12" working railroad

Discuss park gauge trains and large scale miniature railways having track gauges from 8" to 24" gauge and designed at scales of 2" to the foot or greater - whether modeled for personal use, or purpose built for amusement park operation or private railroading.

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rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

Thanks Steamin, well I am taking a couple days more rest. I was going to weld the swivel bearing standoffs onto my bolsters, but realized that I'll then need to take the trucks back into work again to weld on the spring seats once the springs come in on Friday, so I'm going to wait and do it all in one shot. I ended up ordering some 1-1/2" free length, 3/4" O.D, 135# springs from Mcmaster-Carr for my riding car. Our laser cutter has caught up and passed the rest of the workload in the shop, so I might see some of my parts get ran this week for the turnout router fixture, switch stand, and maybe my locomotive truck sides as I've finished their drawing and they are ready to cut.
Our programmer/operator is doing some amazing stuff with the laser, he was cutting 3/16" diameter holes in 1/2" plate clean enough that we could gage pin them!
rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

Well I've got frogs, enough for 10 turnouts:)
What I'm doing is extending the FB rails into the frog from all directions, and then I only had to have these portions laser cut to complete them.
frogs.jpg
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

Today the shop got the turnout router jig laser cut. I got it mounted, and routed the grooves for the rails for the diverging route. I was able to get most of the rails cut and tapped into place as well. This worked absolutely perfect, the gauge is right where I want to be. The only issue is the curved outside rail is putting tension on the whole turnout, and the straight portion of the rails are a little off. I'm planning to pull this out and screw a stringer of 2x6 underneath all the ties if needed.
Just a set of points, weld the rails to the frog, lag down some guard rails and this one is done.
turnout1.jpg
turnout2.jpg
turnout3.jpg
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I welded up the frog to the rails and got it and the last couple rows of ties miter cut and installed on the turnout.
turnout4.jpg
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

Guardrails made and attached. I have a little grinding to do to line up the ends of the rails with the frog but overall it fit pretty close.
Tomorrow I'll cut and start bending some point rails, and get them scribed up for the long miter cut.
turnout5.jpg
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NP317
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by NP317 »

Lookin' good.
It would be good for longevity to use plastic ties where those parts are screwed down.
~RN
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

NP, I've clamped those down and through bolted them with big washers on the underside, they won't go anywhere until the ties rot.
I'm hoping with the linseed oil blend and using 5/8 clear ballast that I can re-apply the finish annually and keep the ties in good shape for a long time.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I cut some point "rails" and tweaked the curved one in the vice to achieve the proper radius, notched the ties where the point rails will slide back and forth. I'm thinking I'll grind and then weld a flange to these to form an angle, then mill the long tapers so things are more rigid when milling.
Where the points slide back and forth, should I line this with some sort of metal or UHMW? Maybe brass bolts so the heads are just slightly above the top of the wood?
turnout6.jpg
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Steggy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Steggy »

rkcarguy wrote: Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:08 pmWhere the points slide back and forth, should I line this with some sort of metal or UHMW? Maybe brass bolts so the heads are just slightly above the top of the wood?
I would attach some strips of stainless steel to act as wear pads.
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rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I can do that, easy enough. I guess I'll line the whole area in the "pockets" even under the solid rails so they are all the same height. It will drop the ties down the thickness of the stainless, but that won't be noticeable.
Glenn Brooks
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Ryan, actually, I would worry more about upsetting the unsupported flat bar with the weight of the engine, as it runs through the switch. This is the most common form of derailment with heavily laden prototypes. The weight of the train pushes the rail sideways, and it (rail) twists and tips enuf to derail. You might consider welding horizontal tabs, say 1” x2” on the bottom of each piece of flat bar. This would solve the wear problem and stabilize the rail.

Alternatively, just use standard Aluminium rail for the moving pieces in these spots. Probably you wouldn’t need more than one or two lengths overall for two switches.

Glenn
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum

Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

Glenn, I'm going to be welding a horizontal bar to the vertical flat bar so its like a heavy angle. I'm planning to stitch weld it with the TIG to control heat. Unfortunately they don't make a 1x1x3/8 angle. I thought about getting some 1-1/2x1-1/2x3/8 and milling the top down to 1", but it's honestly easier and cheaper to weld my own using what I've got. I'd have to buy 20' of the angle and it's heavy and would run about $85, then I'd have to hog 1/2" off of the vertical leg as well.
I just have to grind a bit of a radius on one edge so it matches the curve of the one point rail before I weld it. This will also give me more meat to hold onto when I mill the tapers on the points so I can clamp it securely and hog it off of there with a face mill.
I'll probably use 3/8x1-1/4 flat bar, that's why the pockets are so wide.

I'll need to build one more turnout, and then I'm just another 100 ties away from having enough track to lay the "garbage sub-division" and the siding to the shed and house.

Tomorrow I'll be changing gears though, I'm going to weld my spring perches and bearing brackets onto my riding car trucks so I can get them closer to the point of rolling. Goal is to get the turnout done, and leave it on the bench with the straight section and continue building my locomotive and riding car on this trackage.
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