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+--- Thread: CN Blackwater division (/showthread.php?tid=9188)
RE: CN Blackwater division - cnrglen - 08-28-2022
Thanks Tom
I managed a bit more tracklaying this week.
I completed the longest siding and the two short sections behind the yard turnouts. While I was at it I've been installing wheel stops at the end of each siding.
most of the cast metal wheels stops that I'm using are from Juneco, a Canadian company. They make two styles, the CN version which is cast with a short section of rail, and the CP version which is glued onto an existing piece of rail. I'm using the CN version in this yard and will probably use the CP in the Meadows yard.
I'll weather them up a bit when I'm done laying track in this area.
RE: CN Blackwater division - Schraddel - 08-29-2022
Glen,
Lutz
RE: CN Blackwater division - cnrglen - 09-04-2022
Thank you Lutz.
After what felt like running a marathon, I finished tracklaying in the yard:
I left the two most difficult sections to last, the parts between the the two turnouts. While it might not seem that tricky when laying flextrack and cutting it to length, keep in mind that I tacked about 3/4 of each rail down before determining where to cut it to size.
In the end it turned out okay. I next have feeders to solder in and then wire the yard up to main track power.
I also took a day trip today. I live in Kelowna, British Columbia and I'm only about 30 minutes from the Abandoned Kettle Valley division of the CPR. The section that I'm closest to is the Myra canyon section. Today I took my bike and rode the old rail line (it's a hiking/ cycling trail now) While I was up there I collected some soil samples:
I labeled them as to where they had been collected from so I can use them for dirt roads and ballasting my branch line. I definitely will be investing in a few strainers and sifters.
I have already ballasted about 6' of my branch line
But I used woodland scenics brown ballast and I'm not very happy with it. The color doesn't really make sense or blend well with my planned scenery or the other ballast so I'm thinking of removing it and trying a different color/shade.
RE: CN Blackwater division - tompm - 09-05-2022
The yard looks great.
RE: CN Blackwater division - Schraddel - 09-05-2022
Glen,
so you have driven the "Golden Spike" into your yard.
Keep on Railroading; i have no doubts you will solve satisfactorily the problem with the colour of the ballast/trackbed.
Lutz
RE: CN Blackwater division - TMo - 09-05-2022
Glen,
I'd keep the color as a base and add to it - dab different shades of brown, gray, black. Grab a beer and experiment until you find you like it. That's the beauty of paint - you can always wet a brush and try again.
RE: CN Blackwater division - cnrglen - 09-25-2022
As much as I would like to try to match the ballast there to what I have decided, I think it would be easier to remove both the track and the ballast so I can relay a clean piece of track right away and start fresh.
I spent the last few hours wiring in the yard and siding. I started with soldering in all the feeders
I made myself a little reminder to make sure I didn't wire anything in reverse. I pretty much added a feeder to every length of track, be it handlaid or flex as it's just better to over wire than under
I made a small home-made terminal block at work so I could attach all the feeders from the yard to it and then connect it to the main layout bus. Just in case there could be a short in the future, this will probably make it easier to track down. It also makes the wiring a bit neater.
and the yard wired up. I had a few other feeders that I fed directly into the bus, but they were fairly far away from the terminal bus. As I wired each feeder in, I was checking with my NCE system for shorts by turning the DCC system on and running an engine over each section.
Lights are on, proof I made it work. Wiring is not one of my favorite things to do so I was dreading this all week.
RE: CN Blackwater division - TMo - 09-25-2022
Handlaying track has never been on my bucketlist of things to try, but hats off to you! Love the splice connectors on the bus wires under the layout. I never thought about using those on my layout. Stripped a small section of insulation, soldered on each bus extension, and wrapped with electrical tape. Congrats on the working yard!
RE: CN Blackwater division - tompm - 09-26-2022
Great job with the electric. Like you I hate dealing with the wiring.
RE: CN Blackwater division - cnrglen - 10-03-2022
Thanks for the encouragement. This is the first layout that I have used the splice connectors and they make wiring a bit easier and quicker, you just have to test the track as you go to make sure you got a decent connection.
I pulled up the branchline track that was ballasted and re-laid it. It wasn't as easy as I quite thought. When I had laid that track a year and a half ago, the rest of the layout was still open-grid, so I was able to get to the far-reaching areas a bit better. This time I was partially kneeling on the layout itself or standing on a stool. It's a good thing I have a good reach or this would have been more difficult. I soaked the brown ballasted track down with water, pulled up the spikes and used a putty knife to lift the track. I soaked the track in the bathtub for an hour to loosen any ballast that was still attached. I also re-soaked the roadbed and used a small nylon bristled brush to remove any ballast that was still attached to the layout. When that dried, I vacuumed it all up.
I relaid the rack, using almost all the original track (about 1' was ruined when I removed it) This also gave me the opportunity to close up the gaps between the bridge rails that I noticed when I installed them.
