Sadlers Sidings – 04 – Laying track on a SideTrack Module

G’day Folks, I have some photos and commentary on laying track on the Sidetrack modules.
The quality of some photos may be a bit below par due to being taken outside, at night, under a single light, on our front verandah, when day to day life events and temperatures allowed me to work.
The photos come from the laying of track on two 160mm wide and 250mm track length modules (248mm woodwork length). The displayed sequence is correct although the photos may alternate between the two modules. The 160mm width is to allow for some more space for either 3 tracks or industrial structures behind the rear track. The 250mm length is partly because of the single point on the 2 to 3 track transition module and because I was starting to run out of room on the table! I will play around with ideas for corner modules a bit later.
First off, PAINT the modules to seal them, both outside and inside.
Then mark out the edges of the track locations for the Kato Unitrack which has a 25mm width on its plastic ballast, and which for Sidetrack using Peco Set-Track points has a 35mm track centers.

Marking out Track locations

Next mark out two lines 20mm from the ends of the modules and running parallel to the ends. Then stick down sheets of 3mm thick balsa wood between the two new lines and at the total  width of the number of tracks you are going to lay. This forms a roadbed/underlay for the conventional N gauge track so that its height matches the Kato Unitrack. When glue has dried, paint!

3mm Balsa roadbed

Taking your 30mm (or so) long piece of Unitrack (in this case it’s just the Unitrack base threaded on to some existing flexible track) and on the underside mark out a line 20mm from the Unijoiner end.

Marking out Unitrack end piece for trimming of Ballast slope

Turning the Unitrack upside down, cut through the ballast slope edges of the Unitrack until you touch the actual track base.

Cutting off ballast Slope Cut 1

Then from the top cut off the sloping ballast edge until you reach the transverse cut.

Cutting off ballast Slope Cut 2

Then break off the ballast slope.

Cutting off ballast Slope Breaking off ballast slope

When you have done this for both sides drill holes for the track pins. The first hole is drilled through the hollow column under the Unitrack, This is Kato’s built in fixing point.

Drilling for track pins 1

Then on both sides of the track drill holes in the corner between the outside of the Unijoiner pockets and the beginning of the ballast slope.

Drilling for track pins 2

Take some Silicon Wet Area Sealant, or similar, to use as a glue for the track. This wonderful stuff feels weird on the fingers, does actually hold the track down, and yet will peel or rub of when you need to get rid of it.

Silicon Wet Area Sealant

Apply three dabs of the Silicon sealant in the spots shown.Ber careful to keep the area where the Uni-joiners go clear of sealant, tricky, but necessary.

Applying Silicon Caulk

Locate the track into its position and push down into the Silicon paste. Use a 1mm thick steel ruler to allow you to work out the 1mm overhang.

Fixing down Unitrack End 1

Carefully push a track pin in to the first drilled hole. Then follow this with pushing in two more track pins into the other two holes. Because of the wood frame these last two pins will not push all the way down. Carefully using a nail punch hammer the pins into the wood frame.

Fixing down Unitrack End 2 Track Pins

When you have let the first piece of track set in the silicon for a few hours you can locate and fix down the adjacent piece of track using a jig made out f two Peco track spacing jigs.

Fixing down Unitrack End 3 Using track spacing jig

Because this end of the track has some rail sticking out the end I used Xuran Track Cutter to trim it back to length.

Fixing down Unitrack End 4 Xuron Rail cutter to trim ends

All done for 2 tracks

How the other module ended up.

SideTrack 2 to 3 Track Transition 1

SideTrack 2 to 3 Track Transition 2

For all sorts of tips and tricks for fitting Unitrack in with conventional gauge track go to pages 19 to 21 of the Australian T-TRAK Guidelines at:
http://t-trak.nscale.org.au/guidelines

Sadler’s Sidings – 03 – Building a `Sidetrack Module’

G’day All, This post covers the making up a 160mm wide (125 +35) and 248mm long (multiple of 50mm less 2mm for Unitrack overhang) Sidetrack Module. i.e. this module will allow for three parallel tracks.

