Rain, Steam and Speed - William's Workbench

[Lacathedrale]

A few month's later and with some kind encouragement I'm back at it:

 

 

A crossover, with a very gentle curve (this was taken through my magnifier which is why it looks a bit distorted).

 

I was inspired by Nick Mitchell's build of the 2mm Jubilee chassis (see 2mm.org.uk) and his methodical approach. I realised that in my previous efforts I had made mistakes or assumptions and those were what were tripping me up - cutting the pegs too short on the easitrack tie bar joints, using a three point gauge on the curved turnout route, etc. etc.and not leaving enough plain track either side of the turnouts for smooth transitions.

 

Put an order in for a switch blade filing jig, a proper jig for the easitrack tie bars and some under-layout actuating units.

[Lacathedrale]

In the words of Simba's father from the Lion King - everything you see before you, is my (2mmFS) kingdom:

 

 

The two workboards are back to back and form one continuous curve.

 

My very tentative plan is to

• Desolder the switch blades in the turnout middle-left
• Drill clearance holes under the tie-bar ends for all turnouts
• Create a bundle of new, correct length switch blades. pegged for Easitrac turnout bars to fit all turnouts
• Somehow validate if I want to use the association 1-100 turnout operating units, or direct drive via servo (any ideas?)
• Mount the whole lot to a slender 5mm ply sub roadbed

[Lacathedrale]

I'm sure this is very much par for course in this subforum, but I am super proud of this switchblade:

 

 

I used the associating switch file jig (I gather I'm meant to replace that wet and dry?) and the easitrac tie bar jig - and behold the stars have aligned and it's all square and will (probably) work. Only another five to go...

Edited November 23, 2018 by Lacathedrale

[Lacathedrale]

Here's the crossover, completed but for the check rails. Wagons run through in all directions without derailing - success! I cut the rail too short on one of the legs, but felt confident enough to snip it off and perform some surgery  and it came out OK - a sign that I'm finally 'getting' it?

 

 

This has been a confluence of a number of factors and lessons learned, I'll try to summarise incase they may help other beginners like myself, but I hasten to add I am in no way ANY kind of authority on this:

 

- Following the order of construction laid out in the 2FS 'Track' book is extremely helpful. For example, I have found it imperative to read and re-read the section on what to gauge, from where, and how. My first turnout was no good because I inadvertently gauge narrowed it by using a three point gauge on the curved route, for example.

- Jigs are absolutely my friend and doing this stuff freehand is Nth level wizardry. For example, I drilled a hole in my workboard to take the peg from the switchblade (seen above) so I could file down the excess safely without risking it being bent/etc.

- Test wagons needed to be at least moderately weighted - the grey wagon above with nothing in it and no liquid gravity was so light that it could be blown around, but that meant that it was TOO light to reliably identify actual problems with the track. The van was also hilariously out of gauge with buckled wheels.

- Building longer 'tails' for the turnout roads where feasible just makes everything easier for me - space to run a wagon through and space to align with the next assembly.

 

The switch-blade filing jig's wet and dry is already smoothed out so I'm trying to find out what to replace that with before tackling my last turnout.

[Lacathedrale]

Check rails in, and still working OK.

 

(click for big)

 

 If I raise the PCB up by 0.5mm or so in order to bring the rail-head level with the easitrac rail-head, how will I keep the switchblade pegs positively registered into the tie-bar holes? I think I will need to glue tiny risers underneath.

[Ian Smeeton]

Any reasonably fine wet & dry paper will do. I think I used 800 & 1200 grit paper, as it is what I had to hand.

 

regards

 

Ian

[Lacathedrale]

Thanks Ian, David from the stores suggested 120-180 grit which seems a bit on the rough side - I'll get a selection and see what sticks.

 

This morning I got up early and managed to snag another half an hour with the 2FS track. I have a half laid 15' long 4mm layout too, but it's in the garage and particularly chilly mornings render me much more likely to sit down at the dining table in my slippers than trudging through the mud.

