fifteen minute modeller

fighting procrastination fifteen minutes at a time

Tag: peco

Rail height comparisons

22nd June 2018 / / 0 Comments

fullsizeoutput_73fIn planning the track for the diorama I needed to find out what the height differentials were between the types  I am looking at using. In order for the scenic section to look somewhat realistic I decided on using some Peco Code 55 FS Concrete Sleepered track and then was contemplating a mixture of 2mm Association track in two formats, the Easitrac moulded plastic sleepering for the straight sections of the yard and then just plain old PCB and coiled code 40 rail soldered construction as used in the test track. I was asked by a friend why didn’t I just use the Peco? My reply was that I had all of the stuff there to build after years of stock piling and it’s so much cheaper. Have you seen the price of curved Streamline switches? But the payoff to using one type is you don’t hat to do any elevation on the road bed.

Now how did I go about measuring the gap? With no depth gauge or other suitable instrument I opted for a rather rough and ready feeler gauge alternative using some styrene sheet with combinations of .10/.20/.30 thousand mm to increment the height until I got a match but rubbing finger over the joint. Yes I know its not scientific or an accurate measurement but for my purposes it is good enough. So with this method in place I ascertained that the PCB to Peco needs a .40thou lift and the PCB to Easitrack is just .10thou of a millimetre. This then raises the question of whether the Easitrack is worth it and I am going to ditch it in favour of just straight interval soldered track like the test track though I may actually measure out the gaps and not freestyle it like I did previously.

Lastly the question is what to do with underlay on the scenic section. I have two types of it one with a rubber backing and a standard old fashioned cork I need to get measurements for these to see how much adjustment the different tracks will need to accommodate in order to provide quiet running and a smooth transition between the two track types.

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Until next time

Restarting the restart

21st April 2018 / / 2 Comments

Oops, it’s been over two months since my last post and although there’s been no noticeable activity on here there has been progress in the background with some rationalising of the model rail empire in order to make way for new items that are more in line with the direction of my modelling for the moment. With the weather changing for the better now is the time to get outside and do any dirty work needed. I will be posting about that nearer the time I start out as I have a load of work to do on my room first to covert to a proper bedroom railway room, such as painting and decorating, building a workbench come desk, and some shelving. Like most things house related there are a bunch of other things that also need to happen and that’s before I have to get stuff done out in the garden, but following the mantra of fifteen minutes a night means a little progress is still progress. Little things can be tackled whilst waiting on the big things.

So what’s with the new plan? Well actually it’s not that new and after thinking that I had a lightbulb moment I realised that I had already visualised it for a previous project. However they do say that good ideas float to the surface, or something like that, and it is as good to me the second time around. The idea revolves around the layout having two halves with a rural section and an urban section. I can’t claim to be the originator of this idea and I originally saw it on the Oops, it’s been over two months since my last post and although there’s been no noticeable activity here there has been progress in the background with some rationalising of the model rail empire in order to make way for new items that are more in line with the direction of my modelling for the moment. With the weather changing for the better now is the time to get outside and do any dirty work needed. That will come in time and I will be posting about that nearer the time I start out as I have a load of work to do on the room first, such as painting and building a workbench come desk and like most things house related there are a bunch of other things that also need to happen and that’s even before I have to get stuff done out in the garden, but following the mantra of fifteen minutes a night means little progress is still progress.

So what’s with the new plan? Well actually it’s not that new and after thinking that I had a lightbulb moment I realised that I had already visualised it for a previous project. However they do say that good ideas float to the surface, or something like that, and it is as good to me the second time around. The idea revolves around the layout having two halves with a rural section and an urban section. I can’t claim to be the originator of this idea and I originally saw it on the late Carl Arendt’s site some time ago and although not the exact idea I contemplated it certainly sowed the seed of the current plan. I have scaled back over iterations as I started out with a rather ambitious plan, but I have been trying to encourage focused and achievable modelling and rain in my expansionist tendencies. I did get somewhat zealous in my desire to simplify ending up with the idea of just having a circle of track as I diaorama but realised pretty quickly that it wouldn’t be very fulfilling in operational interest but could allow for testing out some new skills in a small limited space in the future.

