DB continues:
With the arrival of a thin 8x4 plywood sheet on the second of January, it was time for a more realistic think about Elmer Lane. To start, the balloon loop curve was marked out at an 18 inch radius. This is smaller than intended, and smaller than the 600mm specified in the Fremo120 doc, but certainly larger than we have gotten away with in the past. This wouldn't work being 'split through the turntable' into two modules, so one has to remain moveable, and a 4x8 module is completely impractical for transport, housing, flexing and so many more reasons! But that's one heck of a curve. The Trackgang minimum radius is 600, the same as the standard, and they probably don't have many 180+ degree horseshoe curves. Hmmm. This could be a big mistake in the making.
This setup looked pretty decent though and ended up at just over 7 feet long. While I don't intend to move this in a medium sized non-hatchback sedan car, out of curiosity, I took the measuring tape out to the garage. Crikey, the car would actually take 7 feet from the boot through to the back of the passenger seat (seat far forward and with the seat back vertical). The tightest distance between the carpet on the car's wheel wells is three feet. Wow, so with a little shrinkage, this module could fit in a car if it had to!
Considering these new self-imposed constraints, as can be seen in these three pics I moved the loop curve a little closer to the roundhouse, which means I'd lose its workshops extension out the back (or it would have to be minimal). The yard throat end lost about two centimetres with no drama. I reduced the baseboard width to 18 inches at the curve end, and thus obviously the curve radius even more, to about 17.5 inches, or just under 450mm. The track will be quite close to the baseboard edge at the two widest points, but the baseboard can be out further almost everywhere else. Those two spots could have little fences for peace of mind.
As can be seen, there is enough space for the two track railcar shed parallel to the Hoki line, the rails of which were extended almost to the roundhouse.
I also have the track (near the turntable controller box here) which served coal (that white solid resin LC top at the end of the track!) to the shed boiler, plus a backshunt at the other end. I'm thinking all or some of this track might not be powered, but just a place to park locos for show. Some (maybe many) of the roundhouse tracks might not be powered either, depending on how easy or hard that is to do. Not as hard as I feared it seems.
I remember in past exhibitions we often took off locos to give them a rest, or because they failed or became unreliable, or needed a wheel clean, just to change things up and it was handy to have somewhere handy where they can still be showed off. And be a place for non-DCC or non-working locos to safely sit and be seen. In the past this was the Otaki goods shed or ballast pit! A loco depot is a better setting!
You might also notice four tracks out the back/return of the balloon, which will be visible staging and train storage, ending up at Greymouth station which will be the 'next module'.
As this will be a balloon loop when it connects back up at the top, track polarity will be an issue, so presumably a DCC auto-reversing section (I know little about these) in the curve would make operation seamless, and ideally the loco depot itself would be on its own power district/booster so that any problems, derailments, or mistakes causing shorts wouldn't upset the mainline operations.
Hmmm. Intriguing.
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