Hayfields turnout workbench

[hayfield]

No photos at the moment but work has started on the single slip, not worth any photos as much the same as recent postings

 

Plan is now made and stuck on the board, one common crossing built as is the 2nd Vee, just about to add the wing/closure rails to it.

 

Will update tomorrow

[hayfield]

It took me 2 go's at making a template (plan) the video tutorial on Templot Club is very easy to follow and copy, however easy to make a mistake at 10:30 pm.

 

Plan duly stuck to the building board and common crossings built. Can I address one aspect of making them. Like C&L  I make the wing/closure rails vertical, do check after the first solder joint on the wing rail that it is upright not angled. With the first joint I am more interested that its in the correct position and upright, rather than perfectly in gauge. Then make the second joint using a gauge, now go back to the first joint and set the gauge accurately. Sounds far more complicated than it is.

 

 

Now the timbers are cut and in place, I cut the double sided tape a bit thicker than usual especially through the centre of the crossing, as I will doing things a bit different to normal when making the obtuse (K) crossings

 

I have laid out the different parts needed, the most common are the S1 3 bolt chairs, bridge chairs, 0.8 check chairs, common crossing chairs x 2 and fishplates

 

You will also need 1 pack of obtuse crossing chairs and 1 pack of slip chairs, all of the chairs in the slip pack are fine for EM & 00 gauges except for the slide chairs which are smaller P4 size, I replace them with standard 4 mm slide chairs.

 

First job is to fit the common crossings. 

[hayfield]

Struggled today to get things moving on, late home from work and then had other things crop up including having to reassemble one of the common crossings

 

 

Common put in place and drying, they need the special chairs adding but I have found that when things are not going fine take a break. Will check their position again in the morning and if OK will then proceed. It is very important that the tips of the Vees are in the exact position.

 

Before the chairs are attached I need to check that the non slip stock rail can be fitted in line before the common crossing chairs are added. What I have done is transpose some of the chair positions from the Exactoscale single slip plan, these chairs are designed for a P4 slip which is longer and has more timbers, its a case of deciding which ones to omit. Sounds a bit hit or miss but the K crossings will be soldered up in position and in gauge so the chairs simply hold the rail in line and are also for visual effect. All will become clear as I proceed

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2015 by hayfield

[hayfield]

A quick check and one of the closure rails was misaligned so a quick re-setting was required, I also added the Y chair to add strength and A chairs on both crossings, as I needed to set the bent stock rail from these crossings

 

 

Bent stock rail formed, chaired and being stuck in place. Curved stock rail above

 

 

Overall vies of the turnout and as you can see I have printed out the centre section of the slip, this is to assist me in cutting the rails to length and see where their tips should be.

 

You will also see I write down where certain chairs go, I have also highlighted 3 central timbers, this is where I will solder up the obtuse (K) crossing with thin copperclad strip

 

Now to clear out the gutters 

[hayfield]

 

The first job is to fit the bent stock rail, using a ruler to accurately set the rail from the chairs on the stock rail which were glued down opposite the common crossing, to the opposite common crossing. Then stick the remaining chairs up to the bend. Now repeat the operation to the other half of the bent stock rail. Take your time as its important to do this accurately, please take note that 3 of the central chairs are not fitted

 

 

Next to fit the curved stock rail. Firstly gently curve the centre part of the rail, next make the 2 sets (bends) at the start of the switches, followed by fitting the chairs, now gauge and glue one end, when set do the other. The middle will be soldered in place next.

[hayfield]

 

The 4 closure and bent switch rails have been formed, the switch rail is cut to length, The closure rails will be cut to length when being fitted

 

 

As you can see the thin copperclad strips (brass shim could be used) are now in place, The bent stock rail is soldered to all 3 pieces the curved one is soldered to the centre one only, as it may need adjusting slightly when the other slip rail is added. The bent slip rail is soldered to all 3 strips

 

 

 

First closure rail is waiting to be fitted, the tip will be soldered to the piece of copperclad

 

 

 

I now fit the opposite closure rail so I can test the route

 

 

 

 

Third one now soldered in place

 

 

Now the last one fitted

 

On testing with a wagon 3 out or the 4 routes work perfectly with a whitemetal van, the 4 th route is slightly tight at the start of the common crossing. The 2 closure rails without chairs have a bit of flex in them, I will fit 2/3 rds of the slide chairs super gluing them to the rail and using solvent to fix them to the timbers 

[hayfield]

Resetting 2 chairs solved the slight problem on the 4 th route, the van is fine then I decided to send the 03 through it both to test it, thankfully both ways were fine and no check rail in sight

 

 

4 switch chairs were fitted on each  of the rails that needed them, all were super glued to the rails and those on the 2 closure rails were attached to the timbers with solvent. made a start on the 2 nd slip rail, but its getting a bit late and up very early in the morning

[hayfield]

Hi Derek,

 

That has been the "standard" track building method for years.

