Progress on The Orchard Line - posts in. Next up, cable trays!

The lifting bridge section is under way. The 2020 ali profile (a-la 3D printer frame type stuff) seems great. Incredibly stiff and light. I'm waiting on hinges and a few more 90deg brackets to finish that off.

More track and boards have gone down to complete the run to the bridge.

In the meantime some light relief was provided by spraying and installing a crane to help load Thomas's trucks. The little Fat Controller gives it the once-over and a commissioning test :)

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I have a question for the brains trust! :)

I have a large amount of beautiful wooden sleepered Gauge One track and pointwork which I'd really like to use.

I'm thinking to replace all of the old code 332 trackwork with it but the sleepers are mounted on longitudinal base strips of differing thicknesses. Should I:

A) remove the strips and mount the sleepers directly to the baseboards
Or
B) replace all the strips with onea of the same thickness.

I think their purpose is to help keep the sleepers positioned to stabilise the straightness or bend of the rail?

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The track looks nice, but as it's not Code 332, your wheel flanges might strike the tops of the chairs.

Is it brass? Are you track powered?

If you do use it then the sleepers will need frequent treatment too.

I would remove the 'backing' strips and fix it to your 'baseboard' using screws every sixth sleeper, but have a sloppy hole and do not screw tight so that you get movement for contraction....
 
Thanks Gizzy. Yes, i thnk it's 250 from memory. Ive tried a few things on it and so far had no issues (amazingly, through points too) in fairness this was slow speed and I havent tried everything. Some more complete testing is probably needed.

Good point re maintenance. Agreed, it won't be as trouble-free...
 
I agree, it's very nice looking track. Someone put a lot of effort into it. Personally, I'd be reluctant to remove the longitudinal supports. It appears to me they are what's maintaining the tie (sleeper) spacing.
 
I agree..
If you start messing with the longitudinal's I think you will damage the track?

I have seen this type of construction in O gauge, and the 'woodwork' is buried in the ballast.

PhilP
 
Thankyou. I think so too. I think without it, the sleepers will slop around a lot and the straightness or curvature of the set rail won't be kept.

So the question is how to set the height of these long strips to all be the same?

I could sand them in situ to the height of the shortest. That'd probably work.

I could add packers to to bring everything up to the height of the thickest (may be easiest)

Or i could remove and replace them one by one with strips of a given height. Probably hardest as each sleeper is pinned to the strip.

Adding packing pieces seems easiest I guess? They wouldnt even need to be full length, just strategically placed.
 
Or.........

Set it in ballast, and use that, to take-up any differences. - Heck of a lot quicker. Infinitely adjustable. Prototypical. :nerd:

PhilP
 
In the early days of 16mm this type of track was used for cheapness as there used to be quite a bit of it kicking around second hand. Was generally laid loose in ballast (not always on boards like your line) so the lengthways battens did not show and neither did it did not matter that they were a different depth. I used this track in my first 16mm 32 gauge line back in the 70’s. In those days it was all protected by an bi-anual slop of creosote, we are denied such a good wood preservative these days but second hand engine oil does just as good a job but very bad for the environment.

I would NOT remove the battens as has been said and with the maintenance issues that this is likely to give and that will not be just wood deterioration, pins lift and if they are steel rust. The best thing for this if you have it would be to use it indoors perhaps as sidings or a station in a shed or garage. Otherwise think about selling it on, would make good money in the Gauge 1 Society, be worth joining for just a year to sell it on free via that society. If it is code 250 then you would only have a few issues with very old LGB stock that had deeper flanges. Peco G Track is code 250, I use this mostly with no issues.
 
PhilP said:
Or.........

Set it in ballast, and use that, to take-up any differences. - Heck of a lot quicker. Infinitely adjustable. Prototypical. :nerd:

PhilP
Click to expand...
That'll be the best approach I think Phil
Ballasting was something I had wanted to do eventually too.

I started looking a while back to find the latest ballast i could which would suit annoutside environment. Id better get back to that research.

I think I'd reckoned chicken grit/grano or rhe cork-based stuff being a good choice initially
 
DGE-Railroad said:
That'll be the best approach I think Phil
Ballasting was something I had wanted to do eventually too.

I started looking a while back to find the latest ballast i could which would suit annoutside environment. Id better get back to that research.

I think I'd reckoned chicken grit/grano or rhe cork-based stuff being a good choice initially
Click to expand...
I have used this stuff Chick Flint Grit, if you are happy with the colour it is good size and looks fine. The grey is somewhat trickier to source but I have found one near Ipswich. Just need to be allowed to drive over for some more.see Post #18.

another ballast question

I am in the process of building a new outdoor layout. The small decomposed rock is no longer available at home depot. As I live on long island no quarries are available. Has anyone ever used aquarium rocks as ballast??
www.gscalecentral.net www.gscalecentral.net
 
DON'T try to use Cork ballast outside!

It will just blow away.. Possibly, before you could soak it in water/pva..
 
I use horticultural grit, about 3 mm in size and rough, not smooth like pea shingle so it locks together. I have used different colours according to what is available, however some people prefer the same colour throughout, in which case buy plenty. a 25 kg size bag does about 4 - 5 metres (single track), but this will vary according to the width/depth where your track runs, I finished my first 4 bags off very quickly.
 
JimmyB said:
I use horticultural grit, about 3 mm in size and rough, not smooth like pea shingle so it locks together. I have used different colours according to what is available, however some people prefer the same colour throughout, in which case buy plenty. a 25 kg size bag does about 4 - 5 metres (single track), but this will vary according to the width/depth where your track runs, I finished my first 4 bags off very quickly.
Click to expand...
I've used the same stuff. I brought 2 pallets of 500kg in 20 kg bags, and I had to barrow them from the front of the house to the back garden.

I needed another 750kg which came in one of those large bags, for which the delivery driver and I managed to get down the side of the house with his motorised pallet truck. Unfortunately, this gravel was a larger size, so I've used this for a sub base and used the smaller grit under the trackage. A lot of extra work moving already laid gravel elsewhere, but worth the effort in the end....

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