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Mulberry Junction Regrets To Announce ... |
With little more than 30 minutes a week to fit it all that needs to be done on the layout, focus is normally pretty sharp so no time is wasted. But I've completely stalled. For weeks.
Essentially, while track cleaning is a fact of life*, it's quickly become clear that to maintain smooth running, wiring each piece of track will be required. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if the wiring hadn't been designed to make use of strategic areas which are isolated when points are set against them. So new wiring diagram - and therefore switch panel - are required.
The switch panel will, this time, be laminated (hurrah for Rymans) instead of in a clear plastic wallet taped onto cardboard. I'll need to check it will take being drilled ok (and the paper sandwiched inside doesn't get whipped up by the drill bit, as kept happening with the plastic wallet) but if successful and once mounted on a strong piece of card, it should be stronger than what is there at present. Rewiring will also give me the chance to correct the mistakes of the original wiring plan, the reality of which has resulted in a sea of red wires and few other colours under the baseboards.
So why the big delay? Simply put, the layout is working at present and, as I will not have the opportunity to rewire it in one go, it will mean de-comissioning it for an indeterminate period - which is going to be a problem for a certain six-year old and his Cross Country Voyager time-table. Plus, being in a summer house, this is the time of year when it is essential to have everything working to make the most of the weather (ho! ho!). And the problem with leaving the wiring is that I can't start the scenery in ernest until the wiring is completed, so everything is held up ... aaarrgghh. (And I still have no idea how to 'scene' / layout the small goods yard, below. However, am more impressed with my 'free' Scalescenes workshop attempt than I thought I would be - pics of almost completed one below below.)
*Track Cleaning: It's been best part of a year since the No-Ox went down on the curve behind the back scene and the trains runs slowly and smoothly over it with no hint of a track-rubber going near it. Will still keep this as an option, may introduce another area with No-Ox and see how it goes for a while - though will apply less as the Class 220 only has to run a dozen times over the area before it's tiny wheels are blacking-up.
