2009 April 3

Friday 3-04-2009

First thing was to stick some newsprint to top of the finished tables to allow me to draw in the curves.
Like I thought, it is going to be difficult to maintain 1200mm curves. The crayon circle is 1200mm, however I need to hide the storage sidings under there too!

 

Well I am still finding holes in my planning :D

The loop is there to store lower level trains and to lower track from top level down to the lower level on a gradient not more than 1.5%.
The SG track up against the wall on the top level and that puts it on the outside of the loop starting from the bottom. It needs to arrive on the top level and be on the outside there as well. It would be convenient if the wheat silos and the loco facility were separated from the SG too. So I am going to try to cross underneath the BG near the top, cross under the top board and come up between the window pillars (steep pinch) and swerve around the pillar as it heads to left of picture.. oh in this space pictured below.

The sg climbs up inside the BG and continues towards the camera. A station is in the foreground with a loco and storage sidings into the corner.

 

The SG using 1200 mm radius enters under the top board and climbs up into the gap.

The BG  arrives about the middle of the board and is 900mm or possibly 1000 mm radius

It seems 3 steps forwards and 2 steps backwards. Well I guess it is still progress ;)

 I tried to get an idea how it would look in Trainz. This depicts it as best as I could do but you need to remember that this is a double decked layout and so everything going under the bridges heading in a northernly direction will in fact be on the lower level and be underneath the upper level, not inside it as seen in Trainz.
So you can see the three levels The SG dives under the top level and comes up along the wall.
I did not get the mountain right. Standing on the aisle and looking towards the wall.. You should see the silos and storage roads to the right. A slope will fall away from these roads hiding the store tracks which are visible in the Trainz diag. However the bottom will be open to assist with rerailing vehicles.
The double line will climb the loop and as it gets to the doorway it will appear as a ledge cut into the hill, and the hill will help to hide the store roads from viewing from the aisles.
In my mind I can see it working. Now comes the hard part and put it into practice ;)

Lets see what tomorrow brings :)

Saturday April 4th 2009

Hi all,
I have been having a think about track bed especially the raised track that sits above the bench work. I am going to experiment with Trackrite flexible track underlay, although it is expensive it seems to do a great job.
However cutting a curved 4 inch wide strip out of 2400 x 1200 sheets of ply seems like a difficult, time consuming way of getting the job done. Bunning's sell a masonite strip about an inch wide and a meter long which is used by framers to true up walls so that the plaster can be fitted on cleanly. This stuff is easy to come by and cheap. I know masonite is not great to nail track to, but I am thinking of laminating sufficient strips together, offsetting the ends so that I can make a perfect curve in position fixed to the uprights. I simply route out the top of the upright and lay the track bed into the slot, gluing and clamping as I go. The first strip and the next strip are joined by laying a new layer across the join and cutting shorter pieces to fill in the short ends hold it into the required radius and elevation and keep gluing and laminating till the whole curve is in place. Glue the peco track to the underlay and when dry, lay it on top of the laminated roadbed, curving it as you go. . It sounds right, and I have read about it in US magazines, so I think I will give it a go :lol: So on Monday a visit to Bunning's should give me a price to work on and hopefully this will work.
All I need to do is figure out how to join it to the 3 ply table tops. ;)
Cheers
Rod

April 10th?

Well here it is almost Friday morning, and I have only been out in the train room once since I returned from Melbourne  :cry:  And that was only to drop off the 6 sheets of ply that arrived on Wednesday.
However I am thankful that I had paid for the ply, because after spending everything I had at Collingwood I now have to wait another week to get back in the black once more. However I will not be going to Caulfield this year. Much too expensive these model railway shows  :roll:
Still unable to work out how I am going to arrange the tracks in the reversing loop, but I did purchase a rather useful marking out tool today to help get the radii at least right.
I was fortunate to pick up 3 new T Class at the $120 price as well as the last VR X Class (48) at $250
A new Exhibitor was End of the Line Hobbies, And as well as being a stockist of Peco Code 75 track, he was selling SEM AE, BE and ABW cars fully assembled and painted. The price was very reasonable and I ended up with 4 of them. As well I got two VR oil pots Built by AJin in Korea  and distributed by Train Hobby. These are brass models and extremely nice pick ups. Well worth the several hundred dollars they cost me  ;)

So now I can get rid of some Freight Australia T Class's and at least one FA X Class that are not in my era of VR changing over to V/Line.
Cheers
Rod

Wednesday April 22 

Warm and sunny, and I got out and bit the bullet!

