I have spent a lot of time recently clearing our loft to allow new insulation to be laid, and the insulation installers finally arrived last week. They were also filling our cavity walls, and about the first thing they said concerned our train set layout. “That will take a bit of moving “.
Our train set is set up in our garage, and I hadn’t expected them to try and do anything to the garage wall. However they had other ideas. They wanted to drill two holes just above the layout. “Just be a bit of dust”, they said. I didn’t believe them!
As fast as I could I removed all the rolling stock, then the few buildings we have on the layout. Next came the track supports for the elevated section my son had constructed. Finally I went back and removed the two level crossings, and then all he end tracks with buffers. Finally I felt there was nothing they could do much harm to by leaning over and on to the layout. I still covered it with a dust sheet. And then, they drilled two holes before declaring the wall in question was a single skin without any cavity to be filled; it had all been a needless waste of time. But with just two test holes the brick dust still went everywhere. In the end I had to use a vacuum to try and brush it all up.
So today I finally managed to put everything back. And in doing so came up against one of those intriguing aspects about train sets I hadn’t really understood as a child; the importance of track geometry. I discovered that we had somehow put in a single straight section (R600 length 168mm) instead of two quarter length straights (R610 length 38mm). Now those of you quick with maths might notice that 4 times 38 doesn’t equal 168, so why they are called quarter straights is a bit of a mystery; as is the absence from the catalogue of a half straight.
The impact of this extra 92mm of straight meant that the curve of the track at one end didn’t follow the printed image on the trakmat, and extended right to the edge of the mat. Probably more importantly, it also puts strain on the junctions of the track pieces, opening up gaps between the track which causes the train wheels to judder and reduces electrical conductivity. The current should still pass through the rail joiners, but it must be a better connection if the track itself joins up.
So what this shows is that the track itself appears quite flexible – you can make the track link up even if you are not following the official geometry exactly; but only do so at your peril! The more you diverge from the geometry, the more difficult it becomes to link up other sections, the more likely you are to have derailments and crashes because of the gaps between tracks, and the more difficult it will be to get your electrical current flowing freely throughout the layout.
