As this had been anticipated, the layout was effectively built in two 'halves' that were pinned together where foamboard sections met at the border. Track that had been finalised was glued down except for sections that crossed the border, and here it had been pinned down temporarily.
Thus when the time came to move, it was an easy task to remove a dozen pins, gently unplug the tracks, and then the two layout halves separated easily. Although each half is fairly large and an awkward shape, if you can find the right balance point, they can be easily picked up with a few fingers thanks to the lightweight and somewhat shonky construction methods employed.
The two halves were carefully stacked on top of each other in the back of a hatchback car and driven away into the sunset.
Now in a more permanent location, they have been reunited and joined for good.
My initial thoughts as to next steps were to get some yard track laid, but pragmatically, I spent last night bolstering the new border joins with extra bracing. As with most layouts of this shape, the whole thing is pretty strong and stable except for in a twisting motion, but the whole thing should stiffen up when some scenery starts to grow in the vertical dimension.
 |
| A view from on high. The temporary top level has been omitted for clarity. And because it would have fallen off. |
 |
| This is why I'm not an architect. Luckily not too many people will see this underside. |
No comments:
Post a Comment