Help needed in hiding or disguising return track

[chuck geiger]

Thanks Debbie, I think we will let it fly or a short divider.

[Maletrain]

For what you want to accomplish, I agree that a short divider works best.  That really only loses you under 2" of depth, when you consider the bracing needed. And, it should probably lift away to deal with track maintenance and derailments.  If you really want to go to the trouble, lift-off, slightly raised scenery could hide the return path, but the liftoff would have to be broken into sections to make it feasible to really move it.

Putting it under the layout makes it a real chore to fix a derailment.  And, the older we get, the lower and farther back those hidden tracks seem to get. 

[wazzou]

How is a derailment going to occur?

[dem34]

How is a derailment going to occur?

Dust bunny finding its way down, track becoming less than perfect over a couple seasons, dragging wheel deciding its time to shine is in the hidden area, bumping the table at a bad time, etc.

[nkalanaga]

Insect of some kind.  Depending on your area, and the season, anything from a cockroach, to a ladybug, to a stinkbug.  Even some ants are big enough to cause problems.

[TrainCat2]

Not to mention the dreaded Arizona Bark Scorpion. An outside shed like this one will be an inviting place. My vote would be removable scenery with a black light handy to locate vagrant critters.

[chuck geiger]

The HITMAN takes care of the place. https://hitmanpestofyuma.com/

boB - You have an extra auger/loader you want to part with?

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.710287,-117.0850424,3a,25.6y,333.62h,87.51t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seTE7dB3mTNBWt2h8X0mPhg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DeTE7dB3mTNBWt2h8X0mPhg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D117.32293%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[TrainCat2]

boB - You have an extra auger/loader you want to part with?

I was getting ready to release those Chuck so I really don't know at this moment if I had the pit ready to go or just the brass. I will have to go through several boxes to see what I got. I will PM you on what I find. Here is what the unloader would be. I'm sure you could adapt it to whatever you need.