Barton Hill extension

[pandsrowe]

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After a summer of decorating and all sorts of house maintenance issues which are of no interest here, I have at last managed to finish the "baseboard" part of my railway extension. This will accommodate a three road terminus with all the necessary run round facilities. I've spent this afternoon juggling lengths of track and sets of points to get some idea of what it will look like, isn't it strange how after drawing it out using "Anyrail" it doesn't fit in the allotted space? Never mind, I have come up with what I hope will be a workable alternative, so with the predicted fine weather I may well have the trackwork down over the next few days.
In case any of you are wondering, the big hole is for a turntable to drop in. I thought it would be a good idea to have it easily removable rather than let it suffer the ravages of the winter weather. The dark coloured material is recycled plastic from Filcris and the lighter coloured material on the top is a recycled plastic/bamboo composite from Wickes, time will tell how effective this combination will be.
I will be ballasting the track with chicken grit which I think looks quite in keeping with scale and easily available and cheap. Now for some advice from you guys, I have been following all the various threads on here about the trials and tribulations of using SBR to secure the ballast and I believe that it is probably the way to go. However looking at various suppliers it seems that the smallest quantity available is 5ltrs, is this what most people have found? Not really a problem but then further research tells me that it's generally only got a shelf life of one year, which means I'll end up with a quantity left over which won't store for long.

[philipy]

Looking good so far Phil.
My SBR is certainly in a 5ltr container. I'd never looked at the storage instructions before now, but you're right it does say 12months in a cool place above 5degrees C, and protect from frost. I've had it for 3 or 4 years and it still works fine and there is about 1/4 of the bottle left. I keep it in an unheated garden shed which freezes in winter and boils in summer, so I wouldn't worry too much. I did some fairly major ballast patching in my station area on Friday afternoon and it was solid as a rock on Saturday morning. There are a few soft lumps in the bottle but they aren't a problem.

[Lonsdaler]

Yes, Don't worry about it - basically - what Philipy says

[philipy]

Far too many Phil's in this thread!!

[IanC]

I'll be interested to see how durable the Wickes plastic/bamboo combo is. I presume it is cheaper than Filcris?

[pandsrowe]

Yes it is cheaper, but the main reason I used it is because of its size. It is ideal for what I wanted as a top surface to the "baseboard". Also not visible are small gaps between the planks to allow for water drainage. As you say time will tell but I honestly don't think that any potential deterioration will be a problem in my lifetime.

[pandsrowe]

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The weather has been kind this weekend so I've managed to get the trackwork into place and lightly secured with brass screws to allow me to run some trains to see if there are any obvious problems with this arrangement before starting to ballast. The timber pieces that can be seen at the far end and to the left are markers to indicate what will eventually become the platforms of the terminus.
I picked up some SBR from Toolstation this morning, so if the weather behaves this week I will begin experimenting with ballasting using the chicken grit that I've got, apart from a few pieces of oyster shell in the mix I think it looks a very realistic size ballast. As I mentioned previously the planks have small gaps between them to allow for some drainage but I'm now wondering if the SBR is going to negate this idea. Possibly I should think about some other form of drainage maybe miniature trackside drains in the cessation - I am joking (I think). What's the general feeling of the experts on this illustrious forum?

[Peter Butler]

...... maybe miniature trackside drains in the cessation - I am joking (I think). What's the general feeling of the experts on this illustrious forum?

I'm no expert but drains are certainly possible..... this is how I fitted mine as the concrete foundations and roadway had no alternative to release rainwater....

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[tom_tom_go]

If you are going to use SBR then the drainage gaps you have left won't do anything as the ballast will become hard and resist water.

Do you need to fix the ballast in place as you are boxing the track in?

[pandsrowe]

Peter, those drain gratings look brilliant did you produce them yourself or are they some kind of commercial item?

Tom, I really do need to fix the ballast as the local birdlife i.e. pigeons and blackbirds will be scattering it in all directions otherwise. I have covered the ground underneath my "baseboard" with 20mm ballast and the blackbirds even manage to throw that around in their quest for food, so goodness knows what they would manage to do with the smaller particles of chicken grit.

I will continue to ponder this issue over the next few days whilst I run some trains to prove the track arrangement.

[philipy]

Peter, those drain gratings look brilliant did you produce them yourself or are they some kind of commercial item?

Phil, not wishing to answer for Peter but I believe he had them made.
However I do have one of these in stock somewhere ( can't find it at the mo though) from a kitchen job I was going to do but didn't!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brown-Air-Ve ... 0005.m1851

They come in different sizes and I'm sure could be cut to fit individual drains. I think they can also be had in other standard colours

[Lonsdaler]

Just to add my two penn'orth Phil (and add another Phil to the mix )-
You could stil ballast with SBR, and either leave small holes at the board junctions to act as drains, or simply drill through the set SBR on the board junctions afterwards.

[Peter Butler]

Peter, those drain gratings look brilliant did you produce them yourself or are they some kind of commercial item?

Phil, not wishing to answer for Peter but I believe he had them made.

Correct Philip, a friend with a milling machine made them from solid alloy material for me, not commercially available. I like the idea of your kitchen grilles, trimmed to size they would do the job equally well.

[pandsrowe]

Thanks to you all for all the good ideas.
Today I thought that I would begin my experiments with the SBR so get every thing out ready and it then starts to rain . Oh well I can't win them all. But realistically I suppose it isn't the best time of year to do something like this, maybe I will turn my attention to the remote operation of the points as I now have all the materials to hand.

[pandsrowe]

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For various reasons I have not yet had the opportunity to experiment with SBR and the summer is fast receding!!! However I have managed to build this turntable from a Swiftsixteen kit (usual disclaimer). For some reason the stone colour paint that I've used on the turntable looks very wishy washy in these photos but in reality I think it does look quite realistic.

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The short spur running off the turntable will eventually have a buffer stop mounted on it to hopefully prevent any runaways. I have arranged it so that the whole turntable lifts out of the baseboard for storage and has thus saved me having to drill any drainage holes in the well of the turntable, which I don't think would look very prototypical.

[AFGadd]

Interesting photos of the SS turntable, of which I have one waiting for me to get the "urge"...
I notice that you've left the rails longer than the bridge-plate, I was thinking the same.

I will be drilling a few drainage holes in my turntable base. However, I reckon that the turntable will spend most of its life in the same position and the bridge-plate will cover the holes.

[pandsrowe]

Andrew, yes I left the rails long on the turntable deliberately as in my case I intend to remove it after each operating session and that would not be possible if the trackside rails ran over the t/t masonry. Also theoretically it should allow for longer engines to be turned.

[AFGadd]

Thanks Phil,

I've just noticed the rail chairs securing the rail (rather than sleepers), looks much better IMO?

What chairs are they, assuming that they are a commercial item?

[pandsrowe]

Indeed they are commercial - standard Peco chairs (usual disclaimer). I also thought that sleepers on what is supposed to be a steel deck just didn't look right, so as I had a number of the Peco chairs left over from my brief brush with turnout construction I used those. They are secured to the deck with an epoxy resin which I trust will be satisfactory as it won't be exposed to any weather as I intend to bring the t/t inside after any operating session.