Three of the approach tracks to the staging turntable formed tonight’s subject. This proceeded more or less as planned, although the special gauge didn’t prove as useful as I’d hoped. Here I am, using it to solder down the far end of the turntable (e and f in the plan).
I needn’t have bothered. It turns out that I lucked out and managed to do a really good job of centering the track on the turntable. So, the loose ends of the turntable tracks didn’t need to move over at all, or at least not as much as I’d feared.
If I were doing it again, I would figure out a way to keep the turntable from spinning while I was trying to do this. Now that I think about it, a well placed screw and a washer might do the trick. Remember that for tomorrow night, when I go to do the other three tracks.
What proved most useful was a ruler. I used this to ensure at least one rail from each approach track was aligned with the end of the turntable and straight for a locomotive length. Then I pinned the rail and activated the glue up to the PC board. After removing the pins, I soldered the remaining centimeter or so against the ruler, held tight against the turntable rail.
To get the straight-through routes to the bonus tracks (g and h in the plan), I held the ruler against both the opposite approach track and the turntable track as well as the bonus track.
I think it’s looking pretty good. Crappy soldering notwithstanding.
I’m tempted to finish the other three tracks, but it’s probably best to quit before I get too tired and really mess things up.
Pembroke:87 