But First!

The area as it stands now.   

As you can see this may take a while for me to complete, but if I can get trains running track in by February. It will be a success. However I have created this masterpiece of artwork as a guide to help my thinking/planning process.

That’s it for now, I have a turnout to build!

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 1

For the turnout in the area I am using a Proto87 Stores Ultimate Turnout Kit.  The turnout itself is a No. 10 Left hand turnout using the “manganese” frog option.   

I first laid out all the parts and made sure I had them all. Then I preformed a test fitting of the ties in the Jig over the template to familiarize myself with the beastie.

I then made up two mixes of India Ink and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.  One was using the Higgs Black ink and the other mix was with the Higgs Sepia colored Ink.  In went the ties in the mix in random batches and times -- Some even went in twice!  I was going for a fairly new tie look so most of the ties are in the black to black brown color range.  When the ties were dry, I proceeded to tape the provided plastic sheet to the template and then the tie alignment templates to the plastic sheet.  Using a medium viscosity CA, I then proceeded to glue the ties down to the plastic sheet.

Ta-da! Here they are -- all the ties glued down!  You may have noticed that the head block ties are not in place.  I chose to use the full length ties rather than make up the ties using 2 shorter add-on tie bits.  (It would just look wrong to me).  I will install them later on - after the tie plates are installed.

Here’s the turnout viewed from the end that shows the tie color.

Andrew

Nice!

Nice Mockup Andrew!

@bill

Thanks Bill, I find it's a neat way to practice my Illustrator skills when I just don't feel like going to the basement or have any materials on hand to do real modeling.

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 2

The Saga continues… I let the CA dry overnight and then checked and re-glued any that were loose (there is always one).

I placed the tie plate guide on the template using the guide pins that are installed on the tie template.  That was easy!

The tools I used to install the tie plates are shown below.

A toothpick with a pointy end and a blunt end.

Some small scissors*

Tweezers

Medium viscosity CA

Some Green Tape

Using scissors, I cut out the tie plates from the etchings one strip at a time, that way, the remaining tie plates remained in one big piece rather than a pile of millions hundreds of pieces. 

I was also careful to note where the cosmetic pieces on the sides of the etching when wielding the scissors about.

Using a spare copy of the turnout template for reference, I placed the cut out tie plates in there correct orientation.  There is a tiny D shaped hole in the tie plate and the curved part of the D points out, the flat part of the D faces to the inside.

I put some medium viscosity ca on the tape (better than trying to get the correct amount out of a bottle) and with a toothpick I placed a small drop of CA into the hole of the template on the tie where the tie plate would go.  Using the tweezers I picked up the tie plate and placed it into the hole, pressing it down with the blunt end of the tooth pick. Then I lifted up the tie plate template to ensure 2 things: firstly, the template would come off without ripping the tie plate off, and secondly, I hadn’t glued the template to the turnout. 

I repeated the process of installing the tie plates working from one end of the turnout. I just did a few at a ties time, as my mood suited me.

As I am modeling HO and not proto87 there the instructions say to cut the guardrail tie plates in half.  I was worried about this for some reason and it turns out that the tie template is for HO scale. Makes it easy.

Here’s a guard rail tie plate as it comes in the kit, note the hole is bigger for the wider flange ways that HO requires.

So chop-chop it is:

The installed guard rail tie plates on the ties:

You may have notices that the tie plates, or frog strips haven’t been installed yet. Since I have the magnesium insert type frog, the instructions say to leave them for later. Which I shall do.

A few days later here’s the progress I had made:

I actually used this photograph to identity some CA that had leaked onto the ties.  I used a chisel blade in and X-Acto knife to scrape the CA off the tie tops. Then followed up with a dab of India ink wash (the same one I used to stain the ties initially) from a brush. 

To install the longer head block ties I had to remove the curvy tie template by cutting the tape holding it down and removing the spacers that hold it to the other side of the template.

This gives room to install the longer ties and still leaves the guide pins in place for the tie plate template.

I glued the longer ties down as before using the paper template below as a guide after trimming them to length and applying the India ink wash to them to cover the cut ends.

I also ensured that the moving thowbar piece would fit and slide between the head block ties.  This is also when I realized that I had glued the Gauge Plates to the wrong tie. Whoops.

Using a chisel blade in the X-Acto knife u removed the misplaced plates and scraped the tie clean.  I also scraped the CA off the back of the plates.

A little touch up with some India ink -- It will be our little secret

I let the ink dry for a few hours before adding the final tie plates.

