New points on the West Well

[maxi-model]

Finaly got round to recreating the "inner" loop on the West Well Railroad. I can now run 2 independent (battery and live steam) loops while retaining long continuous run figure 8, with the crossing on the flat. The whole lot made more affordable, and viable, by the recent introduction of the Piko curved wide radius point and a good 2nd hand GRS 6ft radius point obtained here at a nice price. A bit of plant shifting required to clear the way and the former "Julia Bradbury Memorial Walk" is now an active trackbed once more. Hope the piccy's make it all clear, if it is brown it is new track bed.
Max.

 

[Richie]

That curve point looks really nice in place Max nice pics of your line

 

[Gizzy]

That curved point looks great Max!

Saw both the Train-Line and Piko ones at Peterboro' today. The Piko one like you have is a big beastie indeed, but the Train-Line version would be ideal for those of us who use the smaller R1/R2 radii curves....

 

[Rhinochugger]

That curved point look great Max!

Saw both the Train-Line and Piko ones at Peterboro today. The Piko one like you have is a big beastie indeed, but the Train-Line version would be ideal for those of us who use the smaller R1/R2 radii curves....

MMMmmmm .................... curved point ................:thinking::thinking::thinking:

I was never going to change my track layout........ much

But nphone:nphone:

 

[coyote97]

looks good.

I like curved points and have some on my layout.

Most of them in 1200/1750mm radius.

i have one with 2000/3000mm radius. looks fine!

But in general: using them brings many possibilites to the layout!


Greetings

Frank

 

[CoggesRailway]

Very nice new work, but also great to see a lovely line

 

[maxi-model]

Thank you for the kind words. I will try to get a range of shots together to show the whole line in the gallery area if I can work out how to do it.
I checked the wiring on the Piko point, given the recent round of brickbats that flew around, and found no random screws of unsuitable material. It really is remarkable value concideing in the past I would have had to flog out nigh on £200 for a handmade.
Max.

 

[Don Gilham]

That's a very nice railway indeed, Max !!!

 

[Martino]

Very nice Max. The curved point is excellent. Overall look of your line is great too.

 

[Railfan]

The curved points look very prototypical, Max. You did a beautiful job of integrating the points into the bridge crossing. The curve is very smooth. Sometime when you get a chance could you post a rough sketch of your layout? I would like to see how you handled the figure eight with the other two loops.

 

[maxi-model]

The curved points look very prototypical, Max. You did a beautiful job of integrating the points into the bridge crossing. The curve is very smooth. Sometime when you get a chance could you post a rough sketch of your layout? I would like to see how you handled the figure eight with the other two loops.

Here is a little plan I just lashed up, early attempt with MS paint . I hope it provides the clarification you are looking for. Not to scale but a reasonable representation none the less. Point work, apart from the curved Piko, is all GRS handmade 6ft radius or LGB R5.
Max.

 

[beavercreek]

Good to see your fine layout Max and was that a certain Baldwin 2-6-6-2 that I spied in one of the photies?

 

[maxi-model]

Good to see your fine layout Max and was that a certain Baldwin 2-6-6-2 that I spied in one of the photies?

It most certainly is Mike . A very fine running and much appreciated addition to the West Well Lumber Co. roster. It ran the first track powered train over the newly installed metals. Just awaiting the fleets' new proposed livery from Blackham's - not sure wether to go with Railroad Roman in white or the Westside Lumber typeface in orange (West Well/West Side, near enough).
Max.

 

[Railfan]

Thanks for posting the sketch, Max. That's a very interesting layout. I like the idea of the smaller loop inside of the larger. I'm working on a layout design now and was trying to design a large loop for some of my locos that require a ten foot radius and still have some interesting track work for the smaller locos. You have some good ideas there. Thanks.

 

[maxi-model]

Thanks for posting the sketch, Max. That's a very interesting layout. I like the idea of the smaller loop inside of the larger. I'm working on a layout design now and was trying to design a large loop for some of my locos that require a ten foot radius and still have some interesting track work for the smaller locos. You have some good ideas there. Thanks.

As I have a smallish garden working area, max' 25' wide x 14' deep. It was always the intertion to have a figure 8 layout to get the maximum run length. But, I didn't want the hassle of the earthworks for a flying junction and its limitations for operational purposes, hence the crossing on the flat. Creating 2 separate loops was a small jump from that just requiring the (econimical) curved point and an extra regular switch to make it work in a smallish area.

The turning Y adds a little more fun. It is contolled by a manually operated reverse polarity switch when running track powered loco's.

The line runs into the house where the steam up area is on the back wall of the living room ! A very wellcome feature to some members of my local area 16mm group. There is a height disparity from the garden to the house floor height of 2'6", it just had to be taken advantage of.

Having the loops one inside the other allows for some planting opportunities that create a visual separation between the two ruunning lines. One can have fun making things dissapear and reappear from different viewing angles.

I run a Bachmann K-27 on the full figure 8 of this line, not tried one of them over the inner radius of that curved point yet. As I said the plan is not to scale, despite appearances I try to keep the turn radii to a min' of 4', but mostly at 6'.

I'd be interested to see what you decide on.

Max