S’mae Marty

Great to see M.N. back in business, totally understand the mojo problems, but hopefully while we are all locked away in our homes, we can all make some progress. Just a pity that the restrictions don’t apply to the garden, if they did we all could make real progress!

Keith

Hi Marty

I love any layout on which you can make a journey and that is exactly what can be done on Newcastle Emlyn.  Wonderful stuff!!

Had to check a few times to see what scale you modelled in - you have mastered N gauge and really got the best out of it.

Barry

Hello all and thank you Doug, Ed, Michael, Petermac, Keith and Barry for your comments, it's just like opening the door to the clubhouse after being overseas for 12 months and being warmly welcomed back to the fold. So pleased to find you all here. 
There are others of you that I know are reading this that have followed the NE build for a long time. Warmest wishes to you all and the best of luck in these unusual times. 

Petermac, the chocolate shops are long gone… thankfully… the lock down would have most certainly have caused a permanent closure had they not already gone. 

Keith, despite the lock down the lawn doesn't stop growing does it? I refuse to go to synthetic grass though… except on the layout of course  :lol:

Barry, I paid my money and made my choice to go with N scale because of the opportunity to make my railway a journey through a landscape. We are of a like mind I think. 

On we go… 

Today's task… sink the turntable a little bit further into the turntable base board. In the photo below you can see that the PECO turntable has a lip that needs to be recessed into the cork. Either that or build up the road bed either side of the turntable which I decided not to do.



So.. up comes all of the track that had been plonked in as planning tools and out comes the turntable… (which still needs either motorising or some kind of Heath Robinson mechanical affair to make it work remotely).




Note to self… do not invert turntable… bridge and wheels are free floating and fall out….




… and retract latch, gently wriggle board upwards and out comes the turntable base board…





Off to the workshop we go to find the router and vernier measuring device… although I can shim the turntable up if I take off too much, I'd much rather get it right. I've got one shot at it. 

Patience young grasshopper, patience…

That's a very smart design, Marty, and an equally smart hole for the TT.  Good luck with the adjustment - is it just the cork layer you are cutting, or all the way through?
Michael

Thanks Michael, 
The aim with the removable boards is to allow wiring underneath without having to sit on the floor and get a crick in my neck!  :shock:

The disadvantage is that there are more track board crossings required but it's a price I am prepared to pay. 

Just routing into the cork for the turntable step, the cork is 5 mm thick tiles from the hardware store, cheap as chips in a pack of ten. I prefer 3mm but it's been hard to find.

Seems to have worked… it's a tiny bit proud but I'll layer up some ground goop (plaster mix) during the scenery stage so we should be OK.




Hmmphh…. doesn't that make you just want to go and find a beer….  :shock: :lol:   :cheers

Shims required after all…





Some leftover bits of card that were the windows in the engine shed are cut in half with scissors and glued in place…





While the shim dry, a suitable length of 30 year old track is dug out of the spares box for the engine shed road. The ends need squaring up. Since I'm not doing this with the track in place on the layout the mitre box and razor saw were located from where they were hiding…




Been so long, tricks get forgotten. A couple of enthusiastic seconds later and the rails have been ripped out of the plastic chairs on the first sleeper… doh… newbie mistake.

Rummage, dig, hunt, curse, poke around a bit in boxes under the work bench, curse a bit more…. ahhhh…. found it…!  Had to sacrifice a bit more track than I was hoping by starting again but the home made block stops the track from tearing out…




Always worth having a look at the ends of the track with magnifiers… whatever we use tends to burr or alter the profile of the rail I reckon. In this case burred over at the bottom, those tiny shards will make putting rail joiners on impossible, not that rail joiners will be used in this case, but they will push the track up higher than it should be… judicious application of the file required to tidy up… and yes… the sides of that 30 year old track IS filthy!





The file has been used to put a tiny bevel on the inside faces of the track to facilitate the rolling stock wheels transiting from the turntable to the shed road.




The track is not yet glued in place. So far so good though…





The dog is vocalising it's requirement for the daily walk… sigh…. more as it comes to hand..

I'm impressed that you were able to rout a bit of cork Marty - I imagined cork grains flying off in all directions ……………..

How did you cut the initial hole for the turntable - it looks so precise………… :thumbs  Do you have a mini trammel for the router ?


You are quite correct about the shards left by whatever method one uses to cut track.  I've tried a Dremel, hacksaw, razor saw and both horizontal and vertical Xuron cutters.  All require a tidy-up with a few strokes of the file afterwards ……………

Mightily impressive!  I don't know you you did that so neatly in the cork.  Nicely weathered track too - very natural!  Yet more excellent micro engineering.
Michael

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I'm impressed that you were able to rout a bit of cork Marty - I imagined cork grains flying off in all directions ……………..I was concerned it would too. I used the turntable as a template and cut out the vertical wall with a sharp Stanley knife. The router did the rest. Sharp router blade and the cork is pretty tough.

