Dear All,
Just completed the first handbuilt turnout for my proposed new (first) 009 layout. Up until now I had been working on the stock only. For the trackwork I have decided (rightly or wrongly) to build my own from copperclad strip and rail. Having purchased the excellent Right Track DVD on building trackwork I have previously built points in 00 gauge and these run well (after some fine tuning).
My main drivers for building my own track in 009 are:
I could use a finer rail comared to the Peco track (I chose code 55)
I believed I could build my own points far cheaper then the Peco offering.
Attached is a photo of my first effort which took about an evening to complete, including making some simple track gauges first. It is has a 1 in 5 V and is about the same size as a Peco mainline turnout. After testing (and tuning) the stock appear to run over it very well, certainly as good as the Peco point. See if you can spot the sleeper only soldered at one end, I did only after taking the photo.
Costs are as follows (all from C&L fnescale):
Copper clad strip (1mm x 3.3mm) =
Looks good Paul, and I would not have noticed the non-soldered sleeper if you had not mentioned it!
One point (pun intended! ;D) about overall cost is the time factor involved in the building and fetteling - 40p does not buy much time, even at UK minimum wage rates! How long, roughly, did the point take to build?
I think the time taken to build the point may also factor in on the overall
Looks very good Paul.
I had been considering making track. I'm OK with soldering (having an electronics background) but had been struggling with sourcing the gauges. You say you made your own; I'd be interested to see what they are like.
Thanks
Frank
Thanks for the positive comments.
The first point took about 3 hours to complete but as I am not here to build points to make money, only for relaxation my time is free so to speak. I imagine I may get a little quicker as I make more of them. The point was made up on a temlate printed from Templot, excellent software, although I did have to enter the sizes for 009 myself.
The blades are fixed to the tie bar using small brass pins (0.6mm), bent over and soldered to the blades. It all appears to be strong enough, only time will tell.
Next time I get the camera out I will post a picture of the gauges. Track gauge is coperclad strip with 2 cuts made with a mini drill and cutting disc, this holds the rails 9mm apart. Check rail clearance is also made out of cooperclad strip reduced in width, all very low tech. Had to scrap a few off before I was happy but all very simple and easy to make.
Paul
This looks like a very competent and neat piece of work. I have to admit it inspires me to have a go at something similar for the new set of storage roads I'm contemplating in my storage area. Well done.
It does look most impressive. I've got (and read!) the book on "PCB track" by Iain Rice but have never had the courage to try it out.
Do you use any jigs for filing or setting?
The V is made by drawing the angle on a piece of paper using a pen, filing the rails and then lining them up on the paper, retaining with some blu-tak before soldering up. You need to make sure you have a straight sided V which goes to a point.
First off stick the plan to a board, add double sided tape and lay the sleepers on the plan. The assembly order is straight stock rail, V, curved stock rail, wing rails, check rails, blades and finally the tie bar.
The blades are again filed without a jig as is the V.
009 points are no harder than 00 although flat bottom rail needs a bit more work compared to the bullhead I used on my 00 points. After a while you get more confident and in 00 I actually ended up building a curved interlaced 3 way point using the same methods as described above.
Paul