Collaford BR(W) in OO

[Taz]

Progress continues at a snails pace.

 

I have finally finished the traverser:

 

 

There are 11 through lines and 1 siding at the front. This is to allow access to the stock as the main through lines are too close together to handle stock on them.

 

The track at the bottom left feed off the traverser and provide additional storage. As can be seen I have finished it off in red primer.

 

This finally gave me the opportunity to get all my stock out of their boxes. This is the first time I've had the chance to do this.

 

 

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that my collection fills a 12 road traverser? I guess I don't have to buy anything else

 

I have also wired up my MultiMaus. This means I currently only have 5 locos active on the layout because I've only bought 5 decoders so far.

 

Now that the off scene area is finished I can move onto the track in the scenic area. I have just started on my first handmade point. I'll document the ups and downs in another thread.

[Brinkly]

You can have your traverser in any colour so long as it is red!

 

Not bad sir, not bad at all! And don't worry about progression, I've been going on about building Horrabridge for nearly two years now!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

[Taz]

You can have your traverser in any colour so long as it is red!

 

Not bad sir, not bad at all! And don't worry about progression, I've been going on about building Horrabridge for nearly two years now!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

 

Thanks Nick.

Now I have joined S4S progress will probably become even slower as I will eventually have a P4 project vying for my time as well

[gwrrob]

Progress continues at a snails pace.

 

I have finally finished the traverser:

 

 

There are 11 through lines and 1 siding at the front. This is to allow access to the stock as the main through lines are too close together to handle stock on them.

 

The track at the bottom left feed off the traverser and provide additional storage. As can be seen I have finished it off in red primer.

 

This finally gave me the opportunity to get all my stock out of their boxes. This is the first time I've had the chance to do this.

 

 

 

 

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that my collection fills a 12 road traverser? I guess I don't have to buy anything else

 

I have also wired up my MultiMaus. This means I currently only have 5 locos active on the layout because I've only bought 5 decoders so far.

 

Now that the off scene area is finished I can move onto the track in the scenic area. I have just started on my first handmade point. I'll document the ups and downs in another thread.

 

 

Thats very impressive Brian.I know from having only six roads on my fiddle yard you can never have enough for all the stock.

[BlackRat]

Love the traverser!

 

Nice to be able to run 9 or 10 coach trains to!

 

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the layout develop!

[steve22]

It's foam underlay for laminate floors, from Screw Fix. It's 3mm thick and resonably dense. I am trying it out as an alternative to cork underlay.

Once I have finished the traverser I'll give the whole lot a spray over with grey paint so it isn't so gaudy.

 

Hi Taz,

 

in further reply to Westerner's query,

 

this looks just like the stuff I'm experimenting with as underlay in the same way as you are. Its that wonderful (to my mind) stuff called Depron. Its used by modellers as baseboard when thick enough and with some support, track underlay and is also excellent material to score to readily form brickwork and stonework. It retains any indents. Examples of its use for stonework etc, in Nov 2007 BRM (Heyside layout) and a very recent article in Model Rail - sorry, I can't recall which one, I've lent it out. Glues well with Deluxe Materials 'Foam to Foam', you only need to use sparingly. You can use PVA, cheaper but it takes quite a while to get a grip.

 

As well as Screwfix try Focus. My local Focus store has stocks in, trading as 'Westco Flooring Insulation Foam Underlay'. Seventeen sheets of 1200 x 500 x 3mm. Quite a bundle for £23-39 and dead light to carry. Save your plastic containers once you've eaten your chips, its the same material. Think of it as a free model kit with every carton of chips!

Steve

[Brinkly]

Thanks Nick.

Now I have joined S4S progress will probably become even slower as I will eventually have a P4 project vying for my time as well

 

Slow and steady on the P4 work sir, get to grips with what you want to do, plan it, buy the items and do it a bit at a time. Don't stop on the 00 though!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

[Taz]

Thats very impressive Brian.I know from having only six roads on my fiddle yard you can never have enough for all the stock.

 

 

Love the traverser!

