PT segment track status: complete

Finally the track on the PT (pre-tunnel) segment it's glued and electrically interconnected. It took quite some time because of the many little things that had to be done/fixed:
-various feeders had to be extended, since the original size was too short and they couldn't reach the space underneath the switch motors, were they're supposed to connect
- a couple of sections of track already cut to size had to be readjusted, because the original dimensioning wasn't done with one end firmly connected to the next piece of track, but rather simultaneously on both sides, hence small errors; but just an extra 1 mm in flex track length becomes a large problem since the track starts to buckle
- holes were drilled through the plywood for the PT switch pair
- the holders for the switches/switch motors on the PT segment had to be further tweaked, since the original versions were built just to get them up and running, but they couldn't properly sustain a train going over; so for the 3 switches on PT, a new plywood piece was glued next to the existing one holding the motor in place, and then different strip(s) of plywood were glued on the surface securing everything to the big foam board; for the first switch in the pair a foam holder was glued underneath the ballast piece since it was a better approach
- extra care was needed to avoid any kinks in the track pieces connecting to the switches, so pins and more pins and pins without the head were used
- for the second switch in the PT pair, the end of the remaining point blade also had to be extended since it wasn't staying in the tie plate, and with everything glued it gets pretty complicated to further modify the switch (the other point blade was extended here: http://piko-modellbahnen.blogspot.com/2010/08/test-driving-through-pt.html); the same old method was used, with 3 stranded wires soldered together forming the "extension", and this soldered to the tip of the point blade (originally i tried to solder on the outside of the blade, but the switch wouldn't go all the way through, so i used a small file to clean the solder and redo the same thing on the other side of the blade)
- a strange issue persisted with the (same) second switch in the PT pair - all the length of the switch is placed on a constant ramp, but the last portion (right over the switch motor) was level, which looked peculiar; all the various foam pieces - unglued yet -were measured and found to be the correct size, the switch itself wasn't bent and anyway it is rather flexible vertically, even in its foam ballast, so the only explanation could be that the big foam board was thinner in that exact spot; the fix was to use a strip of 1mm beneath all the supporting structures in this area as to "bump" the height
- the movement of the point blades on the first switch in the pair wasn't right in one direction; it seemed like the point blades would stall for a moment in one direction of movement; a little filling on a tie support causing this fixed it
- all 3 motors on the PT were unmounted, then remounted to test the access through the plywood holes; first the screw holding the actuating wire is loosened using a small enough ratchet that fits in the underneath hole, the actuating wire is removed from the mechanism, the 2 screws securing the motor to its plywood base are unscrewed and the motor then comes off; when remounting the screw for the actuating wire needs to be tightened a bit, otherwise the ratchet will not work, and the motor will have to be removed again to access this screw.

All the testing this weekend was done using the PIKO BR 01.5, since the Lenz BR 66 developed a small problem with one of its small rear wheels - namely a 'tick' every one revolution. I couldn't figure out exactly what causes it, so I mailed Lenz the exact problem, and they're sending a new type of wheels. Hopefully in about 2 days they'll arrive. As for the PIKO loco, I've spent quite some time with the desk lamp studying if the flanges touch the tie plates of the Tillig code 83 track, and couldn't come to a definite decision. However, after this weekend operating sessions, comparing the tie plates to their original state, several bumps on the plates seem to be a little shiny, a sign that sometimes the flanges do make contact. I'm looking into buying replacement wheels for the tender, since 2 of the motor wheels are located here and also because the difference in pulling power on the new Tillig track vs the old thick PIKO track profile is dramatic - the loco barely pulls itself on the new track. And it's definitely not because of any oily debris on the traction tires, since these were cleaned properly.


The photos: 1. final preparations before glueing the switches in place; 2. glueing the track under (proper) weights

LR track in place

The last piece of track needed for the LR was trimmed to size, all the right superelevated ballast foam pieces have been prepared, glue has been applied and right now it's all left to dry overnight.

An important thing i've observed tonight is how the Tillig joiners must be tight for glueing 2 adjacent pieces of curved track - the first pair used was kind of loose,and the kink was obvious. After changing them, everything got better, with the kink gone and half of the pins pinning the track down becoming useless.

Opinions about soldering the track are shared, but i choose not to solder because of 2 reasons: it doesn't look good from the examples i saw on the net and second, the track, just like the prototype, needs gaps at the end of each piece in order to contract/expand during periods of cold/warm weather. Soldering is however done on each piece of track, but to feeders. Actually this is how the old Piko track was done - with each sectional piece electrically connected to its neighbour by two thin fires placed under the ties. A bus will not be used for the current, since the original block scheme done for DC mode meant that for about 2 metres of track there was a separate pair of wires that fed it directly, this will be used, but now thwy will all carry the same DCC signal.

