Having tweaked the gradient of the new high level line until it was exactly how I wanted it, I've now put in proper supports to replace the various chunks of polystyrene packing that had been holding it all up while I shimmed a bit here and shaved a bit there. In order to keep things fairly open (no point in a fiddle-yard where you can't get in to fiddle!) I've used 21mm square pine and lengths of dowel - I'm told the whole staging area is now starting to look like Spaghetti Junction.
The two sidings holding the Bachmann Voyager and Super Voyager have been lying loose on the chipboard ever since the fiddle yard was first constructed, so now seemed like a good time to fix them in place properly, extend them to their full planned length and put in a couple of stop blocks to prevent mishaps. I've also rewired them, so that either can be switched to be a programming track - at last I've been able to dump the short lengths of track that I'd tacked to the front of the baseboard for this purpose. The fact that the sidings will hold a 4 car unit and a 5 car unit is no accident, these are the longest items that I'll through-wire for pick-up purposes, and it's handy to be able to drive the whole unit onto the programming track in one go.
I always feel I should apologise for the mix of nationality and eras in these photos, but it's essential to test things with the more varied and extreme sizes so the layout will cope with anything that might visit...
This is a classic example of the clearance issues involved. A lot of thought went into the fiddle-yard design and this has paid off - although I've reworked the track-circuiting and electrical aspects a few times, as I gained experience with the train automation side of things, the trackplan itself has remained largely unchanged. As I was never confident that enough quality RTR UK stock would emerge to enable me to build the UK layout I'd love, the fiddle-yard was designed to be equally capable of feeding a UK or US layout in the future - due to the significant investment of time and materials it needed to be a reusable component.
Under my ideal four track mainline UK scenario, both tracks of the return loops needed to have sufficient clearance for all UK stock, but if I had to fall back to my single or double track US scenarios (Plan B and Plan C) then only one return loop road would be needed. I therefore took the opportunity to restrict clearance on the surplus line, in order to make the gradient of the track above it as gentle as possible. This was done with one eye on the lacklustre performance of most older UK locomotives, they tend to need all the help they can get to lift a train up a hill.
So, by design, taller US stock can't run on the outer return loop because of the UK-only clearances seen in the photo, it has to use the inner loop next to it. This isn't a problem for me, it's exactly how I wanted it, but I wish I had a pound for every visitor that's ended up scrabbling on the floor looking for the top half of a double-stack container train that shouldn't really have taken that route. I might alter this arrangement, then, just to make life that little bit easier. The dysfunctional UK stock that influenced the design compromise has long since been consigned to the delete-bin of life, anyway, so there's no reason why the gradient couldn't be a tad steeper in order to give full US clearances on both lines.
Another change that I'm toying with concerns one of the two sidings/programming tracks I've just installed. When sitting on a stool at operator height your eye sees pretty much what's in the above photo, and the upper level with it's new supports starts to look like a raised freeway viewed from underneath. I'm tempted, then, to model the underside of a typical modern concrete road structure and chuck in a whole bunch of buildings. More than tempted, in fact, as I've already entombed an uncoupling magnet under the track - that shows commitment!
Although I never planned on adding scenic details to the fiddle yard, this one little corner seems an ideal place for a mini layout-within-a-layout cameo of the US urban switching variety. I can picture a cross between John Allen's Port (Gorre & Daphetid) and Tim Burton's Gotham City (Batman) - all I need is a load more buildings.
The layout currently needs 6 operators to work to it's full potential. 3 to drive the trains and another 3 to run ahead, moving my limited supply of structures to the next location...
Currently On My Stereo: Joe Satriani - Crystal Planet