 

Nice to be able to run 9 or 10 coach trains to!

 

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the layout develop!

 

Thanks for the kind comments guys

 

Hi Taz,

 

in further reply to Westerner's query,

 

this looks just like the stuff I'm experimenting with as underlay in the same way as you are. Its that wonderful (to my mind) stuff called Depron. Its used by modellers as baseboard when thick enough and with some support, track underlay and is also excellent material to score to readily form brickwork and stonework. It retains any indents. Examples of its use for stonework etc, in Nov 2007 BRM (Heyside layout) and a very recent article in Model Rail - sorry, I can't recall which one, I've lent it out. Glues well with Deluxe Materials 'Foam to Foam', you only need to use sparingly. You can use PVA, cheaper but it takes quite a while to get a grip.

 

As well as Screwfix try Focus. My local Focus store has stocks in, trading as 'Westco Flooring Insulation Foam Underlay'. Seventeen sheets of 1200 x 500 x 3mm. Quite a bundle for £23-39 and dead light to carry. Save your plastic containers once you've eaten your chips, its the same material. Think of it as a free model kit with every carton of chips!

Steve

 

The stuff I'm using came on a huge roll and I have more than enough for this layout. I'm not sure its the same stuff as the take away containers though. This is proper flexible foam, not rigid in any way.

 

Slow and steady on the P4 work sir, get to grips with what you want to do, plan it, buy the items and do it a bit at a time. Don't stop on the 00 though!

 

Regards,

 

Nick

 

Nick, I have a few ideas bouncing round my head but nothing definate yet. I won't be stopping this layout though. Building all the pointwork for Collaford will be good practice for when I eventually start a P4 project.

[gordon s]

Hi Brian, I have no idea how I've missed this thread, but I must congratulate you on all the work to date. The conversion of the garage is a first class job and I can't see any issues with your woodwork, so perhaps you've been telling porkies.

 

Couple of questions for you regarding the traverser as it's very similar to my own. The heavy duty runners you have used. Are they mounted vertically or flat on the surface of the support frame? How many are you using? How did you maintain the bed in the same plane and at right angles to the entry track? I'm still playing with the alignment on mine as it's hard to keep the bed perfectly right across the width. Any tips?

 

I'm also a bit confused as the traverser can only move in one direction from the rear track as the wall is blocking access. Does this mean the rear track can only access track one on the traverser?

 

Apologies if I have missed the explanation in the text.

[Taz]

Hi Brian, I have no idea how I've missed this thread, but I must congratulate you on all the work to date. The conversion of the garage is a first class job and I can't see any issues with your woodwork, so perhaps you've been telling porkies.

 

Couple of questions for you regarding the traverser as it's very similar to my own. The heavy duty runners you have used. Are they mounted vertically or flat on the surface of the support frame? How many are you using? How did you maintain the bed in the same plane and at right angles to the entry track? I'm still playing with the alignment on mine as it's hard to keep the bed perfectly right across the width. Any tips?

 

I'm also a bit confused as the traverser can only move in one direction from the rear track as the wall is blocking access. Does this mean the rear track can only access track one on the traverser?

 

Apologies if I have missed the explanation in the text.

 

 

Thankyou Gordon. With your skill in woodwork I take that as high praise indeed , although I think if you looked up close you'd see it's a bit rough round the edges.

 

The runners are mounted flat. These are the ones I used and there are four of them:

 

http://www.screwfix....r-Runners-500mm

 

The deck is the original 9mm ply baseboard tops from when I was planning to have a conventional fiddleyard. This is mounted 69mm below the existing baseboard height. this was so I could screw it to the existing 3"x2" batten that was screwed into the wall. I then added 3"x2" battens to either end forming a U shaped structure that the traverser has to slide over. It is this U structure that ensures the bed is kept the correct height from the running lines. The legs at the front of the bed are on adjustable feet and I just took care with my spirit level to make sure the bed was level before adding the runners.

 

The runners are mounted on a combination of 9mm ply and 2"x1" to get the traverser at the right height:

 

 

I just used the material I had to hand which happened to give the correct height.

