Roadbed

Wooden ties

curved turnout hint

This task is a whole lot easier with Fast-Tracks "Twisties" flexible turnout tie strips. I just hand laid my first turnout, a #12  with the mainline points on the start tangent point of an easement into a 48"radius. No problems, and it works great! John Colley, Sonoma, CA

Twisty tie strips

Thanks for the tip, John.  Sounds like you've found another great product from Fast Tracks. 

I don't find my method particularly difficult,though. 

Rene

Colouring the ties

Before getting on to colouring ties, I had to correct the throw rod hole. Unfortunately, when Andrew was here on Wednesday, we aligned the hole for the throw rod with the original centreline. Now that the centreline has moved, I needed to move the hole over as well.

This was a simple matter of whittling a little piece of wood until it fit, gluing it in, and then sanding. Then I extended the hole on the other end.

Once the glue dried, I marked the ties with pencil (always use pencil to mark ties as ink will remain when you don't want it to), and sanded them ever so lightly until the pencil marks were starting to lighten. This ensures that the ties are all the same height.

The first step in colouring the ties was to paint the 3D printed switch ties with Testors Sand Beige. I did this outside so as not to stink up the house.

Next, all ties, except the PC board ones were stained with India ink thinned with alcohol. The flat enamel paint actually assists the plastic ties in accepting some of this colour. I also colour the switch rods at the same time; they will ultimately be painted black, but they stand out too much in white.

Finally, I dry brushed on some raw umber lightened with white to a very light warm grey. On the other track, I spent quite a bit more time on this, but found it mostly disappeared under the ballast anyway. So, I wasn't quite so thorough this time.

Ballast, stock and frog rails

I am getting the bulk of the ballast in before the rails go down on Pembroke. I've always found that ballasting after the rails takes a lot of fussing, and then it moves anyway. I'm leaving the areas around solder clean until they are proven to work, but the plain track, which is glued, is getting ballasted. The ballast is a mixture of Pembroke sand (real dirt from Pembroke) and sanded grout. There are some white flecks, which I think are glue that hardened inside the bottle. I'll have to come back and correct them later.

The first step in preparing the rails was to form the point of the frog. The two rails had been ground to the correct angle with my screaming banshee rail grinder some months ago. So, it took only a few minutes to file the foot of the main route (which is actually the diverging route) so the other rail could nestle in against it. I then held them on the hand-drawn 1:7 angle template with my left hand while I soldered them together with my right. Good thing I have asbestos fingers! Here is the bottom of the frog so you can see how it goes together.

Next, I bent the stock rails and the frog ends so they more or less lie where they ought to without any pins or glue. For this, I used my Fast Tracks Rail Roller, finishing up a couple of places the old-fashioned way, with three fingers swiping down the sides of the rail. I then bent the slight angle in the diverging stock rail that is just before the toe of the points and which enables the points to fit against the stock rails without large sections of out-of-gauge track.

On previous dioramas (Pembroke is my first Proto:87 layout), I have left the stock rails whole, as my prototype probably did. I know I can make these work, but I also know it takes a lot of fiddling to get them to work reliably. So, on Pembroke, where you are hard-pressed to look down into the switches anyway, I am notching the foot of the stock rails to allow the points to fit in easily. This, I did next, followed by some more fine-tuning of the curvatures.

Next, I used my diamond cut off disk in my Dremel tool to slit the ends of all the rails so they would accept the Proto:87 Stores rail joiners. I align these slits with the bottom of the rail web so they all work together vertically. I soldered the rail joiners in place.

While the soldering iron was hot, I also tinned the foot of the rail in every place where there is a PC board tie, except the point of the frog. Then, between these locations, I dribbled Pliobond, straight from the tube. This must be the only adhesive that works best straight from the tube! There is no Pliobond through the switches. I use CA to bond the rail to the printed plastic.

Feeders and stock rails

To accurately locate the feeders, I place the rail in position, and then file a groove in the bottom of the foot with a triangular file. I use my old file, so it doesn't get gummed up with Pliobond. I then flip the rail over and deepen the groove slightly, and then scrape the Pliobond off a little to either side of the groove. The feeders are bent over at 90 degrees and held in the groove while I solder them onto the foot of the rail.

