Layout Progress (I)
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The beginnings of my S7 layout with the construction of the trackwork for the station throat. I'm still working on the fictitious history which will justify a very cramped double track city terminus, but the title of Newton St.James has sprung to mind which has the benefit of an element of anonymity, not to mention the sanctification of yours truly :-).

Apologies for the quality of the images - technology has moved on somewhat since I acquired my digital camera.

The site will take a wee while to load, probably about a minute at 28.8, since it contains a few 320 x 240 .JPG files.

Scale7 Trackwork Building work started on the diamond of the scissors crossover.

The track is being built off the baseboards on a sheet of Contiboard. The trackplan is printed full size on a series of A2 sheets from the drawing in AutoCAD and stuck down to the surface of the Contiboard with Sellotape. The timbering is glued to the drawings using white PVA.

The soldering bolt is a Weller 60W temperature controlled model with interchangeable bits. The toolmaker's clamps I find invaluable for holding rail in place while soldering
Scale7 Trackwork A close view of the crossing. The track parts are C&L and the PCB at the crossing noses will be trimmed and hidden with "cosmetic" chairs when the formation is checked out.

The curve through the crossing is just over 6 foot radius so there is quite a bit of gauge widening through the crossing. The continuous checkrail will be continued through to the crossing in the foreground when its wing rail is laid.
The crossing is the centre of a scissors formation and I have learned the hard way that I start from there and build outwards :-). The first scissors I built in "N" scale, many years ago, started at the ends and didn't quite meet in the centre when minor discrepancies all added up to dimensional disaster.
Scale7 Trackwork An addition to the formation. No Midland layout would be complete without a three-way point, so there is one in this layout :-).

The arrangement is a tandem - I've previously built one with all the blades together, but gauging at the switch ends was difficult and operation was never fully successful.
Scale7 Trackwork The skeleton of one of the double slips has been added to the scissors formation.

The "K" crossings have been laid along with the rails in the diamond element.

There are no switch blades fitted so far. I usually leave the blades till last and do them all at once.

Scale7 Track Another view of the slip.

The wing rails have yet to be fitted to the crossing near left.

From the amount of ripple on the paper plans, you can see why it is dangerous to rely on paper plans for extremely accurate dimensions.

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