Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

[ Untergroeningen posts ] [ part 2 ] When I planned segment three, I flipped the direction of the crossover compared to the prototype because I figured it would be helpful to have a passing siding on the way to Slim Staging. Let's just say that wasn't such a great idea. It makes switching the ramp cumbersome. Remember, the prototype is (almost) always right. Change the track arrangement only if you really thought it through. Over the last couple weeks, I slowly reworked the crossover, reusing one of the turnouts.   Here's the segment on the workbench. I'm remounting the Tortoise turnout motors. Aligning the track on the segment so that I get maximum length and width of the ramp, while not diverging too much from the existing arrangement took a little bit experimentation. Now I just need to fit the curve to the Welztalbahn connector. For curves I prefer to install the puko-strips the old fashioned way using brass screws in the roadbed on the centerline and soldering th...

[ Untergroeningen posts ] [ part 1 ] I figured I should paint rails before I paint the platform. Tar on rails mistakes are easier to fix than rust on tar ... I'm very pleased with the look of the rails. ModelMaster "Leather" is my preferred paint for rusty rails. Some touch-ups here and there are needed, but this is good as is, and I can move on to ballasting. The turnout point areas will remain unballasted and unpainted until I can confirm proper operation with more rolling stock. Time to clean the railheads. [ part 3 ]

[ Untergroeningen posts ] With basic scenery down, I started weathering the ties and add filler ties under the ends of flex track pieces. The filler ties are stained and painted made from a scale 4x8 lumber strip. For the track weathering I'm using PollyScale tie brown in an isopropyl alcohol wash. The main point here is to remove plastic shine of the ties and create variation in tie appearance. [ part 2 ]

Today I finished up track and wiring for segments 1 and 2 of Untergroeningen. The dining table makes for a convenient work surface for the two segments, so that I can properly align the Raiffeisen track at the segment boundary. When I had it spiked almost all the way to the end, this is what the end of track looked. Huh. Why is the end of track so crooked? Oh! Because the end of track is at the segment boundary. Sigh. This looks terrible. What was I thinking? I pulled all the spikes, turned the track around and spiked it a second time. Much better now. Untergroeningen Segment 1 is ready for testing. I spent the rest of the day with installing switch machines and finish track wiring segment 2.

Here's the converted Peko turnout leading into the Raiffeisen spur. Compared to earlier builds, I simplified the wiring and the power routing.

I found a couple hours this weekend to spend more time with Untergroeningen segment 3 and decided to install turnout motors. When I installed these tracks in a hurry almost 3 months ago , including my very first converted turnout without thinking, I forgot to account for the straight through puko strip design I used around the throw bar there instead of the wire loop I used in later builds. The track is fed with power from both sides of the turnout, so I could have just cut the etched puko strip at the throw bar. However, that would have required disassembling all track on this segment, since there isn't enough space to get in there with a cutter from either the top or underneath. Instead, I just drilled an off-center hole into the throw bar so that the actuator wire from the Tortoise underneath doesn't collide with the puko strip.

The Puko-strips from Weichen Walter stick out a couple millimeters under the turnout. I'm using strips cut from a sheet of very thin cork with an adhesive backing and stick them under the turnout.

Recently, I've been working more seriously on converting Peco StreamLine Code 100 turnouts for use with the Maerklin 3-rail system (previous posts here and here ). The main motivation for doing this is availability of turnouts with larger radius and more variety than what I can get from Maerklin's track program. The drawback is the need for extensive modifications of the turnouts. The photo above shows a converted Peco SL-E98 large radius wye turnout with puko strips from Weichen Walter glued and partially melted to the turnout. The Electrofrog construction looks really nice, but requires that the frog rails are cut and insulated from the outer rails. With a radius of 1824mm and 12 degree angle at the frog, there is no turnout available from Maerklin that allows similarly graceful curvature. Below is a Peco SL-95 medium radius Insulfrog. With a radius of 914mm and 12 degree angle, this turnout is pretty close to Maerklin's 22716 "slim turnout". I chose Peco Code ...

I found some thin cork in my stash and glued it under the converted turnout . That'll do.

I'm using a kit from Weichen Walter to convert a Peco SL-91 Code 100 turnout for use with Maerklin rolling stock and locomotives. Following the instructions I'm glueing the point contacts to the turnout. This takes some patience, as glue doesn't dry as quickly as the melt-in-the-ties method I used on the flex track with Module One . This is really a test and practice to see what it takes to convert 2-rail turnouts for use with Maerklin. The look is comparable to regular Maerklin turnouts, the center contacts  are quite visible. I'll let the glue dry, and wire it up tomorrow.

I intend to build my upcoming Untergroeningen project using Peco Streamline Code 100 turnouts and track converted to Maerklin-style 3-rail operation. Adding the center studs to the track is obviously needed for that. However, it turns out that the distance between the insides of the wheels is slightly smaller for NEM 340 (14.0 mm, Maerklin) than NEM 310 (14.4 mm, DC / DCC). When traversing the diverging route of the "small radius" Peco turnout SL-91, for some long-wheelbase cars this results in binding of the wheel set between the guard rails where the diverging and straight rail meet. Really old cars -- like the brown flat car in the photo below -- even have trouble on the straight route. It seems the solution is to remove about half a millimeter of material on the rail-facing side of the outside guard rails. After filing the guard rails, I laid out some of the turnouts I'm planning to use for Untergroeningen on the garage floor and tried them out with several cars. So f...

I dusted off the frame for module 1 I built in October , and cut some Peco SL100 flex track. The idea here is to build a module that attempts to hide the Maerklin-typical center studs as much as possible, and get an idea about the amount of work it takes to do it, while staying compatible with regular Maerklin K-track. This time I used the "melt-it-into-the-plastic-ties" method of attaching the pickup studs from Weichen Walter. This feels easier than the "screw-and-solder" method I used on the test piece . However, it's still quite easy to drift off the middle and not hit center line, so my studs are not 100% straight. I wonder how I'm going to do that on a curved module... Attaching the center studs takes time, but goes faster than I expected. The strip sticks out below the track by about 0.7mm and that needs to be taken into account when mounting the track. I cut a V-groove into the trackbed, which worked quite well. Overall, it turned out not too shabby, ...

After cleaning up the work bench, I'm trying something new tonight. A test piece with Peco track converted to operation with Maerklin rolling stock using Weichen-Walter Puko strips. The strips are etched and stick out slightly under the track. On this test piece I ended up cutting a slot into the road bed for the bottom edge of the Puko strip. This is the technique described in the documentation using brass screws and soldering the Puko strips to the screws. I have a few more strips to try another approach  that should be easier with curved track.