Irish 21mm Track Laying Questions

[DerryRoad]

I'm planning on using 21mm punched sleepers with C&L 2bolt rail chairs to begin work on a section of sample Irish track work. I have some questions that I'd appreciate some answers on, please. I want to get it right first time round.

I plan on laying a metre long section of test track with one turnout to provide a siding. Here are my questions.

1. I want to glue the C&L plastic chairs to the pre-punched wooden sleepers, what glue is recommended?
2. I presume if I simply stick the chairs over the pre-punched holes on one side, I can then use the 21mm gauge to position the opposite side
3. Can anyone suggest a template on this web site that would give me a long radius R/H turnout to work from.
4. Is Code 75 Nickel Silver flat-bottom track suitable for what I want to do?
5. Will my straight sections of track be flexible when built or should I work out any curves before starting?

Thank You

[Phil O]

I use Plasticweld to stick C&L chairs to Plymouth sleepers.

If your up for a challenge you can download Templot (free) and create your own templates. For a standard turnout left or right all you would need to do on opening Templot, is regauge the non scale turnout to 21mm and use the Geometry, straight to get a usable template and if you want to alter the crossing angle use the F5 button and the mouse, the angle will either go up or down depending on which way you move the mouse . That is very basic, but will get you started.

Plenty of help on the Templot forum and from Martin Wynne on here.

Phil

[grovenor-2685]

I'm planning on using 21mm punched sleepers with C&L 2bolt rail chairs to begin work on a section of sample Irish track work. I have some questions that I'd appreciate some answers on, please. I want to get it right first time round.

I plan on laying a metre long section of test track with one turnout to provide a siding. Here are my questions.

1. I want to glue the C&L plastic chairs to the pre-punched wooden sleepers, what glue is recommended?

You can use plasticweld or similar solvent type plastic glue, same as for plastic to plastic.

2. I presume if I simply stick the chairs over the pre-punched holes on one side, I can then use the 21mm gauge to position the opposite side

Yes but it will be better to use a template and stick your sleepers to that with some low tack glue or double sided tape then you can position both rails over the correct positions on the template.

3. Can anyone suggest a template on this web site that would give me a long radius R/H turnout to work from.

As above, use Templot to create templates, both for plain line and for turnouts.

4. Is Code 75 Nickel Silver flat-bottom track suitable for what I want to do?

If you are using C&L 2-bolt chairs then you need code 75 bullhead rail. If you want to build flat bottom track then you are into a different set of parts.
Irish railways could be bullhead or flatbottom and the flat bottom could be quite a range of sizes, you will need to check your prototype for details. Probably best to stay with bullhead for this first trial.

5. Will my straight sections of track be flexible when built or should I work out any curves before starting?

Once removed from the template they will be flexible, maybe to flexible. Since you are doing such a small test track you may as well include the curves in your template.
See many topics on here for various ways of doing it.
With this form of construction you need a lot of care lifting the finished track from the templates, a common alternative is just to stick the sleepers firmly to the template then leave it in situ, ballasting over it.

Thank You

[/quote]
Regards

[DerryRoad]

Keith,
Thank you for your reply, lots of good information there.
I didn't realise that Plasweld ould stick the plastic railcars to the wooden sleepers.

I will have to take a look at Templet - I use an AppleMac so hopefully its easy to install.
Is it normal to paint or stain the wooden sleepers of do most people simple hide it with ballast?

Cheers
Tony

[Le Corbusier]

Keith,
I will have to take a look at Templet - I use an AppleMac so hopefully its easy to install.

Cheers
Tony

To use Templot on Mac you will have to install a reader ... such as Cross Over ... I believe there are instructions on how to do this on the Templot web site. Martin will certainly be able to advise.

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Tony,

There are several ways to run Templot on a Mac. The cheapest is Winebottler (free). The easiest is CrossOver. More details and links:

http://templot.com/companion/for_you.html


Templot includes a pre-set for P4 Irish dimensions:




However, Templot defaults to 8ft-6in sleepers, so you would additionally need to change them to 9ft:



The defaults are for bullhead track built with REA switches and components. If you have more specific prototype designs, they can be created as custom templates.

For some pictures of P4 Irish track, see: http://templot.com/GNRI/adavoyle.htm

If you are in Dublin, you can see that layout in the clubrooms of the South Dublin MRC:

http://www.sdmrc.hobbysites.net/news.php?readmore=2

regards,

Martin.

[DerryRoad]

Many thanks for the assistance received so far on answering questions and concerns I have on 21mm track. I downloaded and installed Templot on my MacBook using Crossover and had a quick look around. I like the ability of the programme to export to pdf - this means that I can email the files to my work PC and print the templates on a good quality laser printer! I'm usually quick to pick up the basics of any software so I can explore it more when I get home. Its nice to know that Martin is a member here and obviously more then willing to help out. I have seen Adavoyle in reviews many years ago in Railway Modeller. In fact, I used to correspond with Tony and David Goodwin many years ago when I first ventured into Irish modelling.