Fit tee-nuts to board joints
Make 'permanent' packers to support baseboards, for running sessions in the shed
Repair trackwork around electromagnet
Stephen had purchased 8mm Tee nuts on eBay and these were fitted on both ends of the Platform board. This board was chosen as there was more space on the adjacent boards for turning the bolt heads.
Stephen had also purchased some 63x38mm timber for making permanent supports to speed up erecting the layout. There was much discussion as to whether they should be 'over-sized' and completely loose, captive - fixed to the baseboards, or something in-between. Geoff came up with the idea of cutting them exactly as the board widths and fixing two blocks that went either side of the central board stiffeners. This restraint was tested on one support and the boards could be rotated from the vertical (when the bolts were tightened) down to the horizontal, without them slipping away. Another two were made for the middle boards and a similar design with a longer, single down-stand, was made for the yard board. The supports then had additional strips of wood glued and/or screwed to them, to bring the layout level. They were then marked to record their order. We all felt that the layout had never felt so level or solid before - a good job!
We then turned our attention to the track over the electromagnet, which was found to be a 'switchback' and highly unstable. After a brief discussion on how much and how the track would be repaired ensued, and the track cut out. By the end of the session, new wooden 'stringers' had been glued along each side of the magnet plates. Geoff subsequently covered this with tape and new track of PCB sleepers code 75 flat bottom rail fitted. New ballast completed the repair.
