Hi All

A little more progress on the way to getting the layout fully operational before RMweb Live.

Work over the last couple of days has focused on getting the join between scenic and fiddle yard complete. Unfortunately this ended up being more work than anticipated due to a flaw in the original plan. I had attached two strips of 5mm sqaure wood across each end of the board, with the intention that this would provide a solid edge and something rigid to hold the rail ends in place. When track was laid up to the edge of the board, it was discovered the foam board base used was slightly thinner than the stripwood, resulting in the very ends of the running lines raising up and creating an incline. To rectify this, the strip wood was removed, along with a section of the running line and foam board underneath and then a new, larger piece of wood fixed in place to give a solid base at the joints and remove the slight incline.

To fix the rail ends firmly in place, strips of copper clad sleeper were added at the edge of the board and traverser joins, the line laid over the joint into the yard and then the rails cut once I was satisfied the joins were level and all was soldered into place. Hopefully it will be strong enough to endure being dismantled and assembled on a frequent basis!

It was nessecary to increase the clearance slightly in the backscene opening to allow taller funnels to pass through and this needs to be tidied up before the backscene gets another coat of white paint. It would have been slightly embarrassing to get to Coventry and find out nothing could actually gain access to the yard!

Next on the agenda is further track laying on the traverser and fitting of the alignment wires and tubes before moving onto the second yard board and doing it all again.

Finally, a short video showing the first service to run from fiddle yard to scenic board under its own power. Not very exciting as videos go, but you get the idea!

Cheers all,

Tom.

Ropley is a N Gauge Model using 2mm Finescale Easitrac modelled after the real location on the Mid Hants Railway Watercress Line.