03-04-2009, 09:46 PM
Sorry Gus and Lynn for taking some time to reply, I was out of town snowshoeing in the Laurentian mountains ( one of the joys of being retired hehe ).
The sector plate is the 3 yellow lines in the pictures , it rotates around the yellow dot.
It has enough length to accommodate 1 engine and 1 boxcar.
It is one of the "secret weapons" of micro-layouts, the other one is the ( sliding ) model ( named traverser or transfer table ).
The sector plate is a big space saver, because in my case it substitute 2 turnouts.
Here is the picture:
![[Image: sctrpltdrwg.jpg]](http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/Biasedturkey/Switching/sctrpltdrwg.jpg)
Another space saving trick is to extend the sector plate outside the layout , that's why one can see the hole in the top part of the left backdrop.
The red brick wall ( and eventually a tree ) is hiding that hole.
The extension beyond the layout will be where the teamtrack ( unloading platform ) is located now.
That's why I had to remove the bumper to extend that track to the left and ... of course I'll have to cut another hole in the backdrop in order to connect with a "fiddling interchange" cassette
The hole will be invisible, hidden by the front left red brick building.
A micro-layout is like theatre, it uses a few visual tricks.
Jacques
The sector plate is the 3 yellow lines in the pictures , it rotates around the yellow dot.
It has enough length to accommodate 1 engine and 1 boxcar.
It is one of the "secret weapons" of micro-layouts, the other one is the ( sliding ) model ( named traverser or transfer table ).
The sector plate is a big space saver, because in my case it substitute 2 turnouts.
Here is the picture:
Another space saving trick is to extend the sector plate outside the layout , that's why one can see the hole in the top part of the left backdrop.
The red brick wall ( and eventually a tree ) is hiding that hole.
The extension beyond the layout will be where the teamtrack ( unloading platform ) is located now.
That's why I had to remove the bumper to extend that track to the left and ... of course I'll have to cut another hole in the backdrop in order to connect with a "fiddling interchange" cassette
The hole will be invisible, hidden by the front left red brick building.
A micro-layout is like theatre, it uses a few visual tricks.
Jacques