Four tools you can make Simple things that make modeling easier/David W. Lamberts M
y home layout is modeled in HOn3 scale and is based on the Denver & Rio Grande
Western about 1930. I have been work- ing on the layout for over 15 years and have found some simple tools to help with its construction. I’d like to share those with you.
Radius guide
The minimum radius of curved track on my layout is 18″, and I have a lot of curves. When I was laying track I made a radius guide for this curve. To construct it, I used ³/₁₆″ foam core
board, available from any craft store. An 18″ length of string was cut and pinned at one end onto the foam core board. On the free end, I attached a pencil and traced an arc with a radius of 18″. The ³/₁₆″ foam core board is very easy to cut with a hobby knife or box cutter, but strong enough to be of last- ing service.
I cut out an arc of 90 degrees (the ac-
tual length is about 27″) and made the piece one inch wide. These measure- ments, however, are not crucial. I then drilled holes approximately two inches apart down the center of the radius guide. This enabled me to set the guide on the roadbed and dust chalk down the holes, leaving a trail with an 18″ radius ready to accept the actual track. Of course, it is easy to make these guides in other radii if needed for your layout.
Coupler test track All of my rolling stock uses Kadee
No. 714 couplers. On narrow gauge cars, the accuracy and uniformity of the couplers is even more crucial than in standard gauge. To assure this accu- racy, I built a simple test track for checking the couplers.
Table 1: Weight of HOn3 cars
Car in inches Weight (ounces) 3
3¹/₂ 4
4¹/₂ 5
5¹/₂ 6
6¹/₂ 7
58
1.88 2.06 2.25 2.44 2.62 2.81 3.00 3.19 3.38
The radius guide (top) is made by first drawing an arc onto a piece of foam core board with a pencil attached to length of string. Cut it to be about an inch wide (use the pencil and string again), then drill small holes at about two-inch intervals along the center line. The au- thor dusts chalk into the holes to mark the track centers, though a pencil would work just fine. Whether hand laid or flex track, this guide ensures the radius of the curve is correct.
To start its construction, lay down a piece of track on a piece of ¾″ plywood measuring 3″×20″. Don’t bother with any roadbed. For HOn3, in the center of this piece of track glue a piece of 0.08″ styrene ⁵/₁₆″ wide and 4½″ long on top of the ties. This makes placing rolling stock on the track very easy.
If
you wear bifocals, like I do, you wull understand.
The edge of the styrene should be just inside the head of the rail with enough space to admit the flange on a wheel. All that is required is to set a car on the track with the styrene and roll or wiggle it back and forth. The flanges will drop into the space between the styrene and the track. This has worked so well I am
going to install some more styrene strips at various places on my layout (and paint them black) as re-railers. Adjacent to the styrene strip is a Kadee HOn3 No. 709 Delayed Magne- matic Uncoupler. Installing this does require cutting and removing some ties. The uncoupler magnet is glued in place. To complete this “kit” I have a Kadee Coupler Height Gauge No. 704 not tacked down and a Micro-Mark No. 82414 Track Inspection Car refitted with HOn3 trucks and Kadee No. 714 couplers. Lastly, I glued a ruler adja- cent to the track so I can measure the length of my rolling stock and thus know how much weight the car needs according to recommendations by the
JUNE 2013
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
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