After installing a bazillion 250-ish tie plates here is the method I used:

Step 1:  A little drop of medium viscosity CA applied with the pointy end of a tooth pick.

Step 2:  Drop in the tie plate using tweezers.

Alternatively you can moisten the blunt end of the tooth pick and pick up the tie plate that way.  

Lick your finger, touch the blunt end of the tooth pick to your finger, then touch the tie plate – it should stick to the tooth pick.  Don’t be tempted to lick the end of the tooth pick, bypassing the lick finger step.

Step 3: Press and hold the tie plate down using the blunt end of the tooth pick.

Step 4:  Carefully lift the template up over the tie plate to ensure that the template is not glued down. Then put the tie plate template back down. You do want to survey your tie plates during this step and re-glue any that get knocked off.  They tend to fall in between the ties so that’s a good place to start to looking for them.

And here it is!  All the tie plates in the correct locations and ready for some rail. 

I think I will build the frog next.

Andrew

* Note on scissors – use your own NOT your wife’s or mothers fabric scissors -- lest you end needing your SHED (Scared Husband Emergency Domicile).

A Turnout - Part 3

Ribbit! Ribbit!

Here are the parts I used to build the frog: Some 1/8” copper tubing (top right), the bolt detail bars (top center) and the frog itself (Bottom right-ish).  

The next step is to cut the frog into its parts using a Dremel tool.

Here are the 3 parts of the frog, separated and ready to be stacked.

I then preformed a test fit of the copper alignment pins in the holes.

I then cleaned the parts of the frog using 99% IPA and a paper towel and set them aside.

As all my frogs are powered on the layout, it’s time to prep the frog wire.  For this I used a piece of 12 gauge stranded wire.

You may be wondering if 12 GA wire is a big.  Of course it is! That’s why I stripped it and only took a strand of it.

I then cleaned the wire and with a small set of pliers bent a 90 degree angle into the end of the wire.

To locate the frog wire on the frog, I placed the bottom frog part on the ties upside down. Then, using X-acto knife I scribed a mark on the frog to indicate where the frog wire should go to clear the ties.

Time to assemble the fog.  I placed one of the alignment pins in the hole, but as it was a bit too loose I soldered it in place.  A thin layer of flux as applied as well to the surface of the frog.

Here all the frog parts assembled and ready to be soldered.

Next I modified some clamps by gluing some scrap strip wood onto the end of the plastic jaws.  This will protect the frog surfaces and prevent the plastic from melting.

Frog clamped up and ready to go.

Next, I test fitted the frog wire, trimming it to fit where it leaves the frog at the marks I scribed earlier.

After tinning the end of the frog wire, and applying flux to the frog itself. The wire and frog were soldered together. 

More soldering was done but some did leak.   I cleaned up the leaked solder from the flange ways with a needle file.

Next, I cut the frog from the support framework using the Dremel tool.

Because the turnout is directly under a heating register, I felt that using CA to attach the detail strips would fail over time.  I deiced to solder them on.  So I added flux and a tinned the sides of the frog in preparation to receive the bolt details.

After cutting out the bolt detail strips, I cleaned, fluxed and tinned the back of the bolt detail strips. Then using a clean dry tip on my soldering iron I soldered the detail strips on to the frog.

After some cleanup...here’s the completed frog.

To be honest…I’m not completely happy with it, as I think I can do better.  I will build another one and use the better of the two.

Andrew

 "The turnout itself is a No.

Actually that should read "manganese" . It's a strong alloy of steel  while magnesium is a light metal. ...DaveB 

@dave

Thanks Dave - typo fixed.  There will be more

Andrew

"Thanks Dave - typo fixed.

    Yep, putting on HO scale tie plates can makje your eyes see double :> ) ......DaveB 

Nice build!

Lovin' the blow-by-blow.

Ribbit Redux

Thanks Rene! 

Here’s my second attempt at the frog (good thing I ordered a spare!) I followed the same procedure as before, but I used less solder which remedied the leaking problem I had on the last frog.  Ahhh…the "more care and patience" approach works every time.

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 4

In this week’s episode: Holes are made, the turnout is set free, and a rail is bent.

To start off I gathered a fine felt pen and a fresh set of X-Acto blades.

To mark where I would trim the excess base plastic away from the turnout I reinstalled the curved tie spacing jig and traced a line.

I continued to trace around where cuts would need to be made. I also placed one of the throwbars in and moved the throwbar back and forth to determine what area needed to be removed for the Tortoise throw wire.