I also bought a second kitchen strainer and now I have three grades of ballast:
Well more like two. the largest are more like large rock and boulders in HO scale, the next two are more the sizes I'm after. The medium is a bit smaller that the Woodland scenics medium which is what I'm aiming for. The fine would be more for sprinkling in on the edges after the initial ballasting. The fine is almost too fine and fairly dusty. I'm wondering what it will do when soaked with glue. I'm going to experiment a bit before committing to using it on the layout.
After that was in and tested, I looked at the layout and I think it needs a good tidy and clean-up.
I'd like to actually see the layout that I'm working on.
RE: CN Blackwater division - TMo - 10-03-2022
I think we all run into similar problems in layout construction. It's so tempting to say "good enough" with track laying and move on to scenery and things like ballast. One of the things I did make a concerted effort on my current layout was to run a lot of trains over every nook and cranny of my layout - both directions, forward backward, and every combination of rolling stock and locomotive that I could lay hands on. Even after a lot of running, you find little things that need to be improved for bulletproof operations. You also find flaws in your track plan and reasons to add or remove features, or you keep things in mind for possible expansion. With all that said, once you do add things like tunnels, trees, rocks and other features, you create a whole new set of constraints that make you pull your hair out. As far as neatness goes, we probably all have the same problem - everything's packed in a box and the box is never where you thought you left it. You pull out 14 things to find one, and then you leave the other 13 out. Maybe I should have my wife come down here every week and complain - I'd then have to clean up my mess.
RE: CN Blackwater division - cnrglen - 10-09-2022
After taking a few hours and cleaning up the layout I too started to run some trains around, checking my previous ballasting and how the trains ran. The mainline works great as well as the two passing sidings. (what a difference larger radius curves make).
My next project is to ballast Meadow's yard:
I'll be using the same ballast as the other yard. Unfortunately, I'll be ballasting after the rails are in, since I learned that trick a bit late. I fired up an engine and started to pull cars out of the yard when I discovered a couple dead turnouts. Turns out when you don't run for a bit, not only do the tops of the rails get dirty, but the contact points on the peco turnouts do as well. I cleaned the points out with a mix of a bright-boy and a brass brush on my dremel but one turnout just wouldn't conduct power. I cleaned a few times but didn't discover the problem until I used a multi meter and realized that when I connected all the turnouts for the yard that I was missing one rail joiner. the butt-joint work when I first built this area but over time oxidization must have crept in between the rails. I was able to solder the two together and it works fine now. Live and learn I guess.
I also experimented a bit with the sifted roadbed that I pick up a few weeks ago:
I ballasted a sample track using the fine on the left and the medium on the right, Gluing them both in with the mod-podge scenic cement. I then compared them to some unglued medium ballast. Initially both the fine and medium ballast darked considerably but the medium lightened to its original shade when dry. The fine just looks like mud so I won't use it.
Not quite sure about the medium stuff, I was looking for a branchline type ballast with a cheaper grade look to it. Opinions?
RE: CN Blackwater division - BR60103 - 10-09-2022
I think that the chunkier stuff looks better. Way back when I did N scale, I used some "fine" ballast and it looked just like Polyfilla -- no texture at all.
RE: CN Blackwater division - Charlie B - 10-09-2022
For ballast on yards and old branch lines I use a blasting material that I bought at Tractor Supply. It is a real good replica of cinder ballast that was used on a lot of small railroads, yards, and branchlines. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-medium-blasting-abrasives?cm_vc=-10005. I think Wayne may have used some of this too. It isn't expensive and you will have a lot left over. It is available in different mesh sizes. I think there are TSC stores in Canada because I was on one of their pages once by mistake.
Charlie
RE: CN Blackwater division - doctorwayne - 10-10-2022
When applying ballast, I use a paper cup to dump the material onto the track, both between the rails and also on the outer edges, then use a soft-bristle brush, about 3/4" wide, and held almost parallel to the track, to drag the excess ballast further down the track. In some instances, this might need to be repeated more than once.
To remove excess ballast from the top of the ties, grasp the ferrule of the brush lightly between your thumb and forefinger, then lay the brush handle across both rails, then move it along the track, tapping the brush handle rapidly. This will usually cause the excess ballast atop the ties to bounce into the space between each tie.
To affix the groomed ballast in place, add a few drops of dish detergent into a sprayer filled water (if your water is overly hard, use distilled water, which is available in most grocery stores in gallon jugs. (A cheaper alternative is to use water collected in the bucket of your dehumidifier - (be sure to clean the bucket thoroughly before turning the dehumidifier back on).
Don't be too stingy with the water...I usually spray upward first, so as to not allow the spray to move the ballast. Once it has been dampened, you can spray the ballast more directly.
To affix the ballast in-place, I use ordinary LePages white glue, mixed about 50/50 with water....
Depending on how deep the ballast is spread, it may take quite some time for the glue to set (I had some alongside the track that was almost an inch deep, and it took almost a week to fully harden.) For track on roadbed or directly atop the layout's surface, the ballast should be firmly in-place by the following day. Once the glue has set and is completely dry, do make sure to clean the tops of the rails, as any glue on them will interfere with electrical contact.
Wayne