DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

...they fit over the ends tightly enough that they can often be hard to join/separate, which may risk warping the track after several uses. Just about all the parts have had one or two sleepers break away all the time, especially near the ends. The older, thicker zip ties are even harder to push through the sleeves, but they still fit without much of a difference in height. On the plus side, it means multiple pieces can be picked up and stay together just fine in mid air. Since the connectors are removable, the curves don't have to be flipped over for left/right.



Coincidentally, I just happened to make it the same gauge as the black narrow gauge track. The high speed train from that set will fit on it, but can easily derail due to its short flanges and the lack of grooves between the rails. Might as well redo my custom parts with zip ties to improve their quality. BTW: this train actually fits on "standard" gauge in addition to its own track, but will not reach the outer rails on certain types.



As I thought, the inconsistent geometries led to an incorrect shape when building a full circle. The flat heat shrink tube was too short and I underestimated how many connectors were needed, leaving one piece detached from the rest. Could've used the cardboard sleeves again just for it. At least it revealed that exactly nine curves make up a full oval without straights (roughly 60x60 cm); ten were made, but the last one was too long to fit. Out of disappointment, I didn't even build a new vehicle to test the entire loop.



However, I'm not one to let this crush my hopes of a potential fully homemade railway, whether indoor or outdoor. My fourth design for the track will be the same gauge and reuse the sleepers, only with two layered rails and four layered sleepers and a template for consistent curves.

Until then, my American 2-6-0 is still on the back burner and has yet to be finished.