Update No.33 - 02.09.12

Hello again my lovely little Corkette chums - I hope you are all well.  You'll all be delighted to hear I am sure that much progress has been made over the last few weeks on our beloved Corkscrew-Lines so brace yourselves for some serious track laying action...Oh My Lords - Absolutely Hellfire!

Hydraulic action and a mug of tea - What could be better eh?

Well now, in the last update I showed you some shots of my tentative efforts at starting some track laying on the central peninsula where the tracks which rise from the storage level via the helix finally see the light of day on level 2A.  Well I rolled my sleeves up and over a couple of weekends I finalised my ideas on the track layout and position for points and cut the track boards, fitted them to risers and laid the trackbed foam.  This is exactly the same method I have used previously and you can get a fuller explanation by looking back at earlier updates.  Once the trackbed was laid then the trackwork followed using the tried and tested Copydex adhesive (now on my 4th bottle!)  and tin can system I devised last year.  Anyway, have a look at the following snaps and I'm sure you'll get the idea. 

Junction and Level 2B track ideas...just thinking things through.

The various levels on the Corkscrew-Lines will give the layout it's main operating interest with trains running around the room multiple times at various heights.  I know more or less how this will all be accomplished in my head but I've yet to put pen to paper and produce accurate plans.  In the meantime, the simplest way to describe the photo above is to imagine a through station on this level (level 2) with a single platform which might be used by a small number of local stopping trains (probably Hampshire DEMUs when I get them) but mainly by the military.  This area will represent a very basic station constructed in the 1940s to serve nearby military camps and firing ranges which were quickly and cheaply constructed whilst gearing up for the D-Day landings.  Troop trains from all over the country (often with foreign locos being conducted by local traincrew) will arrive to deposit soldiers before departing back to their home region.  I'll also have a single line which heads off and ultimately disappears through the backscene and onto the outer helix boards as my military branch for ammunition, supplies and when I actually construct the kits, my tank/armoured car trains.

The tracks you can see at a higher level curving in from the end of the peninsula are at level 2B and will have arrived here via the outer helix boards.  In this area they will be a double track mainline which curves over the station area via a girder bridge and then heads for the corner of the room where another junction will probably lead to another off scene industry or branch line.  That's all a long way off because I need to run level 2A all the way round the room and back to the helix first and that could easily be a year away.  I may have to lay the trackbed boards for level 2B fairly soon though because this will obviously have an impact on any scenic work I do on level 2A.

Track bed cut from plywood and risers being fitted.

Large spirit level used before trackbed finally secured.

Points being installed and holes drilled for switch machines

Track laying in progress - baked beans and soup mainly!

Rough idea of scenic boundaries and tunnel mouth positions.

You can see above the way the mainline dives into a tunnel almost immediately after bursting into the sunlight following the ordeal of the helix climb.  This small area provides a home for a signal box and a set of crossovers which will be needed for some of the running round moves for the station on the other side of the peninsula.  It all adds to the operating interest when you have to use the next box's section to complete a set of moves but you have to time it so you're not interrupting the flow of freights on the mainline. 

Because I have a mainline which loops twice around the room on each level, I have decided to go for a peek-a-boo approach and try to minimise the amount of unrealistic quadruple track on 2 levels running parallel to each other.  In this area, when the tracks emerge from the outer helix onto level 2B they will remain visible and run over the lower tracks which will be concealed within the tunnels below.  As I've said before, it will all make more sense once I've produced some plans for you all.  Watch this space!

Completed mainline track laying on level 2A peninsula.

Turbo-Banjo moved to it's next temporary home.

This latest track laying frenzy has added another 26ft of mainline running and another 4 sets of points.  I have updated the totals on the Corkscrew Totaliser so you are all fully up to speed.  The "Turbo-Banjo" has now been reinstalled at the new limit of the line and continuous running has been reintroduced.  Having timed a typical freight which began it's journey in the lower yard and then ran the entire length of the line until arriving back in the storage sidings, the total run is now at 9mins and 10secs which is food for thought considering only a fraction of the run is actually on a scenic level so far.  It wouldn't surprise me if a run over the entire line when all the track is laid on all the levels could be in excess of 40 minutes...Hellfire!

