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Geezer
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 10/19/2009 : 2:12:39 PM
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Just my opinion, but "neolube" is a conductor. I have used this
product before, and it will conduct electricity. But all in all,
if you are going to run locomotives on the rail, the pencil lead
idea sounds great to me. You might also try some "Blacken It"....
a chemical solution that will blacken brass & copper. JMO.....
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Geezer
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28172 |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 3463 |
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AVRR-PA
Fireman
Premium Member
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 Posted - 10/24/2009 : 2:04:26 PM
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Model Railroader's "How to Build Realistic Reliable Track" special issue has an article on "Quiet Roadbed." The author (Bob Kingsnorth) tested a lot of different combinations and got the best results with cork on top of camper tape and almost equally good results from Homabed on top of camper tape. He bedded everything in latex adhesive caulk.
Good article, IMHO.
Don
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Country: USA
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kewlbrew
Engine Wiper
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Posted - 11/21/2009 : 2:19:55 PM
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Question on vertical easements - How have you ensured that your grade transitions are smooth and gentle enough to prevent operational headaches?
I'm most interested in 3 to 5 percent grades common to many narrow gauge environments.
Thanks
-John
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Country: USA
| Posts: 391 |
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emccamey
Crew Chief
Premium Member
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Posted - 11/21/2009 : 3:07:53 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by kewlbrew
Question on vertical easements - How have you ensured that your grade transitions are smooth and gentle enough to prevent operational headaches?
I'm most interested in 3 to 5 percent grades common to many narrow gauge environments.
Thanks -John
John,
Use a minimum of 3/4" subroadbed. Bending it into incline will keep the transition from being too sharp. Note: the length of the transition will be much longer than your expect. The effective grade that results may require much more run length than would be otherwise expected.
-ed-
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-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR
NMRA S & C Department
Manager Track & Wheel Stds |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 835 |
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kewlbrew
Engine Wiper
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Posted - 11/21/2009 : 3:42:46 PM
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I'm working in a modular context. Putting spring tension into the mix by flexing a subroadbed seems bad to me. What I'm looking for is some means of determining transition length and maximum rate of grade. The transition lengths will have a significant impact on module size I would think.
-John
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Country: USA
| Posts: 391 |
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emccamey
Crew Chief
Premium Member
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Posted - 11/21/2009 : 7:09:45 PM
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John,
OK, the transitions of the vertical curve will still cause lengthening unless you create a kink or have less grade. Generally a VERY large vertical radius will suffice.
Larry Blanchard has some nice actual trial tested and theoretical data and illustrations for HO at: http://www.intergate.com/~lard/model_rail/vcurves.htm Note: he has tables using 8, 10, and 12 foot radius transitions.
For an engineering review of vertical curves see: http://www.tpub.com/inteng/11h.htm
The math applicable for model railroad variables are being studied by a special sub-committee in the NMRA Standards and Conformance department. "Ronald S. Reagan" <rrron@i-55.com> is developing the current working drafts (caution: math intensive).
NMRA data sheet D1j (updated November 1993) covers grades and shows the relationships and impacts of the vertical curves. NMRA data sheets are avialable (by special order) to NMRA members.
Simply put - you have to count on transitions. What you need is dependent on the scale, the equipment, and the space allowances. I don't know of specific testing or study expressly for small narrow gauge circumstances - likely less a problem than you may be concerned with. Try some combination with your equipment.
-ed-
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-ed mccamey-
COSLAR RR
NMRA S & C Department
Manager Track & Wheel Stds |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 835 |
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kewlbrew
Engine Wiper
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Posted - 11/22/2009 : 04:20:33 AM
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Ed -
Thanks for the info. I read through the two links. I had seen Larry's info before. My challenge with his info is how that translates into creating a transition. I can't imagine laying out 8 and 12 foot radius templates for a 5 to 10 inch transition curve (never mind dealing with parabolic arcs).
I'm all for keeping things simple and easy to implement. Theory and tables of numbers is all well and good. However, it's got to boil down to a simple procedure so you can put it into practice. Otherwise, the analytic effort is wasted.
