Two more of the old boards are now stripped of their track, taking the total to three.
All six boards were brought together today for final assembly, tweaking, dowel pins and boarding.
The frames were clamped together ready to mark up for the dowel pins. Ideally this should be done on a bench using a pillar drill. We chose this method A) because the ends of the boards had already been glued & screwed and B) I don't have a pillar drill. After careful marking and drilling, the dowel pins were glued and tapped home.
Once the dowel pins were in position, time to fit the toggle catches to each side, these ensure that the boards stay tightly clamped together. Final checking of the front boards before fitting the top MDF panels to ensure everything is straight & true.
The front and rear sections all locked together for the first time, some minor tweaking required on one corner, apart from that, everything is square.
Time to add the top layer of MDF, everything checked again for the best fit before adding glue & panel pins.
Looking along what will be the front of the layout - a lovely blank canvas.
16ft x 5ft of three rail porn!
With everything nailed & glued, time to start loose-laying track for the best fit, taking into consideration the location of points to ensure they're not fitted over board joins and trying to get most of the track joins near the edges to avoid excessive track cutting.
Strange to think that when the portable layout was first built, at this point we would have screwed down the track and then run it in this state with bare MDF. Not this time, this time there will be paint, scenery, ballast and hills!
Trying to find the best fit for the turntable - after so many hours went into modifying this it would be a great shame not to use it. This will need to be recessed into the timber due to the height difference.
Deviating from the original design I drew on SCARM, the shuttle track in the foreground was initially designed as a small village terminus and wasn't intended to be used as an independant shuttle line. It was to be linked into the main track here and into the run round loop but as this now runs into the main station, there is no need for additional points here. I have a plan for the shuttle control to also work the points and alternate the shuttle service between the two platforms. More designing & testing required first to ensure that it'll work before I commit this to the layout.
A tunnel is planned for the two running loops here, it will commence just after the end of the turntable.
The TPO moves to the mainline, on the old layout this was situated in the station and its use limited to one platform. Placing it here makes it more accessible. Also gives the three front boards something of interest on each board. This centre board will also comprise the four road level crossing. Some debate as to whether this needs repainting to match the station platforms.
I had a plan to add sidings behind the TPO, hence the points at the back of the level crossing, I got out-voted on this so this will be replaced with a half curve.
The level crossing will also need to be slightly recessed, as we discovered when it was used on the previous layout. The main station will be situated here between the crossing and the tunnel mouths and will be exactly as it is on the previous layout, using three platforms. Now that the TPO has moved, I can extend the platform further along.
The tunnel mouths have been cut and will require joining & repainting. There will be a proper tunnel with scenery here and the pointwork beyond will be just inside the tunnel.
The design here is similar to the current layout but with some redesigning to incorporate the shuttle track, which will be on the left of this picture, running from the points along to the far right hand side of the layout.
I intend to keep the same track isolation plan as I had on the previous layout - each of the four tracks will have two isolated sections. The shuttle will run into the first section where a diode wired underneath will stop the train running further into the station area. I will fit an override switch so that I can run to and from the shuttle station as normal if I wish to, and take the empties back to the depot at the end of the day.
Tunnel will be here, with another tunnel at the other end. Scenery and a raised loop to be added later.
Looking from left to right along the front, there will be a lot going on, way more than the current layout. The trackwork I've tried to deviate from long, straight sections to create some interest, whilst not complicating things to the point where derailments & uncouplings will occur.
The high edge of the board has now been trimmed to a better size, it slops back up to this height near the tunnel entrance and perspex will be added along the front to protect the layout and discourage wandering fingers when on public display.
I can now go away and design the mapping for the control panel now that I know where all the points are and how many are needed. The track has now all been removed as the boards will require primer & paint, then I can start planning the wiring and fit the board connectors. The PCBs for the points controls also needs to be constructed.
A very, very long day but we've achieved a great deal here.
As a final note, I take no credit for any of the carpentry skills seen here. I merely supplied the hardware, my brother is responsible for the construction of this and many hours have been spent producing these boards so the standard seen here. My job was to fit the catches & dowel pins, lay the track and wire the thing up!
No, we don't do commisions!
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