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Part 7… part 2

Curved crossover

click on any image for large version….

curved crossover bronx terminal

Well that didn’t take too long. I re-read where I left of on the trackwork construction and realized it was exactly one year ago today I posted the 3D drawing for this section, and figured I would have it done in two days. Talk about getting distracted.

Anyway, I built part 7 this weekend and it turned out well. You might notice I did this section a bit different than all the other pieces, I have decided to use all PC board ties. Initially I was going to laser cut wood ties to complete the trackwork, but after giving it some thought I figured it would be easier to simply use all PC boards. Using all PC board ties will ensure extremely strong trackwork, it will be quite durable, which I am looking for as I intend on moving this layout around a lot. The downside is I have to go back and add in all the missing ties in the previous sections of trackwork. I will likely do that as I mount the sections to the layout permanently.

curved crossover bronx terminal

curved crossover bronx terminal

Also a bit different with this section is where I am gapping the PC board ties. To help keep the gaps less noticeable on the finished trackwork I moved them closer to the edge of the rail. Since all the ties will be PC boards and have gaps I wanted to ensure an obvious line wasn’t right down the middle of all the ties. On a typical turnout a few ties with gaps goes un-noticed, but every tie gapped might stand out a bit.

curved crossover bronx terminal

curved crossover bronx terminal

The gaps are very hard to spot on the non-turnout portions of this trackwork. They are two gaps per tie, beside each rail.

curved crossover bronx terminal

curved crossover bronx terminal

Curved crossover in place (right side of dog).

curved crossover bronx terminal

I also built some sections of curved and straight track, again with all PC board ties. This is a section of 90′ radius (12.5″ in HO) curved track that is adjacent to the freight house. Represented here by a dog.

curved crossover bronx terminal

Unpawsed version of same location.

curved crossover bronx terminal

When primed and painted the all PC board tie track looks great!

curved crossover bronx terminal

curved crossover bronx terminal

In the coming months we will (finally) be releasing fixtures to build straight and curved lengths of track along with double gapped PC board crossties in all scales and gauges in a large variety of radii. Keep an eye on the Fast Tracks site if you are interested.

curved crossover bronx terminalcurved crossover bronx terminal

Well that didn’t take too long, only a year. This is the second to last complicated piece of trackwork for the terminal, the next piece is a pair of curved turnouts leading into the wye. After that there is only a single turnout at the wye and all the remaining straight and curved sections.

I will probably plug away at the straight lengths of track for the next while as it is a very relaxing process. I need quite a few feet of straight track for the yard.

You might have noticed that between Part 6 and Part 7 a layout showed up.  Initially I was going to link all the trackwork construction posts together, but since this layout is much more than just trackwork I decided to add links through the entire build process.  To keep watching the progress, just clink on the “Next Section” links at the bottom of the pages.  This will take you up to the most current construction post in the blog.

on to Next Section

-T.

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 04-27-2008 | 09:04 PM
Posted in: Latest Posts | Track Construction

8 Comments »

  1. That piece of track looks great! Very realistic.

    Comment by Anton Torstensson — April 28, 2008 @ 7:39 am
  2. Tim, Its looking really good. I know that a lot of people have been awaiting some more trackwork on this project. The PC board ties look great primed, what did you use to prime the ties/rail?
    Have you had any thoughts or started on any mock-ups of the structures for this layout?

    Comment by Chris — April 28, 2008 @ 7:59 am
  3. Looks good! I can’t wait to see some trains finally rolling around your trackwork.

    Comment by Shane — April 28, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
  4. Tim,
    this project of yours is just fascinating to me. I really enjoy seeing the updates on your progress. Thanks for taking the time to keep this site updated. Also, good news about the fixtures for curved and straight track; I’ll be keeping an eye out for them.

    Comment by Carol Alexander — April 28, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
  5. Trackwork looks as good as your dog, but where will the dog fit when the track and building are all finished?

    Comment by Kurt Konrath — April 29, 2008 @ 8:22 am
  6. Tim -I’m curious – with the PC ties will the rail have enough expansion “give”? I had problems with some hand-laid rail and multiple PC ties being too “tight”. The rail buckled and literally snapped the joints at the PC ties. Maybe it was a temperature thing…

    Comment by Chris Arsenault — May 2, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
  7. What tools do you use to mount the rails to the ties?

    Comment by Anton Torstensson — May 5, 2008 @ 7:56 am
  8. do you have planes to make available the bridge and the building?
    in ho scale.
    or maybe you could offer it as a kit?
    just love the track plan
    drawing the bridge detail be nice to have.

    Comment by jane chantel — June 8, 2010 @ 4:08 am

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