Breaking Ground - Finescale - of a sort

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Tony. You weren't being nosey at all - I was just happily baring my soul!!

I have always had a bit of a thing about "legacy". When we look around us and observe the historic built environment we rarely consider the long departed folk that were actually responsible for it!

When I was restoring the original floor of our 1895/96 house I was absolutely delighted to discover that not only were some of the bricks stamped on edge "J. Rayner, Gestingthorpe", but one of the brickmakers had apparently dropped one when removing it from the mould. He had left distinctly deep finger and thumb prints in the wet clay on the sides. One thing that was surprising. bearing in mind the period, was just how big the man was - judging from the scale and spread of his digits. Another notable feature was that he badly chewed his nails. There was also a kitten in the small yard at the same time. Several more bricks revealed the delicate, and perfectly preserved paw prints as evidence! I sometimes enjoy wondering whether the giant fella either ignored the tiny animal, swore and threw things at it, or gently picked it up and stroked it from time to time ??!!

I suppose I am, amongst many other issues, just a frustrated archaeologist?!

Pete.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Thanks Tony. You weren't being nosey at all - I was just happily baring my soul!!

I have always had a bit of a thing about "legacy". When we look around us and observe the historic built environment we rarely consider the long departed folk that were actually responsible for it!

When I was restoring the original floor of our 1895/96 house I was absolutely delighted to discover that not only were some of the bricks stamped on edge "J. Rayner, Gestingthorpe", but one of the brickmakers had apparently dropped one when removing it from the mould. He had left distinctly deep finger and thumb prints in the wet clay on the sides. One thing that was surprising. bearing in mind the period, was just how big the man was - judging from the scale and spread of his digits. Another notable feature was that he badly chewed his nails. There was also a kitten in the small yard at the same time. Several more bricks revealed the delicate, and perfectly preserved paw prints as evidence! I sometimes enjoy wondering whether the giant fella either ignored the tiny animal, swore and threw things at it, or gently picked it up and stroked it from time to time ??!!

I suppose I am, amongst many other issues, just a frustrated archaeologist?!

Pete.

Man after my own heart Pete , back in about '74 ish my Father and I were restoring the flat roof on Rayleigh church tower after a lightning strike, they were oak boards covered in lead. When we stripped the lead back we discovered that they had been repaired previously in 1914 by two Chippies from Walthamstow, they had signed and printed their names, date and from where in pencil on one of the boards which was damaged.
Dad and I spliced their signed piece into one of the new boards we were laying and signed the new section with our names, date etc.

The story continues as my Uncle ( Dad's brother) is still in touch with the church community in Rayleigh, just recently the lead was damaged again and a firm called in to repair, apparently they discovered the signatures and signed and dated themselves along side ours's and the previous guy's.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall ( tower) in another centuries time when it comes up for repair again.

Col.

 

[Peter Insole]

I have just broken my last 3mm drill bit, so operations are temporarily on hold until it can be replaced - hopefully later this afternoon!

In the meantime, here is another update:

I really should have taken more notice of Simon's warning?! The first job on the points of filing out the long taper on the stock rails was indeed a bit of a task! Quickly realizing my mistake and giving up on the idea of using the file alone, I turned my hacksaw blade through 90 degrees, and roughly cut the majority off - only requiring the file to finish!
Awkward; yes, tiring; not particularly, as the aluminium cuts like butter! Strangely, it just doesn't like being filed - coarse or fine side ??!!



By fair means and foul, I got there in the end though...



By the way; I decided to beef up the sleeper proportions from the earlier idea - especially considering the additional requirement for solid stability on P&C work. Incidentally, the 3" by 2", sawn and treated timber chosen is pretty damn close to scale for a full size prototype sleeper - representing them cut down for narrow gauge use anyway. The other bonus is that fewer overall will be needed for each 1.25M length of rail on the plain line too.

I had yet more fun to come with the wing rails...



I had intended to work out some form of special jig to bend the angles and flares for these and the check rails.

Some hope!

