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Printed Circuit Sleepers


Julia
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Because of the peculiarities of my layout, between each of the 3 main removable module sections, there is a short 44mm fixed section which 3 tracks cross. I need all three tracks to be parallel to each other, perpendicular to the edge, and fixed properly. I've been putting off tackling this one for a while now, but I recently had a bit of a eureka moment. 

 

You know when they say "if all you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Well for another project I've been doing a lot of PCB design, and having it all fabricated in china. It occured to me, why use bits of PCB for sleeper (i.e. copper clad strip), when you can have the whole thing as a single PCB, and have it made using really accurate CNC CAM equipment. 

 

So when I was ordering some other PCB's from china, I added a board to the order. 

 

tracksegment-04_sm.jpg.65658530938791659438c3e6ae148239.jpg

 

With the boards in hand, I was then left with the question of how to assemble the track. I needed to keep them in position, and perpendicular to the end. 3D printer to the rescue. I made up a jig to hold the pcb in place, plus hold the rail.

 

tracksegment-03_sm.jpg.b79fd05dd8e8b8526d926bff70ff98f5.jpg

 

I'm sure there are other ways I could have done this, but I'm kinda pleased about this approach, and it seems to have worked. I have ten of the boards, and I need 5. 

 

They are drilled to take 3mm screws, and there are solder points for attaching power in 4 places, 2 for each of + and gnd. Which gives me plenty of options for how I run the cables. The layout is DCC, which helps a lot. 

 

tracksegment-05_sm.jpg.016d3df6e2b0d276f532c115610c6c63.jpg

 

Doesn't quite scale for large bits of track, but for short bits like this, I'm really pleased with how well it works. 

 

J

Edited by Julia
  • Like 10
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