And duly marked it out. 

Next I, placed the frog onto the turnout and marked where the frog wire would go.

I then marked the area for the frog wire, and at the same time, I marked and area where the jumper wires between the stock and closure rails would go.

Using a new blade in the X-Acto knife I removed the turnout from the paper template.

Then I reinstalled the curved tie spacing template and using it as a guide, trimmed the excess plastic.

I also cut the hole for the frog wire:

The jumper wires that go between the stock and closure rails,

And the tortoise switch motor.

With all the holes cut I set the turnout aside and brought back the paper template. Using the template and felt pen, I marked where the bends go on the curved stock rail.  After double checking my marks, I scored the base of the rail with a needle file and bent the rail with my fingers.   At the same time I used my fingers to put the bend in the curved closure rail.

Next, I test fitted the stock rail on the turnout. It fit – this is good.

After cleaning the cell phone camera (poorly), its time to glue the rail down.  First I cleaned the rail with acetone and a paper towel.  Then I mixed a bit of Pliobond with acetone.  Say 40% acetone and 60 percent glue -- it doesn’t have to be exact, but it should be thinned a bit so its workable.  Also, be careful with the acetone and take precautions when using it, or any chemical.

Using a scrap piece of stripwood I applied the Pliobond to the bottom of the rail. I then set the rail aside to get tacky.

Turning to the turnout, and after creating a bit more of the glue concoction, I used a bamboo skewer to drop drops of glue on the tie plates that the rail would sit on, being careful of any “strings” created by the Pliobond.

After ensuring that the first bend was in the correct location I placed the rail onto the ties, pressing down with my fingers and making sure everything was lined up.

As a penultimate step, I use a dry soldering iron and heat the rail to set the Pliobond. I use just enough heat to cause the solvent to evaporate -- only a second or two at most. In fact, I have used the technique on my CVT plastic ties as well. 

Here’s the completed rail glued down.  As a final step,  I will place another rail on the ties, cover them with a piece of paper to protect them from scratches and then place some bricks to weight them down for at least 24 hours to let the glue cure.

That's it for now.  

Andrew

I think...

the kind of work you are doing here is AMAZING.

I would not have the patience for it. 1 yes, 10 or 20? no way.

10 or 20?

Thanks Bill! -- But, I'm not that insane! I've just got the one to build.  All the other turnouts I have are just ME #6's. 

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 5

In this week’s episode: Some Fiddly bits, The Fog is installed, and more rails are added.

OK. Time to install the frog. I placed the frog on the switch to ensure that I had the frog wire in the correct place and no ties had to be cut to make room for the wire. Success!

Next, I placed the tie plate template on the switch, using the existing tie plates as a guide and just marked out where the frog tie plates should end using a black felt pen.  In hindsight, I should of thought of this before installing the curved stock rail.

Next, I located the frog tie plates and cut them out (they are the three rows in the middle of the fret) using scissors. Note that some of the tie plates have holes and some have no holes these are for spikes. I used the paper template to find out how many I needed, and then cut them off the fret.

This is the fiddly bit. The frog tie plates have to be de-nubbed – those two little bumps on the sides have to be trimmed off.

Action Shot: using tweezers positon the tie plate to be trimmed.

Then Cut!

Then, using a NMRA standards gauge, I placed the frog on the turnout and checked that my marks I made with the pen would line up.  I also glued the frog plates at the end of the end of the frog down first – I had to start somewhere.

It was then a matter of working along the frog area attaching tie plates.  Frog on, Check location of dots to get a feel of where the ends would go, Frog off, Glue plates on.

The “Frog Tie Plate Placement” action shot:

Here are all the tie plates installed.  I sprinkled the ones with holes for spikes along the length of the frog.

I then cut 2 lengths of rail for the frog extension rails and some 0.010 in. styrene.

Using medium viscosity CA, I glued the styrene to the end of the rail that goes next to the frog and set them aside to dry.  

While the styrene insulator bits were drying, I taped the straight stock rail in place to help align the frog. Next, I cleaned the base of the frog and fog tie plates with acetone (*remember to use correctly) to remove any flux and oils. Then, after mixing up a small batch of my diluted Pliobond/Acetone mix, I applied the glue to the base of the Frog and to the tie plates with a scrap piece of stripwood.