When setting it up I was just very careful to make sure all 4 runners were parallel and at right angles to the rear batton. It took a couple of attempts but I got there in the end. There is a fair amount of flex in the traverser and it is easy to pull it out of square unless you use move it using the centrally placed handle.

 

As the traverser board is made of 6mm ply but the rest of the layout is on 9mm ply the ends of the traverser 'float' over the 3"x2" end battens with a 3mm gap. This means I rely on the brass tube and pin locking method to ensure alignment in the vertical as well as horizontal plain:

 

 

The traverser does indeed only move in one direction. The running lines are placed at the front of the traverser and feed from alternate lines. This means that the first two lines on the traverser can only feed the down running line and the very last line can only feed the up line (see picture above which is at the penultimate full forward movement).

The siding at the very front can only be accessed if the traverser is pushed fully to the rear.

The operating plan is that the last line can be accessed from a seperate branch line (see copperclad strip in place at top right of picture above for location). The branch trains will normally be kept in the additional storage I have squeezed in behind the door. These will be fed from the rear line (but can also be reached from any of the other lines which allign with them):

 

 

Hopefully this sketch helps make it more clear:

 

[Captain Kernow]

Just found this thread, Brian - most impressive. Any more progress to report, perchance?

[Taz]

Just found this thread, Brian - most impressive. Any more progress to report, perchance?

 

Alas, no TIm. Although I do have the next two days off and I'm planning to set aside the time to crack on with building turnouts:

 

http://www.rmweb.co....ired-pointwork/

 

So far I've only built 2. I'm afraid I have been far too easily distracted either building those P4 wagons you saw on Monday or chipping my loco fleet.

I'm going to try and be disciplined and concentrate on the trackwork in the immediate future though.

[10800]

Clever design configuration of the traverser Brian - you're giving me cause for some thought for Tawbridge

[westerner]

Just wondered Brian , How's it going.

[Taz]

Unfortunately Alan, not a lot has been happening recently.

 

I seem to have had a run of weekends where real life events have taken up all my free time.

It has also been an uncertain time for me job wise, which has been preoccupying my mind, leading to me not being particularly modelling inclined in the evenings.

 

And to add to all that my Traverser seems to have developed a problem. Despite being in an insulated, heated, converted garage the Traverser seems to have warped a bit at the front. It's probably a design flaw. I had left the last 2" at the ends of the traverser free floating and relied on the brass rod and tube for vertical as well as horizontal alignment. Each end has two rod and tube connections to the rear of the track. Unfortunately the traverser ply base seems to have warped between these two connections, meaning the rail furthest from the tubes is no longer in vertical alignment with the feeding track.

 

 

The only obvious solution to this would appear to be adding extra rod and tube connections so that both sides of the track are held in alignment. If I do this then I think I will also remove the existing tube and use a smaller diameter of rod.

Even though I tested with lots of different stock when building the traverser I have since found a couple of items that foul the rod and tube (a Bachmann standard brake van and the Dapol Fruit D). I am sure they are probably slightly out of loading gauge (all my other Bachmann Brake vans are fine), but if I'm doing rework in this area anyway I might as well illiminate any future problems.

Unless anyone has any other ideas / suggestions on how I can solve this problem?

 

In the mean time I need to crack on with my point building.

Now the wife is watching "I'm a Z list celebrity, please can we leave them in there" I can spend an hour an evening on these so hopefully I'll start making more significant progress in the near future.

[Brinkly]

Just out of interest Brian have you thought much about an operating sequence? Or are you just going to run trains round!?

 

Regards,

 

Nick

[Gdaysydney]

Hi Brian,

 

Just found your forum. As an old Plymouthian I shall follow your build with interest.

 

All the best for the new year

[roger440]

Unfortunately Alan, not a lot has been happening recently.

 

I seem to have had a run of weekends where real life events have taken up all my free time.

It has also been an uncertain time for me job wise, which has been preoccupying my mind, leading to me not being particularly modelling inclined in the evenings.