 

A few posts back I showed a back-to-back picture of the point work I was looking at finishing up, and I brought one previously completed B6 to the party. As I went to solder up the next lot of rail, I realised it had a funny profile to it - almost like it was a piece of folded over etch that wasn't laminated together. Under closer inspection it turns out I had soldered the ENTIRE LENGTH at a 45 degree inward cant. Quite how that happened I have no idea, but with my newfound knowledge and experience I was able to re-gauge it from the curved closure rail and everything has turned out fine.

 

In addition to I got the vee and stock rail soldered up for the last piece of pointwork, ordered some wet & dry paper, and I have the ply ready for mounting the completed formations onto - in the format of butterfly meme: Could this almost be a layout's trackwork finished?

 

(I am already planning an outslide-slip into tandem-threeway spaghetti, but I think that must come after this is at least fully working and functional.

[Lacathedrale]

My last turnout is halfway done - I'm so pleased. I managed to lay this final vee really nicely eventually, but while I was doing it I had a question - how do I use the roller gauges around the vee? Somehow the following arrangement just slotted in (presumably because there's a notch in that middle ring?) I could not see any obvious way to ensure the knuckle of the wingrail lines up with the tip of the vee other than just being very bloody careful:

 

 

I couldn't see how to repeat the process the other way around, so I ended up using a slide gauge  and tweezers to hold it aligned on the vee side to solder, then flipped the slide gauge into the other flangeway to align the switchblade end and double checked with another roller gauge. It worked out OK as mentioned, probably my best vee so far - but there has to be a better way!

 

#

 

My next set of track work is definitely going to use etched chairplates - either the laurie adams ones, or a versaline system - so I can assemble the vee in the assembly jig.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Lacathedrale

[Valentin]

[...]

 

My next set of track work is definitely going to use etched chairplates - either the laurie adams ones, or a versaline system - so I can assemble the vee in the assembly jig.

 

You don't have to use the etched chair plates to be able to use the crossing vee assembly jig. Assembling the vee in the jig works with any type of soldered track.

[Caley Jim]

I use a piece of either plain or bull head rail (0.5mm wide) to gauge the first wing rail gap with a straight edge to align the closure rail. For the second one I use two pieces of rail, one to gauge the gap as before and the second piece fitted through the first wing rail gap to align the second closure rail. I coat the two pieces with a felt tip pen to stop them getting soldered.

 

Jim

Edited November 27, 2018 by Caley Jim

[Lacathedrale]

You don't have to use the etched chair plates to be able to use the crossing vee assembly jig. Assembling the vee in the jig works with any type of soldered track.

 

Hello sir, I am not yet (wasn't?) comfortable enough to precisely align scrap etch on the jig so that it falls between PCB sleepers - so if I misjudged the vee/wingrail assembly would be raised up ontop of the PCB sleepers, where the rest of the track is soldered directly to it. Am I missing something obvious?

 

 

I use a piece of either plain or bull head rail (0.5mm wide) to gauge the first wing rail gap with a straight edge to align the closure rail. For the second one I use two pieces of rail, one to gauge the gap as before and the second piece fitted through the first wing rail gap to align the second closure rail. I coat the two pieces with a felt tip pen to stop them getting soldered.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim, the slide guage I've got is exactly that - a piece of rail bent into a sledge shape and covered in red felt-tipped pen ink - but maybe smaller L-shapes would be useful as you have shown here - since it would need to nestle in on the vee-side of the wing rail's knuckle, while the other part of the wing rail is hard up against a straight edge on the other side of the vee?

[Caley Jim]

That's exactly what I do for the first wing rail.

 

Jim

[Izzy]

Hello sir, I am not yet (wasn't?) comfortable enough to precisely align scrap etch on the jig so that it falls between PCB sleepers - so if I misjudged the vee/wingrail assembly would be raised up ontop of the PCB sleepers, where the rest of the track is soldered directly to it. Am I missing something obvious

 

Rather than scrap etch you could use 0.3/0.5 hard brass wire. This should give plenty of leeway. It’s a method I have used when building easitrac points on ply sleepers, where you can snip the wire at the outer rail sides to just leave a central portion that helps electrical bonding and isn’t too visible. Not needed with soldered track of course.