This is a ‘pull saw’ that makes cutting timber a dream. It takes a little getting used to and really requires that you let the saw do the cutting and not your pushing down on the wood:

Implement of separation

A comparatively cheap plastic mitre box that does the job well if you don’t hurry:

Mitre Box

Even though there is the mitre box to keep cuts square, marking them as square is a good habit that pays dividends in future work:

Marking the wood

While the sides were cut to the full length of the module (248mm) the ends were cut to fit inside the sides to give a neat outer appearance. This means that the ends have to be cut to a length of  160mm less the combined width of the two side pieces. Don’t rely upon the theoretical widths, measure the real ones. Sidetrack, and its original T-TRAK,  can tolerate small errors (see down further), but sensibly keeping them to a minimum doesn’t stretch that tolerance:

Measuring combined width of both side pieces

Frame components placed out for assembly

Gluing corner blocks to end pieces

Clamping sides to ends

As you can see there are a couple of ‘ooops!’. Width is 161mm but that is less than 1% error and the `wonky’ corner was straightened up before the glue had set:

Checking the width

Frame finished

This end piece is an off cut from a previous module’s construction. One side was `dead on’ for the width, the other was 1mm too short. A bit of careful alignment of the corner blocks and it was overcome. Not recommended for your first few modules unless you are really limited on timber to hand:

Weird End Yankovic

Weird End overcome

3mm balsa for the top of the module. I find that prices here in Auz can vary quite a bit between individual shops and towns. There is no place to buy it in my own home town and so if my own stocks are low I purchase sheets when I see them:

3mm Balsa sheet

Balsa top 2 panels clamped

The reinforcing spine was another offcut from previous work and I had apples stewing on the stove. No one will see it, except you dear reader(s):

Reinforcing spine fitted

An update to fitting the spine, make sure that you have worked out your track plan in terms of under the baseboard items before fitting the spine. I have had to remove this one to allow for an under the baseboard drop away magnetic uncoupler. I will refit the spine once clearances are worked out.

Sadler’s Sidings – 02 – The Basic Modules – Drawings

G’day All, The modules that form Sadler’s Sidings have been developed over a couple of years of playing around with wood moldings, plywood, balsa sheet and other stuff in order to create a robust and light table top modular system which is suited to quick set up on the kitchen or living room table and is easily stored away. The T-TRAK modules are excellent for most purposes, as my working with them for over 10 years proves, but when it came to creating a small switching layout that could also be packed into comparatively small boxes even T-TRAK modules were too large. I also had in my mind my days as a tertiary student living in student accommodation and shared houses where most major woodworking tools were hard to store and use. These modules can be built using glue, small clamps, small mitre box, small saw, craft knife, steel ruler etc and the materials can be bought at hardware and hobby shops.
If they develop into a modular system it will be known as `SideTrack’ to fit in with the concept of making shunting layouts that feature sidings rather than a main line or branch line focus.

Basic 300mm by 125mm Side Trak 35 Module frame & top top view 11mm

The basic frame, reinforcing spine and corner blocks are all off the rack timber moldings. I first used pine moldings but have found that they are often a millimeter two smaller than the stated dimensions. Hardwood moldings appear to be more consistent.
The top surface is 3mm thick balsa wood mounted with the grain running across the width of the module to gain maximum strength. 3mm ply could be used but it is a real pain to cut with a craft knife compared to balsa.

Basic 300mm by 125mm Side Trak 35 Module frame & top 11mm upside down

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not fix the central `spine’ until you have mapped out where you will have under the surface items, eg. magnetic un-couplers, switch(point) motors etc. You may need to move the spine to make clearance ofr them, as I discovered the hard way!

The width of 125mm just `worked out’ as I considered balancing the need for space for the actual industries against the need to have comparatively narrow modules for easy storage. The O scale equivalent width is 500mm and the experts in that scale can create quite adequate shunting layouts with that dimension – eg. Bury, Thorn & Sons at:
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/15931-bury-thorn-sons/

Basic Sidetrack Module 125mm wide

The length of a module is a multiple of 50mm less 2mm to allow for the Kato Unitrack to overhang the ends by 1mm at each end.
The next BLOG post will be photographic description of actually building one of these modules.

« Last Edit: February 27, 2015, 04:05:28 am by T-TRAK_Andrew »

Sadler’s Sidings – 01 – An N scale table top shunting layout that uses T-TRAK/Unitrack technology.

