Things have been a bit quiet around the Train Room. Life got in the way, we used the cooler weather to get things done around the house, and there generall was limited time to dedicate to this. But that’s not to say nothing has happened at all in the past two months.
For one, the extended table is now standing on its own legs. I made this decision after it became clear that the old desks holding up the tabletops would cause more issues than they were worth. It was possible to work below the tables, but it was hard. Also, the arrangement stopped me from using some devices that would mount below the baseboard, such as slow-action point motors, which can be quite big – bigger than the 64mm clearance my tabletops allow for.
Speaking of point motors, I have not yet made a decision on which models I am going to use in the future, though it seems likely that it will be the DCCConcepts Cobalt models. I have tested some of their surface-mounted motors and am quite happy with them, but I won’t be able to use them everywhere on the layout I have planned. That’s where below-baseboard motors will be necessary.
The Track Tester has turned out to be a dud and been returned to sender. Unfortunately the shop didn’t have any similar models in stock, so it was a reversal of the original exchange of cash against wares. At the moment it doesn’t really matter, because the table is in no condition to run anything yet, and by the time it is, hopefully my QR 2300 Class will have arrived.
After a bit of brainstorming, placing track and trying to maximise the space usage, we have finally come up with a track plan. I will elaborate on it more in another post. We have all the required track pieces, and have laid them out on the baseboard to ensure everything fits. After marking out the track, I have started laying track bed. This job is almost finished, and would be already if I hadn’t run out of material over the weekend…
So much for this quick progress update. Watch this space.