 

Izzy

[Lacathedrale]

That's a good shout - I've got 0.45mm nickel silver for pickup wipers in 4mm and I'm ordering some 0.3mm brass for the brake gear on my loco chassis. Thank you!

 

I've found that a bunch of the rail strips I've ordered are >0.55mm wide so they don't fit into the roller gauges, which was quite frustrating to find out after soldering a stock rail all the way through a turnout - but I think I can use them fine on Easitrac bases for plain track and a judicious use of a button gauge and triangle gauge got me through.

 

I'm so happy that I double-checked the B2B on my wagons and added a bit of weight when using them for testing - just those small tweaks was enough to turn an ""unusuable"" turnout into something that just required a few tweaks, and the use of a four-graded nail file/buffer to smooth the railhead has worked wonderfully.

[Lacathedrale]

So I realised that it was a bit wasteful to order Tim Horn baseboards, when I could get some quality 6mm birch plywood cut to the exact sizes I require and fix with pins and PVA. I'm just very 'done' with a million countersunk holes and screws. Overall I think I'm just bored of baseboards!

 

Anyway, I do have some 4mm ply that I could potentially use for a sub-roadbed but I decided to hold off until the 6mm stuff is cut and I can go and pick it up. I've got a nice 3D model of the prospective layout, included below. The station arrangement is based on Skelmansthorpe, where the platform was truncated in the inter-war years and then only used for parcels traffic by the post-war era. The rest of the layout is influenced by Hepton Wharf's canalside goods shed and the use of a crossing gate to turn the through station into a terminus. Not sure what to do over the track on the left, maybe just a road and a hillside rising up behind.

 

 

I decided it was probably time to get started on some rolling stock again, so broke open the Jinty conversion pack that I got from the society about 6mo ago. The chassis jig came out really well, and the first half of the chassis going together nicely. Unfortunately I don't have broaches up to the 2.5mm required so I will need to order them, and I managed to ping away my last 0.3mm drillbit that I need to get the brake rigging holes prepared. Rather than rush things, I'm going to shelve it and figure something else to do - maybe some more wagons?

[Lacathedrale]

Another RCH mineral wagon done - this time a 7-planker (shown middle, below). At some point I need to paint these - I'm thinking of an all-over dark grey, and then working backwards when I can source or find relevant private owner transfers. I'm quite pleased, I managed to get the etched axle boxes on without too much of a fuss. I did make a bit of a pigs ear of the brake lever but feel well equipped to deal with whatever's coming next.

 

 

Loins sufficiently girded, I decided to tackle a trio of SR Vans, all on 10' wheelbase chassis:

 

 

One thing that came out of my track laying is that there needs to be SOME weight in the wagons. The NEM standard for N is 0.2g per mm over buffers (see here: https://www.morop.eu/downloads/nem/de/nem302_d.pdf ) - I think it's fairly reasonable to settle on half a gram per foot - so roughly 10g and 8.5g for vans and open wagons respectively. I'm not looking to pull huge trains and I think the better running qualities will win out. Time will tell! Araldite? PVA? For the wagons I was going to glue underneath the chassis, around the solebars.

 

EDIT: one thing I forgot to ask - looks like these are designed to take turned rather than cast buffers - no skin off my nose, but where can I source them?

Edited December 9, 2018 by Lacathedrale

[Caley Jim]

EDIT: one thing I forgot to ask - looks like these are designed to take turned rather than cast buffers - no skin off my nose, but where can I source them?

Is shop item 2-072 what you're looking for?

 

Jim

[Lacathedrale]

Is shop item 2-072 what you're looking for?

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim, I don't think so - those have the buffer cylinder included too ( at least according to the diagram?) - the instructions say 2-441 but those don't appear to exist anymore. Maybe 2-068? Or maybe I just slice off the plastic moldings and use my existing cast RCH buffers and play completely ignorant instead of willfully.

