03-26-2011, 03:33 PM
Oh well folks, having spent the best part of today suffering in bed with a sore throat, headache and high temperature, I'm now feeling well enough to write to you from my sick bed (sympathy votes most welcome 
) and do so by way of an update and hopefully going some way to appease myself that the day hasn't been a total write off!
To put you in the picture, heres an excerpt from a post I wrote last night to Mr. Dave Long's blog regarding my 'home made' - it's not good enough to be called scratchbuilt I'm afraid - track stuff
on baseboard #4:
"By the way, I ended up meddling with the crossover (afterall), despite swearing I wouldn’t for fear of making the problem worse – needless to say……I did. And, after a day of filing and even making a new wing rail for one side – sustaining bloodied fingers to boot due to excessive filing (and severe back pain)!!!!!!- I decided enough was enough and tore them up. They are now firmly consigned to the bin which is where they should have gone in nthe first place. Considered sending for gauges to make new one to ‘OO’ standards, but being impatient, I took the fast track route and drove to Hattons and purchased a couple of Peco points instead; I’m now in the process of making good the slight gradient that caused the unintended ‘Gravity Shunting’ before laying the new track tomorrow. I’ve even had to disassemble the wire in tube mechanism which can be more than a little fiddly…………………..Railway Modelling…………………….I bl**dy detest it at times!".
So, there you have it, frustrating or what? Anyway, as I said the bonus was that it presented an opportunity to remove the unwanted incline in the track, but I could have lived with it.
So, when I left my little haven late last night, the new 'levels' were gluing nicely under a piece of plate glass weighted down with....weights (what else?) and the Peco points - sorry, switches :oops: - that form the crossover were cut to form the more prototypical 6' way between parallel lines (this time I took a lot more care in doing so and I think I may have succeeded although the proof of the pudding will be in the eating as they say - so watch this space) - we do learn as we go along don't we?
As an aside, errors or not, I'm glad I've pushed the boat out and had a bash - as I was just reading on Lance's site, or to this effect anyway, there's no point trying to achieve perfection first time out as you'll never get started - and that's exactly why I haven't got anywhere after all these years. Hurrah for Lance
So with today having been written off due to illness, I'm determined to make a fresh early start in the morning (don't forget to put the clocks forward my fellow English friends!!) - paracetamol permitting of course - and finish layying the points, redrilling holes for wire connections, soldering new wire connections removing, adjusting and refitting Mercontrol to one point, building, measuring and fitting Kurt's excellent idea for point operation in respect of the second etc etc...............
I think I shall be there for a fortnight......which doesn't really matter I suppose being retired, however, my wife has taken some leave this week and I shall be expected to help out in the garden, shopping visits to relatives................. . Life, hey.
Well I'm rambling now, which I'd like to blame on the effects of my recent malady, but I'm afraid that's just me. I'm incorrigible, I'm afraid.......I expect that in future on seeing an additional post of mine, you'll just skip it and move on; you have my fullest blessings to do so
Jonte
) and do so by way of an update and hopefully going some way to appease myself that the day hasn't been a total write off!To put you in the picture, heres an excerpt from a post I wrote last night to Mr. Dave Long's blog regarding my 'home made' - it's not good enough to be called scratchbuilt I'm afraid - track stuff
on baseboard #4:"By the way, I ended up meddling with the crossover (afterall), despite swearing I wouldn’t for fear of making the problem worse – needless to say……I did. And, after a day of filing and even making a new wing rail for one side – sustaining bloodied fingers to boot due to excessive filing (and severe back pain)!!!!!!- I decided enough was enough and tore them up. They are now firmly consigned to the bin which is where they should have gone in nthe first place. Considered sending for gauges to make new one to ‘OO’ standards, but being impatient, I took the fast track route and drove to Hattons and purchased a couple of Peco points instead; I’m now in the process of making good the slight gradient that caused the unintended ‘Gravity Shunting’ before laying the new track tomorrow. I’ve even had to disassemble the wire in tube mechanism which can be more than a little fiddly…………………..Railway Modelling…………………….I bl**dy detest it at times!".
So, there you have it, frustrating or what? Anyway, as I said the bonus was that it presented an opportunity to remove the unwanted incline in the track, but I could have lived with it.
So, when I left my little haven late last night, the new 'levels' were gluing nicely under a piece of plate glass weighted down with....weights (what else?) and the Peco points - sorry, switches :oops: - that form the crossover were cut to form the more prototypical 6' way between parallel lines (this time I took a lot more care in doing so and I think I may have succeeded although the proof of the pudding will be in the eating as they say - so watch this space) - we do learn as we go along don't we?
As an aside, errors or not, I'm glad I've pushed the boat out and had a bash - as I was just reading on Lance's site, or to this effect anyway, there's no point trying to achieve perfection first time out as you'll never get started - and that's exactly why I haven't got anywhere after all these years. Hurrah for Lance
So with today having been written off due to illness, I'm determined to make a fresh early start in the morning (don't forget to put the clocks forward my fellow English friends!!) - paracetamol permitting of course - and finish layying the points, redrilling holes for wire connections, soldering new wire connections removing, adjusting and refitting Mercontrol to one point, building, measuring and fitting Kurt's excellent idea for point operation in respect of the second etc etc...............
I think I shall be there for a fortnight......which doesn't really matter I suppose being retired, however, my wife has taken some leave this week and I shall be expected to help out in the garden, shopping visits to relatives................. . Life, hey.
Well I'm rambling now, which I'd like to blame on the effects of my recent malady, but I'm afraid that's just me. I'm incorrigible, I'm afraid.......I expect that in future on seeing an additional post of mine, you'll just skip it and move on; you have my fullest blessings to do so
Jonte