Upper Level

I had a wooden bridge left over from the last iteration of the layout, and I wanted to use it again, but unitrack is sold with a molded plastic ballast already attached, which would not make sense for a wooden bridge. So I built my own: I removed two rails from a spare piece of straight Unitrack, used two short pieces on each end to make sure the gauge was right, and glued it to the top of the wooden bridge as so:

I wasn't sure it would work, but it ended up bring exactly in gauge and seemingly strong enough so that the rails won't become detached from the bridge.

I built an MDF base for the raised level of the layout, cutting it to fit the sections of track that are planned for that level. I only had A4-sized sheets of MDF to work with, so each piece was connected to its neighbour with a small overlapping tab glued to the underside of the base. Once the base was dry, I drilled holes for the one feeder track and two turnouts, and then nailed the track to the base to give it extra stability and so I was certain where the end that had to connect to the bridge would end up.

I used the same basic technique to raise it up as I had used on the ramp: balsa wood dowels cut to size (6 cm in this case) and placed around the base to support it. Below is a picture of the raise base before the columns were glued to the baseboard surface.

I've since attached the entire upper level to the baseboard, after placing the bridge piece in place to connect the ramp and the uppoer level. Next I'll need to cut and glue balsa supports for the bottom of the wooden bridge, since it's only suspended by the rail connectors for the moment.

Progress Update

As I mentioned in my last post, after a pause of nearly five years, I am finally re-starting the Taihoku 1937 project.

I started with an adaptation of my original layout designed for Kato Unitrack (I ended up re-designing the upper level a little bit).

This layout would retain the loop and crossover of the original but added a little more detail including a section of double track. The total size was close to 6 x 3 feet, which was perfect for my planned baseboard, a hollow-core door.

I knew that I wanted to be able to move the layout out of the way since the room that it's in is not that big, so I bought a pair of folding table legs and laid them out on the door as pictured.

I quickly realized that the door, which is only two thin sheets of (MDF?), would not support the screws for the legs, so I bought and had cut some plywood and used them as a base for the legs. The plywood was attached in place with wood glue and the screws were just long enough to go right through and bite into the surface of the door. It turned out to be strong, light, and portable which was perfect.

Once I had the table ready I laid out my track. The base level was easy and quick to set up - I just had to drill out the holes in each piece of track, drill holes for the power and switch wires to pass through, then nail the track into the surface of the table. The material of the hollow core door is perfect for grabbing the nails with enough force to keep the track in place.

I started with the yard area and laid out the track mostly by eye, trying making sure that all the connections were as square as possible, although Unitrack has quite a bit of flexibility in its connections which is nice. I also tested each connection as I went, and also ran a locomotive around to make sure there were no problematic connections. The following image is quite blurry but you can see the finished ramp up to the upper level, which I built from thin MDF and supported by balsa cylinders cut to size.

Next step is to build the MDF base for the upper level and build a custom piece of track for the wooden bridge.

Rebirth

After several years not being able to have a layout in my home, I finally have enough space to restart the Taihoku Railroad. I have a place, a baseboard, and a collection of Kato Unitrack ready, more updates to come shortly.

Ballasted

Ballasted the track on the upper level. Going to hold off on any further work until I get a few more buildings, freight offices and the like, for this area.

Last bit of track to finish is the siding leading into the mine area, which has a level crossing on a curved track.

Last of the Track

Realized a few things today:

• I am not good at soldering
• Soldering is always easier at a bench instead of on the layout

Ended up wiring the end of the track, but at the cost of melting some of the end of the track piece. In any case, the final piece of track is tacked down, the locomotive runs fairly smoothly all over the upper level, with all turnout configurations, and I'm ready for some more ballasting.

This could be extended in the future; I won't ballast around the end and will leave the track end piece on.

Tinycat seems to approve of the addition.

Extending the Baseboard

To allow the locomotive to switch out the upper siding, I'm adding a small extension to the upper deck. It will also make it easier for me to add another feeder line to the upper track.

Once the wooden support dries I'll lay the track, wire it up, and test it out.

More Green on the Station

Slow going recently, but the station area is starting to fill out, as is the freight depot.