[Caley Jim]

I'm not familiar with the kit, so didn't realise that the buffer bases were moulded as part of the headstock.  Looking closer at the photos I can see that is the case.  One of 2-064 to 2-068 are therefore what you need, depending on the head size.

 

Jim

Edited December 9, 2018 by Caley Jim

[richbrummitt]

You could try Robbies Rolling Stock for transfers. A helpful gentleman who will make to your designs/requirements at (what I thought were) reasonable prices. Seemed happy to resize to suit different wagon sources too, although I haven't tried him for that yet.

 

No connection other than happy customer.

[Lacathedrale]

The objective for the Xmas period is to finish off my big-four era freight stock - constructed, painted, decalled. So far:

 

To finish:

1x LMS Cattle wagon

1x LMS Ventilated van - Needs the roof removed and weight added

3x SR 10T Box vans - Need brakes and buffers

 

To paint:

2x RCH 1923 7-plank Wagons

1x LMS Ventliated Van

 

If I can get the Jinty chassis further along than it currently is, then I'll take that as a bonus.

 

You could try Robbies Rolling Stock for transfers.

 

 Thanks Rich, I've put an order in to him for half a dozen PO wagon transfers, and sent an order into Fox for the above vehicles I've got. I also ordered some turned steel buffers from the association shop (and a sneaky Toad brakevan just because) - so hopefully I should be fully equipped to achieve this.

[Lacathedrale]

Three SR 10' vans are now ready for painting. The bodies were done earlier and have some liquid lead for weight, but the final furlong with the chassis took about 3 hours longer than I had expected.

 

 

I made quite a few mistakes on them, but overall I'm quite happy. This felt like a 'level up' from the standard 2-33x etches that I've done before since the solebars and brake gear were handed, the latter with lots of fiddly little bends.

[Robert Shrives]

Wow - lovely work and good to see progress . Following with interest as much the same for me, hopefully the seasonal shut down will see a bit of progress 

 

Thanks for photos 

 

Robert 

[Lacathedrale]

Thanks Robert, I'm trying

 

Today marks the completion of all my rolling stock to date. The last time I attempted the LMS Van (one of my first attempts at a 2mm kit) I really sodded up the axle boxes, but this time I think I did alot better. I still didn't use enough solder - in theory I should be able to solder the etched ridges down to create a smooth flat plane - but I was too  worried about soldering the whole thing together and ending up with an unsuable blob. Thankfully, that didn't happen and we're good to go!

 

 

[Lacathedrale]

Well, all the wagons are out in the workshop letting the undercoat cure - and so now I'm getting all nervous about that. I've done miniature painting before but typically one tries to exaggerate contour and line like theatrical makeup in that field, rather than a realistic smoothness of scale modelling. I've swotted up a fair bit over the last week in preparation and bought some last minute supplies (Microsol, Microset, and some vallejos - for my sins I still use acrylics - Chocolate brown for SR Freight Brown and Panzer Dark Grey for GWR Freight Grey) - very shortly it will be time for rubber to meet the road. 

 

I've got some reference photos of the SR 10T vans - it seems they were only 10T because they used LSWR axle boxes with smaller journals - even though they were SE&CR designs. I'm quite aware that for a layout in the 30's there would be at least some representation of pre-grouping freight stock kicking around but I'm going to be sticking with LMS / GW / SR for these wagons. https://imgur.com/a/BFS0YCu

 

In way of prevarication, I set about starting to convert the N gauge bits I got as a freebie with my project Jinty. Couplers and boxes shaved down in preparation for DG's, and some temporary 2FS wheels fitted. It's a bit of a silly thing, but really brings home how much even just a wheelswap adds.

 

 

Since the photo, couplers already shaved off in preparation for DG's and the lot will be painted too. I don't think I'll be able to colour match the oxide plastic to get the solebars the proper colour - but the frames on these aren't likely to hang around too long so I may just do a best-effort and grime it up (yes , I am aware that the oxide scheme was introduced in the 30's and so unlikely to be as filthy as I will have to make them, in order to disguise the colour disparity )

Edited December 15, 2018 by Lacathedrale