Next, I placed the frog in position using a NMRA standards gauge to make sure it was in positon. After I was satisfied with the fogs location, I gently heated it with a dry soldering iron.  This can be tricky as too much heat will cause the solder to melt -- just a couple of seconds in one spot, then move along the frog.  I then covered the turnout with paper (to prevent scratching the rails) and placed a brick on top of it while the glue cured.

While the frog was under pressure from the brick on top of it, I turned my attention to the frog extension rails.  I trimmed the styrene I had glued on earlier with an X-Acto knife and filed it to shape to match the rail head.

More gluing and gauging was performed and the frog extension rails were installed. Then covered back up with the paper and brick.

Using the paper template I cut the closure rails to length and test fitted them. Next, I tinned the switch end of the rail and added the styrene insulators to the frog end of the rails.  (Note the state of the brick – it usually only goes invisible right before I stub my toe on it – hmmm interesting…)

After locating and removing the switch hinge plate on the fret, I cleaned and tinned the back of the hinge.  With the closure rails in the correct orientation I soldered the hinge plate to the ends of the closure rails.

The closure rails were then cleaned and glued in place using the thinned Pliobond mixure and NMRA gauge.  Then rails where heated with the dry soldering iron to set the glue.  Finally, I placed a piece of paper over the turnout and put the (still invisible) brick on top to let the glue cure.

That's all for now.  Next time -- we may get to the "point" of the matter.

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 6

In this week’s episode: More Fiddly bits, The Points and a Whoops.

To start off I identified parts required for the points.

There are two turnout bars, one does a pushing action and the other hooks into the point rails to do the pulling action.  I trimmed the pull bar short, but log enough to remain trapped under the stock rails. I also test fitted the push and pull bars in the turnout, filing them to ensure that they did not bind anywhere.

Next, I removed the push and pull bar etchings from the small fret, and using a pair of flat nosed pliers, pushed them into the mounting holes.

Here are he completed push (rear) and pull (front) bars:

Using the paper template I marked and cut the points to length. I cut them a bit long, trimming them after final placement was determined.

After tinning the rails and back of one of the hinge blocks. I soldered It in place, ensuring that it was flat and down on the top of the rail base.

I assembled the parts to check if any trimming of the point rail was required and to ensure that all the parts did not bind.

Then, after cleaning the flux off of the joints, I moved the point rail into final position to have the hinge plate soldered to it.  

I also installed the pull bar into the little hole that’s predrilled in the point rail, and slid the push bar into place. Then I installed the other point rail.  Now, getting the push bar into the other hole while everything is loose is a bit tricky, but I got there in the end.  I used some stripwood as blocking to hold the remaining point rail in place as I soldered the other hinge plate to it.

Finally I soldered the pull bar’s hook to the point rail.  

This is where I forgot that you should not use acetone near plastic as it melts it.  When I cleaned the flux off of the pull bar joints I used too much and some got under both the pull and push bars.  Luckily I noticed in time, and managed to flip the turnout over and cut the plastic underneath the ties away and run the X-Acto knife between the wood ties to unstick everything.  Best use the IPA in this area in the future.

After averting disaster, I cleaned the straight stock rail and glued it in place with the thinned Pliobond mixture. I then covered the turnout with a piece of paper and placed some bricks on it while the glue cured.

While the straight stock rail was weighted down under some bricks, cut some rails to use as guard rails, filing the ends with a bevel. Then they were glued in place as well ensuring the correct flange distance was met with an NMRA gauge.

The turnout was essentially done at this point but I had more parts to install.  The rail braces for the outsides of the stock rails.

I drilled a No 78 pilot hole in the ties were they were to go.  Then I cut them from the fret. Picking them up with tweezers and not losing them – that’s the challenge. After losing a couple small parts, I put the t larger ones on the back side of the turnout away from the viewer,

and put the smaller ones on the viewer’s side of the turnout.

Finally, I soldered the point rail bolt detail strips on.

That's it for now! Next time, I will add some final details and start painting.  Thanks for following along!

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 7

In this week’s episode: Fiddly bits, Even more fiddly bits, and dare I say -- Completion.

The turnout point details, along with a 0.020 by 0.030 in styrene strip.

Upon closer inspection I also found that the backs of the connection plates have a slot etched into the back of them.  Handy, as that allows them to sit on top of the metal push/pull bar parts.

I cut 2 pieces of 0.020 x 0.030 in styrene strip to fit between the the point rails and test fitted them.  I would have preferred to use 0.010 thick styrene, but I didn’t have any on hand, so 0.020 is was.

