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Lisa

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  1. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    When making sharp curves, i.e. sub 800mm radius I have found that the standard way of producing 2mm track by using the track jig to produce a herring bone does not work.
     
    I output the template from the track design package without the sleepers showing. This is because the package does not work correctly when the radius of the curve is sub 400mm radius. The template was cut out and fixed to the baseboard using masking tape.
     

     
    I marked the mid point between the rails at each end and then with a compass set to the radius of 190mm I then fund the centre of the circle, using simple school girl geometry. Then I drew in the arc, the centreline of the track.
     

     

     
    Standard sleeper spacing is is 30†which scales to 5mm. Using dividers I divided up the track centreline.
     

     

     
    Then it simply a case of drilling a 1mm hole at the centre of the centreline arc, placing a pencil in the hole and then placing a straight edge against it and positioning the other end on one of the divisions on the track centreline and drawing the sleeper centreline.
     

     
    Construction can now commence!
     
    Lisa
  2. Lisa

    Chagford - Layout Design

    By Lisa,

    Hi All
     
    I started to build Chagford before I stared blogging. So in this entry I will attempt to start to fill in the missing story.
     
    Initially the layout was conceived as a circular layout rather in the style of Mark Fielder's Pizza and the baseboard was built as a circular board. But it soon became obvious that most containers are rectangular, and not having a car and using public transport, the baseboard was trimmed to make it fit.
     

     
    The size of the layout is increase by using the device of the hinged cassette fiddleyard. The position of the backscene has to be positioned so that the fiddleyard can be accommodated when packed for transport. The backscene height is fixed by the box at 85mm.
     
    The blocks are the central fixings for the backscene, and the are composed of two pieced because my carpentry skills are not up to cutting a piece of wood at 90° in two planes. The first piece is fixed to the baseboard top, the second is fixed to the first by a screw in one vertical face. The angle of the back face of the second block was then adjusted using a engineers square to the correct angle and the the screw is tightened.
     

     
    The space between the backscene and the cassette location can be used to store other cassettes during operating sessions, but since the layout sits on a table storage space is not limited. The one advantage of a circular baseboard is that the frontage for a given area is larger than for a conventional rectangular design.
     
    The hinges are placed on blocks to lift the cassette fiddleyard up to make sure that the tracks do not get damaged when the layout is in transit. The two pieces are held together using over centre catches, these have had to be slightly modified to allow the layout to sit flat in the transport box. This increase the height of the backscene and thus the scenery by 12mm and also reduces the possible damage too. Photograph below shows layout seating after modification, which consisted of cutting 5mm from the catch lever.
     

     

     
    To be continued ….........
     
    Lisa
  3. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Once the final layout size was determined, I then started to design the track layout.
     
    At the initial stages I had decided the the main line curve would be 190mm radius. An arc of this radius was drawn on the front of the baseboard, using a ruler type compass. Templates for the various points were produced, complete with sleeper centrelines, using templot.
     

     
    The point templates were laid out as shown in the photograph above. This allowed the lengths of the loop and sidings could be checked using actual wagons. I knew that my length of my trains would have to be shorter than on the prototype but I feel that a train of 4 wagons and a brake, in BR days and 5 wagons in independent days would capture the correct feel. The tramway company did not believe in using brake vans, and because it was a tramway the Board of Trade could not force their use!
     
    I had decided early on that I would decrease the distance between parallel lines from the generally accepted 12.5mm between the centrelines. This has the effect in making the layout appear larger than it is to the viewer.
     
    Sidings on the model will have well very severe curves, but the only restriction on the radius of curves was would the wagons go round them without coming off.
     
    The station is a terminus, despite the layout being an oval, the line after the loop and the platform becomes a private siding for the Dairy, and on the prototype there was a baulk bridge over a stream just beyond a white gate. My intention is to include the bridge, but to leave this until I have laid out the loop and sidings.
     
    At this stage the layout was checked to see if the proposed operation sequence would work. Initially I had intended not to have a carriage siding, but the early part of the sequence would have required excessive shunting if the carriages were left in the platform overnight. It is much easier to check the sequence using real rolling stock rather than using paper based methods.
     
    The track in the area where the bridge will be installed is not glued down, but is held in position with screws for ease of removal. Once the track has been removed the baseboard will be able to be cut and carved to represent the stream channel and a link piece will be screwed and glued beneath to maintain baseboard integrity.
     

