Now if someone would just pay me I've been brainstorming on how to approach the guard rails given the pieces will be so tiny, and I think I might continue to just make jigs to build the 5 inner components separately, and then solder or maybe even crazy glue them in place (if tack soldering makes them fall apart). We'll see.
I made some progress over the past two days, lots of photos taken, link here for the entire album of this 42° crossing. Some notes so far: Creating a simple jig was definitely worth it for time and accuracy. I will just use more glue next time. The guardrail center piece (stock rail) was so small I had to glue those to the mat before soldering. It was necessary to make some extra acute angled pieces. Whether I was too rough in filing, bad eyesight, failed to secure my jigs or rails while soldering, or failed to correctly cut/file/dremel various components for length, I needed to make 3-4 more of those to cover mistakes and mishaps. One technique which I sort of stumbled upon that really worked great: tack the angled rail with solder and then place the angle on a 1-2-3 block, with additional 1-2-3 blocks weighing everything down except the joint, then baste it with flux again and give it another go with the soldering iron. This kept the angle from shifting while allowing the solder to soften and press the railheads even, resulting in better quality point and much less sanding. It was worth the extra time IMO. Here are some photos from this weekend:
Gen, Very, very, very nice! Thanks for showing us your process. It seems at this scale, making parts over again is inevitable. Scott
That's a piece of art! Heck, you could hang that on the wall! Looking forward to more updates, holy moly!
Well this little crossing is complete and I'm pleased with the final result: Some notes I'm really happy that I took this challenge. I agonized over designing and utilizing this particular piece of trackwork due to the work involved, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It will really add some visual and operating interest to the layout. There were, again, some pieces that needed resoldering/repair due to minor mishaps, but overall I think prefabbing was the way to go. Flush filing the diamond evenly with the guardrail components was still necessary despite what I believe was a foolproof approach (I yelled this with dissatisfaction into the abyss, no one heard me) When the crossing was lifted I addressed two areas of transition where I felt a bump from running the truck wheels across. Pressing the rail with the iron into a 1-2-3 block from the backside brings everything flush (leaning into the tie also). I had to micro drill an access hole to cut the gaps! (second to last photo). Luckily I had 8-0 jeweler blades. Testing for shorts was a bit cumbersome but both frogs are now isolated. I ended up doing more tie filing than really necessary because the rail gaps were so narrow and they hid a metal shaving. Full photo album of this crossing is available here. When I have time I'll try to caption each photo. Highlights:
Thank you, that's a much appreciated compliment! I believe 100% in your signature mantra. It's important to document and share dilemmas, failures, as well as successes along the way to a satisfying end result.
