Port Chambre

[CourthsVeil]

Hi all,

it's about time I start a thread on my next little layout (and already started doing some work on it!). In another thread I already hinted at a new project: it is called “Port Chamb­re”. So here we go.

 

Not that I’m building a layout – I’m just fiddling around a bit…  

It is also an excuse to try out new techniques and skills, and one of these is making convincing hardstanding as well as a small ferry (or lighter).

 

There was a picture frame I “found” in the basement leaning at the wall since some 20 years (!). The back of this frame is a 50x70 cm piece of masonite, 3mm thick. Just a tad less than the famous Four Square Foot planks that make a “Small Layout”.

 

I envisaged a harbour scene, the trackplan being a simple zig-zag, like some examples shown in Carl Arendt’s Scrapbook: mainly Carl’s Imports (others can be found on various pages there).

“Secret heart of the layout is a sector plate hiding inside the warehouse, large enough to hold a small, four-wheel locomotive and a single car” said Carl. My micro layout got a lot more area than Carl's shoebox, so I added a siding in the middle – here a first (i.e. quick & dirty) track plan:

 

 

 

More to follow soon – watch this space!

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

To continue with the basics:

 

At the right side there will be two attachments: low a short track to allow a pilot with a wagon to clear the points, middle a “fiddle stick” accomodating a loco with three wagons.
(there’s also the possibility to change the fiddle stick to the upper siding – allowing more flexibility…)

 

The area below left will be cut out and give way for a little bit of water, place for a simple lighter with a track on it.

 

I see a few more or less neutral buildings^*) at the back and the right side – the structure contai­ning the sector thingy (see there) will be a Customs Office, the other ones commercial…

 

The character of the scene shall be quite uncomfortable, open to chilly winds; therefore no trees nor grass.

 

The very first mock up with pieces of track laying around looked thus:

 

 

 

Soon more will follow – your comments and suggestions appreciated.

Regards

   Armin

 

 

“Port Chambre” … centuries ago a really lost place, which fact might help to explain its original name invented my some bored soldiers or settlers (during the Hundred Years’ War?).
A name later changed by a shame­ful officer/official to its nowadays form…

 

 

 

^*) i.e. neither British-, German- nor US-style

[CourthsVeil]

Before I continue, here a few technicalities: the base WAS 50x70cm (20x35 in old money), but then I cut away a 5cm strip off the back edge. This now serves for the above mentioned two attachments (which too got stripwood bracings to bring them to equal height with the main board).

Rolling stuff is H0 = 1:87 = 3.5mm/ft – German and US – but I will not hesita­te to let loose   some of my British stock (class 03, pannier, J72 plus a few short wagons  ).

Those Micro Layouts need short points as well as short stock, switching requires slow locos; thus insulfrogs are beyond debate. Tracks at point’s heels powered depending on point setting.
Track is PIKO code 100 (flex where possible), the points will be operated via Rod-in-Trough plus Wire-in-Tube in conjunction with DPDT switches for polarity changing – a proved method, simple and reliable.
Couplings are all Sprat & Winkle (except US stock, of course), neodymium magnets buried just below the sleepers for uncoupling.
Power – all my layouts are DC – is supplied and regulated by a home made controller (this one).

 

I found the base already a few weeks ago. The masonite had acquired a nasty habit to bend. To stop this I bought a section of L-shaped aluminum (10x10mm) and bolted two 70cm-lengths to the underside. No more bending possible – for sure (bit more expensive than stripwood but much more reliable and lightweight too):

 

 

 

 

Now the cutout for the pier:

 

 

 

Then some bracings of stripwood around the edges – just for support, not for strength…

 

 

 

…and this saves my desk from becoming scratched!

 

 

So, here we go, guys. Hope you like it !

Opinions wanted!

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

This week’s progress:

 

Tracks are laid down and provisionally held in place with thumbtacks. In the back there are already a warehouse and a factory (build thread there), at the front the little control panel. To its right is the short track attachment to allow the pilot with a wagon to clear the points.

