Hayfields turnout workbench

[hayfield]

To do a screen shot, use the print screen button, somewhere to the right of the main keyboard, then open PAINT then use the paste. Then save as *.png.

Thanks for that, but I do not seem to have this function,can only save by pasting and cannot alter to a png

[hayfield]

Hi Hayfield,

 

I am looking forward to seeing progress on your Ludgate  Hill project.  Here is a link to webpages which include two versions of the track layout at the station (forgive me if you already have seen this):

 

http://www.crjennings.com/Railway%20Structures%20London/Ludgate%20Hill/Ludgate%20Hill%20Index.html

 

All the best,

 

Colin

 

 

Colin its a later version of the station with a slightly simplified rack plan, though challenging to build with the interconnected diamonds and scissors, plus a 3 way

[Echo]

You can make a screenshot image direct from Templot.

 

Just use Output/Make a Trackpad Screenshot

[hayfield]

Great work as always John.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, the jury is out with both bits of work yet. AS I said the C&L with the Exactoscale parts I believe has the upper hand still.

 

I am a great fan of the thicker Exactoscale plastic sleepers, lets face it once the chairs are stuck to the timbers, but after seeinf Mikkel's latest offerings with ply timbers and sleepers as far as looks go far superiour

 

Have found something else Templot does

 

 

My latest attempt within Templot, as I said this morning the 3 way is still to be finished both rails and timbering and the timbers are in an embryonic stage and in the end will be altered finally on the building board

[hayfield]

This is what I was sent in a Templot box file, I also had a hard copy with the track superimposed on the plan

 

 

Simply I had to build up the plan by adding the diamonds and alter the turnouts to match the various crossing angles, hopefully it is working

Edited June 20, 2016 by hayfield

[Siberian Snooper]

Thanks for that, but I do not seem to have this function,can only save by pasting and cannot alter to a png

Once pasted into PAINT there should be a save as option, quite where depends on which version of windows you are using they all seem to be different, but all are in the file menu, usually there is a SAVE and a SAVE AS option then there are sub options from there. I can't take screen shots at the moment as I am currently using my tab.

[hayfield]

Surprising what you find when you look, all done within Templot and is allowing me to show a couple of steps altering an idea into a working drawing

 

 

This is what was sent to me, basically the flow of the trackwork required

 

 

This is the crossings in the raw, not quite lined up and rails and check rails overlapping each other

 

 

Whilst still work in progress you can see I have superimposed crossings and started to tidy up the timbers and sleepers. Each time I do a certain amount of work and happy with it I save as an additional copy, simply because if I go off on a tangent which goes wrong I can just go back one or two stages. With this plan I am on the 7th save, each being steps of the same design. Hope this is of interest

 

The second track from the bottom on the fight (into the stand alone diamond crossing) looks to have a very tight radius curve, thankfully its an optical illusion, as in full size whilst much tighter than other radii within the plan it looks fine and is just under 60" in radius. As I said in full size its fine

 

And good luck to Martin as he seems to have his hands full with Templot club

Edited June 20, 2016 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

Having seen Mikkels latest diorama it has got me thinking about something I can do whilst being without a railway room

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have found something new to explain my ramblings I thought I might explain my thoughts for a new layout, I have many locos which are mostly kit built or kits, the majority are GWR and SR. Having had several holidays in Cornwall Bodmin General has often come to mind and if modelled as a preservation line I could use both GWR and SR in any of their livery's. Now at the moment a layout is out of the question, but when I get my modelling room this could be a nice small layout for the room

 

I do a couple of track building demonstrations a year at shows and am looking for something I can both work on and show, so I could built some form of complex as a diorama which could if needed at a later date be extended into a layout

 

 

This is a quick doodle and nothing like finished sizes, the area I thought of is the engine shed. At Bodmin there is a double road shed now and has a turnout with two catch (or are they trap) points with it, this looks good but a double slip would be better for a demonstration piece and give a bit more operational interest

 

So the area to be modelled is initially the slip and turnout, later the engine shed can be incorporated. After seeing Mikkel's latest mini layout whilst plastic timbers are my favoured medium as I have a large number of both C&L and Exactoscale 2 bolt chairs, stained sleepers with individual chairs would look the best. The plan is in 00SF (4SF) but then why not go nearly the whole hod and build it in EM gauge. The plan has to be altered anyway as the gap between the shed and running line is too narrow and as I said the layout plan is just first thoughts. As for locos all run/will run on Romfords so that's not an issue, coaches etc can either have their wheels widened or replaced. At worst I have a test plank in EM at best a nice little home layout. If I am invited to demonstrate at a show you visit then you may see it slowly come to fruition

 

Edit  Too late to night for new screen shots without labels, will edit tomorrow  Done

Edited June 20, 2016 by hayfield

[hayfield]

Here is a link to Mikkel's blog which made me reassess the possibilities of Bodmin as a project   http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/75/entry-17944-rising-from-slumber/

 

Happy if Mikkel wishes to upload a couple of shots, as whilst detailed turnouts look good in the raw, however in the hands of skilled and artistic modellers, clervely producing something which is near impossible to produce with ready to run track

 

Here are a few photo's where again someone has spent time laying their track and adding a very accomplished and skillful artistic presentation. 

 

 

The clever weathering of the stock just blends into the scenery, stunning. Wish I was artistic

 

These are from a chap called Oli

 

 

[hayfield]

Could not resist uploading this photo

 

 

Initially (without reading the email) I thought why is someone sending me a photo of an industrial loco ?, its Oli's layout. He's also very good with photo shop

[Echo]

Going back a few posts, I thought about modelling Ludgate Hill in 2mm scale at one time and may yet pluck up the courage to have a go.