-John
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Country: USA
| Posts: 391 |
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jbvb
Crew Chief
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Posted - 11/22/2009 : 07:59:23 AM
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If I wanted to be sure of my vertical curves without either torquing the subroadbed or laying out a huge circular template, I'd make a go/no go gauge: Get a rigid piece of wood (1x4?) 12 - 16" long. Using a strip of something uniformly flexible (I like plexiglass offcuts), lay out your minimum vertical curve along the edge. One end of the edge is straight. The line starts to curve after about 6", in to an offset calculated (or taken from Larry Blanchard's 'middle ordinate' table) at the other end. Then plane or sand the wood to the line.
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Edited by - jbvb on 11/22/2009 08:00:35 AM |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 741 |
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Steve R
Section Hand
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Posted - 02/06/2010 : 11:54:47 PM
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Hi all,
Does anyone know the the track center spacing of the walthers double crossover(#948-8812). The Reference book gives a length but not spacing.
Thanks.
Have a good one.
Steve R
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Country: Canada
| Posts: 59 |
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jbvb
Crew Chief
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Posted - 03/07/2010 : 8:32:22 PM
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One throat of my staging yard uses three #6 3-way switches. I have an older Walthers 3-way switch in another hidden location, and liked it: the gauge was good throughout and the point contacts work, keeping the remote hand-throw mechanism simple. But all I could get for the new project was the DCC-friendly version, and from helping a friend with his module, I knew these had a problem: There's a shirt piece of rail between the frogs closest to the points that's jumpered to one of the closure rails, rather than connected to either frog. This can cause shorts when using the straight route.
This shows the jumper I removed to isolate that bit of rail. It popped out when I lifted it with a knife; if it had been more firmly attached I would have cut it at the closure rail end and used it as a feeder.
Powering the frogs was simplified because the two closest to the points can always have the same polarity. And because this will be hidden, I wasn't concerned with appearance, only operation. So I got out the resistance soldering outfit (if I didn't have one, I might not have started this project):
I bridged from frog to dead rail to one side of the middle frog with a single piece of 24 gauge telco wire (don't try doing this on the gauge side of the rail, don't ask how I know). Then I looped under the ties and connected to the other side of the middle frog.
I also soldered feeders to the closure rails, and to the remaining frog. Then I drilled holes in the roadbed, installed the switch, checked everything with my .0188-wheeled boxcar and my ohmmeter and soldered the rail joints.
Gotchas: The first time I tried this (on the gauge side) , I melted the bit of rail between the frogs loose, but luckily I was able to get it back into place, supported by the jumper wire . Then when I looked for resistance, I found a partial short between the long guard rail and the straight running rail. A spike separated them. Finally, I found that one of Walther's jumpers on the underside had come loose from the base of the rail at one end. I was able to re-solder it using the resistance outfit, but this would be almost impossible to do with an iron or gun.
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Country: USA
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trisonic
New Hire
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Posted - 04/16/2010 : 2:26:29 PM
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Excuse the noob here!
I want to learn to hand lay (HO at first) track. Is the Fast Track system a good place to start? Does anyone have experience of this good or bad?
Looking for ideas.
Many thanks, Pete.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 43 |
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Bbags
Administrator
Premium Member
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Posted - 04/16/2010 : 10:09:00 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by trisonic
Excuse the noob here!
I want to learn to hand lay (HO at first) track. Is the Fast Track system a good place to start? Does anyone have experience of this good or bad?
Looking for ideas.
Many thanks, Pete.
Hi Pete and welcome.
I have never hand laid track and thus have no personal experience with the Fast Track System.
That said many members here on the forum have used the system and highly recommend it.
Also Tim the owner is a sponsor of Railroad-Line and has a forum about his products.
Click on the link below which will take you to his forum and then the newest post is a video which should answer any questions you may have.
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=83
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John Bagley
Modeling the Alaska Railroad in HO in Wildwood Georgia. |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 12561 |
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trisonic
New Hire
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Posted - 04/17/2010 : 04:47:56 AM
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D'oh!
Thanks, John. I'm still feeling my way around this place..............
Best, Pete.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 43 |
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