 

I've been much puzzled why so many builders lately are assembling entire crossings first. I think it may derive from finding pre-assembled crossings in turnout kits. Or maybe builders are following prototype practice.

 

For models it is much better to gauge the closure rails and knuckles from the stock rails, and that also makes it much easier to get them aligned with the vee.

 

But there is no agreement about whether the main road stock rail or the vee goes first. I prefer main-side stock rail, vee, turnout-side stock rail.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

 

Martin

 

As you can see I am using both methods pre-made common crossings and soldering up the (obtuse (K))crossing in situ. As I said earlier it just depends what materials you are using, especially as plastic dislikes heat so its a case of keeping chairs as far away as possible until the soldering is finished, and temporary replacing plastic timbers with ply ones. So it is possiable to use the method I have used in the obtuse crossing with the common crossing. 

 

However I have got used to making common crossings as independent units, using a simple home made jig for which ever size is required. The easiest way as I have said is to use the odd copperclad timber. I don't thing there is a right way of doing it, just the method which suits the builder

[hayfield]

I made the remaining slip rail and the check rail behind it

 

 

I forgot to take a photo but the check rail was soldered in place first, followed by the switch rail using the plan as a guide for the center joint and the switch rail ends for the guide to make the other 2 solder joints

 

 

Next using a track gauge I repositioned the curved stock rail to match the curved slip rail

 

 

2 check rails have been fitted, the other two have the chairs fitted, one having the half chairs cut through. Some slips have a slightly shorter check rail on the slip road, being 1-8 angle the non-slip road has a check rail over 5 timbers, the slip road being shortened to cover 4 timbers

 

 

Not in the photo but the common crossing chairs have been fitted and as you can see I have been fitting some obtuse (K) crossing and slip chairs. The 5 central timbers are chair-less and I have numbered three timbers which have copperclad strip soldered to them, which is the order I will finish each timber. At this moment the central copperclad strip is one piece which holds the crossing in gauge (isolation gap was cut before fitting so it can be tested with a loco) I think enough chairs are now in place and will hold the crossing in gauge, still safety first.

 

Please note the slip chairs are designed for a P4 crossing, an equivalent 00 gauge slip is shorter, has less sleepers and the crossing in the centre of the slip has different spacings, the plan/instructions is a guide only in 00 gauge, the 2 outside part of the block chairs do hold the rails in place, but the central block parts are mostly cosmetic and you may need to use a slightly different size than stated. Having said that, the rails are firmly held on the the timbers

[hayfield]

Now down the final leg of the build

 

 

Tiebars fitted and the remaining slide chairs

 

 

 

 

Next is to cut through the tracing paper exposing the first of the 3 sets of copper clad strips which need trimming

 

 

Cut off the excess and file flush. Put a drop of superglue on each piece of copperclad and replace the sleeper and let set

 

 

 

Now do exactly the same with the other outside set of strips, leaving the centre ones intact

 

 

Now add the chairs to all but the centre 3 timbers, this will give strength to the crossing to keep all in gauge

 

 

Expose the centre strip and cut back to the rail sides and superglue the copperclad to the central timber

 

 

Remaining chairs now added and slip can be tested.

 

To be quite honest thinking about it, building a common crossing like this would be quite difficult. Not impossible but in my view a lot harder than the method I use.

 

Hope this helps clear up any query's about how to build a crossing.

 

 

 

[hayfield]

Just had a PM asking about staining sleepers/timbers. I use Colron Jacobian Oak, mine is spirit based, I guess the water based are just as good only take a bit longer to dry

 

 

I dilute the dye by about 1/3 volume and brush paint it on to the strip (before cutting) I use C&L laser cut strip which is high quality ply

 

 

A closer view, some strips need an extra coat. My view is that you should paint a base colour to each of the components (chair & rail, sleeper and ballast) then use a mist of the same colour over everything so the individual colours do show through the grime (looking at trackwork the same colour grime covers everything), then detail areas which pick up oil/ash/coal etc

 

However there are much better painters than me

[trisonic]

Still a wonderful and useful thread, John!

 

Many thanks, Pete.