G’day Folks, Back into it at last. Sadler’s Sidings is my current really active project. It is a table top modular shunting layout that uses T-TRAK/Unitrack technology to join 3 by 300mm long modules plus a 100mm long ‘end of the line module’ and two clip on bufferstops. The basic concept is focused around a freight forwarding company  called ‘Sadler’s Freight Forwarding’. I chose the name Sadler’s for two main reasons.  Firstly there is the prototype Sadleir’s Logistics who make use of regular rail service with their sidings in Melbourne, Perth & Sydney. See: http://www.sadleirs.com.au/sadleirs-logistics/interstate-road-rail.  Secondly, my grandmother on my mother’s side was a Sadler who migrated out to Australia from England early last century. By using that spelling I can capture the flavour and concept of the prototype operation  without issues of trying to be `accurate’. The layout is to represent a Sadler’s rail depot in the industrial area of a major city where there has been an original corrugated iron warehouse and as business has grown adjacent buildings have been occupied and renovated or replaced with more modern construction. Other industries and goods transfer areas will occupy the rest of the layout. Future expansion is always a possibility  and is very likely once I have goth the 3 main modules up to a reasonable level of scenery and structures. To see the Sadleir’s prototype operations in Google Maps and Bing Maps the street addresses are: PERTH: 75 Leach Hwy,Kewdale WA 6105 MELBOURNE: 525 Geelong Rd,Brooklyn VIC 3012 – Old Site now closed 550 Melbourne Rd, Spotswood VIC 3015 – New site, bo9th Google Maps and Bing Maps show views of old rail workshops on which the new depot is built. Photos of new site – http://www.railgeelong.com/gallery/newport-sunshine/spotswood-depot/ SYDNEY: 113-115 Punchbowl Road Belfield, New South Wales 2191 The overall scenery style is to be generic Australian. While I intend to operate Australian prototype rollingstock most of the time there will be sessions when I will break out my British, European and Japanese items and go IRWIL mode. (IRWIL – I Run What I Like). One of the aspects of T-TRAK type modules is the 2mm gap that appears  between them because of the Unitrack overhang. On the usual T-TRAK situations the flow of scenery and general viewing angles normally reduces the effect, but in a table t0p situation where the operator is sitting only tens of centimeters from the modules the gap becomes more noticeable. My trial effort at closing the gap is to apply 5mm wide strips of approximately 1mm thick `craft foam’ along the ends of each module under the projecting edge of the Unitrack. The craft foam is compressible like neoprene and so it should be able to absorb any woodwork/overhang  problems. It should also be able to handle a coat of paint on the edge along with a light application of ground foam/static grass without losing the compression.

T-TRAK Modules – The single mainline track modules, part the 13th – more work on the station platform.

Well after quite a few months I am back at the keyboard and updating on the VR Branch single track T-TRAK modules.  The last installment (Part the 12th) showed the platform walls being put in place along with a styrene sheet top for the platform. This sheet is recessed below the platform edge so that scenic material could be spread over the top. As I thought through the overall shape of the land around the platform and spent a few hours researching photos of smaller rural stations I ended up trimming the styrene sheet back quite a bit to allow a good amount of sloping ground on the road side of the platform while keeping enough of it to place the station building on a level surface. I have a small supply of blue EXTRUDED polystyrene insulation foam and made use of it for the basic land forms. It is wonderful stuff to work with for this type of job.

In the following 2 photos you can see how I am making room for a small gangers’ shed.

You can also see in the above and below photos that I am experimenting with alternative scenic material for soil. This is bought about by the decision to model the Otways area of Victoria where the soil is very much more brown than what I was first contemplating. This will mean a reworking of the other station module’s scenery.

In real-time reality I am a bit further on scenically than these photos depict and hopefully I will update you with more photos in a week or two.

Drop Away magnetic uncoupler – an adventure in re-invention.

G’day Folks,

While progress on the single track T-TRAK modules has been at a grand halt for quite a while I have been working on other projects that include a small switching layout that uses T-TRAK technology, see it at:

http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=5632

Switching freight cars immediately implies coupling and uncoupling. I use MicroTrains couplers and they have a magnetic uncoupling system. The difficulty with it is that if permanent magnets are located permanently under the rails, you will have uncoupling when you want it to happen, but you can also have uncoupling happen when pulling a string of freight cars over the uncoupler and the train `jiggles’ in any sort of way. The solution is to have the permanent magnet below the rails only when you want it there. The following three YOUTUBE videos show my response to the situation. While I thought it out myself, probably I have seen something similar in the past and others of greater thought power and experience than myself have come to similar and/or better  solutions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV8shkYND38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-LSPIym5zM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0oHMmv7fA

T-TRAK Modules – The single mainline track modules, part the Eleventh – Scenery for the first corner module.

