LOW GHYLL

[glencairn]

Looking good, Steve.

You say you can duck under. May I suggest you pad the underneath. There are times you will not duck under low enough. Believe me it hurts when that happens.

Glencairn

[Steve M]

And it seems to hurt more now there is less ‘padding’ up top.

[Steve M]

I did finish laying the track but wiring is for another day. Having said that, the first loco passed through when I bridged the gaps in the track at the board joints with a couple of screwdrivers.

[footplate1947]

Like that a lot Steve,,,,,,It is working out very well indeed...........John

[Steve M]

The bulk of the work is done! Locos are now able to run on a complete loop while each lane in the truncated fiddleyard has had indicator lights added to show if the points are open or not.
A few tweaks needed: add a Perspex wall to the front of the ‘bridge’, just in case. I can add a hinged flap to the end of the board to slightly lengthen the board - it has to hinge out of the way as its in the doorway. I also need to ‘refine’ the system for stopping vertical movement of the lift out section - lateral movement is taken care of by metal dowels.
I will get some more PCB at the weekend to tidy up the rail ends and at some time I may add point motors but for the time being it will be digital (Mk.1 finger).

20190320_171623 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Steve M]

Seen a couple of posts recently about poor runningover points - well here is the latest example.
I used a length of flexitrack to link the branch line to the bridge but the test loco was snagging, apperntly on the check Rail on the Y point.
It was actually the flexi trying to straighten at the joint that created the slightest kink - almost invisible to the eye.
Replaced the section adjacent to the point with two preformed Streamline sections (R2 and R3) and the problem disappeared.

20190320_171623 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[glencairn]

I had the same challenge myself, Steve. I thought it was my lousy tracklaying. (Most probably was anyway.) Preformed track sorted it out.

Glencairn

[Walkingthedog]

Flexi is an excellent product but sometimes set track is far better.

[Steve M]

99% of the time I will not have a point lead directly onto a curve, I will always have a straight section first. But in this case I had no option due to the extremely small space I was working in.

Strangely enough, when I originally mocked it up I used Setrack sections but for some reason I did the final fix with flexi. I may find the answer in the date on my birth certificate.

I have now finished the flap-down extension and it’s wiring, just the cross board joints to finish tidying up. Photo to follow.

[Steve M]

Completed the ‘flap down’ extension and added a microswitch so that when lowered power to the whole board is cut as a safety precaution.
Tested and tweaked the board joints - the rolling stock hardly notices the cuts in the track.
Time now to tidy up the workspace before starting on the next additions - could involve some real modelling for a change. And I have to repair an A3 that just mangled its valve gear.

20190326_113055 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr