Shot showing two and a half of the four modules.

Deviating from that Plan Again...

Progress with the track has been quite quick. As work progressed, I deviated from the original plan in a number of areas.

At baseboard joints, rails are soldered to copperclad / PCB is used for added strength. The copperclad is screwed rather than glued to the bench work, this provides for any adjustments that might need to be made when erecting the layout as a result of expansion / contraction.

I had to make a decision whether to go for low current stall type point motors such as Tortoise (slow action) or coil type solenoids such as Peco or Seep. There was no difference in cost between the Tortoise and the Peco (when you take into account the additional cost of the double switches necessary for the Peco motors). However, I have used Peco quite extensively in the past and without any problems and there is something quite reassuring about that clunk noise they make when they snap into action. However, it will certainly be Tortoise for the scenic part of the layout. I had a look at the Seep range which would have worked out far cheaper as they have integral inbuilt switches (those Peco ones are ever so fiddly), I would have saved about £70.00 on Phase 1 alone. However, I decided against them on this layout as I have not used them before and they looked a bit flimsy so I could not be sure about their reliability. I will certainly test them out in the future though, probably on my son's layout first.

	Module 1 showing the copperclad trackwork at the joints between modules.

A major deviation from the plan was the staging area throat. Rather than a straight fan / ladder, I worked as many of the turnouts into the curves (on the outside loop) as I could in order to maximise the length of the sidings thereby increasing the potential train lengths. I also increased the space between the sidings for ease of access, particularly useful at shows and exhibitions.

Increasing the space between the roads in the staging yard obviously shortens the length of each individual road as more of the potential track length is used in the ladder. However, the increased length of the sidings from the turnouts being placed on the curve made up for the loss of length from increasing the space between the sidings. This did however push one of the turnouts on the inner loop on to the next benchwork module. Despite the cost of an additional DCC accessory decoder, it was thought a worthwhile compromise.

 

	Module 4 showing the effect of laying out the points in the curve forming a compound ladder rather than in a traditional fan / straight ladder.