Next, I applied medium viscosity CA to the tops the metal parts of the point push and pull bars.

Then I placed the styrene strips on the push and pull bars and spayed on some CA accelerator to speed up the glue.

I then trimmed the styrene to allow the point bar adjustment plates to fit between the styrene strip and point rail, then secured them with CA.  I didn’t get them perfectly installed but I did ensure that they would not interfere with the flanges with an NMRA gauge.

I cut the nut and bolt details from the fret and after losing and finding the parts, I glued them to the styrene using CA.  Once they were in place I hit the CA with some accelerator to ensure that they would not move if I bumped them accidently. This was fiddly as the parts are so small and manipulating them is tricky.

If you look very closely on the point rail next to the straight stock rail you will notice that the point rail detail strip has come loose.  Tweezers, a bit of flux and solder sorted that out right quick.

While the iron was hot, I installed the jumpers for the closure rails.

First I cleaned the Pliobond off the bottom of the rails with a bit of acetone and by scraping it with a knife.

Then I applied flux and tinned the rail bottoms (admittedly not my best work here)

Using some stranded wire, I selected a single strand and tinned the ends and soldered them into place.  The U shape is there so the wire is below the rail bottom level, when the track is ballasted the jumpers will disappear under the ballast.  Finally, before flipping the turnout over, I cleaned the area with acetone and a toothbrush to remove the flux.

After turning the turnout back over. Using tweezers, the jumpers were adjusted to get them below the tie tops. Then a cleaning with the acetone and toothbrush to remove the flux.

And here it is, ready for paint. 

Is it perfect?  Nope.  Did I make errors? For sure.  Am I happy with it? Yes.

Andrew

Nice Work ....

..... Andrew.  One (make that two) questions.  How long did this construction take you from start to finish?  Does any one know how long it takes a real railroad to construct a real switch, on average?

Andrew thank you for the lesson and the great visuals to go with it.  I learned a lot.  I will definitely get my switches in a blister-pack or in a box.  That is way to much work for me.

More power to you.

@Donato

Thanks Donato

I think it took about 7 full days (I only worked on it 1 day a week), taking pictures slowed things down a bit as well. Waiting for glue to dry also took some time as well.  It is one of those kits that you just have some patience with and plug away at it. I have no idea how long a real switch takes to make and install, but I imagine its a couple of weeks at least.  

Here's a video from the other side of the pond from Network Rail that shows how they build their switches.

Andrew

A Turnout - Part 8

In this episode: Chemistry, Some paint gets mixed, and a Sneak Peak.

To start off I sourced some ME rail weathering solution to blacken the flange ways of the frog.

I mixed up a small batch and applied it to the flangeways of the frog area with a small brush.

After letting the chemistry happen, the flangeways were darkened.  I did this step in case the paint gets worn off over time. 

As the ME Rail weathering solution is an acid, I flushed the area with water, and then applied a mix of baking soda and water to naturalize any remaining weathering solution.  I followed up with another wash of water.

I then cleaned the rails with acetone and used IPA down by the plastic parts (because the acetone will eat the plastic).  While the turnout was drying out I mixed of a rail brown color paint using enamel paints.

I used:

1 part Model Master Rust

1 part Model Master Raw Umber

1 part Model Master Dark Drab

It's close, but this is just the first base layer of color.

It was then just a matter of painting the rails and tie plates with a small brush.  I have found that if I don’t try to get all the rail painted in one coat, if have better success.

After all the rails were painted, but before the paint was fully cured, I used an X-Acto knife to scrape the paint off of the rail heads.

Using a small piece of 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper I polished the rail heads, removing any scratches and remaining paint.

While I had the rails clean, I applied a bit of NO-OX, and used a metal wheel set to spread it around. Then I let the NO-OX sit overnight.

The next day, I wiped the NO-OX off with a paper towel, and broke out some weathering powders.

Using a small bush, I randomly applied rusts, blacks, and dirt colors to the rails and fishplates. They look bright and harsh now, but I have found that when the ballast is glued down, the colors get muted and merged together.

Some work on the points.

Finally, as a test to see how it will look, I applied some loose ballast:

Next up: Installation. Thanks for reading,

Andrew

Very nice!

As a fan of hand laid track, I've been enjoying your build very much.

By the way, you wouldn't happen to be a fan of Top Gear, would you?

@Jim

Yes, working on the installation now...How hard could it be?  

Andrew

Good one...

And on that bombshell...

...jim

Ballast

What is the ballast you are using?  It looks great.