I need some advice... I need to cut some curved track sections (Hornby track system), which cross baseboard joins at an angle (i.e. the rails are not at 90deg to the baseboard join at the point of crossing).
I was going to get one of those fancy shearing rail cutters, but have been told that they only cut one side cleanly, and the other side gets mangled?
My current plan is to use a cutting disk in a rotary tool. Should I cut each rail at 90deg to the direction of travel (which means the two cuts will not be in a straight line), or cut both of them in a straight line along the baseboard join? I plan to fix the rail ends accurately afterwards by soldering them to small brass screws.
I've never used track cutters so I can only advise yout to use the cutting disk. I assume you are talking about set track rather than flexi but I would still definitely solder the ends to the screws
*before* you cut. It gives support during cutting and ensures the rails remain perfectly aligned.
Ironically although I use track cutters all the time for regular track cuts, for this type of job I would use a very fine toothed razor saw - to ensure the cut is at 90º to the face of the baseboard and at the precise angle to match the board's edge.
Fix the rail ends (I use two parallel strips of PCB for this purpose) BEFORE cutting - in theory this should guarantee alignment after they are cut.
I'd concur with John. I have used the PCB technique and it works very well. Once the PCB is painted and has a little ballast around it, its very unobtrusive. Don't forget to cut through the copper cladding between the rails to prevent a short. The razor saw gives the finest cut and is more controllable. You may find a little liquid soap or candle wax on the blade helps the saw, but don't use Fairy Liquid as it loaded with salt and will rust any ferrous metals it finds.
Is that after you have lodged the appropriate 'safety case' with the H&SE - sorry if that's lost on you Wolf, but those in the UK will probably get my drift.
I submit that on or about Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:18:07 -0700, the person known to the court as "Roger T." made a statement ( in Your Honour's bundle) to the following effect:
... being sure to wear eye protection ...
DAMHIKIJKOK?
Guy
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"To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken
'SFunny John, but your email was in my mind tonight. We were coming back from a most enjoyable evening watching the new version of Pride and Prejudice in the West End, and were waiting for our tube at Leicester Square.
We waited and waited, passing the time by watching the mice toying with the pizza wrappers on the track, and the waiting crowds built up. Eventually a train arrived and we all squeezed on. Just before the door closed, a young person in the next carriage decided to disgorge several gallons of alcopops over her fellow passengers and the floor.
An LT employee on the platform saw this through the window and immediately raised his flag in the emergency position, the train locked down and the doors opened.
Everyone had to get off. The guard came along and examined the floor of the affected carriage. He tried laying a few sheets of newspaper over the mess, then declared that he was not satisfied under the safety case.
Then came the announcement... "This train is being withdrawn from service for safety reasons"... and the crowd, which by now must have been over 1,000 people on the platform, watched in disbelief as an entire million-pound-plus high-tech train was whisked away empty. Safety? I suppose they were worried that someone might slip on the mess. But not too worried about someone falling on the track from the crowding.
Sheesh, when I were a lad, a late night back on the Northern Line consisted entirely of *all* the passengers merrily chucking up!
Wolf Kirchmeir wrote in news:B7gXe.163$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:
My layout never leaves home and never moves, weight isn't a problem, a strong, stable structure able to cope with variations in temperature, humidity and 2 very clumsy children are my main considerations. Most of the frame is 2" x 2" with the occasional 2" x 1" stringer. Built in shelves under the actual table top holding lots of heavy kit ...
As for being to hard, I pre drill holes for pins meaning that they only have to be hammered for the last eighth of an inch or so ...
Being in North America, where we really _Build_ model railways, mine is like yours only built with 1 x 4s for the "L" girders. 1 x 3s for cross bracing, stringers and risers and 3/4 good one side plywood for the sub-roadbed overlaid with 1/2 sound insulation fibreboard as the roadbed and then wooden ties (sleepers) and hand spiked rail and then ballast.
Yes, there's shelving under all that as well made up of 1 x 4s spaced about an inch apart.
Brits tend to think we over build and on this side of the pond we think your layouts are too flimsy. :-)
Of course, we also build the basic layout "benchwork" differently that the UK. Ours are very open and we usually only put subroadbed where track will be, while, I believe, a solid top is still common in the UK.
Just as an aside: I recently built a proof-of-concept 24"x36" N-scale layout. 1x2 framing, 1/4" luauan mahogany glued to that, 2" pink foam glued to that, then 2" pink foam subroadbed, then cork ballast, and finally, the track. No scenery, just wanted to see how it works. Works well, well enough that I'll build a slightly larger one, say 30"x42" or therabouts, as a demo layout. That size fits nicely into the trunk, er, boot. I have a spare hollow-core door, which I can't get rid of (no one wants them anymore, they all want those molded plastic doors that supposedly looks like solid pine). I'll cut a chunk out of that, glue the foam to it, and so on. The 24"x36' is _very_ portable. And _very_ rigid.
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