I had to eventually concede and cut horrible slots in the foot to bend on the heads - and even that was a right jolly struggle! The first one went reasonably OK., but the second one snapped at the very last pull.
If that were not galling enough, the loss also left me short of the precious rail set aside to complete these points and forced me to break into our lovely new pack and cut off an odd short length!

The next part, the crossing nose, needed a fairly large dose of mental agility as well as brawn!...



This time, the end of both rails had to bent to half the final angle of the crossing nose... and then the rail heads had to be shaped down to a point at the vertical centre of the webs...



Then the first one had to be turned over and filed to the final nose angle on the other side!



Before the utterly brain frying, nutty notching game started...



Only then did I discover (too late) that I had not quite come round far enough on those primary bends!

Ratbags!! At least there was enough metal top and bottom for a little compromise maybe?!



Yeah! That went and done it!

(The above photo was taken before I remembered to finish filing the nose down to the matching rail head profile on the far side.)

The last act was to drill and tap through the webs to fit a little countersunk screw to lock the whole thing together.



It really could do with an additional block, bolted further back in the vee to prevent twisting, but I'm still pondering on the best - or indeed any method?!

Lastly in this rather photo heavy post...



Aware that we have various stock available, and being ever so naughty by persisting with slightly different wheel profiles, I felt that the check rails should ideally be curved outwards at either end, rather than traditionally parallel, in order to keep the flare angles clear of the coarser flanges?

Searching online proved that there is a prototype for everything - in this case the dear old Welshpool and Llanfair came up trumps!
They do seem to be unique in that respect though - and I find myself wondering if it has something to do with all those funny "foreign" locomotives and carriages they like to run...?

The observant might notice that the check rails are only screwed down conventionally, and therefore at great risk of later and dodgy displacement. The fixings are only temporary - just for (overly) secure testing purposes. The final job is drilling, countersinking and screwing through the foot on both sides to thoroughly lock them in place...

That's when I broke my drill bit...!!

Pete.

 

[cmax]

Hi Peter,

Fantastic !!! Oh to be 4 again.

Gary

 

[Simon]

Ye Gods, maximum respect - that looks truly awesome!

Fantastic stuff.

Simon

 

[Pencarrow]

Fantastic stuff Peter, that's amazing trackwork.

 

[Osgood]

She ain't gonna be happy when that cast iron fireplace surround /woodburner door gets 1/2 inched for the tunnel entrance

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you Gary, Simon and Chris, you are all too kind. The true test is yet to come though - when it has been outdoors for a couple of years and thoroughly pounded and trampled by the screaming hordes ?!

Yep, there probably would be trouble Tony! Mind you, if it did get repurposed, then there would be nothing to warm me own toesies in front of next winter - that is if we are still allowed to burn stuff by then anyway ??!

Pete.

 

[Ressaldar]

The true test is yet to come though - when it has been outdoors for a couple of years and thoroughly pounded and trampled by the screaming hordes ?!

Pete.

not to mention the railway workings themselves! Excellent work, as always.

regards

Mike

 

[Richard Insole]

Just stunning work!! That is so handsome indeed. Did you manage to get another 3mm drill bit?

Rich

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Mike and Rich. The railway workers have got used to being trampled by the hordes - but I'm not so sure that they would appreciate being left out in all weathers though?!

The new 3mm bit is a dream to use! No wonder the old one broke - it was awfully blunt!!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Gosh, I had completely forgotten just how much work is involved when making points! There still seem to be umpteen niggling and awkward things to do before this set can finally be "planted out"!

I spent most of today tackling the daunting task of shaping down the first point blade to a snug fit in the stock rail.



Once again, the toe end had to be precisely bent to an outward angle in similar fashion to the crossing vee, and then the head shaped down to meet the web! This time, there was far less leeway - with such a long, gentle taper being required.

You can see the commencement of the bend, roughly on the centre line of the vice jaws in the above image!

That was the easy bit ?!!

The beastly nightmare 'twas on t'other side...



An awful lot of trimming, offering up and trimming some more was involved - most of the time with my heart in mouth! It would have been so easy to accidentally file a shave too much in exactly the wrong place!

