Seaboard Central 2.0

[davefoxx]

Ooh, I like this snugged up next to the throw bar, as you have it.  This can definitely be made to look much more railroady than when placed at the end of the throwbar.  Would be great if I could glue an NZT switch machine on top of a cut down slide pole, but that would probably not be very durable in the long run.

Of course, I guess this means finding a slide throw with the same amount of throw as the turnout.  Who's your source for mini slide switches, Chris?

Thanks,
DFF

[Scottl]

I really like this.  I had envisioned a NZT switch machine secured to the nub as well, but my experiments (albeit with one type of switch) suggest cutting the nub down is a problem.  My switch has a spring in the nub that is part of the mechanism of the switch.  Cutting it exposed this little spring (very MT like in scale...) and compromises the action.

Could the switch in that image be positioned flush with the foam surface rather than the roadbed?  That might bring the nub down enough that some trimming would allow the NZT switch to be securely mounted and to be at the level of the ties (or just above).

I have been playing this a lot because I like the tactile feel of switching in a yard at the turnout (hence I don't want a remote actuator), but I want a means to power the frog.  The frog juicers are a significant cost for even a modest layout like mine with 32 turnouts.

[Scottl]

I should add, the switch throw distance is usually more than the turnout.  A flexible wire connection has worked in my experiments.

[Chris333]

I should tip the layout up and take better pics, but the "L" shaped wire is loose enough in the slide switch that it will pivot when thrown to make up for the extra distance. 

I just bought these on e-bay. The size wasn't as important, I just wanted "mini".

[GaryHinshaw]

Chris, how do you attach that switch to the throwbar?  Drill a hole in the PC and bend the wire down through it?  Does it stay put?

[Chris333]

Yeah just drill a hole in the throwbar ( I usually egg the hole out a hair)

I drill the hole in the slide switch the same size as the wire. Once it is pressed into the hole it is pretty tight, but will still spin in the hole.

Once the slide switch is mounted down into the foam/cork it traps the bent wire into the throwbar and it won't come out.

Same layout different turnout. This one I glued styrene under the turnout and mounted the slide switch to it from the bottom, but it will show you better how it works.

[DKS]

Just a thought... all of this discussion on turnouts ought to be cleaved from the main thread and turned into its own topic in the Best Of or Scratchbuilding forums...

[wazzou]

Just a thought... all of this discussion on turnouts ought to be cleaved from the main thread and turned into its own topic in the Best Of or Scratchbuilding forums...

+1

[davefoxx]

When I designed my plan, I was quite aware that the passing siding in Southern Pines was going to be shorter than I desired.  But, I decided that I would try to live with it, since the yard tracks in Aberdeen weren't significantly longer.  This afternoon, while I was running trains, I came up with a plan to extend that passing siding to a length that closer matched the yard track lengths.  I just happened to have an Atlas double track plate girder bridge (originally I was only going to single-track the bridge), so I pulled up some track and cork, moved the riverbed, and set about turning this...



into this...



I know that purists will have a fit about the passing siding starting before the river, causing it to have a more expensive double track bridge.  Sure, the prototype likely would have started the siding on the other side of the creek, but I'm invoking Ed's Law here.  The gains are at least two 50' car lengths (possibly three shorter cars), meaning I can now have trains up to one locomotive and ten cars stay within the clearance points of the sidings.

This allows meets of longer trains like this:



Oh, before I could do all of this, I had to get out the foam adhesive and finally commit to gluing the 2" foam to the HCD.  I also painted the plate girder bridge before installation, because it will be impossible to mask it off to separate the track color from the bridge structure.  So, some good progress today.

DFF

[Chris333]

Former double track mainline?  Or Ed's law 

[davefoxx]

Former double track mainline?  Or Ed's law 

Ed's law.  Go back and read the paragraph after the second picture in my last post.   

[Dave V]

Hooah!

[Coxy]

Nice. You planning on building a cassette to fit to the offlayout track?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Sometimes having the passing siding over a bridge just has to be done:



Especially to have better ops in a small space.
I like the change you made, and think it'll look fine when all said & done.

[davefoxx]

I'm actually considering a 24" HCD coming off perpendicular to the main table that will allow the raised A&R line and that short track near the bridge that runs to the table's edge to go to staging.  I'm tempted to connect those two lines on that door, so I can have one larger combined staging yard.  This could also create a reversing section depending on how the two lines reconnect, which might be useful for turning trains.

By the way, this means that the SBD mainline will diverge at that turnout near the bridge to go "off-door."  Perhaps that now somehow justifies the double-track bridge, since this is a junction and it makes sense to allow the passing siding to clear that turnout for reduced congestion at the junction.  If not, Ed's law still applies.   

Oh, and I am seriously pondering cassettes or perhaps a small extension to the Aberdeen yard that can fold down when not in use.

DFF