Camber Problems Revisted.

[Anonymous]

Some of you may recall a few months ago I had a problem with an unwanted camber on my layout, it was as the track came out from the pumphouse tunnel it ran through a long straight and into a left hand R3 (approx) curve. The track had a distinct lean on it the wrong way and I could not get rid of it.

I have layed a lot motre track since then and suddenly it has popped up again, this time at the other end of my area 3. It has a long R3 curve, a straight then a smaller R3 curve in the same direction and suddenly it appeared again, it had an outward facing camber that i didn't want and couldn't get rid of.

We are using club track and each section is 3.69 m or 12 ' long and what we do is bend one rail to suit the way and then after carefully marking the original we bend the the second rail to exactly (exactly as we can) match the original.

The problem is that they are so long it is hard to get them to lay in there correct positions without putting undue forces on them and spoiling the measurement and achieving an unnatural lie.

So what we did was to take the whole assembly back and lay it out on our flat garage floor and sure enough it did have a twist in it, even on the garage floor, so it certainly did have a problem. So then we pulled all the sleepers (ties) off and laid th eindividual rails on the flat and sure enough they sat there straight and true, so it must have been something we did. We thought that being identical may be the problem, so we carefull layed them side by side 45 mm apart and there it was, they were nothing like being true and parallel to each other.

A funny thing the origonal seemed to be wromg and the copy seemed to be ok, so we modified the original to run parallel to the copy ,45 mm away.

We assembled it again and laid it out on the garage floor and it was just right. flat and true and that was the problem. it is in and working just great now. So that is the trouble, the rails were not properly equal and parallel, so strains were introduced and the assembly twisted and buckled.


Ian the track laying King.

[bman36]

G'day Mate,
That's quite a story all right. How much of your track ended up like this? Sounds like a chore to re-do. Glad you got it figured out! That would have me going a little stir crazy. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ian,
So, it was a stress thing afterall[:D][(-D][swg][:-^]
Cheers mate,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Yes it does occur from time to time, this is about the third time ive had it, bear in mind that when i'm finished i will have 130 m (420') of track down. Yes you are right though it is a chore when this problem comes up; in fact the whole idea of making up your own track from a kit is a chore however the benefits far outweigh the negatives. They are :-

1/ Less than half the price.

2/ You can have any combination of any straights and any curves you like.

3/ Less joins, when you have 3.69 m (12') between joins.

4/ I believe it is better quality track that either LGB or Aristo (the two best in my opinion).

5/ connects perfectly to LGB track hardware; points (switches) isolation sections etc.

I know both you blokes, and i reckon item 1/ would have won you both over if you could get it !

My wifes son is coming to visit it again soon and when he does I will be able to include photos in my submissions.

My double track main line, curving up a climbing ramp through a series of "S" bends is something to behold. I got a Jigstones moulding kit through a suggestion from Old dad and I have a concrete block set of pylons holding the whole thing up and concrete block abutments, plus a small old looking concrete block bridge (culvet type thing) in the background. The ramp itself is made of 9 mm marine ply painted to look like concrete. And really i just don't think you could do it quite like this with discrete sections of track.

Regards Ian

PS yes it certainly is caused by introduced strains due to mismatching the two individual rails.

[Anonymous]

Ian,
Can't wait for the pics. 12' track sections, must drive you wild bending an S section.
Cheers,
kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Try doing a double set of tracks together, it was easier than I thought; what i did was to bend one rail to line up with one side of the ramp then did the other rail to suit it. Then I did the first rail of theother side to suit the other side, then the last raiil to suit that one. Ive just read this and I can't understand it myself. I'll send you a photo!

Rgds ian