New O gauge extension

Gentlemen, lets not agree to disagree here, they all look the same colour when I get the air-gun and weathering powders out.
A little bit of progress this morning. I've now added extra blocks where the boards will join together, this will give at least 3 strong fixing points for bolts and wingnuts.
1) This is where the window board will join the two main boards at 90 degrees.


These are the ends for the two main boards (2440 x 900) plus one extra for the removable board, all will be drilled together so that they line up correctly when installed on to the side beams.

Corner join between boards at 90 degrees.

Not the warmest of days to glue wood together, only got up to about 16 degrees, winter don't you just hate it had to break from the freezing weather more than once for a hot cuppa !!!

 

Hi Toto, when the new power pro system arrives to replace the faulty one then I will do a video clip for you.
Mean while back in the garage, things moved on well today. All three of the open frames were assembled, leaving just one end panel to fit tomorrow which will connect the 2 long boards together.
Board 2 connected to small window board. Boards are braced in the corners just to make sure every thing is square.

Plenty of spaces in the cross beam for the risers to be installed for the mail line run, plus the legs may well fit in these gaps as well with a nut and bolt to secure.

This is the reinforced end panel that joins the two main boards together. (shortest bolts I had in stock...Ill trim them off later)

 

Chris, nothing wrong with your eye sight, it came with all the Lion Heart and Tower models brass items that I swapped for some of my oo gauge items. Need a bit of TLC but it does work on DCC.
So I take it, it's a yes then and you are or already have ordered one ?

 

Well not to much to report re the extension. I had a go at drawing out the storage sidings and loops on the two doors that I will be using. Roger (aka pertyowl) has loaned me a neat tape measure he has for drawing circles / curves. A section folds out with a pin in it, and about 2 inches back from the tape end there is a hole for a pen /pencil to fit in, its then just a case of some one holding the pin in the board at the radius centre point and someone else to scribe the curve at the requires radius measurement which is read from the top of the tape measure body.









A very quick and accurate way to mark out the board, cheers Roger.

 

Layout update, where does the time go, last September was the last entry... well the basic frames for the boards are all done and fitted in the railway room loosely for the time being so that each one can be removed to work on. Having two levels is going to be a challenge in the woodwork department.  
The main item to be resolved was the junction with the single slip on the track plan. It became quite obvious once someone with a lot more knowledge of o gauge track-work pointed out that the curved double slip would give in excess of a 6'6" radius on the outer  section but the inner crossing through the slip, would be reduced to just over 4'  which was a radius I did not want on any part of the main running lines. The plan is to keep the 6' radius as a minimum as I want to run a few coaches and bogie freight stock  (once built) then when the mainline drops to the lower level to the proposed goods yards have a minimum radius of 4' which will be fine for 4 wheeled freight stock and small shunter's etc. 
So after lots of head scratching and talking to suppliers the junction has now been altered to what you see in the following pictures. Slip no a single slip and a second cross over junction to allow the branch line access back on the outer loop. A third alteration of an addition point on the outer side of the d/slip, to now give access to a small station board at high level to accommodate the new coach / coaches, -set and possible one day a 2 car DMU set.
1) So first up is a picture of some Marcway "off the shelf" curved points 9'/ 6' Radius, with two commissioned built junctions


2) Assembling the sections together then using the standard point work to join them together.... this is where you have to get brave and break out the dremel to cut rails, sleepers and ties to make it all fit together.

3) The whole assemble will be mounted to a sheet of 3mm ply which is then glued to the base board. This then brings the rail height up to the flexible rail height.....and yes I have gone down the road of shop bought flexi track, as this is a large project and the time, cost plus skill level in laying a huge amount of all curved track made me think long and hard.

4) To help blend the point-work into the scenery I'm going to use 6mm foam glued to the boards. I've always used the grey foam but the black sheets gives the added advantage that should I not get round to ballasting the track-work straight away it still looks fairly respectable to look at and take photos of stock on it. So here's a "dry" assembly. I will paint the track- work and sleeps before gluing down to the foam. 
5) second new cross over junction, from top to bottom, Branch line point, middle line clockwise direction, inner line anticlockwise direction.


6) New outer point going into single slip with the outer line going to new high level station. Lower left hand point is where the line starts it decent to the lower boards.

7) so middle two lines are the 12' diameter circle/ oval, left hand line is the new branch station line, right hand line the decent.

8)


9) All points have been modified for DCC operation, ie separate switch controlled frogs and running rails all bonded together.


Once this is all checked  and re checked I will wire the completed junction and give it a full test before carrying on with the loops. The only other points on these loops are two passing storage sidings as per the original plan in the non scenic area.
And finally, end to end this junction is 1750mm long !!!! That's an n-gauge layout with four running lines and a figure of eight !!!!!
Kim 

 

Thanks Chris, yes I'm now very pleased with the junction, it's caused lots of Head scratching moments but it now works. Building this layout will be a lot longer than the LSD build.
http://www.click

 

Bit...saw, wood, nails.......

 

Thanks Gary, but its more like building on doors than planks.....literally

 

The 9mm ply has now been cut for the junction board and then a basic frame made to keep it all nice and flat. I have then painted the underside with a quick wash of white paint. This is a great tip for base boards, as when fitted in your railway / modelling area / room, it makes working on the underside of the boards much easier, as you will be able to see all those small holes you have drilled for dropper wire and point motor fixing etc


Top of the board was then given a quick paint around the 3mm ply / foam track bed
3mm ply was then glued and screwed to the 9mm ply board, foam was then glued to the 3mm. Leave in the sunshine to cook for a couple of hours with a weighted board on top and that should be the junction board ready for track-work tomorrow

Kim