With some basic electrics added, my little locos happily trundle up and down. Main loco near the warehouse whilst the harbour yard pilot is waiting in the foreground:

 

 

 

The blue transformer as well as the sector track to its left will be covered by another structure – the customs office.

 

Watch this space – comments and/or suggestions?

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Time for a write up – not so much done (been a bit hindered by some flu stuff), but looking good:

 

After a lot of test running – partly with grandson no.1 – I ripped the track off and covered it all with a 70x50 cm sheet of foamcore, which I immediately cut to the basebard’s outline:

 

       

 

 

I think it will be fine to bury the wiring and point mechanics in the foam. Should it fail, I still can resort to cork…

 

 

 

This testing also did help to decide on the number and positions of the uncoupling magnets. I use those small neodymium thingies (12x4x2 mm). After cutting four fitting holes I glued the magnets flush so that they will sit directly under the sleepers.

 

 

 

Works fine for me.

 

Always grateful for comments…

 

Regards

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

A bit to report:                          Track relaid & wired

 

Now I could fix the tracks again. Since I will not ballast but cover most of the area with cobbles, I choose to use double sided carpet tape. I’m curious how it will keep all toge­ther…  

 

 

 

Here the complete layout in its full glory – i.e. with the two fiddle sticks loosely attached:

 

 

 

The sector track in the upper left corner is pivoted much the same manner as described in my other thread Enigma Sidings – bolt and T-nut.

 

 

In the meantime I wired all again (needed no less than three days due to a simple mis­take I had made a few days before and the – inevitably – following additional DOH-events…).

But now:

Played with tested it thoroughly and found no faults: all locos strolling happily over the points, no derailment, perfect uncoupling, a nicely regulating controller, sidings obtaining power according to setting of the relevant points etc.

 

Also three buildings made during the last weeks:

 

 

 

I’m really satisfied, it’s a pleasure to do shunting here …      

 

 

I’ve never done wire-in-tube before. So this will be my next FIRST (the red arc in the pictures above)…

 

Enjoy!

 

   Armin

[Stubby47]

If you intend to bury all the track, a couple of suggestions :

 

Pre-paint the foamboard grey before laying.

 

For straight track, remove all the sleepers - keep a few with chairs to use upside down on the rail head to maintain the gauge, then just stick the rails down - this will need packing to match the height of the points, but could be left lower at the other end to give a variation in height.

[CourthsVeil]

Stu, thanks for your reply, I value it very much.

 

Of course the foam thing will be painted (better said: primed); let alone to prevent soaking of the paper cover when I will apply stuff (the rear part will remain uncobbled, just dirty ground).

 

As to the front parts, I will try a sandwich of card packing plus (kinda) plasticard cobbles. Should this fail, I can resort to card packing plus Scalescenes concrete.

 

We'll see…

 

Regards

   Armin

 

 

 

PS: in fact I don't know exactly what Plasticard is; sure we have the same in Germany, just under another name…

[Stubby47]

Plasticard or Plastikard - a generic name for embossed plastic sheets with bricks, cobbles, etc., moulded in :

 

e.g. : https://slatersplastikard.com/

 

Ratio/Wills sheets are also plasticard, just very much thicker

[Donw]

Our plasticard is styrene sheet.

 

Don

[CourthsVeil]

Hi Stu, thank you for this explanation. What I was wondering all the time (i.e. since I started reading RMWeb) was that this stuff is called PlastiKARD whereas it does not contain a bit of card.

 

Now I know…

 

 

The material I have at hand is Busch H0 7088 "Platzfolie" – heavy brown paper (aha!) covered with moulded plastic: 

 

 

 

Seems to be quite useful…

 

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Extensions I

 

The next step dealt with the two off-stage tracks.

 

The two tracks shown in the middle picture in my last build post ( # 6 ) need a fixture to attach them firmly to the baseboard.

 

My solution is as follows:

The precise registration of rails is accomplished by ordinary rail joiners (they also provide power to the extensions – no additional wiring needed ! !).

Of course they are by no means strong enough to maintain contact when an accident hap­pens – e.g. somebody lifts the baseboard and doesn’t mind these two tracks (somebody? who?? me…???      ). Safest way would be brackets plus bolts w. wing nuts… 

Or what about magnets (much quicker to attach/detach)…?

