RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted April 5, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2015 They break into 3 sections each Mike, just wanted to ensure all went together properly the first time! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Echoing Mike, they do look the biz. Now, most importantly... can I borrow your clamps? I only have two... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted April 6, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2015 Echoing Mike, they do look the biz. Now, most importantly... can I borrow your clamps? I only have two... Typical innit - bloke who does building work wants to borrow someone else's tools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted April 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2015 Well, I have just stopped for a well earned coffee, having very nearly got Burghclere and Southampton baseboards into position... The bolts which hold the legs in place are currently loose. I had to get everything level and parallel working from the viewing side only. Now the bolt positons are all marked exactly, I can remove the boards and get the legs out to have their captive nuts fitted from the "wall side" Then, the next time they go together, they will be secure. I think I will be taking individual boards out to do tracklaying and wiring, as the gap between levels is OK for operation but not really OK for comfortable major works. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 7, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 7, 2015 If the intended use as fiddleyards doesn't come off you can always rent it out as sleeping accommodation. Apparently there's a shortage of rental property down your way... ;-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted April 19, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2015 Having double checked the final position of the left hand board and the exits into the four wall tunnels, I retreated to the comfort of the lounge floor to cut the track lengths and lay them out in final position. Have marked the tie bar and frog wire positions for drilling and cutting prior to final tracklaying. Cork underlay glued in place with the stuff you suggested Pete, thanks. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Looking good Colin. Hope the spray contact adhesive worked well for you... I've yet to find something that grabs the cork as well and has virtually zero curing time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted July 17, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 17, 2015 Well, a very small update today but significant to me. My first bit of railway modelling since breaking my arm Two P.O wagons from mathieson models, Bachmann tippler fitted with replacement buffers ( bought second hand with two missing) and an ommission rectified on Burghclere box. I had forgotten to fit the safety bars across the windows. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 My first bit of railway modelling since breaking my arm... Nice one Colin, and about time! You must be bored with the TV by now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted July 17, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 17, 2015 Indeed I was Pete. I still lack strength in my left hand and I'm a bit sore, but disproportionately pleased with my work today. One more step towards being back to what passes for normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearwater Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Great thread - v enjoyable and inspirational. Really enjoy the research aspect and your working out how to model it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 5, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) wow, is it 4 months since my last update. Some of you may have woken up in the meantime so here's an opportunity to drift back to sleep while I bore you with progress. I decided that my arm is strong enough for humping boards about and I have a week's leave so I decided it is time to resume tracklaying. Firstly, the throat board for Southampton was finished off, all lines properly trimmed and wired up This has about 10 feeds and 4 points. The four point motors worked first time, but at first test nothing ( I mean nothing) moved on any of the 10 feeds. Slept on it and thought OK, it must be to do with the frog switching so started checking with them. Eureka! I had left some loose wires ready for two missing microswitches that I had ordered but not yet received and they had shorted. Once I solved that 7 out of 10 feeds worked. Re-soldered those three and the only non-working areas now are the two points with the missing switches. Hopefully when those show up I will have one working board. While I waited for the switches, I joined the throat board to the station board and aligned the tracks across (temporarily) so I could start tracklaying in earnest on the station board. Once I had the positions safely marked I was able to separate the boards again so I'm only working on one at a time. First dry run to visualise the curves, double check points will miss baseboard supports and check fit of coaches in platforms etc. If I decide I like it, I will mark positions for feeds and point motors, life the track and drill the necessary holes. I will then solder dropper wires for all feeds and returns before re-laying and wiring. After a couple of attempts I am quite happy with things - see what you think. A couple of things to note firstly - top right hand corner is for dock related freight sidings, coming off the three way point. Not quite sure whether there will be another point (currently in shot) and three sidings, or two slightly longer ones. Also not certain whether to fan them out evenly or curve them round to a similar alignment as the run round siding. The top one will probably serve a low relief warehouse on the back edge. Second thing to note is the trap points - thanks Mike! A final shot with some stock in, just for scale Edited November 5, 2015 by colin penfold 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnaby Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hello Colin it's been a while since I looked in here too and what do I find, plenty of track laying and platform building simulation going on. It's looking very good now, beginning to breathe and come alive. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Looking good Colin. Any progress at all is a psychological boost. Re the wiring, may I suggest a stiff drink before you do any more of that? At least then if something doesn't work, you'll have an excuse. Layout wiring... a chore devised by the Devil himself. I have heard a horrible rumour that it comes easy to some folk, but I don't believe a word of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 6, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 6, 2015 So, my tracklaying was interrupted by a nice courier with two big heavy parcels for a future stage of development. Any guesses.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 I thought it was your arm you broke? Looks like a nice pair of prosthetic legs you have there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 6, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 6, 2015 I thought it was your arm you broke? Looks like a nice pair of prosthetic legs you have there... It's good but it's not right..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 6, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 6, 2015 OK you rotten lot I will tell you anyway! Its a load of 1.5mm steel which will be the bed of my spiral to connect upper and lower levels of the layout. My early tests suggested that some locomotives might not be able to get up the spiral with the required loads. DCC concepts powerbase looked like a good idea, but then I refined it. Rather than make a wood or MDF spiral and stick steel to it, why not make the spiral from steel? So thanks to Great Western Engineering who I found via EBay I now have 24 90 degree sections to make a 6 layer spiral. Track radius is 23"so the benefit of the steel in reducing the thickness of the bed will mean a shallower gradient than otherwise. Great Western Engineering, Vithan Cottage, Herland Road, Godolphin Cross, Nr Helston, Cornwall. TR13 9RD. Tel: 01736 762498 Mob: 07791 331701 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 6, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 6, 2015 That is a brilliant idea Colin - now all you have to do is weld it all together 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 That's rather impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 7, 2015 Mike you know very well that welding is soldering for big boys so I will be going nowhere near! It will be assembled the same way as the kits people sell with MDF decks, using threaded rods, nuts and washers. I ordered the steel pre-drilled with 6 holes per piece. I hope to get away with using 4 legs per piece (16 in all) but if there's any sign of flexing or wobbling problems I have the option. Not sure if I need 5 or 6 "laps" but I figured it was a false economy to order 5 and go back for another one later! This is the template I gave them: It would have been possible to keep the cost down with narrower than 6" but I wanted room for the radius to widen for pointwork, plus a safety margin in the event of derailments. I will still put "sides " on the deck and put a thick piece of furniture foam on the base (just in case!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandbridgejct Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Oh dear. I hope you've agreed running powers over Great Western metals. Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I had problems with my spiral in that the deck sections were reluctant to twist and they were 6mm MDF not steel. The cross section of a spiral has to be horizontal all the way up, left its own devices it will take up an increasingly steep angle as it rises hence the need for twist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted November 18, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 18, 2015 I had problems with my spiral in that the deck sections were reluctant to twist and they were 6mm MDF not steel. The cross section of a spiral has to be horizontal all the way up, left its own devices it will take up an increasingly steep angle as it rises hence the need for twist. Thanks for the tip perhaps I am about to discover another advantage of a steel deck given that 1.5mm steel will be more flexible than MDF. As it will be supported on threaded rods on the inside and outside raddii of the deck I will have an opportunity at every 90' of every circuit to ensure the deck is perpendicular. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted December 22, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 22, 2015 A fair bit of tracklaying, wiring and ballasting has been going on of late, of little interest on a planning thread I suppose. However, I had a little issue I wanted to resolve in my planning before I finalised the position of the back siding. I want to put a low relief large warehouse and goods office in the back corner suggesting the handling of bonded goods. I was unsure how the lines of sight would work out - particularly in making sure there were no glaring views where the low relief nature of the warehouse would be too obvious. I have made some quick card mock ups to illustrate the issues and test the sight lines. Here is the building in question And working my way around I think the other buildings I intend for the vicinity will block direct views where the lack of depth will be too badly shown up For those of you curious I am trying out the idea of a cut down version of Winchester Chesil for the station building and a small DNS goods shed (like the one at Burghclere) for the "local" yard And finally for you track people here is a sample of my ballasted track. I plan a wash of "sleeper grime" over the whole thing to tone it down but this is as far as I need to get to fix the track for final testing 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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