Final Module Progress and Building a Swing Gate

This year I've started working in Canberra during the week and coming back home most weekends. The extra 6 hours this brings on the road every weekend is largely confining my modelling to adding a 'like' to other people's efforts on a modelling group I'm a member of on Facebook.

I picked up some putty at the Kaleen Model Railway Exhibition in Canberra two weeks ago, so with any luck I'll have finished the NRY this week that I started a few years ago. I'd like to have a crack at weathering it before my SDS variants arrive this month.

I have some time off coming up soon and I am determined to use it laying and wiring the track. The last obstacle to that stage is the completion of the remaining return loop module. I had been entertaining the idea of using a lift-up and drop-down bridge to allow access until my amateur engineering skills succumbed to my patience. Instead, access will now be via a swing-gate. 

The legs are adapted from my I'm-seriously-over-carpentry design used for the other return loop; 42x19mm DAR pine, braced, fitted with hinges for portability, and with adjustable feet in the bottom to compensate for mounting on carpet.

The module rests on top of the legs. I will eventually secure it, but I won't know where it all will finally sit on the legs until I've finished the gate. The track dangling off to the right will be a staging siding, representing the branch line to increase operations. I had wanted to design all of this module so that it could be scenicked, but right now I just want to get it to a stage where I can run trains. If I'm still keen on the idea of a scenic return loop in future, it can be something I redo.

With some trimming, the module is now in place against the traverser and layout. I'll cut the baseboard where the blue KLY is sitting on the new track in the distance to make the gate. Pivoting from the same spot, the gate will swing outwards from the traverser module towards the bookshelf. 

The next post on the blog will predominantly be photos to explain how this all ended up coming together. Hopefully a little more regularly too.

Cheers,
Ben