Re: The Ulpha Light Railway
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:16 pm
I had better idea for the hinge on the point blades. I experimented with a Peco fishplate - the new type they introduced for the bullhead track. I used a piece of scrap rail in lieu of a properly filed point blade. After messing around a little, I tapered the foot of what would be the blunt end of the point blade slightly. It now hinges very nicely.
The first photo shows the Peco fishplate in position
These two show the point blade closed and open. The piece of scrap rail representing the point blade doesn't sit properly against the stock rail, of course, as I have not bothered to file the taper. This is purely experimental. A properly shaped point blade would look far better.
I am really pleased with this and will probably use the idea on all the turnouts for Ulpha. It is nice and simple, which suits me! The photos do show up some dodgy soldering though. I was using a new reel of not very good solder and an almost life-expired soldering iron tip, so things did not quite go as well as they normally do. I shall do a bit of tidying up before installing the assembly on the layout.
The trackwork has been removed from the paper template and is currently in soak to dilute away the flux. Then, it will be almost ready to stick down on the baseboard. No time over the weekend though - a 26 mile walk tomorrow and a 13 mile walk on Sunday will leave no time for modelling.
The first photo shows the Peco fishplate in position
These two show the point blade closed and open. The piece of scrap rail representing the point blade doesn't sit properly against the stock rail, of course, as I have not bothered to file the taper. This is purely experimental. A properly shaped point blade would look far better.
I am really pleased with this and will probably use the idea on all the turnouts for Ulpha. It is nice and simple, which suits me! The photos do show up some dodgy soldering though. I was using a new reel of not very good solder and an almost life-expired soldering iron tip, so things did not quite go as well as they normally do. I shall do a bit of tidying up before installing the assembly on the layout.
The trackwork has been removed from the paper template and is currently in soak to dilute away the flux. Then, it will be almost ready to stick down on the baseboard. No time over the weekend though - a 26 mile walk tomorrow and a 13 mile walk on Sunday will leave no time for modelling.