Effectively this is just a roundy roundy layout with the yards in the visible sections rather than hidden away from the onlookers gaze. It is a designed to just watch trains and with a bit of automation one can sit back and imagine sitting on the platform watching the world go by with maybe a cool drink on a hot summers afternoon. I tried designing the plan for Kato Unitrack but found that prohibitive cost of just a simple track plan was going to add up to far more than I was prepared to pay. The Unitrack system though is great for starting out and enthusing the young in my view and bit by bit an empire can be built. So that leaves me the option of using Peco code 55 finescale track with handlaid switches. This not only makes for swift progress in the bulk of track laying but also allows me to have custom geometry to squeeze in a little more detail or lines where the Unitrack wouldn’t allow. After quite a absence, I need to brush up my Templot skills and draft out the preliminary idea. I find that it is a great assistance to seeing how the railway fits the room (meaning the actual room and the room on the board) as the 3d world doesn’t always match the reality, my last plan being case in point as it looked great on screen but was never going to fit the space in a month of Sundays.

I am going to attempt shorter posts but more often with a round up probably on a Sunday in order to make it easier to keep up with this blogging malarkey, something along the lines of blog concisely and blog often. It takes me what seems like days to write a post but really what most people myself included want to see it pictures of progress. I hope to have some exciting news for next weeks episode so stay tuned and till next time..

Table top tactics

19th February 2014 / / 2 Comments

Having spent the last couple of days unpacking boxes I reached a bit of overload and the ‘stuff’ I had accumulated over the years had mounted up. I am really quite amazed at the fact that I had all of this with me whilst living the life of a contractor and out of a suitcase pretty much. So at least I am getting to the point that I know exactly what I have although I keep thinking that I am going to uncover an unmarked box full of stock that I had forgotten all about. Like the one today, full of US Z scale stock. As I have indicated the narrowing down will help focus but what of the moment? Well thats where the table top railway comes in. A bit of fun in 00 as I found a bunch of stock that I thought had long gone. Obviously sense prevailed in the last cull 🙂 The loco and stock are no where near the same eras but hell its my railway and I don’t care. I also have a childhood Hornby J73 (I think, as its not in front of me) which will need a strip down, clean and lube and I am going to put in a Lenz decoder if it turns out to be a good runner, if not I am going to stick to DC.

The plan is, there is no plan. It is there to just get out when the mood takes and do a bit of shunting/switching using a simple dispatching method using dice, or an online dice program.. hmm that reminds me must learn some coding. Don’t plan to add to this and am going to go with the no scenery but might mock up some card buildings that can be used for the industries. I think if it can all fit into one box that will be good.

Anyway off to PLAY

00shuntingplank

Not exactly modelling but…

14th September 2013 / / 1 Comment

Well as I sit and wait to get my stuff out of storage with all my train related swag, I found the latest MRJ in my local newsagents, they actually have a good choice of mags and its a long time since I brought any seeing as pretty much everything you will ever need or didnt know you need can be found on the internet. Its funny as going through stuff brought down from the loft from my childhood I found a box of Railway Modellers’ dating back to the late 1970’s. I can still remember the joy of collecting my copy from the said news agents on a Saturday morning and then spending the day poring over it until I had read every last article and advert.

It’s funny, although I am a proponent of emedia and think it is the way forward once the publishing companies get their heads round the new media model (I don’t want to pay the same for a digital copy as the print version and until this is addressed..) it is a pleasure finding those crumpled, worn and dusty volumes from a bygone era that once again can be sat down with a cuppa tea and reminded of how far we have come in the hobby. Lets face it who would have thought you could control your trains from a ‘mobile phone’ and that we would be using electrified sieves to model grasses.

Oh and also found in the loft was a packet of Peco track of different gauges some books on Swiss railways and a HO Atlas GP40 in Reading RR colours.

Another cup of tea and another backofanenvelope dream to plan..

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