LR continued

The order finally came, and with it the switch that was needed to carry on construction on the LR - a Tillig 85314. It got the standard 3-coat airbrushing, along with 2 other switches (Tillig 85323). And since i found setting up of the switch and attaching the motor rather complicated, considering i've done 4 previous switches, i made a small procedure that beside the initial step of painting the switches goes like this:
- build the plywood that will support the motor and drill holes for the screws (2); drill a hole for the rod that will move the points
- drill a hole through the ballast (the one corresponding to the switch model - without the specific model the switch doesn't stay right !) in 3 places - corresponding to the feeders on internal/external point blade and one that sets the polarity on the frog
- cut the right path in the ballast for the rod that will move the points
- with switch mounted in its corresponding ballast piece and the motor attached to the plywood piece right under the switch - with the switch in one of the two positions (not anywhere between) - the postion of the ballast on the plywood is marked

- if the tie holding the point blades tends to "slip" under its place right beneath the track, thus causing the motor to block when trying to move, then a little piece of plastic, cut from the material holding the tie plates together in tie strip, is placed transversal to the tie holding the point blades' direction; this problem can happen because of the turned tips of the point blades that are not long enough - however the tips should not be secured firmly to the tie holding them, because this will prevent a smooth transition of the blades when the motor is operating

- the shoes in the motor are ajdusted so the correct distance to the other position of the switch is right (actually just the 2 shoes controlling movement to the other position)
- the spots on the track where feeders will be soldered must be cleaned properly - using a bistoury to remove any oxide, using different patterns of movement - not just left-right, because this will not remove all the oxide; then the feeders are soldered

- electrical connectivity between the right blades must be checked, to ensure that no damage was done to the conductive elements placed on the back of the switch.

Last week holes in the big wooden board were made for the switch on the bottom of the LR segment, and for the switch on PT right next to the tunnel. Also the switch on the top of LR was finally glued to position, and so was the one on the bottom of LR. The LR ramp has been completely glued (the red books are keeping everything together in this operation on the first photo). All the electrical connections were also done for the mentioned switches. Part of the line that makes the LR was glued to position, along with superelevated ballast: the difference in height is 1 mm, which is prototipically correct (on real railroads the height of the outer rail above the inner rail , also named cant, can have values of 100mm).

In preparation of the Gras Master tests, some dry pigments were also ordered (second photo). Got these from a local retailer, and along with plaster, these are used in a technique called zip texturing, whose main objective is to produce realistic dirt.

Also a couple of old wheels were changed, since the damage was so hard that there was no other way (mainly because of handling them with the hands as a kid led to exfoliation of the material (chrom maybe?) coating the wheels).

But the real shocker was the Gras Master + Silflor (or miniNatur, as they are sold in Europe). The result is just superb, and the 130 euros payed just for the GrasMaster are certainly worth it.

Up, up, and away !

After a long break, work resumed on the layout. More precisely, my attention turned to the LR segment. The entire ramp was already build, but there was a small problem. Many years ago, when the big foam board was initially placed over the wood one, there was still some remaining space. To fill this up, a small section of different foam was used. This is visible in the first picture, right next to the point where the SR goes to its right-most position. So the LR ramp has to cross both types of foam boards. Unfortunately when the first one was built, i didn't notice the slight difference in height between the two, because the small board is somehow "swelled", but leaving the joint between the 2 boards level. And so when the ramp was completed, there was quite a noticeable difference in the inclines along the ramp. The new adjusted track plan (done when I decided to use flex track) made use of a larger radius on the LR ramp. The original plan was for the individual ramp pieces themselves to be temporary removed, and then glued back in the right position for the new curve. But there was a problem: the plan also called for a higher track elevation in front of the station on the PT segment, so the incline of the new LR ramp would be totally different. So I decided to build a completely new ramp altogether - consisting of 6 individual pieces.To solve the height difference between the foam boards, the extreme most 2 pieces would lay directly on the big foam board (the material for this one is hard, and so serves as a good base), and the rest of 4, that would had come above the small foam board will be done just like one of the switches on the PT segment - namely using the 1.3 cm squares attached dirrectly to the wooden board, a "girder" to get to a higher elevation, and on top of that the ramp pieces themselves. Holes for the "girders" where made, the pieces of foam squares that were in the way were removed, and alchohol was used to get the glue out. A screwdriver also came in handy, as to gently shave away excess foam and the glue, since the latter has a tendency to harden as soon as the alchohol evaporates. After 3 of these "girders" are glued, along with the 1.3 corresponding pieces, a new problem appeared: the whole thing would move way too much, because the 1.3cm bits do not secure the structure sufficiently. The solution is to glue another piece of foam, so one side rests on the "girder" and the other one on the foam board.

Lessons learned from this episode: 1. the foam boards rated 5 cm are actually 4.8 cm (discovered this when the ramp was first mounted as a test), 2. 2 pieces of 3 cm stacked on top of each other are actually 5.85 cm - so I ended up cutting 2mm and 1.5mm foam strips to fix this - 3. assumption is a bad thing (1. and 2. happenned because of this), 4. a level is priceless - a small nifty one that was in the house and found its use for the first time on the layout (i wonder how i manage to build the rest so far without it!), since the ramp itself needs to be level (later the ballast pieces that will come on top will tilt the track on the inside of the curve).

In anticipation of more track laying, 12 tie strips were given the first coat of paint using the airbrush today. The next 2 coats will have to be done as soon as possible, because a new order is coming this week, containing amongst others, the switch that's right on the start of LR, a couple of wheelsets to convert a couple of cars and, not least - the Noch Gras Master.