Track has gone down on the new S&NE

 Some negotiation has taken place with the Estate Manager (SWMBO) about how the new layout was going to work. I built it so that it would sit on the desk when in place and would split into two when not in use. The layout turned out to be a bit bigger for some reason. It was supposed to be 1600 x 350mm but , somehow , it ended up 1700x350mm. This didn't matter but I can't work out how it happened as it was all designed in Anyrail so I must have made a stupid mistake there.

OK, so SWMBO decided that I would never use it if I had to put it up and take it down. Good thinking. One of my other hobbies is making patchwork but I never get to do any as the sewing machine is stored in a cupboard in the bedroom so it never comes out. Her plan was very good. Next to my desk are two glass cabinets that contain my scale models plus my Camberwick Green collection. Currently, there is nothing in front of them. She suggested that I make it permanent by siting along in front of these cabinets. I can easily make legs for the board. I have a special cutter for foam core that cuts a V in a line so that the board can fold into a 90 degree bend. This makes a very strong leg. 

So what does it look like now that it has track and has been fixed into one unit.

All of the track on the main board is now in place. The line in the middle - the short one with a white dash below it - is where the turntable is to go. I was wondering how I was going to get a stepper motor on to  the turntable when there was only 2" clearance, Now that the layout is to be on legs, it won't matter as there will be clear air under it.

The next steps with the layout itself are to wire it up both for DCC and for the point motors. For the point meters, I use ESU SwitchPilots (four outputs on each). The outputs all have one DCCConcepts  DCD-SDC6 which converts the three way output of a SwitchPilot into a two way suitable for Kato point motors.  I have ordered some 22gauge solid wire for the track feeds. That should be here tomorrow. However, my first job is to make the legs for the board. More on that next time.