 

Or a combination of both…?

 

Yes:

 

 

 

 

 

The magnet (one of those strong neodymium thingies) serves both tracks (second track – the longer one – not shown), the bolts provide a really reliable connection.

 

I have all I want: safe + precise + quick. Chuffed!         

 

Your comments are welcome…

 

Regards

  Armin

[47137]

This looks very neat and tidy, and easy to dismantle too.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

Thanks, Richard! It's nice to read comments that peers make.

 

 

 

                                                        Points I

 

A bit more to report:

 

Then it was time to make the rails look rusty; I prefer Tamyia ‘Nato braun’:

 

 

 

The point in the lower right corner is a simple and rather crude Tillig-standard item (they make two lines: Elite = elegant/expensive, Standard = cheap + not so good for RP25…); but it is rather short and thus well suited for a 70cm-layout. In fact, I like this product.

I insulated its frog and did the usual wiring to polarize it and to prevent shortcuts when ap­proaching the wrong way (“intelligent points” as manufacturers a few decades ago did choose to call them       ) – details there. The DPDT switch responsible for this also throws the rod to the tiebar. I belong to the K.I.S.S. bang and firmly believe in this motto, you know     …

 

 

 

The rod is laid down within the foamcore (my preferred Rod-in-Trough method), and will be hidden by the cover to follow (cobbles?).

The choc block makes fine tweaking easy, the wire throwing the tie-bar is a short piece of guitar string ( 8 thou ); stiff enough, but elastic too.

 

 

Watch for further things to come.

 

  Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Extensions II

 

Just a short explanation re. the tracks at the rear edge. The sector track is connected to the and powered by the toe rails of the diagonal points. These two wires are soldered near the pivoting point – no undue stress observable.

 

 

 

The straight track along the rear edge, however, is powered only when it registers with the sector track. To the rear (northern) rail I soldered a small brass bar; as long as the respective sector rail touches this bar, this rail is powered. The other rail is permanently connected to the respective rail near the points:

 

 

 

Thus this siding works much the same way as every “intelligent” point: it is live only if the way to it is set. If not, it is dead and serves as parking position for any idle loco (i.e. while the yard pilot does do its work).

This gives me three side tracks which can be switched on or off depending on the road set – in the following drawing colored pink:

 

 

 

More to follow - watch this space. 

 

   Armin

[47137]

A while ago I made a tiny sector plate from thin plywood, and after a while it warped just enough to annoy. I think Armin's arrangement will last longer.

 

- Richard.

[CourthsVeil]

Richard,

my layout Enigma Sidings uses a similar arrangement, and it shows no sign of deterioration despite heavy shunting 8)  

The difference is, however, the difference between foamboard (stiff pink stuff) and foamcore (5mm vulnerable stuff).

Therefore I prophecy to myself that I will sometime harden the very edge left of the pivot with a strip of plywood…

 

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Points II

 

Having spent some time with another of my card buldings, now a bit more to report here:

 

Now to the other (upper left) point: its orientation is diagonal to the control panel, so it can­not simply be pushed by a straight rod like the other point. So a bowden cable came into play:

 

 

 

A switch (down right) will be connected to the bowden cable (via choc block), at the other end (again via choc block) to a short brass tube with the fine wire throwing the tie-bar (soldered, not glued):

 

 

 

Two details:

 

 

Left the brass rod connects the switch with the bowden cable; right: no clamps needed – just a bit PVA at various sites…

 

Finished:

 

 

 

It is a bit difficult to fit the short wire into the tie-bar (had to relocate the point); as a result the alignment between the point’s heel and the sector track became a bit delicate, as the following test runs showed. This is not an issue, however, as long as I think in ad­vance and am a bit cautious.

All my stock – locos as well as wagons – run without trouble over the spot, so I’m happy       .

 

I would appreciate any critisism or whatever.

 

Regards

   Armin

 

 

 

 

Addendum: Readers of my threads should know already that I like to do experiments.