     
     
    Lisa
  4. Lisa
    Hi all
     
    The construction method for the Chagford baseboard is very simple. The top is made from 8mm MDF sheet. A circle was drawn using a ruler type compass. The circle was then cutout using a jigsaw.
     

    Once the basic shape had been cut out, the edge was smoothed using a surform and the attachment blocks were located as shown below. The blocks then had a curved edge made using the surform too.
     

    The edging strip is 4mm MDF cut into a strip and then placed in the bath to soften it, for about 20 minutes. So that it could be bent into the required radius. This was held in place whilst the MDF dried using 10mm chipboard screws. At this point the screws were removed and PVA glue placed on the attachment blocks and the screws replaced. This is possible because once dried the MDF holds it curved shape.
     

     

     

     
    Lisa
  5. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Since building the circuit of track and starting running trains I have had problems with derailments. Upon careful examination of the track I discovered that the alighnment of track section joints was not as good as I thought.
     
    By running a train around, whist running in the locomotive I found that it derailed at a point, I then carefully examined the track near the site.
     

     
    I found that small blobs of solder on the inside of the rails, this is much more critical when the track radius is sub 600mm radius. These blobs were removed by applying the soldering iron to the outside of the rail, and then by using a solder sucker to the inside of the rail when the solder was molten. The process of finding small problems with track and the rectifying them is called fettling.
     

    I also had problems with electrical pickup on the aluminium allow runners of the removable cassette. When I closely examined the inside edge, I found that there was a bur. The locomotive wheel was only in contact with a strip less that 0,2mm wide. This problem was rectified by using a needle file to remove the bur and apply a small radius to the edge of the aluminium section.
     

     
    The above processes took several hours but the time was very well spent as I can run a train around the circuit for one hour without any derailments, even on the very tight curves into the cassette fiddletyard. This has allowed me to run in the new 04 locomotive prior to insulating the DDC decoder. This is essential as doing so will invalidate the Farish warranty as the installation required that the locomotive is modified.
     
    Lisa
  6. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I have plenty of experience of using acrylic paints, but this is the first time I have used them to paint 2mm buildings. They have the advantage of being much cheaper than model paints, since you only need a small selection of colours and you can then mix them to obtain a full pallet. They also are water based, which means that if you make a complete mess, you can simply wash a plastic model in warm water, dry and then start again. When you are happy with your finished painting you will need to apply a mat varnish to prevent damage.
     

    I took the unpainted cottages, and first painted the slates the correct shade of grey for Welsh slate. This was initially undiluted acrylic paint, but this did not between the slates. I then added a little water to the paint, and repainted the roof,this time the paint went into the inter slate gaps.
     

    Next I painted the door area white, and let it dry and then over painted the door area, bright red as this was the door colour of the Chagford Gas Light and Coke Company. But the two layers of paint hide the door detail, and I then removed the paint using a wet cotton but and a cocktail stick. When the door had dried I then repainted the door red.
     

     
    I then painted the window sills windows and door frames. Next I dry brushed the brick colour over the walls. The colour only painted bricks and not the mortar. The Cottages still need detailing including weathering.The last photograph does not do the actual building justice!
     
    Lisa
  7. Lisa
    Hi All

    I've been experimenting with DG couplings to check if they will work around the 75mm radius curves into my fiddleyard on my layout. I found that with the wagons round one way the back wagon de-railed and with them around the other way not!
     

    Closer inspection of the wagon chassis proved instructive as the chassis was not square, and in fact one end was 0.5 mm wider than the other and what was happening was one wheelsets was sloppy and once this was corrected the problem with the couplings disappeared.
     
    In order to make the DG coupling work around the 75mm radius the rectangular coupling hook, was removed and replaced with a round section one.
     

     
    In the picture below the front wheel of the second wagon had fallen out and hence the couplings are not at the same height!
     

     
    This proves two things, the best laid plans of mice and women and you should not assume things, and instead you should check the obvious things first!
     
    Lisa
  8. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    When I wrote the the blog entry 'Chagford - Building Homes for the Workers 2' entry I assumed that the acrylic, water based, paint I assumed that the paint would dry within hours. I have been surprised that weeks later the non diluted paint, which I used to paint the brick colour onto the base coat coloured the mortar colour, has not dyed.
     