Ooph! That was hard going...



But it went in sweet - eventually... and I didn't have to resort to using a hammer for any fine adjustments...!




Oh dear, I have got to do it all over again tomorrow... Apart from the initial bend (see above) that is!

There will certainly be a bit more fun to come, as the blade is straighter - but meeting the far more sharply curving "branch" stock rail.

Pete.

 

[Simon]

Just beautiful, what an achievement, you must be well chuffed with that!

 

[paulc]

Hi Pete , some people will probably jump up and down when they read this but here goes . Why not use a bench grinder or an angle grinder to remove the bulk of the unwanted rail . I model O gauge and was taught the dark art of track making by an old mate . When i got to my first point blade i started filing away , my mate was making another point and he walked over to the bench grinder a proceeded to rough his down to size then finished with a file .
Food for thought perhaps.

 

[Giles]

I'm afraid using a grinder on aluminium is a bit of a non-starter - it clogs up the wheel more or less straight away.... With steel rail, absolutely!

But you're making a superb job of it!

 

[Giles]

A bit of inspiration for you!

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Simon, Paul and Giles, I have been attacking it with three different weapons!

I feared an angle grinder might be a bit vicious on soft aluminium - and as I am inexperienced at using the somewhat unwieldy beast, I was certain to end up with an unholy, gouged out mess!
I did try one though, and that was exactly what I got! Giles is quite right, although what I discovered was that the speed (non adjustable) was generating so much heat that it tends to rapidly melt the metal on the workpiece, clag on both surfaces and rip big chunks out!!
Of course it is possible to grind off aluminium. Indeed, when I worked in the Marshall's drawing office all those years ago, I did many illustrations for repair manuals, showing how and where to cut out fatigue fractures in various airframes! (mainly "Alberts" actually!) The trouble is, after all this time I cannot possibly recall what tools were specified though!

By the way; While "airside" at the aforementioned on yet another C130 job, one of the last RAF Belfast transports in service arrived. I felt very privileged at first to be invited to a tour of inspection by the crew, but it quickly became apparent that they were taking the opportunity to have a good moan! Whatever the Short's shortcomings, they were very keen to point out all the facilities that they would be losing on their imminent conversion to the Hercules: A proper galley, bunkroom and toilet - rather than the hinged "Elsan", way aft and over the cargo ramp - but most important of all, airline type seats up front - complete with "vital" cup holders in the armrests! I got the distinct impression that they were holding me partly responsible for their impending miseries?!

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that aluminium is not as submissive as might be assumed, which is why I prefer to use a saw for removing the bulk, the claggy grinder to lightly whizz off any serious wobbles, and an even claggier file for the fine adjustment!

I do admit to some brief moments of delight, but am cautiously holding back on any celebrations though: It might end up working perfectly on the bench - but the moment it is completely bolted down in situ and settled nicely in the ballast - it is almost guaranteed to fail...!!

Isn't that the way of things...??

Pete.

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

Great work Pete.

However if your files are getting clogged up with Aluminium try rubbing the clean file with a piece of blackboard chalk before filing. It doesn’t completely stop the file clogging but it certainly keeps it cutting longer before needing a clean. An alternative is a drop of paraffin but not many folk have access to that now.

Ian

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you so much Ian, that looks like a lifesaving solution! My wife seemed to think we might still have some old chalk fragments in a drawer somewhere - from way back when the boys were tiddlers!!

Bingo! She has just come back with a single, worn, mucky light blue, mega stick from an odd collection of colouring pencils in a battered sweetie tin!!

We seem to have everything except bench grinders in this house?!!

Pete.

 

[class27]

Peter. if you use an angle grinder I would use a flap disc in it somewhere between 80-120 grit. If you have a light touch (and your model-making suggests you do) it will shape the rail no problem, hard discs cause too much heat and localised melting. Remember your mask though, the alloy dust will get everywhere, it's a job for outside. This thread is probably the second best thing on the internet right now after the loco thread. For sheer ingenuity and craftsmanship, it can't be beaten....