Model Railway Forum

Because of space constraints and doorways etc I need to arrange for this board to be splittable. It’s 8x4 feet. The rails will all need to joined along the line where the boards are split. So far so good. But how can one pull them apart and rejoin without damage? The rails will be fixed down - one doesn’t want to have to lift all the rails which are within a foot or two of the split in order to get the joins apart each time.

I wonder if anyone has had the same dilemma and has a cunning plan. This surely can’t be that rare?!

My layout is the same basic design. I left a slight overhang then trimmed the rails so they are absolutely flush to the edge, so once the two halves are mated together they align perfectly with minimal gap. There is the option to fit a locating dowel and corresponding hole to ensure correct alignment every time. This arrangement necessitates separable wiring connectors if you need to transmit power across the board join as well. I used 25 way D connectors.

There are lots of posts on here regarding removable sections of board. I have one on my layout Basically it means having a very accurate way of joining the boards. The rail is laid across the join and fixed extremely firmly both sides of the join. It is then cut at the join. Electrical connection across the join is made with wires each side plugged together. You just need to ensure when the boards are joined the track lines up exactly. This can be done with dowels etc.

The track doesn’t quite touch at the join.

Somebody will supply a link to the posts eventually or try looking at YouTube.

Thanks very much for all the help. I was thinking (wrongly I guess) that the rail ends on the join line would be connected by slip-on fishplates. But instead one lines the ends up (using dowels etc as you say) and solder short wires on that disappear under the board and are connected to the appropriate one from the other side under the table. Correct?!

There is good advice here regarding track joints across board joints.

https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Hints-&-Tips.html

I have just got two packs of ProTrack it has interlocking sleeper which has a printed circuit on it there are videos online hope this helps someone.