Fluesheet's Shelf Layout

[Fluesheet]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments!

Yep, the crew seemed to be made up of nice guys, but frankly they were just slow workers! You noticed that I walked pretty much all over the site taking photos and, well, it just seemed they never moved!

I was most impressed by the four German guys - the Preisers - who seemed to be the only guys working. I spoke to two of them - Hans and Dietrich - and learned that all four of them were born to a father named Heinrick Preiser, who'd been in railroading all his life. He started on the Prussian State Railways in 1898, and continued railroad work here in the U.S. on the B&O after emigrating from Germany in 1913 with his family.

I have no idea the rest of the crew's story - they just stood with vacant looks in their eyes that didn't encourage conversation...

As a side note, those ties were too tall; they didn't match the CVT ties height well at all. Unfortunately, I discovered this after gluing a bunch down. I just had another crew down there tonight tearing them all out so they can be taken back to the mill and re-shaped.

[MrBill]

Hey Matt. Just noticed Herr Klaus in the back there pointing out something going on with that turnout.
Neat project. How are things going with the layout?

[Steamtrains]

Very nice work..!!
When that rail gang gets through working on that railroad...Can I send them passage to "sunny" (we're below freezing tonight...) Brownsville..?? I could use them for a little track laying that needs to get done....

[Fluesheet]

Hey Matt. Just noticed Herr Klaus in the back there pointing out something going on with that turnout.
Neat project. How are things going with the layout?

Thanks for the comment MrBill, and you're right, time for an update.

I got off on a bit of a tangent and decided to add some tieplate detail (from Proto 87 stores) to the turnout that I laid with Fast Tracks Twist ties.


The turnout was already in place; I made room for the tie plates by prying the rail up slightly with tweezers, then sliding the tieplate into place with a generic poker and tightening up up the spikes. One of the nice things about Homosote is it's ability to retain some tension on the spike in these cases.


The crew finished up with some clean up work.


The ties that were too tall came back from the mill (i.e. I sanded them to an appropriate height), leading to a more successful second attempt at placing ties under the crossings. Spare ties were used to space the ties consistently (more or less prototypically accurate).

[Fluesheet]

Very nice work..!!
When that rail gang gets through working on that railroad...Can I send them passage to "sunny" (we're below freezing tonight...) Brownsville..?? I could use them for a little track laying that needs to get done....

Sorry Gus, I'm keeping the guys busy!

Management has desired that the rail and ties be painted to make them "real". This had the crew scratching their heads - Who'd ever heard of painting rail and ties? But then, who'd ever seen steel that shiny and ties made out of such weird material?

The first order of business was to clean the rails. The guys used a huge swab and a big vat of alcolhol for this task.


While the crew was busy with this job, the foreman (a gentleman named J.L. Sanders) sighted down one of the spurs and noticed a problem - continuous rail! Whoever heard of that? (as an aside, that track sure looks wobbly from this view!)


Yep, you're right, boss. It's too late to cut the rail, how about we just notch the rail, to make it look like it's cut? We can drill the rail and add joint bars later? Foreman: Yep, do it.


Out came the huge file...


I've got some joint bars (also from proto 87 stores) that I'll be adding to see how they look. I decided on two types: one is etched metal with four-bolt detail, the second is cast plastic with beautiful six bolt detail. More on that later; I've been swamped the past two weeks at work and haven't gotten back to the project!

[Bob C]

Thanks, Matt, for the progress report, and to your track crew for their adaptability to new work methods and eagerness to show us how real professionals do it !!! I'm impressed - tie plates ?! WOW ! Bob C.

[ocalicreek]

Love the humor. I'm really looking forward to your thoughts (and images) of the joint bars. The tie plates look super!

When I hand layed my track that was one of my personal criticisms (constructive, of course), the lack of tie plates, fine spike detail, etc. The hand laid trackwork may look smooth and flowing, sure, and you're not restricted to any set frog angle...unless you're using a jig, of course, but it lacks the detail the nicer stuff like Micro Engineering includes. Looks like you've found a good compromise.

Galen

[Fluesheet]

Bob and Galen, thanks for the comments. The crew just finished installing the first 8 or 10 joint bars tonight; I'll take a poke at them tomorrow and if everything stays in place, I'll post some comments and photos of them.

You make a valid point re: the Fast Tracks system, Galen. One reason I'm experimenting with the CVT and the proto 87 stuff is to determine the benefit of the extra time / effort / expense to install more detail vs. the more quickly assembled, less detailed track that looks good from 2 feet away. I.e. to gauge what's "good enough".

Right now I'm a fan of rail formed (not soldered) on a Fast Tracks fixture, then assembled on a CVT tie block - that hybrid is a good compromise; nice and solid with good detail. Adding tie plates and other details to a fixture-constructed turnout allow me another option to the same end. Each process has trade offs; adding tie plates later will make a much faster initial build directly on the fixture, with the detail being the bottleneck (those tie plates are small!). Using the CVT ties will give me good detail quicker and with less tedium, but the initial build will be slower ((Fast Tracks ties spacings are different than CVT, making complete assembly in the fixture and dropping onto a block problematic).

Long term, I suspect that straight Fast Tracks turnouts will go in the background or in areas that aren't in plain view, with detail leveling up depending on the scene. Also long term, I have a vision of a third hybrid that will combine the best of both of the systems described above.

[e-paw]

That's one heck of a track gang. their work is top notch.

[Fluesheet]

Hey folks;

The joint bars were mounted this past week, and look fantastic. Unfortunately, there was some flange interference; I suspect that they are sized for proto87 flange profiles. A few passes with a flexi-file restored clearance - the decision whether to continue to use them on the inside of the rail will be left for later. I sure like the look though! I also have yet to experiment with the etched metal joint bars; they will definitely leave enough clearance, at the expense of some detail.

Some photos of the crew at work:

Dietrich picking through the pile:


Dietrich tightening up one of the newly mounted joint bars. This step was completely redundant since he had used medium viscosity CA glue from a huge bottle, applied to the rail with a pike (T-Pin) to attach it earlier.


Joint bars after being touched up with the Flexi-File (inside rail only)




Side view detail. Very Nice!

[ocalicreek]

Okay, yeah, I gotta get me some o' them! VERY nice. I bet they'll look super all weathered and grimy.


Galen

[Fluesheet]

Okay, yeah, I gotta get me some o' them! VERY nice. I bet they'll look super all weathered and grimy.
Galen

Absolutely - the layout came off the wall to be painted, and I keep finding more reasons to delay that!

[tetters]

I'm loving these track gang photos. They make me laugh.

Super cool details... the track look excellent!

[rthornton]

Awesome looking layout. Great job on the track laying. Looking forward to seeing mores pics.

[Mr Fixit]

Hi Fluesheet

As a newbie I just looked in on your shelf layout thread and I am amazed at the effort involved in handlaying track, not for me just yet.

I would like to add that your progress photos that include your track gang make for interesting photos and help to provide the focal point and a good dash of humour.

Keep at it and ensure your track crew work safely.

Mark