The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 3

ACL1504 · January 17, 2019, 06:05:50 PM

South end of the Ovalix -

Overall view of Ovalix - The Ovalix area is 10L X 8.25W.

Jim Donovan · January 17, 2019, 09:48:19 PM

Tom

Never ceases to amaze me the amount of unbelievable quality work you accomplish and the time you accomplish it in. I am still working my way through the various kits you have made in the past few months. I appreciate the amount of explination you put in to each build. I know you don't have to but trust me a lot of people including me learn a lot from each build. Frankly, I doubt I would even bother with craftsman kits if I had to rely on the manufacturer's directions, which given their costs today is a subject all by itself.

Looks like I need to catch up on your ever growing layout as well. Thanks again.

Jim

postalkarl · January 18, 2019, 02:59:12 PM

hey Tom:

That is quite the helix. Great work.

Karl

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 04:12:13 PM

Quote from: Jim Donovan on January 17, 2019, 09:48:19 PM
Tom

Never ceases to amaze me the amount of unbelievable quality work you accomplish and the time you accomplish it in. I am still working my way through the various kits you have made in the past few months. I appreciate the amount of explination you put in to each build. I know you don't have to but trust me a lot of people including me learn a lot from each build. Frankly, I doubt I would even bother with craftsman kits if I had to rely on the manufacturer's directions, which given their costs today is a subject all by itself.

Looks like I need to catch up on your ever growing layout as well. Thanks again.

Jim

Jim,

Thank you for the kind words and for following along on this particular adventure. Remember I've been doing this for 55+ years so most of it is second nature and the rest is "fly by the seat of my pants".

My layout work, scenery, structures and brass painting comes in bunches like bananas. Like the structures, build 5 or 6, get tired of structures and move on. In this case it's back to track work on the Ovalix and third level.

Some manufacturer's instructions are the best and others, not so much.

You and the Boss are welcome anytime, just call to make sure I'll be here.

Tom

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 04:13:24 PM

Quote from: postalkarl on January 18, 2019, 02:59:12 PM
hey Tom:

That is quite the helix. Great work.

Karl

Karl,

Thank you. Greg DeMayo designed the Ovalix/Helix and all I had to do was build it per his CAD drawing.

Tom

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 04:38:12 PM

Back to track laying. This is where I left off over two years ago, just short of the top of the Ovalix.

Continued -

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 04:40:52 PM

It also took me some time to gather all the necessary tools for track laying.

Here's a view I've never seen, at least not from this angle and height.

Continued -

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 05:11:05 PM

I view track work as a model. Do it correctly or not at all. My mission on the Atlantic & Southern RR is to have flawless track work. The next few posts will show you the length I go to in getting flawless track.

Connecting/soldering track is most critical.

Right off the bat on this morning session, I needed to solder two sections of track on a 36" radius. As you know, when flex track is bent, one end rail extends and the other rail retracts.

In the photo below, the track on the right is on the end of a 36" radius curve. The track on the left is a section of straight.

I'll use rail nippers to even the rails on the right track as evenly as possible.

To ensure the end rail is square, I'll use a Dremel cut off disc to get a square end. Notice I had to place the track on a track cleaner to show you the idea. I don't have five hands like Reading Bob.

When I put the two end sections together, I don't want any rail gap at all.

NOTE: If you try to solder two end rails while both are at a 36" radius you are asking for a derailment later on.

More in a few.

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 05:16:18 PM

I also mentioned in the past I use Atlas Code 80 "N" scale rail joiners for my Code 83 track. The N scale joiners give me a very tight fit and more importantly, they have a very low profile when used with HO Code 83 track.

When joining the two sections of track, be sure the rail joiner is in the middle. If not, use a small flat head screwdriver and push it into the middle of the two rails.

More in a few, gonna grab a water.

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 05:28:31 PM

I use three 86 ft. passenger cars to test the track and soldered joint.

I use two Budd two truck cars and one three truck heavyweight.

Continued -

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 05:31:42 PM

I will roll, push, pull and glide the cars over the new joint.

I don't want to see the wheels or trucks bump, bounce or jerk. If that happens the joint is tweaked or redone.

Continued -

ACL1504 · January 18, 2019, 05:35:03 PM

Also, I save any plastic ties I remove from the rail ends to make the solder joint.

The plastic spike heads are filed/removed and the ties are placed under the rails and glued in place.

In this case I needed four.

This is it for today's post.

MAP · January 19, 2019, 06:07:55 AM

That Ovalix is the 9th Wonder of the World Tom! Hard to believe it's been 2 years since you've worked on the top section. Great track work and tutorial as usual.

ReadingBob · January 19, 2019, 07:53:45 AM

Quote from: MAP on January 19, 2019, 06:07:55 AM
That Ovalix is the 9th Wonder of the World Tom! Hard to believe it's been 2 years since you've worked on the top section. Great track work and tutorial as usual.

It kills switchers I tell ya! Just kidding. A couple years ago I purchased a new BLI Reading SW1500 and took it down to Tom's for it's inaugural run. It got just about to the top of the Ovalix when stopped dead in its tracks and there was a faint odor of fried electronics. The decoder burned out. Lucky for me BLI headquarters is only about 45 minutes away so a few us made a road trip over there a couple of weeks later and they fixed it right up while we browsed in their store. Greg had to restrain himself from running Greg speed while running trains on their layout.