Boardman River Branch switching shelf

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I got both turnouts cut in and the siding ends ready for their transition to code 40.  I still have to solder feeders to the left hand turnout.  I'll be tweaking my 3d printed tie spacing & skewing fixture a bit today to hopfully make it a bit easier to use.

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I have started laying the ties for the siding.  I'll probably finish getting them all in place at lunch today and then work on flattening the roadbed.  I ended up using some index card to smooth the transition from the cork to the flat on the left hand side.

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I got the bulk of the rail laid yesterday.  Im looking forward to making the join in the middle and finishing up my first bit of hand laid code 40!  If anyone is thinking about doing this, it looks way different than the code 55 in person and so far it hasn't been a bad process.  The only thing im not really happy with is the transition from C55 to C40 by flattening a C55 Joiner.  It works and lines up fairly well, but i've got one or two of 4 joints that has a bit of a gap where the joiner is in the  process of flattening.  I'll have to tweak that process for future sidings.

[Wolf N Works]

The way I have done the joins in the past is to put a small cut in the top middle of the joiner about have way through so that when I flatten the one end the rail can lay flush and there is no gap.

[amato1969]

I got the bulk of the rail laid yesterday.  Im looking forward to making the join in the middle and finishing up my first bit of hand laid code 40!  If anyone is thinking about doing this, it looks way different than the code 55 in person and so far it hasn't been a bad process.

Looking good @freedj !  You are right on about code 40 rail, I feel that it's the rail head (not the height) that is so much smaller than 55.  Gives a great effect for your rolling stock.

  Frank

[wazzou]

The way I have done the joins in the past is to put a small cut in the top middle of the joiner about have way through so that when I flatten the one end the rail can lay flush and there is no gap.

^^^ This

[freedj]

... small cut in the top middle of the joiner about have way through ...

How do you cut this?  I have so much trouble cutting metal that is that small.  My razorsaw just binds and binds and I can't imagine how to hold it steady. 

Cutting the gaps around the frogs is such a farce for me.  I've got it clamped into my bench vise and Im using my jewlers keyhole saw with a super fine blade and its a 10 minute cursing operation where I pray I don't break the turnout.

On the plus side, I remember someone (maybe @GaryHinshaw) saying that they used 1/2 joiners in place of full joiners for a more stealthy look and I've discovered that if I cut the joiner with my rail nippers and cut through a piece of scrap rail and the joiner at the same time it cuts perfectly without becoming too tight!

[wazzou]

I just hold the joiner in some needlenose pliers and take a Dremel with a cutoff wheel and cut a slit in the middle of the top of the joiner, not cutting through the base and flatten one half of it.

[rodsup9000]

How do you cut this? 

 Thin cutoff disk in a Dremel.

[freedj]

Wow.. so i've had a few dremels in my past, but find myself without one right now and I never even though that it would be useful here.  I guess I was blinded by the tools i have on hand!  I'll have to fix that.

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I completed track laying on the module yesterday and have also got all the feeders dropped for the mainline and the turnouts.  Just a few more feeders to go on the siding and then i'll turn my attention to getting the road grade in place. 

I've got a solid 1/8" difference to make up in the road grade between the siding and mainline and am considering lightweight spackle, rigid foam cut with a hotwire and wooden forms, or a plaster product to build up the roadbed.  This module will eventually move fairly regularly as part of the staging elevator so whatever the solution ends up being, it needs to be fairly durable.  Think of it as a vertical swing gate

Im considering the LK&O Railroad method of bus wiring but have not finalized that choice yet. 

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

I have repaired the area where the road is going to go in, and built up the road bed and the transition to flat for the transload shed.  Sculptamold is next!

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

My daughter and I have been working on terraforming with sculptamold. Things are shaping up nicely.

[freedj]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Primary terraforming complete.  I am thinking about trimming a piece of hardboard to the scenery profile, gluing it on, and then filling in any gap between the hardboard and the final profile.  As this piece will be movable it will likely get handled a fair bit and i am worried about the scenery edge getting damaged.  I think getting the profile to match really closely will be quite fiddly though and I am not really looking forward to it.  I am also not sure what glue to use.  I've got a gallon of west system epoxy, so that might be a good way to go.

I probably should have installed the facia before sculptamolding the final shape.  I guess i can always add another layer of sculptamold to smooth out any difference between the facia and scenery so that I don't drive myself insane trying to perfectly match the scenery.

[Wolf N Works]

How do you cut this? 

jewelers keyhole saw

So I used a piece of would dowel that felt good to me and that I could hold. Drilled a small hole in the end where a small piece of rail would fit nice and snug. I would then slide a rail joiner on so the where I wanted to cut was just at the end of the rail. Using a finger on the bottom of the rail and joiner. I would then use the jewelers saw and make my v
Cut across the joiner.