Builder's Railroad Project: in the Beginning...

[Builder 2010]

Track Laying beginning...

I finished removing all the old roadbed vinyl from the tracks using the Dremel tool with a coarse sanding drum. This made fast work of the process, but it still took almost four work sessions to complete it. Today, I officially started laying track.

I'm just locating the track correctly so I can mark its position and then glue down the Flexibed roadbed. I'm using two diagrams: one has the actual track dimensions on it with the lengths of cut pieces of straight track and the computed length of cut curves, and the other shows where the insulated blocks go and where the feeder tracks will have to be. In some places I'm using hot glue to temporarily hold track in position. When the roadbed goes down, I'm going to use Liquid Nails which is much tackier and stronger.

RR Track track laying software gives cut curves in degrees when you print out the layout showing track labels. I went back and captured the actual track lengths using the PROPERTIES detail box. I wrote these on the drawing. For the most part things are coming out as they should, but there are some areas, especially around the bridges on the left end, where the track configuration on the drawing is not fitting on the OSB as it should. I'm using field measurements to correct this.

Here's a progress shot. I'm about 25% done. The high-line is in and it definitely shows a dip on the up slope that I'm going to get out by putting some upward pressure on the riser below the dip and, if necessary, shimming the roadbed in that area. Even though the total slope is less than 2º, a dip can increase the slope at that point and also cause traction problems if some of the drivers bridge the dip and you don't have as many wheels in contact with the rail.



This will be the last work until after the holidays. We're heading back East to be with family and old friends.

So here's wishing everyone at the World Affairs Board Forums a very Merry Christmas and Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. I'll be back documenting every gory detail of this project next year.

[Builder 2010]

Back to "Work"

Back from a motor trip back East to visit family and friends. Timed it perfectly so we drove both ways with perfectly dry weather and no surprises. Got back to the layout yesterday and continued doing the track assembly. I found some trouble areas.

Here:


Here:


And here:

where the track is too close for comfort to the edge of the subroadbed (SRB).

There's two ways to tackle solving this. The first, and maybe the easiest, is to unfasten the SRB pieces and swing them this way or that to center the track on the OSB. It's one of the virtues of L-girder that you can move things around. The other idea would be to splice some extensions onto the OSB to give more meat under the track. That would require making more sawdust and I thought that I was finished with that. These errors are still caused, in part, with my changing the way I laid out the curved SRBs in CorelDraw. I attempted to make the joints radiate from an imaginary center, but after the first version, changed the center point. When the pieces mated, the actual radius changed inward.

Here's the overview shot. I don't mind that the track on the left meanders a bit across the SRB, since it adds interest, but I do mind it coming right up to the edge. Following the RRTrack diagram, the track is fitting together nicely. I'm trying to use as many of the previous short-cut pieces as possible. In some cases I'm soldering their pins together to keep the track joint count as low as possible so it doesn't affect DCS signal strength.



At this point, I'm about 1/2 way done the track fitting process.

I've been given the green light to buy the American Beauty Resistance Soldering unit. That will greatly enhance the speed and quality of making track joints and soldering leads to them.

[FJV]

Maybe another option

If I look closely at the photo of the tracks, then it should be possible to make a small filler piece of track by cutting with a dremel through the rails.

The problem with that solution is getting the ties spaced regularly.

[Builder 2010]

Yes, I could remove a small section which would reduce the circle diameter. While that would work, I'm sensitive to changing diameters to a smaller curve since this could cause a spot for derailment. Today I'm going to take a look at how hard it would be to loosen the OSB pieces and move them to better accommodate the track, knowing that actually cutting the track is also an option.

[USSWisconsin]

This is so wonderful! I am curious about the resistance soldering rig you're getting - which model have you decided on?

I found this link
https://www.americanbeautytools.com/site/models/rs

So I get the impression that you use this by running a current across the joint, and then adding solder like you would with a soldering iron.
Is that how it works?

[Builder 2010]

Jay, I've decided on the American Beauty 250W unit with the tweezesr (to start). I can imagine times when probe tip would be better like when soldering a small part to a large mass. It works as you describe with one more important detail. There's a footswitch that turns the current on and off. So the process goes like this:

1. Clamp the tweezers between the two parts
2. Turn on the current with the foot switch
3. Joints heats almost instantly so you can apply the solder quickly without heat-soaking the surrounding area
4. Turn off current with the foot switch WHILE still clamping the tweezers
5. Release the tweezers

It's step 3 that really makes this neat since it allows the solder to cool without letting go of the pressure on the joint. If you were doing this with a traditional iron, you'd need a 3rd hand, to reapply pressure to the joint while you removed the heat source. (one hand for the iron, one for the solder and one more for the restraint). The tweezers serves as both the heat source and the restraining force.

Furthermore, you can dial the current from zero to maximum, so even when you're applying the heat you can control how hot it's going to get. For doing any scratch building with brass, this is the only way to go.

