A new layout - Lower South West: Part 3

 With the baseboards out of the way it was time to turn to the track work - or so I thought! Originally I decided that bridges / rivers / etc were all too hard and I'd just have a flat layout. On reflection I realised a layout is much more interesting with scenic features (see Adrian Gunzburg's wonderful bridge on his South West layout) so I cut into the established baseboards and put two rivers in. The first is not prototypical, as it assumes a river just north of Wonnerup that both main and branchlines have to cross. The other is a little more prototypical, in that it covers the estuary bridge that existed just before Busselton yard, although in this case it's on a slight curve due to space constraints. But more on the bridges latter...

The track is all Micro Engineering 0n30 sourced from the US. Recently the company was put up for sale - one hopes that someone takes it on. I decided on Code 83 as it's a little more forgiving than Code 70. Again, in hindsight, it would have been good to do the Nannup branch in Code 70 however the 4 month wait time for delivery prevented a change. So the whole layout is in Code 83. The sleepers have been cut down by 2mm on each end to get the right length for WAGR track, a slow task made slightly easier with a jig. Having done it I'm glad, as the track looks right now. After cutting all the web of the rail was sprayed with Tamiya Red Brown, then the whole lot sprayed with a mix of Tamiya Black and Red Brown. Following painting each length had a red and white dropper soldered to the base ready for installation.

 

So that the track, now the points! I've long harbored a desire to build my own points. After seeing those on Richard Stallard's Marbellup and Adrian's South West Main I was no longer satisfied with Peco or other commercial point work. For years I'd looked at the wonderful FastTrack jigs, but was deterred by the cost. With some spare money and a deep breath I placed an order for a #5 and #6 jig, with all the tools, rail, sleepers, etc needed to make 30+ points. Not a cheap exercise at around $1,000, but when you look at the per unit cost it didn't work out to be much more, and the jigs will last a lifetime. I must say - the service was excellent. They answered all my questions quickly, and once packaged only took a couple to weeks to arrive from the States. I won't go into great detail on point construction here (that's for an article in ASnM) but I will say the jigs and tools are fantastic! Worth every cent, made building points very easy, and they all turned out beautifully. 

Th points were prime coated then given the same treatment as the track. Overall I'm thrilled with how they've turned out. 

The track has been laid on 3mm cork on the mainlines and straight on the baseboards in the yards, to give the appearance of a slight height difference that was common on WAGR tracks. So far the approach has worked well. The below photo of Nannup yard shows the mainline with cork and the rest without. 

Until next time!! Cheers, Cris