Drystone Moss: a 006 pizza - track and electrics.

 Before I laid any sleepers I marked out 4 circles using a pair of compasses. These were used to show the positions of not only the running rails but also the sleepers. I then drew a series of radial lines from the centre, to help get the sleepers straight. Then I could start glueing the sleepers, made from copperclad strip from C&L cut 14mm long and gapped, down with UHU;

I haven't fixed every sleeper in place, just enough to solder the track to but still leaving the marker lines visible.

I started with the outer rail;

To get an even curve I used my rail bender.

The rail wasn't quite long enough, so I had to bend and lay a small section to close the gap, adding extra sleepers where the rail was to go;

I cut the end of the rails so the joins were made on a sleeper, which hasn't been done yet in the above photo.

After soldering the extra piece in place I could then use my 3 point gauges to position the inner rail;

However, I had to take up the inner rail as I made a mistake when making the gauges and had to machine up a new pair. We live and learn. Once I'd made the new gauges then the inner could be laid.

Yet again I had to let in a short length of rail, and I staggered it's position in the circle to help avoid any kinks;

Here's a view of the join on the outer rail;

Now that the track was laid, and double checked (it did need a bit of adjusting in a couple of places, but hey, I'm new to this!) I could wire it up. I drilled holes next to the rails and soldered the wires to the underside of the rails. To add redundancy I soldered two wires to each rail, at the joins, just in case any of my soldered joints fail. The red wires go the outer rail and the black to the inner;

To keep everything tidy I used to self-adhesive runners to hold the wires in place. I tested the wiring with a multi-meter and as everything was as it should be I then glued the rest of the sleepers in place;

My laser-cut van has been temporarily fitted with an experimental 6mm gauge wheelset. Fun can be had tilting the board so the van runs around the track! At this stage I haven't soldered the rail to the extra sleepers, I don't think it necessary.

I do need to fill the gaps in the sleepers where I insulated them, and maybe add some cosmetic spike detail, but right now its time for a brew;

I also need to build a loco and some stock to go with it!

Paul.