I'm using Peco code 75 track for the Corkscrew-Lines but I am not using the Peco point motors which clip onto the base of their points range.  Having decided to operate my points manually using a variation on the wire-in-tube system, the additional "gubbins" around the sleepers and the spring mechanism on the moulded Peco points base is redundant.  Rather than just lay the points as they come out of the box, I firstly do some additional soldering and remove the pins on the bottom to improve the electrical flow and do away with the reliance on the point blades to transmit the current.  Next, I use a razor saw to remove the spring mechanism and mouldings and then I trim the sleeper ends to remove the clip points for the Peco point motors.  This gives a far less cluttered and far more realistic appearance and this is what I'll be doing for all of the point-work on the visible sections of the layout.  You can see the results in the photo below.

Visiting Corkettes  

Mr & Mrs Rooster visited last weekend and brought their cats with them...as you do!  Now once the boys were released from their travelling boxes they naturally wanted to check out Uncle Corky's model railway.  Enjoy the shots of Blue & Charlie doing a bit of train spotting!

Waiting impatiently for the next train

What's next, hope it's a Crompton Dad!

Rooster attempts to get a very excited cat to leave the helix...not easy!

Rooster's Railway!

You'll know from the last update that my mate Rooster now has a shed for his model railway and I assisted with the construction of his baseboards.  Well, being the friendly chap that I am... pushover more like , I recently also assembled his fiddle-yard board as shown below and Rooster is now up and running constructing his own layout.  Unfortunately the layout is not similar to the Corkscrew-Lines in any way as it's in N-Gauge and based on a North American prototype.  However, it's the diversity of interests that's so special about we model railway (model railroad) folk so if that kind of thing floats your boat check out his fascinating blog and don't be surprised if you see some shots of Corky when you get there...Dreadful!

http://www.cambridgeheightscsx.blogspot.co.uk/

Timber, Power tools, Corky and a mug of tea have produced the Rooster's Fiddle-Yard board.

New Arrivals on the Corkscrew-Lines

Unusually, I do not appear to have picked up any new model railway items since the last update.  This is naturally not normal behaviour for me but I know there'll be something green, dirty and tractor-ish to show you next time.  I have been advised by Hattons that a weathered green Bachmann class 37 is en-route from Liverpool right now.  I have examples of earlier Bachmann Class 37s but this new version is re-tooled and should have the extraordinarily powerful mechanism as fitted to Wibble's tractor which took 13 coaches up the helix without missing a beat (see previous updates).  I feel a haulage test coming on...which is the most powerful diesel in the fleet?...Hellfire!!

Another item which has been ordered but not yet received is a multi pack of "Blue Point switch machines" from our friends across the Atlantic.  Although there are some limited stockists in Britain, the associated fitting packs are very hard to locate at sensible prices so once again I have ordered from an American dealer and I'll report once they are safely received.

More unusual this one, but very significant in Corkscrew world.  I have a huge love for rock music and in particular prog' rock and I've followed a diverse bunch of bands for years and collected their albums.  As well as Porcupine Tree, Spock's Beard, The Pineapple Thief, Office of Strategic Influence and Storm Corrosion, I am a devoted follower of Amplifier's work.  This magnificent band last year produced an album called "The Octopus" and I played it almost constantly, much to the amusement of my family, whilst constructing all the baseboards for the Corkscrew-Lines.  The band has eschewed traditional marketing and sells all it's albums directly to fans.  When I discovered they had released a special edition of the album in book format with additional material I just had to have it.  The big bonus when it arrived was my name was listed within the album pages and the first page was dedicated to me and signed by the band...Oh My Lords!  So I include a shot of myself enjoying the multi-layered and sumptuous sound of The Octopus by Amplifier and thank them for their significant contribution to the Corkscrew-Lines story...Dreadful!

I'm available for work as a Cyber-man impersonator!

And just to prove I don't spend all of my spare time wielding a soldering iron and juggling baked beans tins, here are some shots of an enjoyable day out with the other members of the Corky household at Rutland Water where we rode bikes around the entire 17 mile perimeter.  I ached a bit the following day and in very specific areas but that's a story for another day...or not!

Don't look now but that church is sinking!

Pint time at a bikers pub...sort of!

Sarah's delight at hearing track laying had started again!

So there you have it my Corkette buddies, consider yourselves thoroughly updated.  Next time I'll share my conclusions with you regarding Bachmann's tractor and once I've got a couple of time consuming work commitments out of the way I'll start producing track plans and layout diagrams for the blog so you'll at last know what I've been bleating on about for the last year and a half...ha-ha!

Take care and toodle-pip for now,

Corky