Hey! Tom & Jerry! Now I really am going loony toons I emaled Laurie at BMann customer service and they're sending out a new, tested Ten Wheeler for me. Which is fab, as I really didn't want to mess with the rods. Another point for BMann! Now it's time to rebuild some trackwork with powered-frog turnouts... (took me two hours to clear my workbench off yesterday, so there's really no excuse now)
So, inspired by Mark Watson's re-tracking of his curved turnouts with powered frogs, as well as by my new steam pointing out some flaws & "oops" cuts in my existing trackwork, I decided to rebuild my turnout fixtures. Thought I'd start with the "easiest": a straight turnout diverging into a 12"/9" curved turnout. I used wax paper to trace the existing trackwork: I don't have tracing paper & I'm really excited about all things wax paper right now. Taped the trace to the workbench, then slipped the turnout templates underneath to see how they'd fit. I'm changing the straight turnout from a #4.5 to a #6 to ease the curve, so mainly I lined up the frogs: Then I sprayed the templates with adhesive, placed the pc board ties on, and then used the trace to again align the turnouts. Taped down the templates, removed the trace. Built both turnouts as one fixture, as it makes for much smoother running. Started from the straight stock rail and worked my way "in". The inside stock rail I just tacked until the end, so that I could adjust everything with the gauge: Turned out okie dokie. Here you can see how I "freehanded" the diverging curve: I also curved the point a wee bit as well, and now the diverging rails act as an easement into the curve, whereas before, there's be a curve at the point rails, a straight through the frog, and then another curve into the next turnout. [continued]
So here's the "finished" fixture: Removed the templates, and layed it over the existing track to see if it worked out: Pretty much perfecto! The #6 is a bit longer than the existing turnout, so the handthrow will be back a bit, so I might have to carve out a little of the mountain. I'm definitely putting the handthrow on the INSIDE of the turnout, as I've had a couple larger locos bump into the handthrow while coming around the curve. Here you can see the difference between the new turnout angle and the old: You can also see the VERY THIN cuts I made to isolate the frog. I took Chris333's advice and got some ultra thin Dedeco discs. DARN they're thin! and make great thin cuts, too. I can't believe I was butchering with the regular thin dremel disk. No longer! Here's a close up for comparison: So I've finished filing off excess solder & gave it a good wash. It's drying now & I'm debating whether to try "Blacken It" on this fixture or not. Would look cool, but I don't want to mess it up. Still debating! Next I'll build the handthrow / slideswitch units for under the throwbars. Here's to turnouts that turnout well!
I'm glad I went ahead and, sans instructions, Blackened It: Blackened It on the left, regular turnout on right. I placed it in a tray and "painted" it with Blacken It, let it sit for a bit, and then washed it with soap & water. Turned out ok the first time: the photo above is after the second painting. Even if I was going to paint the track, I'd still Blacken It, as the RAILTOPS are darker too, and so don't show up like two bronze light streaks in photos. Built the handthrow stands out of scribed styrene: At first I thought I could just shape a "U" underneath for the slide switches (middle, right), but then I realized that lateral shear was the big concern for keeping the switch in place, and, not wanting to rely on GorillaGlue, I remade some with wrap-around support for the switches (on left). I filed the switch handles into a round shape to fit the drilled hole in the throwbar, and cut a notch in the ridgid caboose groundthrows (spring-loaded are too weak for the slide switches), so that it takes up the extra "throw" past the slide switch & point rail swing: GorillaGlued the styrene base under the throwbar area: I forgot I usually put two pcboard ties on each side of the throwbar: next time! Make sure the throwbar (an HO pc board tie) is already drilled for both the slideswitch & the pin for the handthrow, iso cut, & in place before gluing! Let dry overnight. [continued]
I place a "L"-shaped piece of piano wire into the throwbar to connect to the handthrow, then solder it to the throwbar. After lining things up, I gorillaglue the handthrow to the styrene base: Go easy on the glue (even if yr using CA), as it tends to wick up into the mechanism. Solder wires from the slide switch to both rails, and the middle contact to the frog. You will have to cut trenches in your roadbed when installing. I also soldered some jumper wires now, as it's easier here than after installation on the layout. After umpteen turnouts built and installed, I finally got around to testing the darn thing BEFORE I install it: Good thing, too, as it shorted like crazy. And I couldn't figure out why. Checked all the iso cuts in the ties. Sometimes it'd be fine, then slight pressure to the track would short it. And one throwing one turnout would short the whole thing. [The red wires on the near ends are just temp bridges: on the layout those sections have their own feeders & toggle / powerblock (for optional DC ops)] Then a brainstorm: I was using different slide switches than the 3-way turnout I powered earlier. The Miniatronics micro slide switches are built different than the Radio Shack right-angle micro slide switch I used before. And closer inspection showed metal in all sorts of places. Or maybe it's another issue. Anyway, I replaced the Miniatronics with the Radio Shack and the fixture worked like a charm. All locos creeped through fabulously. So now I just need to install it here: Need to soak the area and pry up the track, without losing the feeder wires or deforming the flat plane. Will probably have to fill in some divots with spackle. But before I rip things apart, had to have an ops session: As you noticed right away, there's 40+ more trees in them hills. They go faster (though maybe not as shapely) with two doing the work. Will have to pause in the foresting, as I'm building a fire watch for the mountain top, a mule-path scene on the far side, and will be replacing all the other turnouts in turn, as well as redoing all the trackwork on the mine side. Heck, why not just start from scratch? Hmmm....
