TVT - First Turnout and Infrastructure
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 3:53 pm
This is hopefully the first step on the path to a track I can run some trains on........
Commercial 45mm gauge turnouts available in Oz cost a fortune and only look like VR turnouts if you view them in the dark. I figured if I couldn't build my own turnouts I might as well not bother, so this one was started a while ago as an experiment.
Note, this turnout is based on VR NG practice, so the appearance is very different to UK practice and you certainly won't find anything like it in a Peco catalogue.
The VR NG lines were laid with used 60lb rail, recycled from late 19th century programs to upgrade main line rails. I assume the turnouts were assembled from recycled BG components as well, as the NG ones resemble those on BG branch lines which were also laid with 60 lb rail.
This turnout is what the VR Way & Works Dept. called a 'symmetrical contraflexure junction'. I kid you not, that's what is printed in the title block of the drawing. The model railway hobby would call it a Y point.
The gauge of this one is 45mm and the v-crossing is a #4 (~14 deg.) with an equivalent radius of 7'6", or about 2.3 chains in full size. Considerably sharper than anything the VR would have used, but I don't have the space they did.......
The sleepers were cut from Australian Cypress, which may yet be changed, although it is rated for exterior use and can be buried in the ground, e.g. fence posts. Importantly for any wood used outside around here, it is resistant to termites. The rail is Code 250 brass from the US, which scales out near enough for the VR 60 lb rail profiles. The web is a bit thick, but I can live with that, as I needed to drill and tap holes in the web anyway, to bolt the buttress chairs in place.
The first pic shows the rail parts formed, machined and laid out on temporary sleepers to make sure everything fitted. Behind the turnout in the photo, are the plain gauges and roller gauges I machined up to hold everything in place during testing and final assembly. The rails forming the V of the V crossing were silver soldered together for strength. This also worked out conveniently when I started assembly, as the spacer blocks in the v-crossing could be soft soldered in position without everything falling apart. The taper on the point blades and crossing rails was milled, which is much easier than hand filing.
The next photo shows the v-crossing end of the turnout after everything was assembled. The wing rails are bolted to the V with hex head 10BA screws to allow disassembly for future maintenance if necessary. The same with the check rails and stock rails. The number of bolts is much less than you'd see on a dead scale turnout, but this is a working model. The sleepers are noticeably thicker than the first photo. In the time between taking the two photos I decided to use Accucraft flex track for all the plain track and thicker turnout sleepers were used to match the flex track height. I won't live long enough to hand lay that much plain track.
The next photo shows the switch part of the turnout. Again the parts in the switch assembly are made to resemble the real VR parts, without getting carried away. The buttress chairs were milled out of brass bar, drilled and then cut to length to form individual chairs. Not a perfect replica in close up, but easy and quick to make and they give a fair representation of all the lumps and bumps on that area of a VR 60lb rail turnout.
The spreaders are fabricated out of three little turnings and a formed piece of 1/16" rod, all assembled with silver solder, with the spreader lugs on the points riveted for strength. I have used soft solder in some areas to fix parts in place, but I don't really trust it out in the weather, so all the soft soldered joints are reinforced with a mechanical fastener.
The last photo shows the point lever and operating mechanism. Basically similar to the Tenmille one, but scratchbuilt. The VR NG lines seem to have mostly used what they called a spur lever in yards. This was weighted off centre so the points would return to a default setting if the handle wasn't held over and they could be trailed if set the wrong way. On mainline turnouts something called a WSA type was used which held the points in the position set by the lever. This model lever also fixes the points position when thrown and bears a very vague resemblance to a much older VR design called a Ford lever, which was in use before the WS/WSA levers were developed.
Building this was slow, but not too traumatic once I worked out what I was doing. All I have to do now is build another ten or so ordinary #6 turnouts and this backyard track might actually happen.
Regards,
Graeme
Commercial 45mm gauge turnouts available in Oz cost a fortune and only look like VR turnouts if you view them in the dark. I figured if I couldn't build my own turnouts I might as well not bother, so this one was started a while ago as an experiment.
Note, this turnout is based on VR NG practice, so the appearance is very different to UK practice and you certainly won't find anything like it in a Peco catalogue.
The VR NG lines were laid with used 60lb rail, recycled from late 19th century programs to upgrade main line rails. I assume the turnouts were assembled from recycled BG components as well, as the NG ones resemble those on BG branch lines which were also laid with 60 lb rail.
This turnout is what the VR Way & Works Dept. called a 'symmetrical contraflexure junction'. I kid you not, that's what is printed in the title block of the drawing. The model railway hobby would call it a Y point.
The gauge of this one is 45mm and the v-crossing is a #4 (~14 deg.) with an equivalent radius of 7'6", or about 2.3 chains in full size. Considerably sharper than anything the VR would have used, but I don't have the space they did.......
The sleepers were cut from Australian Cypress, which may yet be changed, although it is rated for exterior use and can be buried in the ground, e.g. fence posts. Importantly for any wood used outside around here, it is resistant to termites. The rail is Code 250 brass from the US, which scales out near enough for the VR 60 lb rail profiles. The web is a bit thick, but I can live with that, as I needed to drill and tap holes in the web anyway, to bolt the buttress chairs in place.
The first pic shows the rail parts formed, machined and laid out on temporary sleepers to make sure everything fitted. Behind the turnout in the photo, are the plain gauges and roller gauges I machined up to hold everything in place during testing and final assembly. The rails forming the V of the V crossing were silver soldered together for strength. This also worked out conveniently when I started assembly, as the spacer blocks in the v-crossing could be soft soldered in position without everything falling apart. The taper on the point blades and crossing rails was milled, which is much easier than hand filing.
The next photo shows the v-crossing end of the turnout after everything was assembled. The wing rails are bolted to the V with hex head 10BA screws to allow disassembly for future maintenance if necessary. The same with the check rails and stock rails. The number of bolts is much less than you'd see on a dead scale turnout, but this is a working model. The sleepers are noticeably thicker than the first photo. In the time between taking the two photos I decided to use Accucraft flex track for all the plain track and thicker turnout sleepers were used to match the flex track height. I won't live long enough to hand lay that much plain track.
The next photo shows the switch part of the turnout. Again the parts in the switch assembly are made to resemble the real VR parts, without getting carried away. The buttress chairs were milled out of brass bar, drilled and then cut to length to form individual chairs. Not a perfect replica in close up, but easy and quick to make and they give a fair representation of all the lumps and bumps on that area of a VR 60lb rail turnout.
The spreaders are fabricated out of three little turnings and a formed piece of 1/16" rod, all assembled with silver solder, with the spreader lugs on the points riveted for strength. I have used soft solder in some areas to fix parts in place, but I don't really trust it out in the weather, so all the soft soldered joints are reinforced with a mechanical fastener.
The last photo shows the point lever and operating mechanism. Basically similar to the Tenmille one, but scratchbuilt. The VR NG lines seem to have mostly used what they called a spur lever in yards. This was weighted off centre so the points would return to a default setting if the handle wasn't held over and they could be trailed if set the wrong way. On mainline turnouts something called a WSA type was used which held the points in the position set by the lever. This model lever also fixes the points position when thrown and bears a very vague resemblance to a much older VR design called a Ford lever, which was in use before the WS/WSA levers were developed.
Building this was slow, but not too traumatic once I worked out what I was doing. All I have to do now is build another ten or so ordinary #6 turnouts and this backyard track might actually happen.
Regards,
Graeme