S2 E25 Track building for Bexhill West Model Railway
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- Опубліковано 9 чер 2023
- In this video I build a turnout for the layout board I showed in my previous video.
All the trackwork is hand-built using nickel silver rail and Exactoscale rail chairs purchased through the Scalefour stores.
This video isn't a 'How to' guide, as I'm still learning the process myself and making mistakes along the way. I hope however that it might inspire others to have a go at building their own track, as with the correct tools and a little patience it really isn't that difficult to do and the results are quite impressive.
I am working to the scale of 4mm/ft to P4 standards, so a gauge of 18.83mm, although the same basic process would apply to other gauges and scales. The trackwork has been designed using the excellent Templot software. Templot really is amazing, and I would encourage all who are not familiar with it to investigate its capabilities.
In the video you will see my fit some temporary tie-bars, these are just for testing purposes. When the complete formation is up and running to my satisfaction, I'll replace these with scale stretcher bars and they will be motorised with my own design of point motor. See www.makeitminiature.co.uk for details of those.
For chapter and verse on this subject I would recommend taking a look at this thread on the Scalefour Society forum, in which Tony Wilkins runs through his process:
www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5727 (copy and paste into your browser)
As an alternative, Model Railway Journal number 143 from 2003 has an excellent article on the subject by Normal Soloman which is well worth a read if you can get hold of a copy.
Thanks for watching,
James - Розваги
Nicely illustrated, you may not claim to be an expert James, but your videos are generally very easy to follow unlike some "Experts" that makes a huge difference
Thank you David, I'm enjoying the learning process. Each time I put one of these together they get a little better.
Thanks for watching,
James
By far the best explanation out of everything on the internet and various society forums
Thank you Richard, I hope you found it interesting.
Thanks for watching,
James
More inspiring workmanship and beautiful trackwork.
Thank you, that's very kind.
All the best,
James
As a retired S&T technical support engineer (41 years on the railway) is refreshing to hear you using the correct terminology for the parts of the switch!
Superb work James.
Almost therapeutic to watch you working your magic!
Thank you Darren, It's far from prefect, but I'm improving with each one, and the visual effect is especially pleasing. I'm pleased it meets your approval though. Which region did you work in, if you don't mind me asking?
I am in awe, James. I wish I had your skills.
Very interesting and thorough. However there are two other elements to ensure smooth running. They are wheel/flange profile/gauge and back to back dimensions. The second is the suspension/springing. The wheel/weight and springing must be designed as a complete system. There is of course a fourth and obvious element - the track base must be flat!
Just incredible, beautiful work
Hi James. Since you are going to all this trouble, I think you might consider imagining that Bexhill West had not been closed by Beeching and had been included in the Tonbridge to West St Leonards electrification project which you will have to backdate to 1933! This will allow a greater variety of trains to be featured. As you are modelling in P4, you have the option of using the 3rd rail to pick up the current! This would make an interesting project. Thanks for uploading.
Just lovely
Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing your way of working. 👍
Thank you Sam, I'm pleased you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for watching,
James
Excellent video, I find hand building track is so therapeutic, hats off for P4 though it’s bad enough re-gauging stuff to EM 😂
Amazing bit off work
Thank you Matthew
Hi James,
Nice to see you cracking on with the turnouts. I found for threading chairs on that if I cut the rail slightly longer and used the common crossing filing jig then it made a really nice taper and the chairs just slide on. Also with the fishplates, I used a pair of tweezers to grab the end that's already on the rail, this forced the other end to open up nicely and helped with pushing it on too. I need to work on deciding and fitting my tie bars soon, Genius idea using rail to act as springs though, I shall definitely try that method! Looks like everything runs lovely and smooth though :)
Cheers,
Michael
Thanks for the tip Michael, I hadn't thought of using the jig for that purpose - I'll definitely give it a try.
Fingers-crossed it's all working well at the moment, but I'll wait until I've had stuff running through the whole complex before fitting cosmetic chairs over my soldered joints.
Beautiful work, I wish that I could get my 2mm finescale track looking and working that well. Pete. PS The point actuators arrived safely and are installed and working well. I shall be order more when I get the next sets of points layed.
Thank you so much Peter, I'm pleased the actuators are working for you. I quite fancy having a go at a 2mm FS turnout, just for fun. There are a couple of 2mm FS layouts at Scaleforum this year which I'm looking forward to seeing. I'll ask their creators for some tips.
As always thanks for watching,
James
Hi James. You're making some excellent progress.
Thanks Steve, I’m on a bit of a roll at the moment.
All the best,
James
Wow! This is the finest model trackwork that I have ever seen. As an American, I am not as familiar with British rail terminology and practices, but the quality shows. DO you have some detailed photographs of the original prototype that you could share so that we might see how your model compares with the original? I rather suspect yours is built to a higher standard.
Hi. Congratulations on some fine work. I think it might be easier though if you leave the check rails off until last, since they are gauged from the common crossing and wing rails, once they are fixed. Did Bexhill have any double slips? They are fun to build!
Hi Tom, thanks for the tip. I'll try that.
There wasn't a double slip, just a solitary single slip which will be my next challenge.
Thanks for watching,
James
12:17 ... or nearer to nowadays welded together in RL
Hi James, have you laser cut the outline of the rails in your cork before starting assemble the trackwork?
Excuse me, the stock rails do NOT run the whole length of the point. They are the piece of rail that has the switch rail attached to it. The joint at the switch heel then has a closure rail attached, the heel end of the stock rail, which is either a sleeper bed ahead of or behind the switch heel joint, ie staggered, has a running rail attached. These joints on the protoype are either bolted plain fishplates, insulated fishplates, thermit field welds or in rare cases electric arc welded.
I don't know where this missnaming of point parts originated but I suspect from people who have never worked on the prototype railway. My railway career was just over forty years in the Civil Engineers Dept.
I don't use the word expert but use the word experienced. Am sure the misuse of the word expert over the last fifty years or so has put people off biulding models or even taking up the hobby its self.
Thank you for posting your informative and interesting videos.
🛤 "The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring" [Gordon Lightfoot / Canadian Railroad Trilogy]
I think your microphone wants a windshield or a so called "dead cat".
I agree, I muted the wind noise as much as I could with a high pass filter during the edit, but still some got through. :(
And one of the drawbacks of filming in bright sunlight is shadow - couldn't see what you were pointing to as your hands cast the shadow over the track ! - but still loved the video - certainly shows what goes into hand built trackwork - work of art
The shadow paws; most distracting. Good disclaimer technique. Could have been done better.
Hi Daniel, What could have been done better? The disclaimer technique or the turnout building. I'm working on improving both, but some tips would be useful. :)