Avoiding a short circuit!

 With the hump issue sorted and the thinner sub bases glued in place the copper clad strip needed to be cut through at specific points to avoid short circuits. It was far easier to do this off the bench but I had sensibly marked out where the tracks would go. This gave me a guide as to where to cut through the copper.

The copper is not that thick but it still takes a bit of effort with the saw to cut through it to the plastic base under it.

All the joints cut and with the multi meter I made sure that the there were not going to be any short circuits when finally in place and the track soldered on to it  - I hope! This is all time consuming work  and to be honest getting a bit tedious and mine numbing but doing a an hour or so each day means that the project moves on - even if it is at glacial speed! 

Finding the hump!

Back to the issue I left for a day or two that had given me the hump - literally! Whilst setting out the storage tracks at the back of the baseboard I found that adding the copper clad strip created a hump in the track. Leaving it would just have caused future running problems for the trains so it needed sorting. Having pondered for a day or so I decided that whatever the sub base strips needed to be removed. A screwdriver wedged between the sub base and the main baseboard resulted in the sub bases releasing their hold. I did see that there were two screws under these which on examination were slightly proud of the baseboard surface. Eureka! I thought this must be the issue! Out came the screws and the baseboard was further counter sunk so that the screws tops were now most certainly below the surface. Clean up the sub bases, reposition them, put track in place and slide copper clad strip in place. It should have been the solution but the hump was still there!

 

So plan B came to fruition. Use some thinner plywood. I cut four strips and put these in place and then the track and copper clad strip. The result was a huge  gap between the rail and strip. far too big to fill with solder and have a strong joint.

I then moved onto plan C! This was more drastic as the electric sander came out and I literally sanded off one ply of the plywood. Took a while but would it work?

Sub bases back in place, track back in place, copper clad strip back in place and wagon with my fingers on top run over the track. It had worked! no hump! So the sub bases have been glued back in place with some suitable weights on top, ready for the copper clad strip to be glued.

I can only think that whilst the plywood was 5mm thick, it varied slightly to the plywood I used for the sub bases on the removable section of the baseboard that I created early last year. Those sub bases had no hump issue. Just need to sand the other two sub bases at the other end of the baseboard now! Just hope that Mrs. Woody doesn't take the hump that I have spent so much time on this problem rather then sorting out some jobs on her chore list!

When things just dont go according to plan!

It was worked out in my mind that I would start dealing with the baseboard join and track breaks on the back four loops on my 00 gauge layout. Cut the sleepers off as required, attached already cut copper clad strip, prepare wires and solder track and wires to copper clad strip. Fairly simple which it has to be for my mind to process it!

It started well! Tracks lined up ready for sleepers to be cut off.

Sleepers cut off.

Then things started to go wrong. The copper clad strips should have just slid between the baseboard sub board and the rail itself. They didn't!

Running a wagon over the track with my hand on top told me there was a slight hump in the track. Not good!

I don't really know why there is a hump but I need to deal with it now or running trains in the future will just end with problems emanating from the hump.

I did try the pre-cut sleeper strip to see if that would slide in between the rail and sub base. There was still a hump! I need to ponder. Sometimes it is just better to stop, go away and think about before doing anything rash!

Track and glue!

Back to sorting the sidings out on my 00 gauge layout. More wiring is needed, in fact a lot more wiring as this shot shows - 24 wires!

I am soldering the wires along with the rails to the copper clad sleepers - makes sense to combine one soldered joint.

Before soldering the rails and wires I applied PVA glue where the track would lie.

I did manage to solder three of the tracks - its slow work!

To ensure the glued track stays in place a few weights were added and the load spread over the track with some scrap pieces of plywood.

Hopefully the rest of the soldering should be finished in the next day or so then it is onto the four loops at the back of the board.

Brute force and ignorance!

Sometimes, despite thinking I may have a logical mind to getting things done, sheer brute force and ignorance are a tactic that I employ. Mrs. Woody would say that is more like the norm for me and I guess she would see evidence in her claim when I started tackling the pile of tree bits on the front garden that have blighted her vision of horticultural bliss for some months now. Having a log burner means you need logs to burn in it and seeing my wallet more as a source to fund my hobbies then buy logs I do collect bits of tree when they become available. At the end of last year I was lucky in that I had two trees in kit form having been felled by the local highway authority having fallen in the high winds. Unfortunately for me the bits are big - far too big to fit in the log burner so I need to get them into smaller bits and let them dry out for a couple of years. I know that you can get log splitters but again my wallet is closed to such expenditure especially when I have a lump hammer and a selection of cold chisels!

Its taking some time but a few more sessions should split the rest and then I can cut them to length. I really need to move those bags of compost for Mrs. W as well!

Continuing the theme of brute force and ignorance I decided to cut the strips of copper clad sheet for the hidden sidings on my 00 gauge layout. I decided that cutting four strips from a sheet of copper clad material was a far better idea then cutting 32 sleepers from the sleeper strip I have. I soon regretted that idea as I started cutting with my modelling saw. It took over half an hour to cut one strip.

Sitting back and thinking, a rare moment for me, I saw a panel saw and much as it would see many carpenters cry at the misuse and ignorance I used it to cut the other three strips. Brute force got the job done in 10 minutes and seemingly no harm to the saw!

This is where they will be used on the layout, the other two at the opposite end of the baseboard.

