Finalise new board construction
Finalise alignment fixtures
Start construction
Investigate electrical options
Develop new board design
Just Geoff and Stephen today as Laurence was a bit under-the-weather. As discussed, Stephen had produced a cutting drawing for the 9mm plywood, for the four main laminated-ply new boards. It all just fitted on an 8' x 4' sheet. However, Geoff had already purchased the plywood and had the main sections cut to size together with an 8-pack of 18 x 44mm softwood! It looked like we were going for option 2, 'laminating' softwood and ply for the frames. Stephen set about preparing details to calculate the timber sizes and then cut some wood to length.
At the same time, the method of aligning the boards was discussed again, and finalised. The two new boards that would connect to the existing boards (engine shed transition board and the exhibition board) would require pegs/sockets to match. These had been made by Geoff and comprised an M8 set screw with two nuts wound-up tight and turned into a substantial pin. The opposing face used a large repair washer bored to the pin diameter and glued & screwed into a recess in the board face. The bridge board has the pins, so today, we would make the female interface ready to be fitted to the transition board. (The extra new pins will miraculously appear in the near future ready for the other boards). Fisrt we had to determine the surface height of the new board to take account of track construction i.e. code 100 instead of code 70 on the existing and cork underlay instead of Nairn Cusionfloor. The end timber was then carefully aligned and bolted to the existing board end, and bolts holes drilled through together with loose-fit alignment pin holes. The washer spaces were counter sunk, washers bored and countersunk screw holes added. Finally, the washers had Araldite applied and small sponge squares applied to create pressure on the washers as the timber was bolted in place.
After a short while, the assembly was unbolted and checked over. Once fully hardened, the screws will be fitted.
Geoff then investigated pins/sockets for the other board connections. No less important, but something simpler seemed appropriate. A length of brass tube was found soon joined by a length of steel rod. A quick whizz in the lathe, and a set was produced. The pin was force-fitted into the tube and the tube outside knurled.
A trial fitting for hole size worked well. Araldite will be used for the final assembly.
One issue we had to account for was that the bridge board end had been designed to take a backscene panel and there was a 6mm gap between structure and board edge. The answer will be to overhang the scenery from the new engine shed board to cover the gap.
Stephen had moved on to investigating the future electrical requirements and a sketch developed. The questions that arose included - could the existing loom be used as-is and extended, or would a new one be required? How would the two new exhibition boards be controlled - in the workshop and at an exhibition? And the basics - new track power supply sections and point controls.
It was decided quite early, that the engine siding on the transition board could be manually operated, with the existing loom plug providing all feeds. A new control panel for the engine shed/industrial building area was straightforward. It would need to be rotatable for use in both locations. A separate loco controller would be required in the workshop scenario, which meant there were options for use at an exhibition. It could be located next to its boards for dual operator use or moved up to the main panel for single/dual operator use. It started to look more like a 'Cottesmore' arrangement where boards or sections could be 'handed-over' to the adjacent operator as-and-when required could be repeated. Lots more thought required, but it was intriguing.
Finally, the the new exhibition board layout was discussed in more detail. Geoff had started an accurate track plan and suggested that the industrial building access point would be better off located on the engine shed board - no problem. This would open up the vehicle access area, which had always looked very restricted. The engine shed could go on either leg, but a coaling stage was best suited for the spur, which settled the layout. Geoff always wanted an inspection pit to be located here and although the board would be 800mm long, it still looked a bit cramped. The 'plunging' quarry would be cut out of the baseboard side structure and so alternative framing and strengthening options were discussed. We envisaged no major problems.
A few hours later, Geoff circulated an updated layout:-
A few days later, Stephen produced a drawing of the future Worton Court in Exhibition format:
