For the first time in a long time, we've laid new track. The oil depot "Eastleigh" has been waiting a while. So finally I got started, and pretty quickly the track was complete.
It's not a huge area: 5 points plus a double slip, plus track. The "new" feature was track crossing a gap onto the lift-up panel (the whole depot can be hinged up for access to the track below).
There are several distinct phases in my style of track laying:
- Lay the track, with dropper wires for power to each track section
- Add insulating sleeving and crimp bullet connectors onto the power droppers
- Add the power feeds. Most of the depot doesn't have block occupancy, so there aren't many distinct power feeds.
- Add and test the point motors
- Connect the DAC20 accessory decoder (which is mounted under the hinge-up panel).
We've also added a DTM30 panel to control points in the depot: most will be operated by hand. Operations will consist of taking the loco from the fron of an arrived train, then running it around and back on to the front of a train so it can depart again.