Now its time to get back to wiring and soldering the siding tracks hopeful without too much ignorance or brute force!

A minor monumental moment or two!

In the ranking of monumental moments, mine are fairly insignificant in the making of the history of the World, but never the less to me they are still a significant and indeed monumental moment! Mrs. Woody is still waiting for the monumental moment that all the jobs on her job list for me are done but that is a moment that is perhaps some time off! However with respect to my 00 gauge Last Great Project Layout the monumental moment or two are that firstly all the holes for the point motors have now been completed and secondly all the track underlay is now glued in place (well apart from a two small parts for the two lead off points on the edge of the layout but until I figure out exactly what I am doing with them they will have to wait).

The last two point point motor holes were cut in my usual way of making out where the tie bar is with the hole in it for the point motor pin that comes up from under the baseboard. A series of holes were then drilled.

The line of holes were then joined together by using a craft knife and then by using a file the resulting hole was tidied up.

This is the minor monumental moment when the last hole was cut!

I needed 24 copper clad sleepers so these were cut to length and then tinned with solder where the rail was to be soldered.

The plastic sleepers were then stripped from the rail where the copper clad sleepers were to be glued to the baseboard. With that done the sopper clad sleepers were super glued into place.

That is the second minor monumental moment with all the track underlay now in place.

There is a danger that fairly soon yet another minor monumental moment may arise with possibly all the track laid and fastened in place but don't hold your breath! In the meantime I need to solder the track to the copper clad sleepers and add some wiring.

Sorting the sidings!

It is now time to finish track laying in the sidings of my 00 gauge layout as at present they are a bit short! I selected some short off cuts of track which was a good way to use them up rather than on the main circuits. Once selected they were airbrushed with weathering paint.

The photo below shows how much track was needed.

With the tracks in place the sidings look far more railway like!

As planned (?!?!) or more by luck (more likely) my longest rake of wagons that will use the sidings just fits!

I now need to wire the sidings and then strip the plastic sleepers at the baseboard joints and put in copper clad ones to which the rail will be soldered before I can cut through them. Then it will be fully sorted!

Happy!

I am generally a happy person despite what Mrs. Woody would tell you! So my mood of happiness continued as I powered a train around the inner circuit of the newly laid track on my 00 gauge layout. In facat I got a bit carried away and spent a couple of hours playing operating trains! Now that makes me even more happy!

Will my happiness continue as I move onto the rest of the trackwork? I hope so as it means I am doing it right!

Gauging it!

 As I progress with the track laying and wiring of my 00 gauge layout those little red sticks have come out again! But before they could I had to finish gluing some track underlay and wiring some more track.

With that done it was time to glue the track in place and as glue does make later adjustment just about impossible without breaking something - my heart and wallet usually - I needed to make sure that things were right. The eyeball is usually good at seeing slight deviations but these track gauges also help. 

If you look at any real railway track it will never be absolutely straight so I am not worried too much about a slight kink but at least I should end up with something that doesn't look as though it was laid whilst wearing a blindfold!

With the track glued and in place I used some pieces of plywood to spread the weight of some suitable heavy objects to keep the track flat.

If I am gauging it right I might actually get to run a train soon and hope that it runs without derailing on my straight and flat track! 

Are their tigers in there?

A second day this week at the Rocks By Rail Museum and I can confirm there are no tigers in the Sundew drag line excavator cab but there are these tiger orange electrical components now adorning the wall making the cab look a lot more interesting thanks to Rob

Rob is continuing his wizardry with the exterior of the cab preparing it for a repaint in preparation for its celebration this year. It is the 50th anniversary of Sundews Greta Walk when it walked from Exton quarry in Rutland to Corby. The story is on the Museum Facebook page and you can see it by clicking here.

Are their tigers in there? That is what someone asked me today at the Rocks By Rail Museum as I battled to get the mower through the somewhat thick and over long grass. There may not have been tigers but there was an assortment of largish tree branches lurking, hidden in the grass.

Back in the comfort of WMD HQ where I could rest my mower battered body, things move on slowly with the 00gauge layout. The last of the track underlay on this section of baseboard has been glued down. One of the issues with glue is that you have to wait for it to dry and unlike instantons superglue, PVA takes some time to dry! At least it gives my body some time to recover from the mowing unless Mrs. woody finds a job for me to do!

Soldering on!

Time to solder some sleepers on my 00 gauge Last Great Project Layout. The track and wires were put in place after PVA glue was spread where the track was to go.  . 

The rails were then soldered to the copper clad sleepers.

Then it was al weighed down to make sure it was flat whilst the glue dried. 

I still have over 50 copper clad sleepers to do so this is going to take a while but at least it is a start! I just need to solder on!

Back at the Rocks by Rail Museum I am soldering, sorry soldiering, on with the grass cutting. The wet warmish weather has accelerated the grass growth so it is hard going. As Rob said, looks like you created a grass path to the dump truck!

Meanwhile, back in the restoration shed, John is adding the final bits to the 3 plank wagon with these supports for the drop sides. They are sprung which means the sides should lower without slamming down and hurting anyone, but equally important help in raising the sides back into position.

John and Andy deep in discussion about a latching mechanism to hold the drop sides in place when upright. I think I may have disturbed the train of though when I took the picture! However I am sure they have it worked out!