Hayfield2

Alan Just stunning !!

Prte On the stock rails yes where the switch rail would touch. The blades, one side filed flat (which touches the stock rail) the other side I only filed the head and web leaving the foot as it is

Turnout is progressing, both switch blades now made and the second is being fitted with the second check rail to follow In some ways the common crossing was a bit more fiddly than I expected, but the switch rails were not as bad as I feared

Peter I have not mentioned Colin, he is a lovely chap and I have discussed his track parts with him and seen him at a couple of shows. Also have spoken with someone who is using his parts to build a layout. But what I have seen with Colin's kits is the turnouts are very much bigger than most of us use and are of etched parts which are soldered to copperclad sleepers. In some ways they are very much more detailed providing that the style of parts matches the era/location/region you are modelling What I am doing is a bit of a half way house between what is provided by the RTR brigade and going full rivet counting, it is a compromise but far better than what's available out of a box. And of course can be built to fit the location. How many GWR layouts have 2 bolt chairs on their sleepers, not many. Or LSWR where the 2 bolts on a 3 bolt chair are on the outside of the rail, not inside. In the end we have to use what's available to us and in a format we are happy to use This is a terrific resource for the modern era modeller http://www.mmrs.co.uk/technical/track.html from THE MANCHESTER MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

I have had a look at the photos I took at Lostwithiel station, not too much help as they are using a different rail clip and have slide chairs completely different to what is available Anyway a start with the common crossing in place and the first stock rail laid Here are 2 photos of a main line turnout, not much use as fay bigger than I am building, but gives a flavour of what is required

Martin Both rails came from C&L, bullhead is the HiNi and the Flatbottom was bought less than a year ago. I hear what you say but the DCC Concepts packing does state that its for flatbottom rail and it fits it. Strange !! The one worry I have is that the rail may be held vertical and I don't know if the C&L ST chairs have the cant or not, if they do then I am in trouble as the gauge will narrow when the chairs relax back into position

Martin My original 00sf gauges from Polybear are fine for both code 75 bullhead and code 82 flatbottom. I have a set of DCC concepts 00sf gauges which states is for code 75 but for use with flatbottom rail, They fit fine on code 82 flatbottom, but not on code 75 bullhead rail. Code 82 fb measures in at about 0.78 mm and code 75 bh at 0.85 mm !! I was given the gauges by a well known contributor on here who uses bullhead rail, and it was not fitting his rail either

Gordon Good evening, are you going to build a small module for the challenge ? Trouble is it wont let me change my Hayfield password. Anyway just about to use the gauges you sent. Never realised that flatbotom rail had a narrower head size than bullhead rail. Learn new things every day, or as in my case re-learn what I learnt the previous day.

I should have been doing other things tonight, however as I have decided to go from a Samsung to an I phone (only as its easier to link up with the rest of the family who have I phones/pads etc) I have had to learn how to download 600+ photos and a few short videos, Somehow I have managed to do it, when I have not before been able to. Still nothing other than a common crossing in flatbottom code 82 rail. To be quite honest its been a pain, I made a Vee jig for flatbottom but it failed. In the end I did it by eye and the flat bottom was a real help I normally have 3 strips holding the wing rails to the Vee, as you can see I used a single piece of scrap etched fr. Thinking was that the flst bottoms would be touching other that at the knuckle, and once in place and painted nothing would show anyway Normally I would have this crossing fitted, but I will have a quick check at a couple of photos I took of a flat bottom turnout 2 weeks ago. Doubt if I can do much too different, but I need to work out a shopping list for C&L for my next project

The turnout is soldered up, tie-bars fitted and isolation cuts were done in both rails and sleepers. Initial trial runs are fine. Next job is a full testing and a few dropper wires fitted.