[USSWisconsin]

I noticed one for model builders sc-250, it looks like a good deal. I was thinking that two different handpeices (micro and light tweezers) would be ideal (but expensive). Those small carbon tip pliers types are neat, but I would be concerned they might break pretty easily - the tweezer tips seem much more durable.

Its a really cool system - and the applications listed are impressive - they build aircraft and fix submarines with these...

https://www.americanbeautytools.com/...s/200/features

[FJV]

I noticed one for model builders sc-250, it looks like a good deal. I was thinking that two different handpeices (micro and light tweezers) would be ideal (but expensive). Those small carbon tip pliers types are neat, but I would be concerned they might break pretty easily - the tweezer tips seem much more durable.

Its a really cool system - and the applications listed are impressive - they build aircraft and fix submarines with these...

https://www.americanbeautytools.com/...s/200/features

Has anyone experience using solder paste and a hot air soldering iron?

You might evenn shield the heat of other parts by shielding it wil aluminium foil.

[Builder 2010]

Fixing Some of the Track Problems

Track laying continued, but mostly doing problem solving. I suppose the upside of using Gargraves flex track is that you can simply bend the curves to conform to the roadbed regardless of minor changes in radius, and conversely, the downside of using Ross sectional track is that this flexibility is lost. When you design a layout with sectional track in the precise way that it appears in RRTrack software, you get a very accurate layout, but when you transfer it to the real world strange things start to happen. Between making changes in the layout process in CorelDraw, cutting the panels a bit off, and not having the layout exactly sized when overlaying the OSB plan, there have been several close calls, all of which are now fixed except for one.

Yesterday and today I did just that. In two cases, I was able to unattached the OSB from the cleats and splice plates and pull them out a bit so the track wasn't hanging over the edge. In this first comparison, the 1.5" that I was able to slide the big piece out was subsequently cut off with the saber saw leaving a gap that I will partially fill.



In this AFTER picture using the saber saw, I cut the chunks of the filler pieces that were sticking out after the glue dried.



In another I cut a filler-piece to close up on of the two holes in the layout (the other's going to have to be closed up also). None of this trackage is fastened down, but I did roll a train across the gap to see if it tracked properly... and it did.



and today, I added a mild "S" curve to bring the track further into the layout and get off the front edge. I generally try to avoid "S" curves especially with what they do with long equipment. I put 10" of straight track in the middle. This brought the two tracks into a 4.5" C-to-C distance and gave me over an inch to the edge. It's still scary, but it's better than the alternative. The alternative was trying to cut a piece of OSB to extend the platform at that notch. The notch was not supposed to be there, but was the result of the complete screw-up I made in cutting the OSB piece in the foreground.



The last thing I did today was do more adjusting of the track union at the swing-out door. I had to reposition the latch closer to the layout front edge to enable the tracks to align properly.



I've got some more to post, so I'll continue in the thread

[Builder 2010]

Control Panel Design

Last night I redrew the panel graphics from the previous layout.

Here's the new panel with the blocks and switches identified. Each block switch lies directly over the track it controls. The switches are arranged in geographic groups corresponding to their place on the diagrams. Blocks are numbered, switches are letters and uncoupling tracks are Roman numerals. The "X"s in the orange circles show where the actual insulating portion of the track is located. Power feeders to each block will be approximately centered in each block so voltage drops are somewhat evened out.



What isn't shown on the panel are indicator lights showing the position of the track switches. These are noted on the switch controllers themselves. While it would be nice to have them also on the panel, I'm afraid that the complexity would rise quickly and be a distraction.

As the last time, the panel will be plexiglass with all the graphics applied on the reverse side. The upside: a smooth professional looking, surface that's quite durable. The downside: the panel is absolutely impossible to modify to add new or change track design. First I put down the numeral graphics, then apply masking strips for the tracks. I spray the back black, then pull up the masking tape and spray the strips yellow. It looks terrific when done this way. I may be adding tracks to both the front yard and the back passing siding so I have to figure out how to make this area modifiable. It would be easier to do front-mounted graphics which could be changed, but it wouldn't be as durable. Another way would be to make the graphics on a separate sheet that would be laminated to the underside of the acrylic. That could be modified by just replacing the graphic. I may try that.

The second challenge is to be able to drill the holes for all the penetrations. Using a standard 118º drill bit tends to grab the plastic just as it breaks through. Plexiglass drills are ground to a more acute included angle.

Here's the schematic for the pilot lights for each channel in the cab control set up. I may still wire this new layout in cab control and then convert to digital. I was able to work with cab very nicely in the old layout. The reason the lights are on the reverse side of where they're connected is so they light when the toggle switch is thrown in that direction. What's underneath is actually the reverse.



The panel looks pretty sweet with all the lights lit. It's very businesslike. This was shot during construction of the layout in Germany. The new layout has 10 more blocks and seven more switches, so it will look even cooler.

