Reconstruction work at Dunalistair

[tedp]

As you may have gathered, I have finally taken the plunge. I'm busy evacuating Dunalistair as the right-hand layout unit will be subject to extensive track work. In the diagram this is the rectangular unit to the left of the headland area, carrying the station and the ferry pier:



All the loose items - ships, one or two buildings, backscenes, the coal pier etc. will have to be removed as the headland unit has to come out for access to the harbour unit.

The point units I built last spring will have to be inserted, track replaced, point motors revised etc. Possibly I will replace the signal solenoids by Siemens relays that won't overheat if left on. Some re-wiring will be needed, but re-siting the point motors is the most daunting part of the job. The throw direction will have to be changed - not yet sure how to do that.

I expect it will be a job taking several weeks. In theory I can run the services mentioned in the previous post, since Rae Bridge and the rest of the layout are intact. I could jury rig the headland unit to the rest of the layout, but in practice this is a lot of extra work. So effectively, services are suspended over the entire layout.

[tedp]

Here is a view of the new point assemblies in position on the layout.





In the past hour I have been digging up the dropper wires of the track sections. This wasn't too difficult since most of the ballast is non-reinforced plaster. The red ellipses indicate the dropper wires.



The layout will remain in place as I dig up the old track and lay the new. The dropper wires will remain in the same place, or almost in the same place, since the track gaps won't change very much. So I plan to solder them to the new track and test the layout before ballasting.

The wiring of Dunalistair is very robust - all is labelled and glued down. Here are a few photos made of the underside of the layout.

The first photo shows the interlocking relays for the Rae Bridge line (top left), the turntable controller (centre and centre left), and part of the capacitor discharge unit (bottom left). The home-built point motor for the pair of points (no. 5/6) in the previous photo is on the right. The green wire goes to a dead section in the harbour track behind the goods shed.



Labelling charts under the headland section to indicate the wire colours of one of the flat cables making the link between the two sections.





The terminal blocks used to link up the connecting wires to the headland section.



A view of the home made point and signal motors under Dunalistair (red ellipses). Note the track switches operated by the point motors using an N gauge rail as an operating lever.



Finally, a view of the connectors used to link up the two layout units.

[tedp]

DESTRUCTION!

Tonight I removed the platfrom road and the run-round from Dunalistair. For the moment I left the harbour road since the two are quite separate. Two cross-overs were removed and a few yards of track. The surrounding scenic base was easy to remove - some of it flaked off - but I had glued barriers along the Fleischmann points to prevent them being flooded by plaster and water. This had set extremely hard, and removing it took such a lot of force that some of the detail on the platform just vibrated loose. This doesn't spell any good for the harbour road with its in-set track - I fear that must be carved out with a slitting disc in my new Proxxon tool.

Anyway, here are the last pictures. Note there are several wires still sticking out of the baseboard - I had to remove the frog power wires as the new points are slightly longer. These will be re-installed when the point motors and switches have been re-sited on the underside of the baseboard.





Here, after cleaning up and removing even more flakes of scenic base, the points seem to fit in place. Next I will sink slots in the plywood so the tie bars can be worked from below.





If you see the destruction needed to get the points in, you may understand why I delayed this for such a long time!   ::)

[Hugh Norwood]

Trains for Kings Cross will terminate at Finsbury Park.......(etc)   ;D
Wow!

[tedp]

 ;D   ;D  Finsbury Park indeed...!

Meanwhile I have been busy. The first crossover and most of the platform road have been tailored to size. The breaks in the platform road have been made and I cut operating slots in the plywood. Also, the area under the points has been painted brown so I don't have to ballast that bit and the point blades won't gum up.

I have performed clearance checks with the Leek & Manifold coach to prevent any trouble with the platform edge. I checked alignment from the curve into the facing point using a mirror - it lies straight without any kinks.



Note the slot under the tie bar - this had to be opened out as the point needed to be realigned.



A view from above.



I find the approach I have chosen is a good one - Leave the layout in situ, then first take up the old track and lay new track. This enables you to replace all the old wiring connections you can re-use and make sure the new track works. Only then the layout will come out to gain unhampered access to the underside and re-fit point motors, switches etc. Following that I will run trials for some time, then when I'm satisfied, finally I'll add ballast and new scenic cover.

Now I'm off to check my boat, since the weather is good and there is bad weather forecast in the days ahead.

To be continued!

[tedp]

One step further: the platform road has been completed, including dead sections. I connected up the wires and ran the first trial train hauled by Sir Theodore. The wide four-wheel coach and the Leek & Manifold saloon are used for clearance checking.





The drive to the points of the release crossover will be interesting to solve. The point next to the turntable is over a huge steel frame that carries the turntable mechanism. I will probably have to use a cantilever arm to operate the point from a place where a point motor can be inserted underneath. But first I will lay all the track and make sure it is free of trouble.

To be continued!

[Krizzy]

Blimey Ted, after you have sorted out the relaying of your track and all the associated works will Marcel offer you a second career!!!

Roger

[tedp]

I think he has been out of that line of work for ages!

[tedp]

Well - today was a wet and windy day. Ideal weather to get a move on and do some modelling work. I completed the track on the run-round, the loco and stock siding, and the turntable access. It took some aligning and re-aligning.

A particular problem with Peco points is the short rail stubs protruding from the sleeper base. They work well with Peco rail joiners, but not with other makes, since these have a short lip on the base (to guide the joiner on to the rail). This lip has to be removed to ensure it will slide home far enough.





Note that the operation will leave burrs on the joiner which must be removed with a sharp object. Otherwise it will refuse to slide on to the rail of the point.

Another thing to remember is to drill holes into the sleepers to accept a track pin. I use a pin vice and a 1mm drill. Note the plastic insulating joiner - I used to cut through the rail for insulation, but this can leave a step in the rail that must be stabilised with glue. A good quality insulating joiner does the job without trouble. After sawing through the rail, clean up the ends with a file to ensure the joiner will slide on.



Finally, I ran trials with Sir Theodore, and with William Wallace, checking whether it would run through all the new track with its coarse flanges. Apart from stumbling a little on the turntable end, it did quite well.



A video of the test running can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIGT3suFF2c

To be continued!

[tedp]

Since I have the bit between my teeth now and the going is good, tonight I tackled the harbour yard. The new Proxxon tool I bought at Cologne has now been complemented with a power unit and a set of large diameter slitting discs. This was invaluable when I dug up the track buried in the pavement:





The pavement was embossed in a 1980s resin filler material called Porion. I remember painstakingly laying a few square inches of the stuff and pressing in the courses between the setts. The stuff is rock hard and has to be cut with a machine, then chipped from the baseboard. Regrettably it is off the market, so the replacement material must be something quite different. We'll tackle that as soon as the track is down and the scenic work begins.

The track had to be cut as well, and the rails freed so a new rail joiner can be pushed on. After an hour's hard work, the track was gone.



Now fitting the new yard points could begin in earnest. I laid the complete unit with the diamond crossing in place and started marking off the shed siding, which is accessed by the single point at the bottom of the picture.





This is the other end, where the quay siding branches off the main harbour road as it curves from the station throat.



The rails of the shed siding were cut to size so the outer points of the entire unit fitted between the existing track. Now the crossing and the quay and coal pier sidings had to be matched.



After more painstaking work with the Proxxon and a file, the unit fitted in place.



Since it's 10pm now, I decided to call it a day. Connecting it all up will be the next thing to do.

To be continued!

[B.Meldon]

That crossover is a wonderful bit of work Ted.

I did think when I saw you had lifted the old one that you may have re-designed the entire area including the approach to the jetty and the quayside to remove the need for the crossover. But clearly not.

Brian Meldon

[tedp]

Thanks, Brian. The crossover was built last spring and extensively tested on the workbench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iesCIoLOKF4

The need for a crossover, or why the area wasn't redesigned, was discussed before. The layout is very cramped due to the way the buildings are sited, which was done for scenic interest.

Operationally, the coal jetty and the quay siding both need to be accessible from the main harbour road. I cannot shunt the coal jetty from a siding containing stationary goods stock.

In addition, a simple replacement does the least damage. It took me most of an evening to dig out the old crossing and associated trackwork. Rooting up more would have been out of the question - the alternative would have been to replace the entire harbour module which would have set me back several years.

[Harry Mantheakis]

Ted, thank you for posting all this - it is very interesting. I admire your knack for documenting your progress at various intervals - I tend to get on with things (when time permits) and mostly forget to take pictures!

[tedp]

Thanks Harry - after a time it becomes a habit. I always have the camera on the workbench to try and make a shot of one or two details.

Today I finally installed the harbour road and the associated pointwork in the yard. Although I don't own shares in Peco, I thought I'd show this - being a satisfied customer...   ;)



Getting the pointwork in place wasn't very difficult. I used sliding rail joiners that were put on the appropriate rails and slid in place after positioning the points/diamond crossing unit. For the diamond crossing I had to recondition old Roco joiners, since the sidings have a peculiar rail profile that doesn't take Minitrix or Fleischmann joiners.

The curve towards the left (to the coal pier) contains a length of old Lima steel track that had gone out of gauge (to about 8.5mm). Removing the track was no option, but I managed to re-set it to slightly over 9mm gauge, as some of my locomotives don't like under-gauge track. The old Arnold and Liliput chassis have thick flanges that will run through the Peco points provided the back to back is OK, but the track gauge needs to be spot on otherwise they will bind.





I removed a bit of the pavement and wedged 9.5mm lengths of matchstick between the rails. Heating the outer rail with a soldering iron and then supergluing the rail back on resulted in a stable curve of correct gauge.



Note that I painted the area under the point blades, and I cut a slot for an operating rod underneath. In the view below, I inserted thin card under the points so the through road doesn't sink.



And here is a close-up of the turntable. Note I fiddled with patches of card to even out the rail height, and also note the radiused rail ends to cater for inaccurate lining-up.



Finally, here is a video showing trial running over the crossing. I used William Wallace and Brutus for their thick flanges, and Sir Theodore since it has very fine profile wheels, plus assorted rolling stock. I'm pleased there is hardly any bumping, a great improvement over the old crossing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGJPvdm0_RI

To be continued!

[Harry Mantheakis]

Ted, in the above image, what are the centre rails for? Are they cosmetic, or do they act as check-rails? (Perhaps I have not understood something.)