The requirement: a crossing, anything from 30 to 90 degrees.
The problem: I use Peco track and Peco don't make any crossings.
The solution: option 1, the easy option - use another manufacturer's crossing with appropriate joiners. Option 2, the harder option - build one with Peco track.
Why go the easy route when you can have so much more fun doing it the hard way. Anyway, I'd always fancied having a go at building some track and a crossing should be easy, shouldn't it? After all it's all straight bits. I opted for a 90 degree to keep things as simple as possible.
I was conscious that however it was built it was going to need a firm base to ensure there is no movement in the sleepers once laid. I umm'd and ahh'd on this one for a while until I discovered a spare bit of Perspex in the garage. A test was done to check that the Peco sleepers would glue to the Perspex OK and we're off.
I had already done some planning and sketched out how the sleepers should be laid out and the rails cut, so the first job was to cut and glue the sleepers down. This was done in 2 stages as I used full lengths of rail in the chairs while the glue dried to keep the chairs aligned.
Next job, cut up some rough lengths of rail. The outer rail lengths are not so critical but the inner 4 bits needed to be more accurate. In hindsight I'd have done this differently, but more on that later.
Electrics: each of the 3 bits of rail in each line now needs to be joined up electrically. I decided that if I soldered a wire to the side of each, this wire would also help stop the rails moving when buried in filler later on. Doing this in situ was a bit tricky trying to avoid melting the chairs. The result...
The problem was that when it came to closing the gaps up the wires interfered with one and other, so much that a rethink was in order. This is where hindsight kicked in, if I remove half of the wires and replace with fishplates, these would provide electric continuity and hold the middle bit of track in place. The proper thing to have done is where the joiners now are I should not have cut the rail through in the first place. I should have simply cut the head and web out of the rails leaving just the foot to hold them together. Less bits of rail, perfect electrics and no chance of movement.
Last job, fill in the centre and around the crossing with body filler followed by a bit of Dremmilling to remove the surplus. This does 2 things. Firstly it acts a check rail and secondly holds the rails in place. Followed by a coat of black paint to finish it off. Now to find somewhere that I can use it.
I have got as far as applying the filler and sanding back, but it's not fully finished as I haven't been able to find a suitable location for it in the garden. So no final pics. I could fit a 30 degree crossing in much easier, so work on this one has stopped while I replan before ripping it apart to start again. I'll probably make a few other changes too, starting with the base as I'd like to be able to screw to it. Any ideas?
The problem: I use Peco track and Peco don't make any crossings.
The solution: option 1, the easy option - use another manufacturer's crossing with appropriate joiners. Option 2, the harder option - build one with Peco track.
Why go the easy route when you can have so much more fun doing it the hard way. Anyway, I'd always fancied having a go at building some track and a crossing should be easy, shouldn't it? After all it's all straight bits. I opted for a 90 degree to keep things as simple as possible.
I was conscious that however it was built it was going to need a firm base to ensure there is no movement in the sleepers once laid. I umm'd and ahh'd on this one for a while until I discovered a spare bit of Perspex in the garage. A test was done to check that the Peco sleepers would glue to the Perspex OK and we're off.
I had already done some planning and sketched out how the sleepers should be laid out and the rails cut, so the first job was to cut and glue the sleepers down. This was done in 2 stages as I used full lengths of rail in the chairs while the glue dried to keep the chairs aligned.
Next job, cut up some rough lengths of rail. The outer rail lengths are not so critical but the inner 4 bits needed to be more accurate. In hindsight I'd have done this differently, but more on that later.
Electrics: each of the 3 bits of rail in each line now needs to be joined up electrically. I decided that if I soldered a wire to the side of each, this wire would also help stop the rails moving when buried in filler later on. Doing this in situ was a bit tricky trying to avoid melting the chairs. The result...
The problem was that when it came to closing the gaps up the wires interfered with one and other, so much that a rethink was in order. This is where hindsight kicked in, if I remove half of the wires and replace with fishplates, these would provide electric continuity and hold the middle bit of track in place. The proper thing to have done is where the joiners now are I should not have cut the rail through in the first place. I should have simply cut the head and web out of the rails leaving just the foot to hold them together. Less bits of rail, perfect electrics and no chance of movement.
Last job, fill in the centre and around the crossing with body filler followed by a bit of Dremmilling to remove the surplus. This does 2 things. Firstly it acts a check rail and secondly holds the rails in place. Followed by a coat of black paint to finish it off. Now to find somewhere that I can use it.
I have got as far as applying the filler and sanding back, but it's not fully finished as I haven't been able to find a suitable location for it in the garden. So no final pics. I could fit a 30 degree crossing in much easier, so work on this one has stopped while I replan before ripping it apart to start again. I'll probably make a few other changes too, starting with the base as I'd like to be able to screw to it. Any ideas?
