Cutting Sleepers

[uglykidjoe]

In a previous life when laying Peco Streamline flexi-track near points the ends of some sleepers had to be trimmed to fit correctly. Does this ever happen on the prototype particularly using concrete sleepers. I ask because I can't get some plain track done without, near a point and I can't move the sleepers to fit either.

 

If not then I will have to hide this fudge with something in the foreground.

 

Thanks Steve

[Welly]

No - the prototype did not trim sleepers to fit plain track to turnouts, they just shoved the sleepers along the track so that the sleepers of adjacent track could interlace with each other.

 

Also the prototype never joined timbering of the diverging roads at angles unlike Peco!

[uglykidjoe]

No - the prototype did not trim sleepers to fit plain track to turnouts, they just shoved the sleepers along the track so that the sleepers of adjacent track could interlace with each other.

 

Also the prototype never joined timbering of the diverging roads at angles unlike Peco!

 

Thanks, project Fudge it is then

 

Or can someone come up with an elegant way round it?

 

 

Steve

[HKG Steve]

Cutting of concrete sleepers is definitely a no-no, as they contain highly pre-stressed wires to provide the structural integrity.

Concrete bearers for turnouts may be either pre-stressed or reinforced concrete and will be designed specifically for each location within the turnout layout. The spacing of bearers often does vary at different positions along the layout

Interlacing of the converging sleepers on the turnout legs is acceptable but only to the point at which it becomes impossible to get the tamper tynes in between the sleepers, otherwise causes a maintenance headache!

 

HKG Steve

[uglykidjoe]

Thanks for that...

 

I had a bit of a brutal hack of the track this morning and was able to avoid having to cut sleepers by replacing them and moving them along a bit. However, I have had to leave one trimmed as it catches the tie bar of the point in question. Does anyone have any ideas of a way of hiding this?

 

Steve

[BRealistic]

Maybe trim down the tie bar instead... but leave space for it to move to and fro?

[uglykidjoe]

Unfortunatlely I can't trim the tiebar as the wire from the point motor is there - have thought about thininng a bit of sleeper an putting that over the top.

 

I was wondering if there are any 'bits of kit' related to the ground frame that could go there

 

Thanks Steve

[Trog]

Cutting of concrete sleepers is definitely a no-no, as they contain highly pre-stressed wires to provide the structural integrity.

 

HKG Steve

 

 

Thats interesting as concrete sleepers cut short by 3" and 6" were a standard catologue item back in BR days.

 

I have also been told by the sleeper designers at Tallington that it was OK to trim current sleepers by a similar amout, provided you did it using an abrasive saw. One of the manufacturers has also to my knowledge provided sleepers ex-works cut short while the concrete was still a bit green and hence easier to cut.

 

A short ended sleeper may be at a slightly higher risk of failure due to there being less concrete outboard of the housings, but this is still a better option than putting in short ended timber sleepers. Which will probably need replacing before the neighbouring concretes, and give an un-nessessary discontinuity in the track.

 

 

PS Sleepers have used strand reinforcing instead of wires since the early 1980's hence the S type versions of the sleepers current at the time. i.e. F27S, F27BS etc.