I first became aware of T-TRAK in 2002-2003 and Kato Unitrack was difficult to obtain in Australia. Being in a rural region made it all the more inaccessible. I therefore experimented for a while with my own type of table top modules. Eventually I bit the bullet and went T-TRAK all the way, a decision I have never regretted. This did leave me with some of the earlier type modules, especially the corner module shown below. The scenic work on the hill was particularly satisfying to me and so it sat in storage in the garage for a LONG time.

The following photo’s show how I was able to move the mountain from the old style module to the T-TRAK corner module I have built. The actual hill was formed of expanded polystyrene pieces covered with strips of paper stuck down with diluted PVA glue. This was then covered with a thin layer of cheap acrylic gap-filler, followed by the normal scenic treatments. To protect the outer side of the hill, and also provide a smooth surface to it, I had built up a wall of 3mm MDF along the two outer sides.

I was 99% sure there were no nails holding the polystyrene blocks together or fixing the hill down to the baseboard. Teeth were gritted as I sawed away. My confidence was justified, and the expense of a new saw avoided.

After gluing down the hill formation I used acrylic gap filler to match it into the module base.

To build up some ground height on the inside of the track curve I  fixed down some roughly cut layers of corrugated cardboard.

When the glue had dried I spread out some acrylic gap sealer and revisited finger painting at kindergarten to spread out the gap filler and make a smooth surface. I dipped my fingers in water a few times on the way through and finished off with a wide brush, again dipping into water a few times along the way.

The next few stages were rushed together, not the best move I discovered! Later in the day that I applied gap filler over the cardboard layers I covered it with a coat of brown paint for the basic soil colour. This sealed off the gap filler too early and slowed down the drying time considerably (the result was found out a few days later). A day or so later I fixed down a layer of earth over the new area, liberally applying diluted PVA glue to hold it in place and then topping it off with some coats of Woodlands Scenics ground foam for grass. This looked really good until two days later when I discovered ….

…. that the  acrylic gap filler was still drying (curing?) and has shrunk a little under all the soil and grass cover, resulting in cracks and creases in the scenery. A less to learn: Acrylic gap filler used for ground formations dries out fairly quickly for small amounts, but larger areas need to be left maybe a week or so before putting paints and the other scenic materials on.

Fix it up action consisted of giving a few more days for drying/curing and then lightly coating it with diluted PVA glue sprayed out in a mist via an empty hair care products pump pack. It is important to let the spray gently `mist’ down onto the surface and be soaked up. Ground foam was then sprinkled on via a small sieve and fixed in place with more diluted PVA misting. The results are as follows:

The result is quite acceptable to me and hopefully gives the impression of good `dairying country’. Once I sort out the fencing and some trees  I have a herd of N scale plastic Friesian cows ready to place and help fix the theme of a rural branch line in the southwest of Victoria.

Single Track T-TRAK modules – A sneak preview of postings to come.

While I have not had much opportunity to post on this blog lately I have been getting in a few hours of modelling time over the Christmas-January break. Here are some photo’s of my activities. I hope to get more detailed accounts posted over the next couple of weeks.

T-TRAK Modules – The single mainline track modules, part the Tenth – Putting All 3 modules together.

I managed to get all 3 modules together for a short stint with the camera. The loco and wagon are posed in scenes that I think will be very much the usual operating setting. The corner module needed a bit of height adjustment which I didn’t notice until the end of the photo shoot. Sharp eyes will notice it under the wheels of the guard’s van in the last photo. The next blog will hopefully show some ways to adjust the height of modules.

The station module has had a fair bit of `snow’ fall with the foamcore additions. These build up the ground height around the station tracks as in the prototype the track is frequently at, or near to, ground level. “It is easier to raise the ground than to lower the track.

Overall view of all 3 modules set up. The `down' local goods is entering with an F class shunter (yet to be repainted) very far from it's urban home.

A closer look shows the following wagons in the train. A `GY' open wagon, a 'J' cement wagon, two 'T' refrigerated wagons, another GY, and a `Z' guard's van on the tail.

After splitting the train, the loco has picked up the `B' van from the goods shed and placed into onto the train. It is now placing one of the T vans in the goods yard to be loaded with cheese and butter from the local cheese and butter factory. The other T van is bound for the station at the end of the branch.

This GY is being placed where the superphosphate depot will be.

