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Today I finished laying track on the ‘mini-mo’ (actually two very small modules, one about 20″ actual track length and one about 24″). This bridges the gap between Yates Center and Durand, and in layout terms this is the corner where track leaves the new train room, headed toward the existing railroad. What lies between are some feet of non-modular track which will be hanging from the wall, probably on 3/4″ plywood 4″ or so wide. I think I’ll find some clear acrylic or other plastic sheet to attach to the outside edge to prevent catastrophic hitting-the-floor moments.
I had one of those moments the other week. I shoved a couple boxcars, without crawling under to check, on the connection that I’ve temporarily made to the north end of Conway Springs. Unfortunately that connection snakes between some hanging Tortoise switch machines, and in the direction the cars were moving, one of those machines was angled so that it handily dumped the first car on the floor with resulting damage to stirrup steps and so forth. Oh well, should have used flatcars.
Root cause was that Conway is not tied down yet. It’s 3/4″ plywood on L-girders, and I’ve left it free to move so I can turn each half up sideways to do the wiring. These are not real modules, but they could be. So, it was out an inch from where it was supposed to be, but that (one inch out from the final location) was what the hidden track was designed for, several years ago when I installed it. So, some cutting is in order. Fortunately, that’s flextrack which is not yet glued down at the transition. And, if I take the Dremel to the offending switch machine, the clearance problems should be solved.
So now the new parts of the railroad are up to about 40′ of track length, in two disconnected segments of about 20′ each. (Author’s note: these would be modules 1-3 and 4-6.) Next up is the duckunder bridge to connect the two segments, plus I need to build a half-circle turnback module so as to be prepared for the Eureka and Tolerville segments.
The module frames are built outdoors, then taken upstairs to add legs. This time of year, most of the construction has to take place in the mornings due to the heat load, but at least it does keep a lot of sawdust out of the train room.
Ron Merrick