[hayfield]

Pete

 

Thanks, when I first spoke with Len about the special chairs and was building a 1-6 diamond, I asked if the obtuse chairs could be used as they are for 1-7 or 1-8 crossings. He said they should be fine. Now they wont if building an Exactoscale P4 kit if there was such a thing. But then I am not relying on the chairs only holding all in place but they certainly lend themselves to other construction methods, which is a testament to a great design in them being versatile.

 

I do rely on soldered construction for some areas where gauging is required, but chairs do most of the work on the build.

 

Now I do always advise on taking ones time when making turnouts, out of interest though I wondered how long it took me to build a common crossing. Without rushing just under half an hour, if I had a tidy work bench then perhaps less.

 

Back to cutting some timbers 

[Guest bri.s]

"A closer view, some strips need an extra coat. My view is that you should paint a base colour to each of the components (chair & rail, sleeper and ballast) then use a mist of the same colour over everything so the individual colours do show through the grime (looking at trackwork the same colour grime covers everything), then detail areas which pick up oil/ash/coal etc"

 

Just wondering would you pre paint the chairs on the sprue and rail before you use it ?

 

Brian

[hayfield]

Brian

 

I think the best way is by hand after fitting as paint on both rails and chairs may restrict the fitting of the chairs. The other way is to make some simple masks and use an airbrush as the rusty colour does creep below the rails before ballasting, then an overall mist of grunge will bring each area together after ballasting.

 

No right method, coachman just sprayed everything track colour before ballasting, then weathered everything in after ballasting. In the end it is what you believe is best and most importantly works for you

[Guest bri.s]

Thankyou for your reply as always good advice

 

Brian

[hayfield]

A couple of tips which may assist those perhaps struggling with track building. This is an EM gauge B7 but these tips are for all gauges (and scales)

 

 

The right hand red arrow shows the SET, this is a bend not a curve where the turnout starts and allows the switch rail to sit so you have a flush transition from the stock rail

 

The middle red arrow is the stock gauge, this is where the switch rail head starts being the full width, its the end of the switch rail plaining. See photo below which shows a quick modification to a roller gauge

 

The third arrow is for those who use chaired track, these chairs are stuck in place after the switch rail is in place as it saves trimming the chairs slightly to fit

 

 

By filing a flat on the end of the roller gauge allows you not only to set the stock gauge but is also used when setting the stock rail from the Vee. I cleaned the end up so it shows it more clearly

Edited September 1, 2015 by hayfield

[Guest bri.s]

"The right hand red arrow shows the SET, this is a bend not a curve where the turnout starts and allows the switch rail to sit so you have a flush transition from the stock rail"

I had know idea it was an actual bend ,can you show an overhead shot if possible to show how much bend is needed please

 

Thanks

 

Brian

[hayfield]

 

Here is an overhead shot, I try and make the set slightly ahead of the set point just in case the tip of the switch rail is slightly overscale

 

 

Here is a P4 plan with a B switch, the plaining length is 29.5 mm long (see through section on plan). The width of the rail head is 0.86 mm so its just under 1 mm over 29 mm length

 

Hope it helps, pity Martin Wynn has stopped posting on this site, I am hoping its temporary.

[MikeH_83]

I know martins advice for the set is to lay the track down over 2 other peices and tap the rail with a small screwdriver but I found it bends the rail to the extreme.  Is this how you make the set?

 

Cheers

[hayfield]

No, I just use a set of pliers and offer it up to the plan and check with a mk 1 eyeball.  Its something you get used to.

 

BUT I make sure the first two chairs at the toe end are firmly stuck down, then let the gauge do the final setting in place, as the chairs are strong enough to hold small movements in place.

[Guest bri.s]

Thankyou again hayfield ,I appreciate you taking the time to help ,I'll be adding a slight bend in my builds in future instead of just curving

 

Thanks

 

Brian

[MikeH_83]

No, I just use a set of pliers and offer it up to the plan and check with a mk 1 eyeball.  Its something you get used to.

 

BUT I make sure the first two chairs at the toe end are firmly stuck down, then let the gauge do the final setting in place, as the chairs are strong enough to hold small movements in place.

 

Thanks,  I will try this method and see how it works

[hayfield]

Sadly Martin Wynn is not posting at the moment, he has some nice stock diagrams which easily explain these things. For the best running results a bend and not a curve is what's required. As said Martin would use a piece of rail under the stock rail, put a screwdriver blade on the set point and tap with a hammer, I find pliers easier and match the angle to the plan

[Pete Harvey]

M2510.PDF

 

M2512.PDF