Orders came through today to re-route the track work on the west end of the branch line.
First all rail was removed and then the road bed was graded level.
Ha. A putty knife underneath the Homasote was pretty much all it took to lift it off the plywood decking.
Eyeballing the new track route...
Removal of Switch # 21. I didn't even remove the Tort or the feeders for the frog or rails. Conveniently everything was right under the t.o. So it all came out as one piece.
Once I figured out where the t.o. was going to go I cut out the plywood deck...which sat right over top a structural member for the bench work.
I used my drill to drill out holes 3/4" down and notched out the width of the member. A mere annoyance by the end of it all.
Installed some 1/4 cleats and glued and screwed them to the underside of the layout deck. Then a test fit for the t.o. Hmmm...how to fill that hole left by the turnout...
Oh yeah...the piece removed from the other spot!
Test fit the roadbed.
Fill in some of the gaps using some blue foam insulation I had kicking about. Secured the turnout and filler piece by using PL Construction adhesive and pressed it firmly in place. There is still a bit of a gap next to the t.o. I'll pick up some of that minimal expanding foam insulation and squirt a small amount in there to plug the hole.
New roadbed in place. Glued down with more PL Premium and screwed down. I remove the screws once the adhesive has had a chance to cure.
I had a couple of reasons for doing this, besides trying to make more work myself. One. The dryer vent goes up through the layout. On the original track plan the spur goes all the way to the end. In its present location it was stopped short and it was driving me nuts that I couldn't use it to its fullest effect. Now I can park four box cars on it, no problem.
Two, and this is the big one. The layout encounters a corner in this part of the room. By pulling the track to the front, the main track and its siding clear the corner now. I've been toying with the idea of making a cassette about 3 ft in length to act as some secondary staging for the layout. Another way to provide some operational interest to the layout.
I expect to have the track work et'all operational before mid week. I should be able to glue the ties down tonight and get them sanded tomorrow.
I think I'll just keep tacking on to this post until someone posts a comment. Seeing as how these photos are all related to this particular job on the layout...
Ties glued in place prior to sanding...
Spiking the rail back in place.
I'm looking forward to getting the track work finished. Just a couple more spurs and that's all. Should take me the better part of the week to get all of the rail spiked down on the whole layout.