I have used my usual method of sticking the plan to the building board (Habit) then masking taped some tracing paper over it, I then put 2 narrow strips of double-sided tape either side of the rails leaving a gap where the tiebar goes, The tape I cut in 2 to 3 mm strips, as its so easy to peal the backing paper off once built, using the plan this way would be just as easy. Rather than make the common crossing on the plan you can see I have stuck a common crossing in one corner of the board, I have used Exactoscale 1,6 mm thick plastic sleeper strip for the sleepers, these were cut from spare sleeper strip left over from other builds. These should match up with the Peco Individulay sleepers I have. You can see I have used a straight edge to help me keep the sleepers in line

The 3 way has all the parts tacked in place and put aside for a bit. Having a break from the 3 way and cutting the Exactoscale sleepers (using spare full length ones) for the flatbottom turnout

Back to the standard workbench and I have the less desirable outlook than the past 2 weeks, but other than 3 0-16.5 wagons being built and a small amount done to my Wills City nothing much has happened. Anyway a 3 way is on the boards, sleepers cut and the crossing Vee's fitted. Now to start fitting the stock rails. One problem is my soldering iron tip is nearing its end, mainly due to my soldering action, but I have found that solder paint and low melt solder seems to take their toll.

Nick The sides do stick together very well, I had a go at making a couple of bogie coaches from various chopped up side parts combination. Just need to fit the bogies which I have some old K's whitemetal ones, need to sort out the underframes and roofs (which should be an easy job) Looking very good.

This thread has gone off on a very useful tangent and the advice from WeatheringMan and others is invaluable and deserves a topic of its own just to gain a wider audience it deserves Thank you all for the top class advice

Thank you for taking the time to explain how they get round the copyright issues, whilst I started to take an interest in these products thanks to Knobheads conversions, after reading a quite a few pages of replies, many of which are quite negative. I was hoping to see if there were any past or future releases that would interest me. Secondly in a few other threads quite a few posters were quite opposed to even the idea of copying a part or parts even of long time out of production models. They seem to be unusually silent on these models which seem to be blatant copies of others (warts and all) products, in fact they seem to be very inferior copies in most cases. I can however see the challenge of making the odd one work, or even rebuilding one which is no longer available. In many cases it may have been better to buy a second hand original and updating that. But again thank you very much for enlightening me.

With all the talk about not copying others models/parts due to copyright, how is it that this company can do it?. And if they are so bad why are you buying them?

Sounds very interesting, in what sizes and type of material are you making them please

I know what you mean by having to leave one part to get on with something else, and lets face it, it's so much easier and more satisfying doing what you like most. I just am gobsmacked how you transform a piece of printed brick paper with lines on into a splendid 3D building, let alone an inspiring townscape. I think we all enjoy seeing photos of how the detail is built up, and must be inspiring others to follow your lead

Wish I could do that much in 30 mins a day, you must be from the Coachmans school of speed modelling

Well I was right about the 19th hole then. Well done Gordon,it is a nice feeling walking into the clubhouse with a winning score, though could be a bit expensive over the bar. Did you back yourself in the sweepstake ? I remember the first club competition I entered soon after I joined my first club, it was 2 months later that I was told I had won it. Well it was a Rabbits (highest handicappers) only comp, and I was a new member and probably won by default as the only one who kept his card going. Still as they say there are no pictures on the score card and that entry on the wall is just as impressive as the others. Now for the next one, club champion?

There were rumors smoke was drifting up over the greenside bunker on the 18th but he may be waylaid on the 19th

George Yet again a stunning piece of work. Any further progress on the track yet?

Will there be any Great British Trains released that would do. Also many years ago (70's) I bought a plastic kit built loco of a Collett goods loco, think on a Triang Chassis. Cant remember a Kitmaster kit of that loco though

Woke up to a lovely sunny morning, don't think I will have much modelling time as the wife wants to walk eastwards up the coastal path to the next bay, so looks like I will be walking the coastal path the other side of the harbour. A bit more cloudy now but hoping it will brighten up later