Once all the feeders were on, I soldered and glued the "straight" stock rail. To locate this rail relative to the ends of the ties, I used a tie with a groove cut in it, and ran that ahead of the soldering iron that I use for softening the Pliobond. I started with the two PC board ties to either side of the switch casting, and worked my way out from there.

Here are all the soldering tools lined up for track building.

With the straighter stock rail down, I could locate the frog. I started this at the tip of the frog, holding it in place with three gauges. Once the soldering bit was done, I finished up all the Pliobond down to the end of the rails, gauging off the other rail or the end of the ties as appropriate.

Next I placed the diverging stock rail, again starting with the two ties on either side of the switch. To ensure there is sufficient gauge for the points, I pushed the no-go mark of the track gauge right down between the rails at the point of the switch. This is important, as if the gauge is at all tight at this point, there is no room for the points, and it will be impossible for wheels to get through the switch.

Precision

Surprised you aren’t getting more questions/observations on this work – it’s fascinating.

I suggest you take it as a compliment – people are awed into silence.

Seriously though….. This is precision bit of work and I’m really looking forward to the finished result. Looks as close as you can get to prototype turnout building.

Rob Clark
Cornhill & Atherton RR

awed into silence

Watching with very keen interest, to be sure! 

I've just been reading Rene's work on scale turnout construction and switch stand actuation from the old Proto:87 Journal, and I've been contemplating a dive into the Proto:87 Stores materials. For whatever neurological reasons, well-rendered trackwork has a big appeal to me. Years ago I felt the dilemma of hand laying my own track but never really getting the details to look like the real thing. 

This is wonderful work.

Jeff Allen 

Thanks Rob and Jeff

Thanks Rob and Jeff,

I'm pleased that someone is reading and finding enjoyment.  To tell the truth, I'm mostly writing it down in detail because this is the last turnout I have to lay for a while, and I want to be able to remember how to do it!

Jeff,

If it isn't obvious, I share your interest in track that looks like track.  Indeed, far more than wheels, this is the reason to contemplate P87 over HO.  The track is always visible, whereas the wheels are in shadow most of the time, and often moving.  I started with wheels, but soon found the real benefit of P87 is in the track.

Having said that, please be careful with the old Proto:87 Journal method for building track.  While it has proven robust, I never liked all those solder joints under the ballast.  It turns out it is easier to make PC board ties look like wood than it is to bury the PC board beneath the ties.

Cheers,

Rene'

Rene, I for one always enjoy

Rene,

I for one always enjoy your updates even if I'm not commenting - such fine trackwork (and modeling in general) is hard to come by and very inspiring, and it's also nice to see someone else modeling a relatively early period.  Looking forward to the e-book about your locomotive build as well!

Chris

I'm always watching with

I'm always watching with great interest Rene as I am going to be hand laying myself.

Great work by the way.

Thanks Chris and Alex

Thanks for the feedback Chris and Alex!

Alex, I hope you will share your progress once you start so we can learn from your experience too.

Rene'

I read every post...

...because I hope to operate on Pembroke one day soon!   As well as to appreciate the craftsmanship and innovation...

md

Alex, I hope you will share

Will do.

Got to finish designing the framework then build it first. 

It'll be a while yet.

Real life keeps interrupting my train () of thought.

...operate on Pembroke soon

You'll be welcome, but perhaps a bit bored compared to the C&W, Mark!

Closure and wing rails

The first step in forming the closure rails is to bend the wing rails at their ends, leaving them over-length. I then bend the closure length so the rail wants to lie very close to its final position. Here the diverging rail has been bent and is awaiting trimming.

Once I am satisfied with the shapes, I position the closure rails so their wings provide the appropriate flangeways, while the throat of the frog is just exactly in gauge. Once I'm happy with them, I mark and cut their length, form the flare at the end of the wings, and solder a rail joiner to the point ends. Finally, I tin the parts that will be soldered, apply glue on the rest, and paint the sides.

To fix them in place, I start at the frog and work my way toward the points. Measure every which way is the order of the day for getting the throat of the frog right. I solder one tie, and then test with a truck to make sure it's going to work before getting the whole rail fixed in place.

Before starting on the points, I had to glue the stock rails to their rail braces with CA. The curved one wanted to bow inward slightly, and so, I pinned it while the CA cured.