     
    My previous experience with acrylic paint has been on paper, card or foam-core card base. All of the above are water permeable, whereas high density styrene is not. Therefor the only way for water to leave the paint is through the layer of paint. As the paint dries it becomes increasing more non permeable, so the water has nowhere to escape, and thus the paint does not dry.
     

     

     
    My experience in some ways flies against the above, since the most dilute paint dried more quickly and completely than the non diluted paint. I had to make a decision of what to do with a building that has remained tacky. My decision was to wash of the paint and start again. I applied a thinned coat coloured the mortar colour and then use a technique from an article in Model Rail, which used wax crayons to colour the bricks and then applied a varnish to protect the finish.
     

     
    Lisa
  10. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I have recently been building a platform for a friends N gauge layout. This is a colonel HF Stephens line and the platform is composed entirely of timber. A major problem with this is to make the model strong enough to withstand being transported and not have the timbers, in scale terms, too large.
     
    When you consider 1mm equates to 6" in the prototype, I feel that the size of the timbers used in the fence are oversize, but I am pleased with the overall effect. I need however to complete the booking office and then paint and weather the whole platform.
     

     

     
    The height may appear too high, but the model is designed to be fixed directly to the baseboard surface. By the time that ballast and rail height is taken into account, bearing in mind that Peco track uses code 80 rail, the installed height is about correct.
     
    The roughness of the surface, and the patchwork of the joints between the planks on the platform surface capture the feel of the KESR halt at Junction Road. The word 'Junction' in this instance is used in the sense that it is a road which joins two other roads.
     
    The day before this entry was dated, I posted 'Chagford - Latest version of my Ebook Micro Layout Design' entry! To access it use the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co....-layout-design/
     
    Lisa
  11. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Railways have station and halts, whereas tramways have depots and wayside stopping places. Tramways generally have very rudimentary signalling if any at all and where they do it is often not interlocked with the points. It was the drivers responsibility to check that the points were correctly set.
     
    On rural tramways, the points were indeed often operated by the tram crew, usually on steam operated tramways, by the fireman. Points were often operated by lineside weighted levers, photographs exist of these levers, in books about the Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway, later refereed to as the Tramway section of the West Sussex Railway. On tramway loops the points were and still are on the Croydon Tramway spring operated, and trams entering the loop are required to traverse these points at a maximum speed of 5 mph. Thus all down trams will use the same track in the loop, regardless of whether an up tram is present.
     



    A loops the service operates on a timetable basis, if the timetable says the trams will pass at the loop then the first tram to arrive cannot proceed until the tram in the opposite direction has arrived, regardless of how late it arrives. On urban electric tramways, since trams are frequent this does not present problems.
     
    In the past in this country,and often on mainland Europe and other parts of the world tramways convey freight, which is transferred from the railway at a set of transfer sidings and either conveyed on the tramway by a special locomotive or as tail traffic on passenger services.
     
    Another difference is that tramways often have much sharper curves and steeper gradients and many ungated level crossings than railways. The points are usually much smaller radius and trams and as a result usually traverse then at 5 mph.
     



    Tramways are regulated not by the Railway Inspectorate, but by the Tramway Commissioners, which these days are part of the Department for Transport. To build or extend a tramway does not require an act of parliament, but simply the tramway commissioners to issue a Tramway Order and outline planning permission. Many links between mainline railways and industrial plants e.g. cement works, were constructed under a tramway order, and are officially refereed to a Mineral Tramways.
     
    Previous blog entry - Chagford - Building structures for tramways and light railways,was posted 4 days previously and can be accessed using the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co....light-railways/
     
    Lisa
  12. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    The trackbase for 2FS Easitrack is moulded in scale 60 panels. Once the code 40 rail is inserted, whether you have chosen the wooded or concrete sleepers it looks the part. But for beginners it is difficult to lay sweeping curves, without kinks occurring at the join between the trackbase sections. This was first pointed out to me by Noel Leaver at a 2mm event some years ago. This blog entry is the result of my musings on the problem!
     

     
    My considered solution, this may to some appear to be a bit of a faff, but the technique should not be beyond the skills of a beginner. The resulting track sections can be laid using the same techniques as for example laying Peco Streamline track.
     
    By inserting the extra piece, using the same material, from which the track base is manufactured from, using the Easitrack glue. The result is as shown below.
     

     
    Lisa
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