Point Work

Over the last couple of months  I have been quite engaged building some points.  I have built about a dozen of them.  Some didn't turn out too good so I had to strach those and start again.  It doesn't take too long once you get the hang of it.
There were two reasons why I decided to try my hand at building some points.  The first was due to the code 088 wheelsets that I fitted to some of my rollingstock.  After seeing some of the rollingstock fitted with these wheelsets, I couldn't bear looking at the code 100 wheelsets.  The funny thing is that something like this is only noticable when you make a change.  Anyway, with the code 088 wheelsets fitted, on some of the standard peco code 75 points, there was a noticable "wheel drop".
At the beginning I could bear this unrealistic movement, however it eventually began to annoy me.  This lead to the second reason for building points.  I wasn't too happy with the curved frog rails as well as the somewhat sharp deviating angle.  Actually this was a "bonus" extra that I could rectify by
building my own points.

Having placed some of these points on the layout, I had to make some finer adjustments once I had some of the rollingstock go through them.  One thing I noticed is my B Class, the front wheel, on No. 1 end, would always short near the entry to the frog.  I think the wheels are mis-aligned.  I need
an electronic caliper to check this out.  I had to widen out this section of the point to cater for this.  This didn't look too good however.

I realised today that I could increase the insulated area a few more centremetres, keeping this area shorted than my shortest wheelbased loco, the Y class, and have little better looking points.  First I decided to cut the stock rails shorted and add another section of rail (photo below).  This seemed to have worked really well with the B traveling through the modified point without any fuss.  However, after a while, I didn't like the look of this as well,  the two gaps in the rails - doesn't look too good.  So I then decided to
make the wing-rails and a small portion of point rail one piece.  This looks alot better and the B travels through the point without any shorts.   The added bonus with this was the greater smoothness of the rollingstock given the reduction in breaks in the rails.  I will need to make this adjustment to all the points I have created.  I could have looked at the B class and the wheels, but I am not so inclined to open the bogies and look at the wheels at this time.

I have had other issues with the points.  Sometimes, the flange of the wheel would ride up on the tip of the point rail, resulting in a derailment.  I would need to file the point rail further or verify the track gauge was correct.  I am using 16.2mm track gauge and made a jig using a 1mm piece of plastic.  I have used less that 1mm flange ways through the points.  This avoids the wheel drops.

I cut sleepers from a printed circuit board then solder them to the points.  I still got a bit way to go to finish any of these.  I will then paint over the copper and hopefully the points will look more realistic.

I must say it has been a frustrating journey at times!  Alot of filing, alot of soldering (my lungs must be full of solder material) and alot of time spent!  Some of my rollingstock still derails so I need to look at the rollingstock wheels as well.

Here are some images.

No. of Points created

The above image shows the entrance to the frog and how it had to be enlarged to cater for the B class

Increased the insulated area near the frog to avoid the shorts occurring.  The insulated area of the frog is about 7cm.

Another photo showing how I increased the insulated area by cutting back the point rails.  This increases the area of the two point rails (where they merge), which allows locos not to short out.  This solved the problem of shorting, but doesn't look too good.

Here we see a one piece wing and stock rail.

Once piece wing and stock rail fitted to point

Both sides now have one piece wing and point rails.

Op Session - Cassino

Last weekend we had the opportunity to operate on Craig's layout Cassino.  As usual, we started with Craig's generous hospitality - a snag or two fresh from the bbq. By 1pm, we worked our way to his shed.  Unfortunately numbers were down and hence there was no North Coast Control.
I had the pleasure of driving the rail-motor, the Brisbane Limited on the UP direction and a few other freights.  Stopping at some of the stations I couldn't help but admire the lovely station buildings and residential houses Craig has made from styrene.  I really need to build up some skills in this area.

Having no North Coast Control was fraught with danger and even though I took the staff diligently, I couldn't help to laugh out loud as I saw an impeding Head On Collision with a container train!  This happened to be right at a crossing loop so no one was really at fault.
This was the first Op Session where I have taken a train from South Brisbane as this is the new section on Craig's layout.  This is the third and upper-most level.  It was quite a feeling to drive by Acacia Ridge, the initial starting point for UP trains.  We managed to run quite a few trains before the session was deemed over.  There were a few minor issues which Craig has rectified for the next session.
Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the head-on as the collision was cleared in no time.

Visit to Wattle Flat

Last Saturday we had an opportunity to visit and operate Darren's layout, Wattle Flat.
After a brief run-down of the layout, we were grouped into pairs for two-man operation and I joined Geoff as his driver.

We were tasked with train no. 15 (I think it was) which departed the main station of North Gulgong.

We took 60 mins to run train No. 15 from the junction to the branch terminus of Wattle Flat, do some shunting, and return to staging via North Gulgong with a lovely 44 class Alco for motive power.  The sound from the 44 class was very authentic and added another dimension to operations.

About 50 mins was spent shunting the five or six industries at Wattle Flat.

There were more than enough industries on the layout and plenty of points to operate to accommodate for all the shunting movements at each of the towns.

Once this run was completed, we all had a break.

There were no derailments or any other mishaps like engines falling off the layout.  The construction and track lying was done to a very high standard.

I think Darren has achieved what he wants from his model railway, with plenty of industries on the branch line and more than enough points to be thrown, all adding  to maximise operational potential.

Overall a very good time was had.  However a suggestion would be to replace the couplers to something of a higher standard, like Kadees.  It was frustrating to uncouple with the with imitation kadee couplers on the rolling-stock.

It will be really good to see Darren slowly add scenery and other details to his layout.  I think once this is done, the layout will look incredible.

Unfortunately the battery indicator on my camera started blinking and I was low on juice so I could only grab a few shots.

Arthur's Place

A few weeks back on a Tuesday night we had the pleasure of visiting Arthur's layout and what a fine layout it is.  It is based on NSW prototype and is located in the garage.  I thought I had to share with you his layout. Arthur's modelling skills and eye for details is quite amazing.