With the train re-assembled the trusty little F class heads down the branch to the future `end of the line' station.

Having the modules set up like this is a real encouragement to getting back to working on them. Church and family and the Christmas/end of year activities have held me back quite a bit and I found myself hitting mental blocks when it came to starting up scenery work on individual modules.

T-TRAK Modules – The single mainline track modules, part the Ninth – Corner Module Woodwork – Part 2. Finishing the woodwork/paint etc and laying track

With the sides of the modules all fixed together I moved on to fitting the  3mm plywood top with fast drying glue and some small nails. My  supply of plywood is  in long pieces of 250mm width, therefore two pieces were needed to cover the top of the corner module. Each piece was fitted  separately and then they were secured together by  gluing an approximately 40mm wide off cut of plywood along the butt joint on the underside. This was held down by a brick whilst drying. See the following pictures:

In our part of the world we have had an incredible amount of unseasonable rain and I made use of a patch of fine weather to next apply the paint (I enjoy working outside when it comes to woodwork and painting). The sides received a coat of `Rivergum’ green (in accordance with the Australian T-TRAK guidelines) and the top was done in “mother earth” to seal the plywood before applying scenery.

When the paint had dried I drilled holes for the 6mm Tee nuts and then hammered them in place. For the adjustable feet I use the plastic feet shown below, usually available in larger hardware stores, or mail-ordered from Timbecon in Western Australia ( Stock description: Adjustable feet, 6mm diameter, Stock number:  ADJF-28). The usual alternative is using normal 6mm bolts.

Where both reasonable and possible I try to recycle track. This is not just for  economic reasons but because local hobby shops are over an hour’s drive away. I had an old non-standard `end-return’ module that had Unitrack at the track ends and Peco flexible track for the most part. The Unitrack was held down with track pins and Selleys Brand “Wet Area Silicon Sealant” which holds the Unitrack securely, especially in the sideways and back and front directions, but does not stick the Unitrack down rock hard.  The Peco track was held down by track pins and the PVA/water mix which holds the ballast in place. After removing all the track pins that I could find I soaked the track with water using three light applications spaced at five minute intervals. After waiting a further five minutes I carefully slid a paint scraper under the track and worked it forwards and steadily lifted up the track. I managed to remove about 75% of the track without damage.

The curve of track for this module has to be 282mm (approx 11 inch) radius. From the old module I was able to recycle one Unitrack 282mm curve section but I also retrieved two 249mm (approx 9 3/4  inch radius) sections.  As these curved sections are all about 10 degrees of curvature or less I used one of the 249mm radius pieces which was slipped off the flexible track to which it was attached. The 282mm radius section had a length of flexible track of sufficient length to reach around the whole curve for the module already inserted in it. It  had also been curved to nearly the correct radius.

I  double checked where the holes drilled in the Unitrack  sections for track pins were and  marked where the edges of the Unitrack base have be located. I then spread some of the Selleys Brand “Wet Area Silicon Sealant” on the module top where the the first section of Unitrack would be laid.Then I held a 1mm thick steel ruler against the module’s edge and slid the Unitrack into position. The silicone sealant plus a bit of deft finger work held the Unitrack in place while I hammered in the track pins, checking the track location after each pin was fixed down.

I then began at the other end of the Peco flexible track. I cut away some of the sleepers from the flexible track and slid the Unitrack base onto the rails (The Australian T-TRAK Guidelines has a section on joining Unitrack to `normal’ code 80 type track, referring to that will  help in  understanding how I am working on this module). Removing the Kato Unitrack Uni-joiner makes life a lot easier at this stage and will allow for trimming the rails a bit later. With the track curved to a good position I found that I still needed to remove some sleeper webbing. I guessed at five sleepers, but found out that I only needed to have taken out four.

While making sure that there was a `good’ curve in the flexible track I fixed down this second piece of Unitrack with Silicone Sealant and track pins. A strip of 3mm thick cork was slid under the flexible track and track pins were used to hold the flexible track in place. I used a Dremel-type motor-tool with cutting disc to cut the rails flush with the end of the Unitrack base. Putting the Uni-joiner back into the track and trimming and sliding in the fifth sleeper I had removed  finished the job. There are some damaged sleepers in the section of flexible track but some trimming and use of strips of balsa wood should fix that.

The scenery plan at this stage is  a low cutting through bushland on the outer side of the curve  and a dairy cow paddock on the inner side, or vise versa.