Kelvinbank, a Caledonian Railway project.

Looks good Dave. I'm using smaller versions of similar slides. So much better than drawer slides, it seems to me.

 

Interesting to see the traverser in full. Is that a hole in the wall it passes through?

Nice solution. 

Have you figured out an equally elegant way in which to stop stock running off the end of roads that are not aligned with the exit tracks? If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

Cheers Mikkel, it was watching the video of your traverser that prompted me to go looking for the same sort of thing on the net. 

 

It is a serious hole through a serious wall ;

 

 

 

I could add something mechanical to cover the tracks which are not aligned with the entry and exit lines Burgundy.  However the whole railway is interlocked through the controller. No power can be applied to the rails anywhere unless the traverser and sector plate are locked in position, all the emergency stop switches are safe, all the boards are properly connected together and the crossovers are not in conflict. Once that is done the traverser knows its position so that only the two aligned tracks are fed power. 

If I am running round the train the uncouplers are up , so that pulls the magnetic ajs at the end of the train down acting as a handbrake. 

 

So far that has prevented accidents, but I should add a mechanical stop at some point. 

Having a loco on the train is possibly the safer condition, as the electrical arrangements should prevent it moving. But pin point bearings are wonderful things and a careless nudge............

I have seen stock roll towards the magnet on a level siding and I had not thought of using the magnet for AJs as a handbrake.  That is quite an attractive idea. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

Hi Dave 

Not having room for pointwork for my fiddle yard I'm looking at traversers, sector plates or cassettes. They'll need to be about 1.5m long with four or five track  to accommodate a four coach plus brake van train comfortably so I'm wondering how long the traverser on your layout is. I want to be able to set up the yard for an operating session and then not have to constantly be working in the fiddle yard between trains. 

6’ long by 15” wide.

Yep thats the size. 

 

In practice Pacific that equates to a loco, 20 wagons and a brake. I run 4 bogie and 2 npc passenger trains comfortably.  I could probably work with 6 bogie coaches when I get round to making them.......