[Look at the lines in the lower right. They're quite different from my first guess.That corner has been a puzzler.]
I enlarged, enhanced and printed out the EVRR track plan scan. I then traced it on to some paper to better see the lines. I've done a few tracings since this one to help me work out the wiring. It's tricky and I think a couple different wiring schemes are possible. And I'm wondering if E. L. Moore designed this plan. Maybe someone else did. For someone who freely admitted he wasn't too skilled with wiring, it's a head scratcher.
Make sure you've got clearance on those tight curves. Not that your cars will be long, but still.
ReplyDeleteOn my small 2x3 layout, I first tested whether the little train could get up the hill. I didn't think about how fast it would go DOWNHILL! I evened it out by pushing a baggage car body over a Bachmann powered trolley.
I also didn't think about vertical curve transitions. I spaced out the riser blocks evenly without smoothing the vertical jump. It's not bad, but it could've been better. I like the up and over trackplan, even if it serves no real purpose besides giving a reason for a bridge!
You're right, those are important physical details I still need to work out. Thanks! I think I've got the blocks and wiring worked out and will post a revision. The plan seems to be a folded dogbone with return loops on each end. On the right, the return loop is a simple one, but on the left, several possible return loops are present: it's sort of a pretzel meets the yin-yang symbol of track plans.
DeleteMy burning question has always been what is the minimum radius...
ReplyDeleteMy version which is not a copy but an inspired Moore-ish rendition on a 4.5 x 7 has a minimum of 18 inches with the help of a shoe horn. My guess is that there were some 12s on E.L.s original.
I agree, I think there were some 12 inch radius sections on his layout. It turns out today I plan to transfer my N-scale plan to the baseboard in preparation for tracking laying to begin in the next week or two. I think I'm going to need to make some adjustments to the radii as I do the installation. So, I should have a better idea about what the radii maybe have been. Hopefully when this recreation is done, I'll have enough data to have a good electronic version of the trackplan produced to replace my approximated penciled versions.
DeleteOne other thing I should mention is that the more I study this photo: https://30squaresofontario.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-holy-grail-of-e-l-moore-photos-has.html the more I think some of the outer loops on the as-built version have a little larger radii than the postcard plan.
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