Rich Chrysler’s CASO module
A bit of Rich Chrysler’s Windham Centre module from the CASO Free-Mo group.
Terry Link, one of the group members has set up a website for the club. It can be viewed here.
-T.
Mis-aligned carfloat ain’t floatin’
Oops.
Apparently there was a mis-match between the float bridge and the float. April 21, 1961, Bush Terminal in Brooklyn.
The man shown here would have been drawing the float tight to the float bridge via ropes secured to hooks on the deck of the float. The large ship like wheels over his shoulder were used to draw in the ropes. At the extreme left of the image, highlighted by sunshine, is a lever used to nudge the rails slightly left or right to align with the rails on the floats. It was a ratchet type mechanizm.
He won’t be needing any of these items this day.
-T.
Out with the fun, in with the dull
I finally had some time to finish the carfloat. Since the glueing test for the gravel onto the deck went well I decided to finish the rest of it. To start I sprinkled some Woodland scenics black gravel around the rails. I then augmented that with some crushed real coal I had on hand. I have no idea where it came from, but it is great stuff. Two bags, one fairly large and consistant, and another bag of very fine, dusty coal. I start with the coarse stuff and add some fine stuff on top. This mix looks very authentic. All one size never looks right.
I soaked the deck down well with some water sprayed on from a mister. This was followed up with some Woodland Scenics glue applied with an eyedropper. This was done as carefully as possible to avoid getting too much glue on the deck. When dry, any excess glue would likely be quite noticeable.
The result is a nice mess. When dry, I’ll post some shots of it.
Just then, the dogs arrived for their evening adoration. Here’s receiving his nightly dose, seems to be enjoying it well.
A job I have been avoiding is to solder on all the remaining PC board ties to the finished turnouts. Initially I was going to use wood ties to complete the trackwork, but I have since decided to use all PC board ties for added strength. Fitting and soldering all those in place is a bit of a tedious job that I have been avoiding.
To make the job easier, I used the original CAD files I used for the design work to cut a simple jig from cardboard to help align all the ties. This sped the job up a bit by holding all the ties in place while I soldered.
Ties soldered in place to one of the #3 turnouts.
The switch points will be cut free from the turnout and hinges formed using rail joiners.
One #3 three way curved turnout with the PC board ties in place.
Ties complete. See, a bit of a dull job. Unfortunatly there is a ton if it to do yet. I really should focus on this process to get the trackwork finished before the next show. Only problem is, there is nothing interesting to take a picture of…
-T.
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