Ten-Wheeler Tsunami Two weeks ago, I got a Spectrum 4-6-0. Black, Undecorated. Showed up, looked great, ran jerky, rods banged, clicked, pilots splotchy black, etc. Contacted B-Mann, they sent a replacement within a few days. Yeay! Oh, but it jerked worse than the first. And while the first jerked back-front, this one went left-right, and enough to lift the back wheels off the track! So one more message to Laura at B-Mann (who probably thinks I'm a total butterfingers, or a major pain in the booty, or both), and she sent out a "track-tested" ten wheeler which arrived today. So, while I need to return the first two, for this brief period I have THREE Ten-Wheelers on my little layout. Had to take some picts! Ok, that last one is a brushing hairball my wife snuck onto the layout. She thought it would gross me out: I'm trying to figure out how to make it into a bush or tree. At least she's showing interest in the layout! Almost forgot: video of probably the only ten-wheeler double-header consist to roll this layout! [While the sound effects are all my daughter, the shaky camera work is all me.]
Started in on the actual turnout replacement. First soaked the area with water & a little 70% alcohol: Let it sit for a "Best of 11" Mario Smash Brawl game with my son. (I won) Then used a dremel to cut the track: a section smaller than the length of the new fixture (it's easier to cut track than add). Used a putty knife & steak knife to pry up the old track, then scraped the area bare while everything was still wet: Everything came up rather easy, though the ballast and real dirt I had used to scenic the area made a muddy mess. Scrape scrape, wet vac wet vac. Used the steak knife to loosen a section of track on both sides of the fixture: as the curves on the new turnout fixture are slightly different and I want all the track to flex, join & curve seamlessly. I did the cutting very slowly to not damage the ties or bend the rails. Then I cut a new space for the handthrow base for the straight switch, as it's a bit longer than the original, and it's on the inside of the curve this time, as well as channels from throw to frog for the wire that powers the frog: I also decided to change the siding from curved / angled to straight / parallel to the edge. The freight depot will be between the siding and the main, so camera shots of a car at the loading dock will have the cannery in the background instead of 1:1 scale space. I'm also contemplating using it as a place to attach a removable cassette "carfloat" so there's real off-layout traffic rather than "the other side of the mountain" traffic. Things are drying as we speak.
And while that part is drying, I started building the firewatch & trail scene. I needed a rockier peak, so first I used the steak knife to lop off the mountain top: Then I put a big blob of spackle on the plateau, and then installed a plaster rock casting on top. I also caulked some rocks to the backside hill above the tunnel, that will be part of a dirt/rock donkey path for firewatchers & supplies to get to the top: After the spackled set a little, I used my fingers to blend the spackle from the foam to the rock casting. Here's the backside: Looks totally out of whack right now, but after painting and texturing with dirt and rocks, I think it'll come out pretty groovy. This is what I'm shooting for: While the layout is aiming for early 1900s, given my love of poetry & lit I don't think I'll be able to resist putting a Gary Snyder, Phil Whalen or Jack Kerouac up there. (All three spent summers as fire watchers in Oregon & Washington: Kerouac's Dharma Bums and his Desolation Angels are recommended fun reads). The shack is about 14'x14', and shouldn't be too hard to scratch (except for the screens: might have to skip those). Everything should be dry tomorrow, which is supposed to be rainy & wet, and grammie is taking the kids to Kung Fu Panda 2, so hopefully I'll avoid a "honey-do" list and get the turnouts done and some rocks painted.
