I am up to seven Fast Tracks turnouts, and am thinking I should really wire one up one of these days and give it a hot test with a real locomotive. I have been testing them as I make them with a voltmeter, and in two cases have had shorts that it has taken some time to resolve. Both times they seemed due to solder creeping across the gaps in the PCB ties.
It has gotten really fun to make them. The grinding of the points and frog is no longer such a mystery -- I just needed to acquire that skill of filing. The soldering is the best part, very satisfying.
I have made the mini table saw, incorporating the Dremel, with which to cut my new sheet of 1/32 PC board, which arrived very quickly. Tried it out on some 1/16 scraps given to me by a friend, and it works fine. Ground PCB smells horrible, though, like formaldehyde. I hope it isn't bad for humans. I think I will be doing the PCB cutting outdoors, on the patio.
A friend of my son who is interested in the whole process has been helping with the terrain-shaping, surforming and sanding away. Here are some pictures:
This is the "West Blob," with what passes or Signal Mountain and a fictional tunnel. Chickamauga Creek is on the left, the branch line in the foreground.
This is the future site of Ergon Terminaling. The cardboard rings will one day be storage tanks, and are there to maintain a vision of the completed industry.
Here's a view down Stringer's Ridge, with the branch line on both sides.
The branch line rounds the end of Stringer's Ridge. This is a fairly true-to-life geographic location:
Here's where the interchange yard will be. The long ridge will be its backdrop, and will serve to mask the staging area behind.
Finally, this is the "East Blob" with its mountain and the future location of the railroad museum at the foot of the hill. The folders are the turnout "kits" I described: pre-cut ties and rails for assembling Fast Tracks turnouts.
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