say that if Eastwood Town is falling flat on your face, most of us should call in Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring and play the joker... Inspiration to me and no doubt a few others. Thanks for this and all the help, Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jason T Posted February 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2012 Very much so; your thread definitely inspired me to have a go at track construction. One of my favourite threads on here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Morning campers....The sun is out, radio blasting away and all in this neck of the woods is relatively calm after a fairly turbulent week or two with friends and family, hence not a lot has really happened, but fear not progress is being made. Fancied a change from ballasting and detail work, so took myself out to the garage to carve out some baseboards from 12mm birch ply to form the basis of the new 13 road storage area. Laying track well can offer several challenges at the best of time, but laying plain straight track really is degree level stuff and one I've not mastered completely, but thanks to a new toy, the catastrophes of the past may shortly be a distant memory. The postie arrived this morning with what could be taken as a secret prototype of a javelin for the Olympics, but it was a 1.8m long spirit level ordered over the web. This is one case where size does matter and at last, it has helped me to come to terms with this particular challenge. Hated doing it to a brand new tool, but three 4mm clearance holes has allowed me to measure the distance from the edge of the board and then screw the level side on, to the board itself. A quick brush with PVA and down goes the SMP track which is pushed up to the straight edge and pinned down with drawing pins. Of course it probably could have been done with a piece of strip wood, but finding one that was straight and that would remain stable over months was virtually impossible. It's a great feeling when something appears to work and there doesn't appear to be the trade mark dog legs that have driven me crazy in the past. Something might even run one day.... 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 Good idea using a 'dedicated' spirit level like that Gordon - I used a long level some years back but the problem I had was making sure I'd scrapped off all the tiny bits of bricklaying mortar or concrete that had got onto my long bricklaying level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) Good value @ £15.99 and very good service from these guys... Loads more interesting stuff as well. You have been warned. http://www.buybrandt...els_bubble.html Minor cock up. Forgot the first four tracks on the right hand side are for the goods loop, so just spent the last 45 minutes scraping away the cork to provide a solid footing for the raised section. Just as well I hadn't laid them all. Good job I'm in a good mood... Edited March 8, 2012 by gordon s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted March 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 8, 2012 No half measures as usual then Matey. Obviously some of us would just have found some gash old length of 2x1 kicking about. Wouldn't have been able to boast about the size of your tool then though! Good to see more progress. Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkie_pudd Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) HI Gordon. Eastwood Town absolute stunning railroad project and shall keenly follow with BIG interest. Also in reading the whole thread in relation to how you built your baseboard supports for light but strong standing has helped me personally big time in save wood weight, so less wood used but a stronger baseboard built and will well come in under the the structural engineers report for loft conversion before i would need a roof stronger roof renewal. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, cheers ken. No half measures as usual then Matey. Obviously some of us would just have found some gash old length of 2x1 kicking about. Wouldn't have been able to boast about the size of your tool then though! Good to see more progress. Cheers Dave haha thats what i was going to do lol but thanks again to Gordon can use my 4` level which is exact 1" wide perfect for parallel track laying, funny how you sometimes dont see the obvious sat there in your face lol. cheers Ken Edited March 8, 2012 by yorkie_pudd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold lezz01 Posted March 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi there. I use a piece of 25mm x 25mm x 2.5mm ally angle 2 meters long cost around a fiver a lump down the local hardwhare store. Sorry Regards Lez. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) Thanks guys, Eldavo knows me only too well. Years of an upbringing in engineering means I have to work to fractions of a mm when fractions of a foot would do. Of course I can't build to that standard, so my head tells me stick it in the bin and I'm back to square one again. Maybe I need some counselling..... Glad to hear my escapades have given you some ideas Ken. Edit: Your absolutely right Lez, it's just I searched high and low for some angle and couldn't find any. Shame of it was that back in the 90's, I sold 19" racking and was surrounded by aluminium extrusion. Of course I thought I'd never need all that stuff, so out it went. ....but I can use the level to set up the baseboards, so it's not really a bad investment. Edited March 8, 2012 by gordon s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted March 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) so my head tells me stick it in the bin hurry up and do that with the Yankee stuff....my bin, not yours of course. I'll reserve my plaudits till I'm standing there with it all in front of me finished, firmly fixed down, untakeupable, trains running, bins locked, Jacky barring the way to the tip........... Edited March 8, 2012 by PhilH 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkie_pudd Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Thanks guys, Eldavo knows me only too well. Years of an upbringing in engineering means I have to work to fractions of a mm when fractions of a foot would do. Of course I can't build to that standard, so my head tells me stick it in the bin and I'm back to square one again. Maybe I need some counselling..... Glad to hear my escapades have given you some ideas Ken. Edit: Your absolutely right Lez, it's just I searched high and low for some angle and couldn't find any. Shame of it was that back in the 90's, I sold 19" racking and was surrounded by aluminium extrusion. Of course I thought I'd never need all that stuff, so out it went. ....but I can use the level to set up the baseboards, so it's not really a bad investment. No Thank you Gordon and as regards to counselling no you dont or that would mean all of us on RMweb would need it toooooooo lol it was my left side that did it not my right side he he Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I'm still following this build with great admiration and envy.. I have lived through each version from the very first attempt before you retired when you scrapped wavy shelving and too steep gradients. Long may you persevere in your continuing striving for perfection! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 After much cussing and swearing the board is now complete apart from connecting the bus wires underneath. This board will sit across the wall with the two windows directly behind it. Once connected to the two corner boards, it will provide 9 storage roads for the main running lines and 4 for the upper lever goods loops. I'm just in the process of printing off the 60 odd sheets that will form one of the corners of the plan in the far right hand side and will plan out the exact board shape tomorrow so that all edge supports clear any Tortoise point motors. Once both corners are complete each of the storage roads will be around 10' long, so sufficient to take an eight/nine coach train plus a loco. Since my last major update, I've also revised the shed area which will now sit as a peninsular board out from the stairwell. This 2' x 12' board will also carry three carriage sidings which throws up more storage space. Early days still, but at least something is getting completed.... 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaternosterRow Posted March 12, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 12, 2012 Hi Gordon Just found this amazing blog thanks to the new banner here at RMweb. What a brilliant carpenter you are! The design, planning and actual build is fascinating - the story of your hectic life intertwined with progress on the layout has also been extremely interesting to follow and mirrors a lot of modelers experiences; we come, we go, we eventually get around to doing a bit and remember what joy the hobby brings all of a sudden. What's the latest news - new house and layout? Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Gordon, Do you use what are called in the 'States - Suitcase connecters between the main bus wires and the droppers? I've never used them, I assume they clip onto the main bus then you feed the droppers into them? Best, Pete. Edited March 12, 2012 by trisonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Thanks for your comments Mike. I'm not sure where you got the idea of a new house from as they'll probably have to carry me out of this one in a wooden box. Perhaps I could knock up my own out of plywood to save a bob or two. Maybe you're getting me confused with Tetley's who is building a new house and a new layout. I'm currently covered in sawdust from making the next boards, so just as well my dear lady is out or I wouldn't be allowed back in the house... I do have some suitcase connectors Pete. I'm assuming you mean the IDC products made by 3M and the usual Chinese copies where you just close the connector with a pair of pliers and the contacts cut through the insulation? The problem I have here is that I'm using 4mm cable for the main power bus and 16/0.2 droppers. Those connectors are really designed for similar sized wiring, so I have to solder all mine. Edited March 12, 2012 by gordon s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted March 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2012 I do have some suitcase connectors Pete. I'm assuming you mean the IDC products made by 3M and the usual Chinese copies where you just close the connector with a pair of pliers and the contacts cut through the insulation? The problem I have here is that I'm using 4mm cable for the main power bus and 16/0.2 droppers. Those connectors are really designed for similar sized wiring, so I have to solder all mine. Disparity in wire size has never bothered me. I've used really small gauge wire for droppers apparently successfully by folding the stripped length in two before inserting in the suitcase. Such wire is a lot nicer to solder to the rail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 MicroMark are selling them over here with different sizes, i.e. #14-18 bus and #18-22 feeder. Here's an example: http://www.micromark.com/suitcase-connectors-idc-905-red-pkg-of-25,8939.html Best, Pete. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'm chuckling to myself Ian, as I spent most of my working life in connector companies and was involved in specs and designs of IDC products along with their testing. The basic design principle of these types of connectors hinges around a very specific slot size to give a good gas tight joint on a known wire size. Whilst they can accommodate some variation in wire gauge, the further you go outside the design spec, the more likelihood there will be of long term unreliability. Of course model railways are less performance critical, but I really would be careful about using these types of connectors outside the wire gauge range specified by the manufacturer. It may work OK now, but could fail in the future. Perhaps with railway modelling we accept the odd wire failure and mend it without thinking what the cause of failure was. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 MicroMark also do a bus #10-12 with dropper #14-18. These are the 3M Scotchlok brand IDC # 567 as are the ones above but their part number is IDC #905. Best, Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Managed to get the three sections of this corner board built this afternoon. Over the years I've made numerous mistakes in this hobby of ours, but one of the worst is building baseboards almost to suit the space, rather than building boards to suit the track plan. This is one of the huge benefits of Templot where a full size plan can be printed out and eventually it is possible to determine where the board struts need to be to avoid all the under board mounted Tortoise motors. I did think I would need to slide one or two turnouts along the track, but eventually was able to fit the struts in without fouling. It's so much easier marking out the struts on the plan and then building the board to suit. This is one of the major mistakes I made in the past. I tried to build modular boards, say 4' x 2' and then once you come to lay the track, either great big chunks have to be cut out or the board has to be completely rebuilt to avoid point motors or similar obstructions. I'm sure we've all been there at one time or the other, but it is well worth remembering if you're building a new layout. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC Jack Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Great modelling fantastic and inspirational!! Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetleys Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Gordon, Oh to own and understand Templot! I'm on the verge of embarking on basebord construction and you are so right regards point motors and board design, unfortunately it's plan 'A' for me. Disc cutter, lump hammer and bolster if a point motor won't fit unless it's the storage yard when surface mounted Peco solonoids and wiring, at least any fractured point blades caused by the 'thump' of the solonoids can be easily replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted March 14, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 14, 2012 Oh to own and understand Templot! Hi Dave, Well the first part is easy -- Templot is now free. Download from: http://85a.co.uk/for...p?post_id=10771 As to understanding it, there are lots of tutorials and screen videos on the Templot web site. The important point to understand is that it is primarily for handbuilt track. If you are using Peco track or similar I recommend AnyRail instead: http://www.anyrail.com regards, Martin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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