Originally I decided to buy short pieces of ply that I could fit in the wagon just to save $30 Delivery of full sheets.
It did not work, and I removed all the short sheets and constructed 4 large pieces to fill in where the tracks will go. The outside will be cut away with the jig saw to form the 1.5% track climbing around to the upper level. The way I had it built would have given me about 16 pieces to jig together to form the climbing track bed

The upper section has been lifted because first it was blocking too much view of the bottom layer and Secondly, I was having difficulty crossing the SG line underneath the station on the top level. So I have raised the BG station track 40 mm which reduces the short grade to slightly less than 2%.
I will have to remove the top level in front of the pillar (spirit level is near it) and use a single track long  bridge to span the gap and still allow double stack space underneath the BG yard. I will put a short lowered floor between the upper level bench boards to support the scenery and cut the top level view away from the bottom level view.
I was thinking that two plate girder bridges can carry the BG storage road and the grain silo roads across the same gap. In my head it looks "do-able!"
Now I better search the catalogues to find the bridges :)
Hmmm  tomorrow I can cut out the brick piers to allow the ply to settle up against the walls and then I can redraw the storage tracks and the transition track to the top level. I have an appointment with the Urologist to see how my kidney is coping with things and make sure the cancer has not returned. Then hopefully get this track in place so I can run trains from the top level to the bottom level. Well its a start  except for this damn 2 steps forward and one step back :)

Cheers and we can see how we go and maybe get some more done!
Rod

25 April 2009 Lest We Forget!

Anzac Day One day I hide away, and so a good time to do something more with the layout!
Still you would think with all this thinking, I would make far fewer mistakes :(
So a few questions...
How much clearance do I need from the top of the roadbed to the top of my highest vehicle?
Answer is found by laying a section of code 100 rail into some "trackrite undelay" and using the NMRA

track gauge see how much space I need. First picture suggests the gauge is pretty accurate for double

stacks ( You never know my Yankee mates might want to run a train some day :)
So it looks like 9.00 cm should be more than enough.

Sure like working with ply. Much easier to cut with a jig saw than chip board. So having cut it out

and temporarily lifted it into a close approximation of its eventual position, I now have to work out

how high each pier needs to be to maintain a steady 1.5% gradient.
Now I don't have an inclinometer and frankly have no idea how to build one. So how do I work out the

height of each pier?
 I guess I could roughly measure the distance the track will travel, and construct a scale graph with

distance along the horizontal, and height on the vertical. I have butchers paper, so I could do it in

real 1:1 scale Then simply work out how far the riser is from the 0 point, then measure off the height

on my graph. Unless someone can suggest an easier way, I guess that will have to do ;)

Replaced the storage / silo upper level module in its raised position. Note the 40mm cross pieces which will lift the yard above the station level, thus allowing the SG to cross underneath 40 mm higher and thus retain its 1.5% gradient.
Also removed a small portion of bench work to enable the SG to cross underneath with no increase  of 1.5% gradient.

The bottom bench top still supports 3 BG large storage roads (equal to largest passing sidings elsewhere)

 

Cannot go much further till I fix the roadbed in place and maintain the gradient to the top level.

I guess the next job should be to fit the cutting in along the wall, and see where 1.5% ends up. Fix

in place then work back along the spiral. The ply on the left needs to be lifted 40 mm on cross pieces

and lower down after the station.

So lets see where we are next time we meet,
Cheers
Rod
continues/

2009 March 28

Saturday 28 March 2009

A70 a hand decorated epoxy casting bought in the days when quality injection moulding was never ever going to happen.
This is one engine I will never swap, it does sit up front of Precision Brass engines and the Auscision Plastic will take second place to it as well.
This engine belonged to a mate who died suddenly whilst still a young man.

949 A lima model, rebuilt by Peter (ANR) Smith, at least 20 years ago. A prize purchase with its sister in SAR red and silver. Done many miles and enjoyed by thousands at Exhibitions all these years. Sadly it does not look that good up against the TOR models.

The only 44 I have and its a dummy. However it is being fitted with a camera and transmitter/ recorder. So it might be interesting!
A good comparison of how wrong the Lima body really is.

A good comparison of how wrong the Lima body really is
From the top, you notice the Lima is short and too wide and the windscreen is imitating the bow of a boat!!

No 2 end and B end comparison. You just got to wonder how qualified was the draftsman who did the drawings for Lima.

Probably the Limas best view if you don't look past the headlight

Well I did get a little done today. I wasted a few hours looking for a model that I thought I might of lost (Peter's A)
and more trying to figure out how to open it so I could chip it.

Then the layout design needed a rethink and some changes. I had to lower the board slightly, and trust it will not destroy the effect of the lower level climbing through a valley.

But at least the top level store yard and loco depot should be ok now

 

Yeah I think it will be fine!

Now I need to cut out a paper template as large as the whole loop. Then on the floor draw in the track allowing for transitions and easy reverse curves to make sure everything fits in. When I am satisfied, I will lay the ply out on the baseboard. Mark in the track position and using a jig saw, cut out the double main line and then using risers glue and screw it into its final place creating the 1.5% gradient up to the top level.
The remainder of the board can then be fixed into position and the hidden storage roads will be fixed in place. Fill in the gaps from the cut out where necessary. and protect the gap with strips of masonite (ready made at Bunning's called framing spacers) to prevent derailed vehicles falling through. I do it this way, as you cannot have a solid bench top because of the risers, well you can but this way I get a more stable riser and by laminating strips of ply on the joins on this cut out track bed, I get a very smooth gradient as well as  nice easements.
Well God willing and in between motor car races tomorrow, I will return soon enough :D
Cheers
Rod

2009 March 27

Continues

This is the starting corner. As I do not want to block the doorway I have put loops on both sides.
The loops will hide storage sidings on the bottom level, as well the top level will now extend into the corner and will be a carriage storage area and local engine service area as part of a large station.
The storage sidings in the loop will be covered by a dual track that sweeps to the right near the left hand pillar loops around and joins the storage sidings (hidden) before entering the lower level. A large feature bridge will span the lower track. If my calculations are correct I can average a 1.5% gradient.