 

And to add to all that my Traverser seems to have developed a problem. Despite being in an insulated, heated, converted garage the Traverser seems to have warped a bit at the front. It's probably a design flaw. I had left the last 2" at the ends of the traverser free floating and relied on the brass rod and tube for vertical as well as horizontal alignment. Each end has two rod and tube connections to the rear of the track. Unfortunately the traverser ply base seems to have warped between these two connections, meaning the rail furthest from the tubes is no longer in vertical alignment with the feeding track.

 

 

The only obvious solution to this would appear to be adding extra rod and tube connections so that both sides of the track are held in alignment. If I do this then I think I will also remove the existing tube and use a smaller diameter of rod.

Even though I tested with lots of different stock when building the traverser I have since found a couple of items that foul the rod and tube (a Bachmann standard brake van and the Dapol Fruit D). I am sure they are probably slightly out of loading gauge (all my other Bachmann Brake vans are fine), but if I'm doing rework in this area anyway I might as well illiminate any future problems.

Unless anyone has any other ideas / suggestions on how I can solve this problem?

 

In the mean time I need to crack on with my point building.

Now the wife is watching "I'm a Z list celebrity, please can we leave them in there" I can spend an hour an evening on these so hopefully I'll start making more significant progress in the near future.

 

If i understand the construction correctly, could you not replace the last few inches of traverser with aluminium or steel plate? That certainly wont warp!

[Mallard60022]

Hi Brian,

 

Just found your forum. As an old Plymouthian I shall follow your build with interest.

 

All the best for the new year

 

Also, as a VERY old Janner, I look forward to your progress reports. I do also hope work things are all sorted.

36E (ex 83D/73H)

[Taz]

Thanks for all the interest guys.

 

Work seems a bit more secure now so I am getting my motivation back to crack on. I have almost finished replacing the larger rod and tube used in the traverser alignment with smaller versions and this seems to have solved the problems I was having.

Once that is done I plan to lay the branch and exchange sidings part of the layout so I can test the turnouts I have constructed in situ. Assuming all is ok I will then crack on with building the rest that I need.

[Taz]

Time for a long overdue update.

 

What with one thing and another I haven't spent much time on the layout but some slow progress has been made.

 

I've started laying the track on the scenic section, beginning with the branch line and the exchange sidings.

To start with I layed the foam roll across the whole board. The plan here will be to remove the excess once all the track is down, creating the ballast shoulder at the same time. As the foam is an unprototypical green in colour I painted the area the track was to be laid with some cheap grey emulsion paint.

 

 

 

 

The trackwork is SMP plain track with handbuilt pointwork using C&L and Exactoscale components.

Each individual piece of rail has two wires soldered to it and dropped through the board and connected to the bus wire. Hopefully this should stop any future electrical issues.

 

 

Once I was happy with the position of the track the paper plan was cut and removed and the track glued down.

 

 

One final detail I added was to glue cosmetic fish plates to the plain track to give the impression of individual panels.

 

 

Extensive testing has shown that it is all behaving reliably so I am happy to use the same methods for the rest of the layout.

 

Now I have some trackwork and points I needed a control panel. So I've knocked this up:

 

 

It'll serve for the time being but eventually I would like to replace it with something with LED indication of the turnout route setting.

 

 

One other thing I found was that without much activity my stock was getting quite dusty sat out in the fiddle yard (not helped by the fact I was doing various DIY jobs within the garage).

So last weekend I knocked up some dust covers from 18x44 timber and a cheap plastic dust sheet.

 

 

 

Hopefully I'll be progressing a bit quicker from now on and updates will be more frequent than once a year

[gwrrob]

Nice progress Brian it has been a while. I like your dust sheets ,a problem I too can relate too although not that bad I can deal with it easily.

[Bibby Line]

Great idea for preventing dust Brian.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Eddie

[The Great Bear]

I'd been wondering what had happened to this layout, good to see an update. The trackwork so far looks very good.

 

Look forward to seeing more

 

Jon

[Brinkly]

I like the tent Brian, very good idea. Must admit I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

Regards,

 

Nick