General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Roundhouse and track alignment 

Updated some work on my roundhouse and roundtable renovation project this past weekend. Here are a few pics from the work crew.

Alignment check and test with roundhouse on cork foundation layer and track alignment:

NMRA gauge check on inspection pit track alignment:

Roundhouse interior track alignment check:

Sheet styrene (.030) cut and fitting check:

Roundtable weathering

Adding some iron paint to the rail flange: 

Some rusting due to rails on the turhtable tray side walls:

I started work on my Stewart Industries HO Yard Servicing Facility Work Pit. (Cat. N. 213)

The Box (Click image for larger view)

I filed down the metal castings first to get them cleaned up a bit. Then I cemented the metal casting sides together with Goo and now they are drying in my magnetic gluing jig. I have six of these kits that will eventually make it into the bottom foundation of my 6-stall roundhouse.

Contents (Click image for larger view)

This is my first time working on a metal castings kit of this kind, so my learning curve is on the high upswing. The sides and ends of the pit are all metal castings as are the two ladders, the floor is wood, and there are two HO scale code 100 track sections for each side of the pit.

Filing (Click image for larger view)

Applying cement (Click image for larger view)

Setting the pieces (Click image for larger view)

I have a taken these few photos and I will post more of them as I progress through the first kit, taking notes too for future reference.

Any other tips or tricks with working with metal castings would be great!

So far.......So good!

Thanks for sharing this project.

Ahyyy,

Is that paint or blood on that tray.

You will have a great looking engine facility.  Keep up the good work.

James:1 Verse:5

The "wobbly" lives on..................................

Johnboy out...........

Johnboy,

You know....I have cut myself a few times while working on the layout, but mostly with benchwork construction. Actually, that is a paint spill on the magnetic jig, and I think it was from a jar of boxcar red.

Also, I have continued to update this thread topic on my own web site pages, you can find it in the Modeling Techniques page linked under the Structures heading.

http://piedmontdivision.rymocs.com/

Cheers,

Ryan

loathar wrote:

Roundtable? Ya building King Arthur's railroad?

No plans as of yet to add the "Knights" but that would be funny if I had one of them sporting a lonely steed and in full dress guarding the property!

Ryan, very intersting and it looks good.  The only question I have is about the height of the styrene between those two bay tracks.  I take it that you have made it somewhat less than the tread on the rail tops?

-Crandell

selector wrote:

Ryan, very intersting and it looks good.  The only question I have is about the height of the styrene between those two bay tracks.  I take it that you have made it somewhat less than the tread on the rail tops? -Crandell

Good question Crandell!

I am using the Evergreen .030 sheet styrene for the final concrete floor between the bay tracks. And I find that the top of the styrene is just below the top rail height, I don't have an exact measurement, but I do want one of those nice digital measuring calipers eventually.

I got this idea from the October 2007 MR issue and the "Scenery Step by Step" article by Jim Hediger and Cody Grivno  Detail and weather an engine shop, p. 38-41. I might say that it was another one of those just in time MR articles

It was just that, the way the image shows it to me, the styrene is clearly very close to the two rails at each extremity, and that would make its overall height quite important to ensure pilots, MU hoses, even our somewhat wider than true scale wheels don't get lifted or snagged by the styrene.  I used plaster at the outer edge of my bays because my setup requires the house to be set back from the pit ledge by about 2"...so I needed a "concrete" apron of sorts to keep the gap from looking goofy.  I found that I overestimated the clearances of locomotive parts by quite a long shot, and had to do a lot of sanding and cleaning out of the flange paths inside the flextrack to keep things moving and making contact with the powered rails all the way into the bays.

Live and learn.

-Crandell

SilverSpike wrote:

loathar wrote: Roundtable? Ya building King Arthur's railroad? No plans as of yet to add the "Knights" but that would be funny if I had one of them sporting a lonely steed and in full dress guarding the property!

So the difference between a turntable and a roundtable is like the difference between day and knight??

wjstix wrote:

So the difference between a turntable and a roundtable is like the difference between day and knight??

Omg.

selector wrote:

It was just that, the way the image shows it to me, the styrene is clearly very close to the two rails at each extremity, and that would make its overall height quite important to ensure pilots, MU hoses, even our somewhat wider than true scale wheels don't get lifted or snagged by the styrene.  I used plaster at the outer edge of my bays because my setup requires the house to be set back from the pit ledge by about 2"...so I needed a "concrete" apron of sorts to keep the gap from looking goofy.  I found that I overestimated the clearances of locomotive parts by quite a long shot, and had to do a lot of sanding and cleaning out of the flange paths inside the flextrack to keep things moving and making contact with the powered rails all the way into the bays. Live and learn. -Crandell

Thanks for the heads up! I have not cut the inside sheets as of yet, the one sheet that is showing is on the outside edge of the rails and should not present a problem. Being HO scale, the inside the rails sheet will be cut 9/16" wide to fit the area between the rails and should leave enough area or gap for the wheel flange(s) to clear. I will be working on this step this weekend and will provide an updated report on my findings.

Oh, and I like the sub-topic thread of humor that has taken a life of it's own!

Finally got the concrete (styrene) flooring done this weekend for the roundhouse.

Measured, cut and attached the sheet styrene to the cork sheets between the rails and inside the rails:

Using latex caulk I attached the styrene sheets to the cork sheets:

Then spread out the latex caulk into a thin even consistency with a plastic card:

All the styrene sheets in place:

Then I scored expansion joints into the styrene and spaced a grid at every 1 1/2" and 1 3/4".

Then I preped the area for spraying painting with a 50:50 mixture of Floquil Concrete and Floquil Aged Concrete.

The final product after the paint dried:

And with the roundhouse positioned:

The next steps include filling in the gaps in front where the flooring meets the roundtable and then the details start getting added.