How did you cut the initial hole for the turntable - it looks so precise………… :thumbs  Do you have a mini trammel for the router ? I made aa adjustable mini trammel with the router to suit the turntable hole. The things you can find on YouTube!


You are quite correct about the shards left by whatever method one uses to cut track.  I've tried a Dremel, hacksaw, razor saw and both horizontal and vertical Xuron cutters.  All require a tidy-up with a few strokes of the file afterwards ……………

Hi Marty.
You'll be pleased to know that we have just started on the 'Teifi Gorge' extension to N-C E.
Board is made, just waiting for the directors to come up with a track plan, and Peco to start making turnouts again.

Just read through most of your thread once again!

Take care,
Shaun.

Precision engineering with good use of tools. You should be well pleased Marty.

Crack on,

Bill

[user=567]gastwo[/user] wrote:

Hi Marty.
You'll be pleased to know that we have just started on the 'Teifi Gorge' extension to N-C E.
Board is made, just waiting for the directors to come up with a track plan, and Peco to start making turnouts again.

Just read through most of your thread once again!

Take care,
Shaun.

 That is excellent news for the good folks of the Teifi Valley Shaun. I have no doubt that the narrow gauge line will beat my standard gauge extension by many years. It will be a good experiment because….

… once the GWR extends and upgrades the NE Branch to the planned deep water harbour just off Poppet Sands beach your narrow gauge will become nothing more than faded curiosity. "insert evil manic laughter"

Cardigan is closer to London than Fishguard and the GWR will transfer both the trans-Atlantic boat trade and the Irish cattle business to the new line with main line expresses direct to London Paddington. 

"Queue stirring patriotic music"

The thunder of Castle and King class locos exhaust beats will bravely echo down the valleys as gleaming brunswick green engines haul modern, comfortable chocolate and cream coaches to their destinations. Fully booked with business men and holiday makers the trains will exhibit a stylish comfort heretofore not experienced on British railways.

For a prospectus and an opportunity to share in this glorious enterprise please write directly to The Chairman, Paddington Station, London. writing "Gateway to the West", clearly on the envelope!

"reaches for a tissue to mop corner of mouth" 

teehee…  :roll:  :lol: :lol: :lol:

Look, we've even made a start, the yellow line heads west down the valley…




All the best

(Have you recovered from the floods?)

Thank you Bill, 
Cracking on…

This is how I am crossing baseboard joins these days… 

Sleepers are removed from a bit of track and a section of PCB is cut to suit. In the background of the photo below is a board crossing on the main line into the station that was installed…. sometime in the dim distant past. 

The closer track is a test fit of the separate pieces needed for the new board crossing. 




The fibreglass pencil was put grudgingly into service to remove the layers of grunge from the bottom and sides of the old rail. Comments on the painful drawbacks of the fibreglass pencil have been made before. This time the work was carried out over the waste paper bin to avoid the evil little fibreglass shards from sticking in me!
The PCB was also lightly cleaned to remove some of the oxidation. Soldering iron at the ready. 




Track and PCB tinned. Not only will the plastic sleepers melt if too much heat is applied to the rails but the fine copper layer on the PCB will also de-laminate with too much heat… how do I know this?




Track and rails are positioned and heat is applied to the rail and solder to join the track onto the PCB. Track gauges are used to maintain the correct rail spacing. 




The copper still needs to be cut between the rails to avoid a short circuit.

The track is screwed down to the cork and base board and alignment checked…

Blast!… another wee packer required under the turntable rim…





… and because all of this permanent way work can be a bit bland, herewith a view of the work in progress that is Henllan station from the top of the nearby hill. Hopefully the next time this particular view is shown the road bridge in the distance will be complete.




Stay safe everyone… more as it comes to hand.

Ha Ha!
Great stuff Marty, and long live Gods Wonderful Railway (don't mention this to Petermac - he doesn't appreciate the beautiful green livery…)

BTW, there is scope for your standard gauge to Poppit - the Teifi Gorge declared bankruptcy in 1920, and sold the St Dogmaels yard to a local motor dealer…

Stay well,
Shaun.

What is it with motor dealers and railway yards? Space I suppose. As you know, the Newcastle Emlyn station yard is/was last I checked, owned by a trucking company.
I've always fancied calling the harbour St Dogmaels…  :lol: :cool:

Looking good Marty, I especially like that shot of Henllan station  :thumbs


Ed

[user=1338]Ed[/user] wrote:

Looking good Marty, I especially like that shot of Henllan station  :thumbs


Ed

You wouldn't think so if you could see it now Ed - it's a right mess. Years of miss-use and miss-management.
Such a shame :sad:

Shaun.

Coming along nicely Marty !

Not that I'm a xenophobe but I never comment on "foreign" railway companies ……………………..the bricks, flora and fauna and surrounding countryside do however, look reasonably presentable …………………………………….

 :cheers :cheers :cheers :thumbs

:cheersI:cheers

GWR  -  Greasy Wet Rusty!  I'm with you Peter.