Points

The points are by far the hardest part of getting Proto:87 running. The flanges are so tiny that they like to find any excuse to go the wrong way. For this switch, I originally planed the points using the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder almost a year ago. Miraculously, I found them in my increasingly dusty garage. At that time, I planed all ten sets, as well as the frogs. However, as I built the other nine switches, I always chose the best ones, and so, the last set is the bottom of the barrel. One side was pretty good, but the straight point needed to get redone. That was when I remembered why I invented the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder in the first place: filing points by hand is tedious business.

Anyway, I am still learning about shaping points, and so, this takes me the most time in a turnout. I think one thing that seems to improve performance is if the point is actually vertical on the back, rather than undercut. When they're undercut, the pressure on the foot of the rail actually serves to rotate the head of the point away from the stock rail. I continue to fiddle with them until I can repeatedly run a truck through without derailing while the point is just sitting on the ties.

My points are bonded to the switch rods with CA. Most points, I just glued in place while pushed against their stock rails. However, on the diverging route for this switch, I decided to give it a little help in the form of a clothespin clamp.

While I was waiting for one point to set, I assembled the Bullfrog for this switch. Unfortunately, it is missing its spring; I expect it must have fallen on the floor, but I'll be darned if I can see it down there. So, I guess I will be writing to FastTracks to see if I can get a new one.

"That was when I remembered

"That was when I remembered why I invented the Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder in the first place: filing points by hand is tedious business."

    If one has a lot to file the Fastracks point/frog filing jig is a good investment. It holds the  the rail securely so filing doesn't take much effort. I don't use Fastrack assembly jigs since I've been building turnouts by hand for decades but the point/frog jig is a great little tool, much better than the home made remedies I've tried in the past.....DaveB

wow.....fun fun fun

Came over to get some ideas for my ultimate turnout kit build.   What are you using for the throwbars.   I have bought one each of the P87 stores throwbar 'kits' but yours appear to be prototypical without having the sliding bar beneath the ballast.   also, is the Proto 87 turnout build journal from P87 stores or from a P87 list?   I am not going P87, but I would definately be interested in a good looking and strong throw bar system.

Getting ready to start laying ties for my #8 wye!!!!

FastTracks PointForm Tool

Hi Dave,

Coincidentally, I dropped them a line yesterday about this tool.  The Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder was definitely the fastest way to form points, but I had challenges holding the rail perfectly for points. The frogs were easier, and I didn't have any rejects. Even for points, I only rejected one out of 20, which is pretty good if you ask me. 

Cheers

Rene

Switch rods

Hi Loren,

I described the switch rods here: http://pembroke87.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/switch-rods/.  There was no reason not to use the Proto87 Stores switch rods, except that I wanted to try out this system. I would say it is still under development.  

I'm afraid I don't know what you mean about the Proto87 turnout build journal. 

Cheers

Rene

 "The Screaming Banshee Rail

"The Screaming Banshee Rail Grinder was definitely the fastest way to form points, but I had challenges holding the rail perfectly for points."

Hi Rene,  The point/frog filing jig definitely makes it a lot easier. It grips the rail solidly so you don't have to worry trying to hold the rail while filing it. I also got their stock rail filing jig which holds the rail for filing the inside base off at the point location. If one has a few turnouts to build the tools will speed up the process and since they seem to hold their value well can probably be sold later to cut down the price per turnout. .DaveB

Guard Rails

As far as I'm concerned the guard rails are largely cosmetic. However, they need to get soldered, so I do them before the detailing stage of a turnout.

With Micro Engineering code 55 rail, anything bigger too (and probably code 40, but I don't know for sure), the profile is a little wider than the prototype. This means that the feet of the wing rails and guard rails have to be filed back to clear the foot of the stock rails (or frog). I just take them right back so they're about even with the head of the rail. It's hard to see down there anyway, and if it ever bothers me, I'll put the blocks in per the prototype, and that should distract anyone who looks.

Once they're prepared, I simply solder them in place with the resistance soldering unit. I hold them by hand, and verify the check gauge before zapping them on the middle tie. Then I test them; I've never had a problem, but it's easier to unsolder one tie than six. Sometimes they get a little crooked when I zap them, but this is easily corrected by soldering the ends in the right place.