Yeah a massive mess! Still sorting through 40 years of collecting! Most of this stuff will end up under the layout, however....
This longer view shows the separation between the two levels. It would seem that visually when you concentrate on your level the other level should be out of your vision. I am hoping that the illusion will carry through to the model. Top level extends 300mm from pillars The bottom level nominally 600mm.  

Trentham sits in the corner
Trentham will be restored for the new model railway club.

 
A 3 part Murray Railway Module system supports a load of stuff being prepared for operation on the new layout.

What a mess!! Hopefully next time I take pictures here, this will have found a home!

 
A thoroughly chalked NSWGR 35 Class. Still needs work, and I have to find a way to seal it without causing it to get wet and run!

Highly modified Lima 930 and B Class. Heart wants to keep them, they served me well. But I would get nothing for them, so will keep, I guess.

The high level track swings towards the camera and spirals around to the lower levels 1200 min radius and 1.5% grade. The track will be sceniced to appear as a grassed embankment. A few trees along the line and telegraph poles and fences.
The side not able to be seen will be open, allowing access to the hidden storage sidings. These sidings do not change level, simply store the train till it needs to return to the other end of the line.
On the high level the baseboard will now continue into the corner. A BG station starts about where the spirit level is heading to the left. connected will be a grain silo and storage siding and or a small locomotive depot on the top deck heading into the corner.
Well see if I can do some more bench work tomorrow, and then write some more here.
Goodnight
Rod

2009 March 25 A New Beginning...

Wednesday March 25 2009
Well as I am starting from scratch I thought I might as well document the progress of my model railway too.
Before I go much further, you must understand that I am 63 years old and have been collecting model trains for 50 of those years.  So please don't think that I am bragging (I am not) And no need to feel envy either I have what I have because I waited 40 years to get it!  Don't wish you were in my shoes, rather relish your youth and a long time setting up things so that one day,you might get a little going your way too. oh where was I?.....ah yes...
Anyhow for most of that time I was buying a house, bringing up my kids and had little space to do much with my Trains. And little money left spare to buy the brass models that was all we could get in Australian outline.
When I got married I was determined to buy a house as soon as possible. No way was I going to make some land lord rich at my expense. So I moved into my house a year later and made a bank and a finance company rich instead.
So my first layout went into a 3.6m x 3.6m  bedroom. It disappointed me, and about 5 years later my son arrived and the bedroom became a nursery. It took another 4 years to clear the second mortgage, and I decided to build a 6m x 6m garage out back and layout number 2 was quickly put together. However it was never sceniced, and was a disappointment.
Remember that son that took out the first layout? Well at 17 he also took out the second layout. His Mum talked me into pulling out the layout and turning the shed over to Dale's brand new pad. That was in 1990. But it was Ok because I had got together a whole heap of railway mates, secured a building from the VR and started a model railway club, that was going to build a massive model railway, and I got my running done there.  http://www.hbmrc.net/  Here we are come over for a visit. Tell them Rod sent you :)
In 1997 I transferred to the North East and worked as a driver in Wodonga, So I sold everything and bought a new house in Wodonga. This time the one who shall be obeyed picked the house and you guessed it, no room for a model railway, or a garage / shed for that matter either.
So apart from a visit to HBR in Melbourne I was again a collector with no way of running trains. In 2004 my wife succumbed to breast cancer, and 2 days before Christmas I kissed her goodbye as she left this World for another place. It took me a while but I finally got rid of Riitt's house amd moved to a 10 acre block near Yackandandah, where I built a house (small) and a studio (huge) and started to plan my model railway. This one will get finished, I hope and God willing.
These first pictures show a massive big mess! I got my stuff out of storage and am steadily working through all the boxes to remember what I have got. The boxes will eventually store under the bench work, so everything is getting moved around as the bench work finally starts to spread around the room.
The room is 15 m x 8 m. The railway will start to the left of the door, and loop back and under itself (two levels (stacked one above the other) will then go down the long wall turn along the end wall and into the middle where a centre module will be built. Returning back to the end wall, and then up the other long wall, into another loop where the bottom level climbs up to the top level and circulates the room a second time. It has been a painful process and the design changes day to day as I remember previous mistakes and pick something up from all the books I am reading, and web sites I am visiting.
Oh and again I have helped start off a model railway club, this time in Albury-Wodonga,The Murray Railway Modellers Club This little group is one of the keenest groups of people I have ever met in a model club.  Lets see how we go, but next time I will show you the studio :)
Cheers
Rod