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Michael Hohn
Fireman
   

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Posted - 11/20/2020 : 08:44:57 AM
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Very neatly done, George. I dont think you will have alignment issues with your engineering.
Mike
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7267 |
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Dutchman
Administrator
     
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/20/2020 : 09:43:25 AM
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That arrangement should allow for good alignment and electrical connection, George. Nicely designed!
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Bruce |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 33333 |
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George D
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/20/2020 : 10:26:31 AM
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Thanks Mike nd Bruce. I picked up a lot of the alignment ideas from the internet.
Thanks for your comments, Mike Goad. I have a life, you know, yard work, running errands, bike rides, naps... 4 months isn't bad. 
George
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Fly Army |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 16816 |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/21/2020 : 09:54:40 AM
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You should take a lesson from me on how to make good time on your layout. My layout is about 32 sq. ft. and after a mere 14 years I only have a couple sq. ft. to go! 
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Country: USA
| Posts: 13441 |
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George D
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/27/2020 : 5:02:15 PM
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I've been messing with rerailer design and construction. When a train enters the layout from a cassette, I want to make sure all the cars are on the track. I've seen pictures of cassettes with rerailers, but had to work out the dimensions and shape I needed. I've cobbled one that works on my test cassette.

The first problem was the thickness of the styrene. It was immediately apparent that I was going to need two layers, one between the ties and the top layer on the sides. The ties work out to be about 0.030 high, so I had to make the base layer out of that. The side pieces are 0.040, which is just below the rail head of the code 70 rail, so that's the top layer piece.
This is the working model.

The center piece between the rail is two layers high, one 0.030 thick and one 0.040. It sticks up above the rails slightly, but not enough to hit the Kadee glad arm. The glad arms on the test boxcar have been set to the correct height by the Kadee gauge. The final center piece will be shorter.
Something new are the little angled pieces coming from the pins at the end of the cassette. Those are pieces of code 70 rail soldered into the pins. I used my resistance soldering unit for that. They make moving the pins in and out of the tubes very easy. A hidden design feature is the that pieces of styrene on the sides of the rerailer prevent the pins from coming all the way out. OK, it was dumb luck.
I also had to design and make a rerailer for putting cars on the cassette. The design is based on a commercial one I have. I want to load the cars on to the end of the cassette. The one I have won't fit between the two connecting pieces on each side of the cassette. Additionally, I wanted the piece to fit down between the rails, the commercial one doesn't do that. This is made of 0.040 styrene and cut on my Cricut cutter. OK, the Cricut won't cut all the way through 0.040 styrene. It did the layout work by scribing all the cut lines on the styrene and it was a simple matter of snapping along those lines. The smaller cuts were worked with a #11 blade.

George
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Fly Army |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 16816 |
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BurleyJim
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/27/2020 : 5:08:42 PM
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Slick!
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Take the red pill |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 6195 |
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Carl B
Fireman
   
Premium Member
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Posted - 11/27/2020 : 5:19:53 PM
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Nifty!
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Country: USA
| Posts: 4160 |
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George D
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/27/2020 : 8:03:52 PM
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Thanks, Jim and Carl.
George
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Fly Army |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 16816 |
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Bernd
Fireman
   

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Posted - 11/27/2020 : 9:02:16 PM
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Great design work George. 
Bernd
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New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 3967 |
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robert goslin
Fireman
   
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 01:40:43 AM
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Great progress George. I like your set up for aligning the cassettes, and the re-railer looks excellent. I have one of the commercial ones, and they sure do make life easier.
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Regards Rob
My current build. http://railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53468 |
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Country: Australia
| Posts: 2827 |
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George D
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 08:09:16 AM
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Thanks Bernd and Robert.
I plan to put low sides on the cassettes to prevent cars from falling off when moving them around. When they are in place, it will be difficult to fit my fingers around the cars to place them on the track. The rerailers will be the only way to load the cassettes.
George
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Fly Army |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 16816 |
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Michael Hohn
Fireman
   

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 08:27:15 AM
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George,
Smart thinking on the rerailers. Im sure they will save you a lot of headaches.
Mike
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Country: USA
| Posts: 7267 |
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Tyson Rayles
Moderator
    
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 09:27:43 AM
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Country: USA
| Posts: 13441 |
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Rick
Administrator
     
Premium Member

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 10:13:29 AM
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Very nice!
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Country: USA
| Posts: 24363 |
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Grubes
Crew Chief
  

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Posted - 11/28/2020 : 11:23:39 AM
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George,
Just read this entire thread. Like others, I love watching your problem solving. Please keep posting.
Dave
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Country: USA
| Posts: 630 |
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