scanman Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Well, it's been over a fortnight since the last updat - but at lleast I've been working on the project! Tracklaying is now complete and followed the process in the images below. The trackbed is sliced cork wall-tile - for the sipmple reason it was available to hand and already paid-for! Originally I was going to ay the track directly on the foam, but recent comments on this and other newsgroups - plus some experimentation of my own - have shown this can be quite noisy. The trackbed was effectively 'half track width' then laid to pre-marked centrelines with infills where neccessary. (trackbed 1) Once laid, the bed was painted using 'test pots' in relevant shades from the local 'DIY' shop (the mind boggles that people would actually want to paint houses in colours aligned to that of a trackbed)! (trackbed (2). All trackwork was painted before laying, and the railhead then cleaned with an abrasive track rubber This provides masses of 'filings' - which if done in situ can sit in the ballast. Rubber & quartz doth make bad bedfellows with precision mechanisms! Track alignment at baseboard crossings follows the time-honoured process of soldering to screwheads - mine sink 25mm into the endboard so should be firm! The track crossing the baseboard was soldered immediatley to maintain alignment - then:- Again - as usual - the track is fixed with a liberal spread ofPVA adhesive. I then spread ballast on top, brushing it to shape. I would stress this is a 'preliminary treatment' - more ballast will be added later along with scenic dressings in the shape of ground pastels for shading, etc. The intention is to fully wire & test the trackwork before proceeding to that stage. At this stage the track/ballast is wieghted-down overnight - and here my other pastime (diving) comes in handy with the aquisition of lots of lead for wieghtbelt purposes (luckily it's winter and diving opportunities are limited)! The first section - entry to the yard and the coal road - were laid in one evening - then I ran out of lead! The next day the covers came off along with the loose ballast (I can recommend using a *good* car vacuum for this - mines a 'Vax'!) Each section of track has it's own jumper wires soldered-in prior to laying(in preparation for DCC control) and of course the crossing also has it's own jumper in readiness for route selection via 'Tortoise' point motors. Pointwork installation is done prior to fitting tie-bars. The tiebar area of the trackbed is protected by masking tape which *should* be removed prior to laying the point work. Spot the (deliberate) mistake! Having marked-out the track centrelines prior to laying the bed, the alignment *should* have been okay. Unfortunately the runround section wasnt! Okay - it was only at one end.... Fortunately copperclad sleepers are quite forgiving. I would have hated to do that with ABS-based products (or the standard 'EM' construction using rivetted sleepers!). Anyway, the visible trackwork is now complete and I've even started some scenery! Joking aside, the electrics (Yughh) come next. This will effectively consist of a 'ring' per baseboard with the various jumper attached to it. Track feeds will also run to the pointmotors to change the polarity of the crossings. I *think* that with only six points I can probably use two 9-pin connectors (one per board) for all feeds. The cable connectors will be long enough to enable the control position to be either to the front or rear of the layout. The next update will be a little delayed - 'Emsford Mill' - a building for a club EM layout of the same name beckons. All I have to do is find a suitable prototype - and hopefully you will be able to follow the project in the 'scenics' section of RMWeb... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scanman Posted May 1, 2010 Author Share Posted May 1, 2010 Hmmm... More than a little delayed... Whilst working on 'Emsford Mill' and another project close to my heart, 'South Hall Yard' has been quietly mouldering away in the workshop. Or should I say warping away'.... On returning to it today with the intention of sorting out the PMs on the left-hand board, I found that the board itself (including the urethane foam baseboard) was badly warped. The workshop is not damp, and the construction methods (for me) not unusual. I can only put it down to a sheet of 'dodgy' ply from a local DIY store.. (suffice it to say that, whilst I was cutting it for side strips I was somewhat concerned that some of the ply layers were not continuous across the board - and some pieces fell out!). I currently can see no remedy to the problem that is 'doable' - particularly with regard to the time left. So (if it's allowed in the rules) I'm faced with the prospect of starting over. However, maybe all is not lost. Having seriously re-thought my personal approach to the hobby (which 'til now has imitatied a butterfly) it's time to settle down and do something that will last! I will explain more later - suffice it to say that the new competition piece will be a corner section of the new layout, which, whilst simple should offer some intersting shunting movements and a place to 'watch the trains go by' - all in a space 4' x 3' 6". I'll develop a plan & maybe a draft model over the next few days. Regs Ian B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 Sometimes an unforseen problem can be a blessing in disguise, as I found when idiscovered that my carefully planned board, wouldn't actually go through the hatchback door on my Ka, and had to trim it down - go for it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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