The next stage in the story of Mossflower Abbey/Little Ganwick* is a difficult one - laying the track. Seems easy at first until you remember that each section of the layout is removable.
I've used Woodland Scenic HO scale underlay. This had several advantages: firstly, it's about the right height and depth I want for the track bed, and secondly it came in two big rolls which covered the length of the five boards easily.
The underlay was stuck down using standard PVA glue. Before gluing it down, I used some double sided tape to hold the underlay in place, and a permanent marker to check the alignment of the track.
That in particular is important, as I will now demonstrate…
Each of the boards fits together using identical metal dowels.
Before separating the boards, I used a scalpel to cut the track bed cleanly. Each of the boards are now entirely separate as a result.
I numbered the boards 1-5. The centre boards 2, 3 and 4 are not just interchangeable, they are reversible.
Effectively, the layout can be set up as a 3, 4, or 5 board layout dependent on the size of area available to it. This means it is can also be extended in future if one so chooses…
The next stage is to lay some track and make when fitted together, all the track lines up perfectly to allow trains to run without any problems. This is the bit I am most nervous about as the track will also have to have wire droppers soldered and put through the baseboard to its underside. Could go very well, could also go very badly…!
Until next time, where we'll have an update on rolling stock I hope.
*I'm struggling to choose between the two names - perhaps Mossflower Abbey could be the main structure on the layout, and the layout could be called Little Ganwick? More on that next time.
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