Develop the new board design.
With Laurence on grandparent duty this week, it fell to Stephen and Geoff to continue developing the new baseboard design.
Previously, we had agreed that an extra 800mm scenic board could be accommodated by moving the fiddleyard into the garage (2). A track and building layout was achieved, but on subsequent consideration, there were minor reservations. Stephen wasn't entirely happy about the track and building arrangement - it was a bit tight. A standard board (1134mm) could be accommodated by moving the layout to leave the minimum space around the end (3). However, this had implications regarding the control panel clashing with the lathe. G&S were also concerned that in mid-winter, the garage was not a place to spend any appreciable time and so another plan developed. Keep the fiddleyard in the workshop but rotated and placed against the racking, then create connecting tracks via the garage. During the measured survey, a concrete panel was located that dictated part of the track route, but the space and structures were drawn up and a design achieved which allowed a longer new scenic board (4).
The overall design seemed feasible, but detailed trackwork design showed it was a bit too tight - the standard track position at one end needed a tweak, which produced an interesting solution. Trackwork on two smaller boards was designed so that when bolted together for exhibitions had standard end connections, but when split, incorporated the tweak mid-board (5). We now had a decent layout design, but the connecting tracks and boards looked a bit OTT.
Geoff slept on the problem overnight and next morning, came back with a new solution. Move the fiddleyard and the new board(s) to the racking side and form the connecting tracks within the workshop (6). Geoff produced detailed layouts, for consideration.
The design sequence:
The 'through-the-wall' scheme and the ingenious split board solution (4):
The transition boards can be scenically treated for added modelling scope and workshop running sessions.
The longer transition boards look good, but we'll mull it all over again next week!