Initially I had no RTR bowden cable at hand and tried my luck with a length of mains lighting wire combined with shrink wrap tube. Literally “Wire in Tube”, see here:

 

 

 

Much to my surprise – it works ( no guts, no glory    ). To be honest, though, it works only in a simple configuration, i.e. it should be short and avoid too many bends.

 

So not on this layout      – maybe on a later one…

[rue_d_etropal]

If I am reading this right, then this is all going to be inset(tramway ) track. There are surprisingly few dockyard exhibition layouts, yet they make excellent micro layouts, which is one reason I started designing inset track to be 3D printed. I based geometry around Peco Setrack, as the small points fitted nicely into a small space and also allowed most current OO/HO locos to run through them.

I have already built a couple of mini layouts to test it out, and plan some more as I want to include my wagon turntables as well. This all adds interest to running(playing with trains?).

[CourthsVeil]

Simon, thank you for your comment – always welcome!

 

Yes, most of this (exception the rear straight track) is going to be inset track.

 

Your 3D-print approach to design this kind of surface is very interesting (and – me thinks – will have a bright future).

Do you have a recent photo (I've seen "My mini boxfile using …" already) ?

 

All the best

   Armin

[rue_d_etropal]

I do put new info on Facebook(link on my website) so there might be something more recent on there. I am working on a new project(one of many), but have not ordered any inset track for it. BRM have some samples and I am hoping they will publish something soon. They also have an article I wrote about the Monkey Island module. Trouble is that as soon as I have talked to someone about the track, I am developing even more variations. I am currently working on SM32 and G/G1 versions which are causing me more headaches than any other system, due to the less than fine scale wheels etc. It has slowed me down, which is probably a good idea.

[CourthsVeil]

Packing

 

 

Next step was the preparation for the cobblestones. I simply cut 2mm (i.e. 80 thou) cardboard so that it fits between the tracks and glued it down on the underlying white foamcore stuff.

Here as it looked after just two packings had been laid down:

 

 

 

The part along the middle track had to be cut (carefully) so that it could be bent accordingly.

 

Well, what I already suspected, became true: the 2mm packing is quite insufficient. No wonder, the rails alone are code 100, to this add the sleepers… Therefore a second pa­cking of card – this time 1.5mm – was cut and glued on top:

 

 

 

For the time being I do not dare to produce the cobble cover myself (e.g. by scratching in plaster or fine foam); instead I choose a ready to plonk product: Busch “Platzfolie H0 7088” – see above post 11.

It is a bit difficult to apply since it is self adhesive. A property I’m not so fond of because these things tend to stick too quickly to their support. I want some time to correct the po­sitioning, so I prefer a glue of my choice… But we will see how it works… At least it looks really good.

 

I first tried it with a strip on a spare piece of card:

 

 

 

It turned out that this is not just plastic film but thin foam, which is quite easy to bend (i.e. without any cuts you can see in the middle pic above) and thus to follow curves – as shown above.

 

 

More will follow soon – your comments and suggestions appreciated.

 

Regards

   Armin

[47137]

Armin, your post is at exactly the right time for me! I have two sections of inset track to do. A 9 mm gauge tramway and a 16.5 mm gauge dock side track. I imagine, we can cut pieces of 1mm card to the right shape and arrange them a little too low beside the rails. Then the "Platzfolie" foam sheet will add the extra thickness to be just below the rails.

 

How thick is the "Platzfolie" foam sheet, and do you think a piece will bend to fit the track in my photo, the radius here is about 700 mm?

 

Thanks,

- Richard.

 

 

 

[CourthsVeil]

Richard,

fine, if my post fits what you want to know.

 

If I measure correctly, then the foam is just half a millimeter thick.

 

700 mm radius? No problem at all !

 

All the best for your build

   Armin

[CourthsVeil]

Just a short write up.

The part of the layout behind the middle track will be covered with real dirt from the yard (well baked and sieved) and the rear track ballasted. The transition between the inlaid front part and the remainder along the middle track is a flat “shoulder”. Since I prefer paper maché much over plaster, I used this lightweight stuff here too:

 

 

Armin