...and days are slowly drawing shorter. This means more time for indoor activities.
I had an area on my home layout that was never operating reliably enough. The first turnout after the curve was too close to that curve, and caused some derailments sometimes. Also my method of mounting my turnout motors in that location didn't work out too well.
Therefore I took the drastic step of tearing them out. I'm removing the Woodland scenic roadbed here too, which will be substituted with a strip of plywood of similar height. The turnouts are being mounted directly onto it, and the turnout motors to the bottom of that strip.
This means I'll be cutting slots in the foam board that makes up the surface of my layout, and the turnout motors will be recessed into this. Two advantages:
I can make the entire construction at a workbench and test it before install.
There won't be any motors sticking out from beneath the layout.
Below is the start of the work.
I had an area on my home layout that was never operating reliably enough. The first turnout after the curve was too close to that curve, and caused some derailments sometimes. Also my method of mounting my turnout motors in that location didn't work out too well.
Therefore I took the drastic step of tearing them out. I'm removing the Woodland scenic roadbed here too, which will be substituted with a strip of plywood of similar height. The turnouts are being mounted directly onto it, and the turnout motors to the bottom of that strip.
This means I'll be cutting slots in the foam board that makes up the surface of my layout, and the turnout motors will be recessed into this. Two advantages:
I can make the entire construction at a workbench and test it before install.
There won't be any motors sticking out from beneath the layout.
Below is the start of the work.
BEFORE