Norway layout by Mike Carter

[madharry]

I made a jig from plasticard of the area taken up under the board by the turnout motor. Space is tight but I think I can just fit it in before a crosspiece. With these modular boards moving crosspieces is just not an option. They tend to determine the position of turnouts and consequently the length of tracks.
Mike

[PRR Modeler]

It's going to look great I'm sure,  but it sounds complicated to plan it out.

[madharry]

Thanks Curt I hope so.
Next I drilled the holes for the turnout motor and the wires from the turnout. I also drilled a rectangular hole for the uncoupling magnet. This is buried in the hole supported by a piece of plasticard glued to the underside of the board with Thixofix. The magnet is the same width as the board so it sits neatly below the track and will not be seen once the track is ballasted. I tested a couple of tank cars just to make sure I had the magnet the correct way round.
Mike

[madharry]

The layout is 15 feet long based over three boards. The left hand board is the non-scenic fiddle yard (not shown in these pictures that follow). It generates trains into the middle and right hand scenic boards depicting a branch line terminus station and a freight siding with a run around. I have been concentrating on the link between the two middle boards. I have completed the copperclad ties linking the top freight siding from the three way turnout. The lower two spurs have had their plastic ties cut away in readiness for the next step.
Mike

[madharry]

A wooden piece of ply is used under the copper clad ties to bring the track to the same level as that under the foam insulation. I have slit the wooden inlay already and glued copper clad ties to it using Thixofix. The ties themselves have been soldered to the rail. A slit has been cut in each copperclad tie to prevent a short.
I have built a passenger platform from an Auhagen plastic kit. It is 18 scale high and placed centrally between the two passenger tracks. Lighted buffer stops will be added at a later stage. For operational interest I want the arriving loco to detach from it's train using Kadees and a under track magnet. Another loco will then back into the station and hook up to the train. Research with a rake of coaches dictates that the track with the shallowest curve will allow this to take place.
Mike

[madharry]

The rake in the middle track allowing easy hookup on a slight curve...............
Mike

[PRR Modeler]

Looks great Mike.

[madharry]

Thanks Curt, it is much appreciated.
For the two next spurs I traced the gap between the ties onto paper templates and then cut out the wood roadbed to support the copper clad ties.
Mike

[Janbouli]

Thank you mike for showing the how to's and where to pay attention , will come up handy one day when I decide to build a layout like this.

[madharry]

Thanks Jan. As I said it is the boring bit but hopefully next week I can get on with the structures etc. We are appearing at the Derby Roundhouse this weekend with Red Hook Bay.
Mike

[ACL1504]

Mike,

I agree with all the others, very nicely done. I'm enjoying this ride.

Tom

[madharry]

Thanks Tom.
The process continues with drilling holes through the baseboards for the track feed droppers which have been soldered to the underside of the tracks.  A messy job is the cutting of the baseboard for a magnet on the middle track. Once the hole was made I added some plasticard glued to the underneath of the board. I use Thixofix a rubber cement similar to a Walters product. The Bachmann magnet is then glued into the hole.
Mike

[madharry]

Checking the soldered lengths of rail that will form the two passenger tracks, I found the flux used in soldering had left traces of blue residue. I used a cotton bud dipped in white vinegar to remove all traces of the flux before the next steps.
Mike

[madharry]

Hurray the station track is in and the copperclad ties are glued across the two scenic boards. I plan to slit the rails with my Dremel tomorrow in order to separate the boards.The combination of these soldered copperclad ties together with the cabinet makers dowels will ensure that the tracks will always be perfectfully aligned when the boards are bolted together.
The space at the end of the platform will have to be extended with a scratchbuilt curve. I intend making that out of plasticard to match the rest of the platform.
Mike

[madharry]

All the track is in and wired up and better still it all works. I have painted the five track fiddle yard black and the rest of the track in the scenic part of the layout has also been painted. Now I have to ballast everything.
Mike