Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Evenin' all, Current progress on TG concerns the completion of turntable/cradle 1. In the clip below the partly completed slip ring mechanism/assembly can be seen atop the recently painted turntable. The means of rotating the turntable is via the nylon bars extending to each side of the cradle. The flexible conduit extending from the switch/gate gantry is the power supply for the track on the turntable cradle. Other scenes show the pallet work surface ideal for clamping and angle grinding aluminium sections. Also, a recent visit to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre for filming the wheelsets of Beattie well tank 30585 in connection with the Ultrascale project proved useful for some close up pictures of a 'fitted' SR Pillbox brakevan. The closing clip shows the latest stock arrival for TG, ironically, 3 Bachmann Pillbox brakevans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDTzbYFCyog&feature=youtu.be The combined weight of the turntable assembly is causing friction issues with the guide slot and will put unnecessary strain on the screw thread mechanism as it moves the assembly along. Fitting two of the castor/bearings to the assembly may work or maybe fitting a hard wearing /low friction plastic strip topping onto the guide rail is better....more Googling to come. Found 1mm HDPE sheet available from http://www.directpla...HDPE_Sheet.html as a thin, hard wearing and low friction solution. A strip of this on each of the two mating surfaces should work, it'll mean adjusting the guide rail lower though. 1m sq sheet ordered. I've done some research on suitable identites/liveries for the 2 Dapol 22s. The faded BR blue/small yellow warning panel version is attractive and there are several pictures of D6314 in this livery on and around the Plymouth/Tavistock/Exeter route 1967ish. I'll check out a faded green/small yellow panels version for the other ..possibly D6321. The 22s will normally work singly but the opportunity to double head them occasionally would be good. 3 steps forward, 2 back with the traverser cradle at the mo. The track would have been much better laid on the flat 2mm aluminium surface before adding sides to the cradle...now it is a case of using thin plasticard as a base to ensure that it is laid straight (track bonded to plasticard before being aligned within cradle and bonded to its base). Track now laid straight and flat within cradle and ends trimmed, with expansion gaps provided. HDPE sheet arrived this morning and 4 x 15mm wide strips are being sliced off for bonding to the traverser guide. It looks ideal for the job. Flexible conduit fitted at the correct height and trimmed to length to allow free travel of 12 V power wires/turntable across the width of fiddle yard. There will be some fettling done as experience of its operation suggests improvements but it certainly looks fit for purpose at the moment. Tomorrow mornings job will be lowering the guide rail to allow for the HDPE strips. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Mornin' all, This clip shows a couple of scenes from a recent walk along the former Cromford & High Peak railway between Hopton and Longcliffe. Many of the (mainly quarrying) industries had their own sidings off the main line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgoQX24p2HA&feature=youtu.be Work on TG is still concerned with getting the traverser mechanism and operation right. I'm trying another experiment with the top of the slip ring housing to make the flexible conduit happier. The track alignment to and from the turntable appears ideal and I'm in the process of calibrating the traverser guide rail with markings/numbering corresponding to fiddle yard road position. The HDPE strips can be seen...I've tried a single thickness to begin with to avoid having to re-make the base of the turntable and this is working well. Once the traverser is working properly the bits of tape insulation will vanish and the proper connectors fitted. The horizontal of the nylon turning bar has now been fettled. Todays progress has included wiring the traverser cradle, fitting the pivot rod for and making a start on the lifting gates controlling access to the turntable. Headscratching topics at the mo include simplifying the traverser drive linkage arrangement as the current 'moving arm' system simply isn't effective enough over the whole 2ft length. An alternative is a chain drive system with a cog at each of the two extremites and a chain attachment allowing the turntable to be connected to the chain and moved lengthways along the linked traverser. First lifting gate fitted to the switch gantry/gate assembly. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 Evenin' all, More forward progress with TG after a few challenges with the traverser. The movement of the turntable across the fiddle yard is now much better with an old DVD and shaped length of plasticard playing key parts in maintaining the position of the flexible conduit. The positon of the conduit at the two extremes of its travel can be see in the clip below. The prototype lifting gate has been fitted, with a section of pipe insulation acting as a cushion and impact zone in case of careless operating. The rocking arm of the lifting gate will be pinned at the turntable end by a bolt on the end of the traverser cradle when movements to/from the cradle are required. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL8gz1nRc44&feature=youtu.be A visit to 'Motion' in Stafford today has sourced an improved chain drive mechanism for moving the cradle across the traverser. A couple of Autumnal scenes from todays walk near to Alton Towers are included in the above clip. Todays work has focussed on the mounting and bolt mechanism for locking/positioning the turntable to the switch/gate assembly whilst running on and off the turntable. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Evenin' all, A productive day on TG has seen the first gate mechanism finished and the turntable bolt assembly reach a stage where the bolt locks the turntable in position relative to the fiddle yard. Wiring of the turntable is still to be finished. The clip shows the first moves on and off the turntable, the completed gate mechanism and bolt. Colin has prepared 3 more pairs of gates for the next 3 roads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8czrOJN0ts&feature=youtu.be There is the option of fitting a low HDPE strip fence around the perimeter of the turntable (to prevent stock leaving the cradle when it is motion), with gaps for exits to the fiddle yard and 2nd traverser rather than fitting lifting gates at each end of the turntable cradle. Some experimenting to come. Todays progress has involved sourcing 25mm sq steel bar for weighting track sections down as they are bonded to the cork substrate. In the process of preparing some track lengths for this I found that the levelling sledge had rounded one corner of the cork substrate off and reduced the depth by too much. A half hour with a Swann Morton scalpel removed the suspect cork and hardened Evo-Stik before a replacement 2x1 inch piece of new cork was fitted, it just needs sanding to the correct height now. The advantages of an adjustable locking bolt position became apparent immediately, it didn't take many minutes to compensate for the new rail positions relative to the bolt. More head scratching re routing of wire conduit/trunking under the baseframes resulted in some rail cutting with the razor saw and more terminal strips and wiring bonded in place. A large parcel of cogs/bearings and chain arrived mid afternoon which now just needs the 12mm dia stainless steel bar to arrive before being fitted beneath the Linked Traverser as the mechanism for the turntable/cradle lateral motion. The chain/gears and bearings are butch but once set up correctly shouldn't need any more attention. More solid progress today with the 2nd road affected by a slip with the levelling sledge corrected (new piece of cork fitted). Colin has now completed 9 of the 11 sets of aluminium flaps/rocker to fit on the switch gantry/gate tower. We now have 3 of the 11 roads wired and test running completed using different locos...all ran well between turntable and fiddle yard. I'm working on the reverse polarity situation/wiring for when the turntable is used to turn the steam locos. The 'push to make' power supply switch for the cradle track has been relocated to the side of the cradle instead of being in a position to be held by the bolt mechanism. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Mornin' all, This latest clip shows a worms eye view of one of the Ultrascale P4 converted Dapol 22s testing fiddle yard to turntable roads. Gapping of the dead section adjacent to the gate tower/switch gantry with a razor saw is underway. There will be room for double headed class 22s (the longest motive power on TG) to be drawn up towards the gates and stand on the dead section on any of the 11 roads. The nearest road will become the loco release road, leaving 10 stabling roads. The replacement chain and gear mechanism for the traverser can be seen, along with one of the bearing housings for the 12mm stainless shaft to which the crank handle will be attached. Note the attachments to the chain to enable the underside of the turntable to be attached to it with countersunk machine screws. This is over engineered by some margin and I shall be seeking to do the same with nylon/HDPE components for the Barnstaple side traverser mechanism (mainly for weight considerations). I may try nylon rack and pinion on the Exeter end traverser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ewSq_z27k&feature=youtu.be The 'end on' motion of the loco along this section isn't bad considering the transition from turntable to baseframe (certainly no threats to jump the rails etc) but I'm aiming for smoother running along baseframes and across baseframe to baseframe transitions. Complaints from Colin about locating the turntable bolt into the switch tower/gate gantry have caused the bolt end to be tapered and for the aluminium flaps pinned by the bolt (holding the gates open) to be replaced with a loop of 1mm brass rod, thus making the hole clearly visible. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted November 15, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 15, 2012 I do like 22s, and you have to have at least 2. As Damian says "they always hunted in pairs". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 15, 2012 Author Share Posted November 15, 2012 Mornin' Chris, I'm itching to set about them with the paintbrushes and detailing kit but I'm trying to discipline myself to get the first three frames finished first. Double headed 22s won't be an everyday appearance on TG but 'it has to be done' occasionally. Once Dapol release the disc headcode versions there are likely to be a couple more. Todays work on TG started with the removal of the moving link/arm system for moving the turntable laterally along the Linked Traverser. Mounting brackets for the first two of the new bearing housings have been made, the bearing housings fitted and the assemblies bolted in position on the frame. The two 12mm dia. stainless cross-shafts are also ready for fitting. One cross-member on the LT still needs to be modified to provide a free path for the chain and attachment to the underside of the turntable. The two piece chain (4ft + 1ft, to allow some scope for adjustment when fitting), has now had the links put in and its completion has allowed the approximate position off the crank-end shaft to be marked and the aluminium frame drilled to take it. Again, some adjustment has been built in to take up any slack if the chain wears. Another session spent preparing the LT frame for the crank shaft, drilling the shaft for the operating 'tommy bar', making brackets to mount the 2nd pair of roller bearings and fitting the assembled shaft through the frame. Outstanding work includes strengthening, then cutting the T section stretcher which 'ties' the frames and supports the traverser guide slot, to allow the drive chain unimpeded movement. Stainless steel certainly shortens the life of drill bits! Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Aft'noon all, TG has its first working traverser drive (excuse the 'G' clamp, this will be removed once the turntable has its fixing screws inserted) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4XInMLwZ0I&feature=youtu.be The drive is almost silent when operating and the small tommy bar easily has sufficient leverage to drive the mechanism. There will be a short bridging piece mounted on and secured to the traverser guide rail which will act as a stop for the Plymouth yard turntable as it moves towards the Barnstaple yard turntable, will automatically position the turntable for the loco release road and provide a precise locating point for the the sliding bolt of both turntables to lock the rails in position when transferring clay opens between yards. Once the track is laid on No11 road I'll adjust the turntable stop at that end as well so that positioning is automatic for that road too. Current headscratching includes how to use the first movements of the traverser locking bolt to move aside a restraining device capable of preventing stock from entering a risk zone (danger of falling out of the cradle) whilst the cradle isn't locked to adjacent rail positions. Thanks to Dave Faulkner of Barrowmore for his recommendation of the 'Trident' inter-frame electrical connectors....I'll be ordering some for TG. The Templot scenic section trackplan for TG is being fettled/prepared for printing so that work on the first scenic section frames can progress in a 'working from the middle towards the Plymouth fiddle yard' as well as 'vice versa' approach. The aluminium frame design will differ on the scenic section in that aluminium sheet will only be used for the trackbed and this will be profiled for the track formation. The trackbed will be higher than the immediate surrounding scenery, therefore I'm working on construction techniques with the aluminium frames to ensure that they still have exact positioning relative to each other. Block polystyrene will be used on the non-trackbed areas to provide the scenic foundation. The bowstring steel viaduct with associated masonry arches on the Plymouth route will span a total of 5ft, made up of approx. 1ft of two masonry arches at each end and 3 x 1ft bowstring sections. Brass will be the material for the bowstring sections with a profiled aluminium sheet deck. I'm aiming for some accoustic qualities to the metalwork to emphasise a train crossing a metal structure. The Tavy viaduct is quoted as having 111ft bowstring sections which would equate to approx 17 inches in P4. The 8ft diameter caissons scale down to 1 and a quarter inches. The proposed Barnstaple line bridge style can be seen in this picture at Landcross http://www.flickr.co...way/5869533177/ The bridge styles are different and the number/diameter/spacing of the supports varies but there will be a need to consider caisson spacing (for river traffic considerations on the prototype). Although, knowing of the shallow nature of the prototype not far upstream on the prototype it may be that river traffic wasn't an issue even in the days of railway construction. This image of the Tavy viaduct http://www.flickr.co...n69/4786012025/ gives an impression of how the model viaduct will appear but with 3 bowstring spans between the masonry piers. I've chosen the River Torridge section for TG as freshwater/non-tidal so that the water height/depth and range is less of a consideration than in the two pictures above. Stephen Freeman (Borg-rail) is checking/fettling and preparing the scenic section trackplan for printing. Dapol Western and Warship D6xx locos are currently on order for TG. I'll be chatting with David Rodgers at Ultrascale re P4 conversion packs for both types. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Aft'noon all, The Templot design work is reaching an interesting stage on TG. This is the progress around the double junction, adjacent to the two big river bridges Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2012 Hi Dave, I like the double outside slip. But are you sure it wouldn't be better as a scissors crossover? Thus allowing both sides to be used simultaneously. There seems to be enough space. A double outside slip is a fairly rare thing in running lines in the UK -- there was one at Swindon West. regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Hi Martin, Stephen Freeman (Borg rail) is doing the design work for me, I'll put it to him. The appearance and functionality of the slip will take some beating though. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 Mornin' all, I'm aware of the rarity of such trackwork in this area on the prototype but looking at this latest artwork by Stephen I think that it has to be done bullet bitten...twinges in wallet area but I've commissioned Stephen to build the 3 slips for TG. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Aft'noon all, Stephen's work on the scenic section Templot plan has resulted in its complete printing today...all 86 pages and one ink cartridge later!. This clip includes trimming the margins of each page before taping the point & crossover groups together ready for trackbuilding...it'll be easier to then link the groups with the flexitrack. The class 22 is standing on the Barnstaple branch adj. to the double junction. A clip showing more progress with the traverser includes the turntable secured to the chain attachments. The bridging piece of aluminium will link the two turntables and acts as a stop for each. The laptop screen shows the map of individual A4 pages which makes it much easier to start putting the jigsaw track plan together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ8ZQkXO3WA&feature=youtu.be Once the trackplan is positioned on flat aluminium sheet the relative position of the bridges, river channels, platforms etc can be marked and baseframes designed accordingly. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I can sympathise with you there Dave, I recently printed a track plan in Templot that amounted to about 20 pages. I did try to to print it on A3 paper but Templot just printed A4 sized sections on it. I think I need to visit the Templot forum to find out what I'm doing wrong. Some great engineering going on with this layout, well impressed. Look forward to watching progress. Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 9, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 9, 2012 The laptop screen shows the map of individual A4 pages which makes it much easier to start putting the jigsaw track plan together. Hi Dave, You can get a printout of the page map to save taking the laptop into the workshop. You can then mark off each page on the printout as you trim and fit them. Click the print page map button on the print dialog: This is a typical page map printout: There is also an option to increase the font size for the small page numbers marked in the corner of each trimmed page: output > trim margins > font for corner page numbers... menu item. (This was added at the request of Gordon S of this parish.) regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 9, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 9, 2012 I can sympathise with you there Dave, I recently printed a track plan in Templot that amounted to about 20 pages. I did try to to print it on A3 paper but Templot just printed A4 sized sections on it. Hi Ray, Did you remember to set A3 paper size on the printer setup? Just putting A3 paper in doesn't do that. You can access the printer setup at: output > printer setup... menu item. Templot gets the paper size you entered from the printer driver. regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Thanks Ray, Martin, I too attempted the A3 route and selected A3 throughout but then found A4 images printed on A3 paper....no worries I've got the prints...just a little more origami! I used a 'screen grab' Martin to keep the page map on the screen throughout printing...I could measure progress easily that way. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 9, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 9, 2012 I too attempted the A3 route and selected A3 throughout but then found A4 images printed on A3 paper Hi Dave, I'm puzzled. I just tried printing on A3 without any problems, and I know lots of Templot users are doing the same. Can you say exactly what you clicked on and in what sequence? What printer are you using? Is this direct printing from Templot, or creating a PDF file first? regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Mornin' Martin, I've started again with the printer set up, recalibrated, accessed the laptop printer settings, chosen A3 and then repeated this through Templot. The first two attempts saw it revert to A4 but at the third it accepted the A3. The A3 print is now under way....all 50 landscape pages...extra ink cartridge on order. Best regards Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hi Ray, Did you remember to set A3 paper size on the printer setup? Just putting A3 paper in doesn't do that. You can access the printer setup at: output > printer setup... menu item. Templot gets the paper size you entered from the printer driver. regards, Martin. Thanks for that Martin, but I'm sure this is what I've done before now, both selecting A3 in Templot and the print driver. The printer is a networked laser at work, don't know if that makes a difference but in light of Daves post I'll give it another try tomorrow. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Ray, I found that it took a few moments to register each step, I'd probably moved on faster than the program had detected the A3 choice previously. Be sure to choose the 'end to end' option in Templot otherwise the pages are printed in portrait mode. Good luck Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Hi Dave/Martin. I've now got Templot printing in A3 format but curiously the calibration plot still prints in A4 format on A3 paper. Is that normal? Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Hi Ray, Mine did too but the print map appeared in A3 sizes with the page total dropping (86-50) so the calibration measurement obviously wasn't significant to the page size. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 11, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 11, 2012 I've now got Templot printing in A3 format but curiously the calibration plot still prints in A4 format on A3 paper. Is that normal? Hi Ray, Yes that's correct. It is necessary to take accurate measurements from the calibration sheet, and I assumed few users would have the means to do that for a sheet larger than A4. Having made the calibration settings, they should be good for any paper size. If you want to check the full A3 print, set the grid to say 25mm spacings, and then measure the grid lines over the full A3 page. (Note that if you export to PDF, the printer calibration is ignored. This is because the PDF file may be printed on a different printer. For PDF printing, calibration adjustments must be made using the scaling settings in the PDF Reader program.) regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tender Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Hi Martin/Dave, Many thanks for the help, this makes printing a whole layout more viable (at least my 12'x 2'). Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.