[Builder 2010]

Jay, I connected with that American Beauty URL you posted and guess what? They have a 250 watt, tweezer version designed for the hobbyist for $369 that none of the catalog people showed, and for 100 more you can add the probe-type electrode. So for 469 I bought both. MicroMark wanted $509 just for the tweezer-equipped unit. It will be here in a few days. It's been years that I've been looking at these things in the MicroMark catalog. It would have been a God send in doing all the precision work on the battleship as I lamented many times. I also have some scratch building to do on the railroad that's going to be much easier with resistance soldering instead of iron work.

I keep you all abreast of how it works and maybe take some crude videos.

I've never used paste solder or a hot air iron. I do foresee some applications where I'm going to need a paste, especially in non-electrical, structural applications. I don't foresee using a hot air system, especially after dropping 500 on this one.

[USSWisconsin]

I like solder paste for structural soldering, it comes in different melt points too - if you are building something up with lots of peices. I've tried for electrical and it wasn't very useful, but putting two heavy peices (still small parts) of brass together with it is nice, it frees up a hand. I used a conventional soldering iron. That American Beauty foot switch looks like it would be useful for regular irons too.

[Builder 2010]

I'm going to try the paste, but the foot switch for the iron probably wouldn't do the trick. There's too much heat capacity in the system so it wouldn't cool quickly enough. The resistance unit uses fairly small electrodes that don't heat very much. The heat is in the joint as a result of the high current passing through it. On the American Beauty site there's a link to a lot of videos that demonstrate resistance soldering in lots of applications. They sort of bridge the gap between conventional soldering and a spot welder. Just increase the current just a little bit more and...

[Builder 2010]

Back to Laying Track

Track laying for positioning is almost complete. Tonight I started building the thru-yard which is the last section to be laid. But before I did this I decided to go back to the 'drawing board' and see if I could realign that front curve that was way too close to the edge. At first I tried moving the O-96 further up into the curve, but that put the branching track too close to the inside loop. Then I tried moving in to the right, further into the layout and this worked. I was able to get rid of that modified "S" curve and at the same time bring the track off the edge. While it's still not a lot, it will keep the engines from actually riding out over the table edge. This reduced the spacing between the 3rd and 2nd tracks, but that isn't a problem. I first worked it out on RRTrack and then in real life.

Here's the before picture:


Here's the realigned view. And a closer look at it. Tomorrow I'll have pictures of the yard construction.


Part of the change was using an O-80 curve piece instead of 0-96 which made the curve shorter. That combined with the switch's new position made the difference.


The slight bend in middle track as it enters the #8 switch is deliberate. There's a small piece of curve track in there to more precisely align the track's entry into the switch so there's no kink. Before I mark the platform for the roadbed, I'll go back and align everything again and then clamp the track into position for marking. That's what the bricks are doing, in case anyone noticed.

To cut Ross track I use the Dremel with the Flexi-shaft and a fiber-reinforced abrasive cut-off wheel. The hand piece on the Flexi-shaft lets you hold the wheel at a shallower angle making a more square cut. I use a diamond coated needle file to deburr the holes for the track pins and knock off the rough edges. I put a piece of fat masking tape across the track as a cutting guide and make shallow cuts on all three rails. I then remove the tape and finish up the cuts.

[Builder 2010]

Milestone: Track Placement Complete

As planned, I finished placing all the track today. Everything is fit and now waiting to be marked out for the roadbed installation. There's a whole lot of track. In some of the views, the front portion looks like a "sea of track". Since I've taken up more real estate with the new sidings, I've redesigned how I'm going to build the city. First, here's the layout with just track and no other clutter.



Here's a slightly different look from the left end.



And a reverse view looking down the main yard in front of the swing gate. There will be some landscaping on the gate, but that notch will remain so you can reach the latch from the inside of the layout as well as the outside.



And here's looking into the space from the far right corner. The wide angle setting accentuates the distance, but even with normal eyes, it's really long. There's that "sea of track" that I was referring to. From this angle, it looks like the front portion of the layout is all steel.



Here's the new city plan. While it may be a stretch to call it "realistic", it does solve several problems including, where to put all the buildings. In this view I've shown the streets supported by structure. It could also be solid retaining walls, but I think it would be neat to see the trains running underneath like they do under Manhattan or coming into downtown Chicago. Having the town back here also lends to doing some faux perspective mural painting on the back wall. But because of the swing gate access, people will still be able to get close to the structures, which in themselves are something that's very interesting and enjoyable to behold.



As it stands now, the train station's going to be in the front, but it could be above the tracks in the elevated section. Since I'm a long way from building this, I still have time to make the decision, and since I'm the owner and operator of the Pennsy & Pacific RR, I may have two train stations, one in the country and one in the city. The engine house shown is the Korber 3-bay, Car Barn. I don't have room in that space to house a 32" long, Pennsy S-1, 6-4-4-6 duplex so something smaller will have to do. I may scratch-build something that will work. Even with all this size, there's still a need for MORE SPACE. If I made it bigger, my wife would kill me. Of course if she did that, she'd have to figure out a way to get all this crap out of the basement...