 

One observation on your trackplan (not a criticism) - the crossings at CR441 and CR494 seem much closer together in photos of the early 1950s. This one dates from 1953.

 

 

© Copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

To me, this was going to be the big challenge. An article in the Scalefour News 178 called 'Shortening My Crossing' described something similar, where 3 tracks cross at more or less the same place. I guess it was a throwback to the earlier, more complicated track of the SE&CR layout.

[hayfield]

Echo

 

Thanks for the post and especially the photo, as its an area I am not familiar with. Thank you for your comments, any constructive comments are very welcome

 

My contact obtained a plan which he overlaid a track plan within Templot, I guess its some form of non railway plan as I have had to alter the positions of the crossings slightly and I guess in the end it will be a reasonable representation of the site rather than an exact replica. But sometimes the smaller screen shot does give a different perspective/view than the same thing in full size

 

It might be interesting to Google Earth a photo of the site to see how accurate the plan is, but there are some size constraints with the plan

[Echo]

The area has changed out of all recognition, so Google Earth won't be much help I am afraid. The best scale plans are probably those in 'The Engineer' for the SECR rebuilding. I am not aware of anything for the BR era, other than OS maps.

[hayfield]

Back to the Masokits turnout

 

 

Started the wing/closer rail, pre bent and cut, then chairs soldered to it

 

 

Now fitted in place, this is where the DD Wheelwrights gauge comes into its own, before I do anymore I need to finish off soldering the rest of the chairs that need soldering, the left hand ones will be soldered after fitting the switch rail.

[martin_wynne]

The area has changed out of all recognition, so Google Earth won't be much help I am afraid. The best scale plans are probably those in 'The Engineer' for the SECR rebuilding. I am not aware of anything for the BR era, other than OS maps.

 

Where are you looking for?

 

For the London area, excellent old 1:1056 maps are available on the NLS site, ideal for use in Templot, see:

 

 http://maps.nls.uk/view/101201592#zoom=4&lat=6806&lon=3649&layers=BT

 

Martin.

[Echo]

Thanks for that Martin, Unfortunately the OS maps are not much help though as the track layout changed considerably after the last large scale map was issued. I am OK for info - it was Hayfield who was wondering what else was available.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Echo

[Echo]

Looking back through my notes I found this scaled version of that Engineer plan.

 

 

I suspect that if you eliminate the redundant trackwork you would more or less have the 1950s/60s plan. The position of the remaining turnouts and crossovers can't have changed much because of the constraints of the site.

[hayfield]

Martin

 

Thanks I think I am confusing things, your plan is an earlier version, but perhaps a good one to check details. However the plan size is settled its just getting the turnouts and crossings in an acceptable format 

 

However as I am in building mode for Bodmin General I tried to find a similar size plan for it on the site without any luck, I am obviously doing something wrong as usual, could someone please send me a link

 

Thanks

[hayfield]

Moving back to the turnouts I have built using Exactoscale chairs to set in place the common crossing around a pre-soldered Vee rather than common crossing, what was missing was an invisible tiebar

 

Some weeks ago I cut a couple of cast slide chairs in half and soldered the slide plates to a copperclad sleeper and then soldering the switch blades to the slide chair base plate, this worked but I had not fixed the outside parts of the chairs

 

 

Here are a couple of photos where I soldered the outside part of the chair to the stock rails and the sleeper/tiebar moves under it

 

 

Just had to reduce the length of the slide chair base plates under the rail just to give an extra bit of movement, other than that its fine

 

Sorry about the quality of the photos

Edited June 22, 2016 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

Cast metal chairs, 2 cut in half

 

 

The slide parts of the slide chairs soldered to the timber/tiebar

 

 

Switch blades soldered to the timber/tiebar

 

 

The outside part of the chairs soldered to the rail (not timber/tiebar)

 

I have used a thinner (1 mm) timber, sadly 10" and not 12" which will have to be changed. However looks and works very well

[PjKing1]

What a great idea John, it's something I'll be considering I the future as tie bars aren't my strong point (no puns intended).

 

Lovely work as always, cheers.

[Mikkel]

Very ingenious, John. I have no experience in these matters, but I wonder if it is possible to take it one step further so that only the center part of the timber/tiebar (the part in the four foot) moves, while the outer parts outside the rails are fixed? To allow space for the movement, a small section would have to be cut away beneath the rails, so I suppose the question is how noticeable those gaps would be.

[hayfield]

What a great idea John, it's something I'll be considering I the future as tie bars aren't my strong point (no puns intended).

 

Lovely work as always, cheers.

 

 

Paul

 

This is such an easy solution and I guess many have used the idea in the past , as using the 3 rd timber as a tiebar is as old as railway modelling, with 2 provisos

 

1, You will need the correct flux for the castings, I used Carrs Green as the red flux was not strong enough

2. You need a slide rail with the foot of the rail on the inside remaining intact (not filed) to increase the area which can be soldered

[PjKing1]

Thanks John

[CoViAnna]

Hayfield, you may have covered this in the thread but it is such a long thread!

 

How to you keep the straight rail straight when you are using C&L chairs?

 

When I built copper clad turnouts I would lay a 12 inch rule on the inside of the rail, push it flush to the ruler and solder the outside.

 

The chairs on C&L obviously prevent this approach.

 

Thank you in anticipation.