Frog Jewelry

When I first laid the track for Pembroke, I left the detail off until it was running the way I wanted. That day is getting near. There are a few persistent derailments, but I’m getting better and better at fixing them. So, the southern-most two turnouts are starting to get dolled up. In my previous […]

Mystery Derailment

I’ve been chasing derailments lately, and making steady progress until I came up against this one on the Pembroke Milling Company switch. Here the first truck of 1120’s tender consistently chooses the diverging path, rather than the normal route. Interestingly, this has been only happening for about a year. Prior to that, northbound trains arrived […]

Heel Joint Resolution

I gave the styrene bits a good try, but in the end, there wasn’t enough material to hold onto with adhesive, and it didn’t work. Fortunately, disassembling the switch was straightforward, and I was able to adopt the better alternative with .01″x.025″x7mm “joint bars” soldered to the either side of the point, and slipped over […]

Point Hinge Ideas

If I’m honest with myself, I shouldn’t be surprised by a derailment at the heal of a switch. The hinge, based on the clever but fine rail joiner from proto87.com, was the most expedient solution to an age-old model railroad problem that I could think of when I was laying track. Considering this problem of […]

One small step…

I’ve spent a couple of days now puzzling over a derailment at the south end of the siding. The gauge is fine, almost too wide, and there is only the tiniest unevenness to the track. Then I got the phone out and shot a video on the far side, and the problem was immediately apparent. […]

The Stock Spur

With the PNR regional meet bearing down on me, and needing to get the roundhouse back in its seat, I was feeling pressure to finish the stock spur while it was still convenient. So, between coats of paint on the outside of the house, I bent some lengths of rail, and soldered feeders to their […]

Major Service Disruption

After determining the source of my derailment was a sudden twist to the track, I spent a few days pondering how to address it. Should I shim or should I sand? Which rail needed to move? The Trackwork Torsion Testing Tool (TTTT) told me where the problem was, but not exactly what the problem was. […]

The Trackwork Torsion Testing Tool (TM)

While almost every derailment on Pembroke can be traced to a gauge problem – typically too tight – a couple of sites continue to defy explanation. Backing south into the heel of the south siding switch, for example, the rear (now leading) drivers of 1120 gently drop off the rail and onto the ties. Going […]

Minding the gaps

The common wisdom says that you should put something insulating into the electrical gaps between rails. According to model railroad folklore, without insulators, those gaps will eventually close up with all the humidity and heat-induced rail cavorting, and the resulting short will be remarkably difficult to find. Now, Pembroke’s Presbyterian rails have never been inclined […]

The Pembroke Milling Company spur

The Pembroke Milling Company was situated at the other end of the Pembroke Street bridge. Indeed, the mill was the reason for the dam that meets our side of the Muskrat behind the depot. One of the Pembroke Southern’s founders, William Moffat owned the mill, and he preferentially built a warehouse on his railway. It […]