Here's the updated track plan: Will be redoing the mine sidings & future runaround next, probably. So this time I soldered all the feeder & jump wires before the glue: Which made it easy to test fit, especially the channels for the wires themselves (which are a wee be thicker than the ties). After a little adjusting, scraping & cutting, it was time to test run: Everything worked awesome: why did I ever lay track without powered turnouts before? All my engines (deisel & steam) and difficult rolling stock rolled through fine & smooth. Spead down some caulk for the track, and gorillaglue for the handthrow bases, and t-pinned it down: [use #426 for the fasttracks point filer] And while it's tempting to take the t-pins out after a couple hours because it looks cured, I'm going to let it sit until tomorrow, as I've had some overnight migration even after 1/2 a day. [cont.]
After a couple hours, the gorillaglue has set the throw bases nice & firm, but the caulk has a long way to go untiled cured: Here's a good reason to go easy on the gorillaglue and to check up on it periodically: No problem: still soft so an x-acto blade freed it easily. Needed to lower the cork there anyway for easy throwbar action. Tomorrow I'll remove the t-pins, check that everything's even & smooth, and then cut some ties & lay some ballast. Meanwhile, up on the mountain: Painted first coat of the dried spackle, brushed glue on the path & laid talus of different sizes & some dirt. Ok first layer. After a couple more of dirt, ground foam, some chopped moss & some more rocks, then install some more trees (which I made today while everything was drying), then it'll look much more blended & part of the scene, rather than the "look at my path!" feeling it has now. It's lovely to have the new turnouts working so fab, but would like my magic wand now to POOF the other into powered frogs rather than rebuilding them all. But that will be fun, too
Removed the T-pins, slipped some 1/32"x3/64" strips of basswood in to replace ties. The "N" wood ties from fast tracks are too thick: well, they're the same as the plastic ties on the flextrack, but the pcboard ties are 1/32", so I keep even with those, and then sand the roadbed slightly before & after the fixture. Works out fine: no dips. Before this time, I had slopped some "tuxedo" laytex paint on, but found it peeled off easy. So this time I sprayed with floquil "grimy black": A bit greyer than I wanted, but ok. The floquil sticks nice & flat to the ties & rails. You can see where I masked the throwbar & point rails. I hand painted the bright pcboards, but for the rest, when you ballast it disappears. Used q-tips then a bright boy to clean off the rail tops. Dryed very quickly (much faster than the laytex). Then came the basic scenery: thick dirt, thin dirt, fine dirt for the road & around the freight house, some weed & green blend ground foam (same stuff as hills), cinders for ballast and then, after all that was dry, some dark green static grass: The glue is still drying under the static grass (at the mouth of the gorge and at far right), which is why it's still shiny shine, but it seems to me that static grass has a bit of shine on it anyway. Anyone know how to tone down? Still need to put in simple tie crossings for the dirt road, and then once I build the freight house I'll scenic some more. And to prove that it's A-OK to rip out & replace turnouts & track (for the better!), here's a short video of my new Ten-Wheeler pulling my new Swift 36' reefer through the new fixture & over the bridge. [featuring new & improved camera techniques with minimal jerking!] Also getting close to finishing the firewatch trail scene: That's Gary, taking a breather & realizing he's only brought the "horse" part of the "packhorse". And then realizing how far back down he's got to go: Still need a few more trees & some bushes, but the ground's still wet right now. Now just debating between which section of track to rip out & replace next: the three curved turnouts by the coal dock, or the entire mine side trackage. Six in one, 1/2 dozen in the other. But very encouraged by fab performance of new powered frog turnouts. I like & I recommend!
Some more picts to show off my new Ten-Wheeler, Swift 36' reefer & layout: All comments, criticisms & thoughts appreciated! Thanks for bearing with me so far!
Thanks for the compliments. While it's not easy as Sunday morning, it is nice for the skillz to get to the point where I'm very happy with the new trackwork, & the powered frogs are fab! (Now I avoid dead frogs like the plague ) I'm not so hip on the static grass, though. Seems to come out kinda on the shiny-fake side. Especially depends on the lighting. Here it looks alright: Though here, with more natural side lighting, it looks a bit chia-pet: Especially so on camera. In "real life", it doesn't look 1/2 bad. Just wondering if anyone has any static grass advice. Or how to knock off some of the shine after planting. Thanks for any & all advice!
I am astounded by the progress since my last check-in on your layout MC, its really coming along nicely! Maybe mock up a test of static grass and mist it with an airbrush from various heights and with various colors?
Sounds like a good excuse to finally get an airbrush & compressor [do we really need a family vacation to Disneyland this year?] Would love to try that out (the airbrush, not cancelling Disneyland). I wonder if a quick shot of Dullcote would lessen the shine. I've also dripped some stain on set static grass before, and that works, but it also darkens / stains everything around, including the basic scenery level, so that's out. Back to the laboratory, Igor! (what hump?)
