Well it was bound to happen... I have experienced my first major set back while building this railroad. In short, my ideas for the magnetic lift-out bridge did not work! Oh it worked just fine until I decided to cut it free... so to speak. I built the bridge, laid the roadbed, and then installed the track as one continuous uninterrupted piece. Everything was running smoothly. I tested it with several different trains.... so.... I decided to cut the track and roadbed. Well one end of the bridge is on a tangent section, while the other is in the middle of a 30" radius. The tangent end is fine... the end within the radius did not hold it's alignment. After dumping glue on it, spiking it, and clamping it, I was not happy with the result- derailments!
I have since thought about it, studied other lift-out bridges and have determined that in most cases the track is cut radially or perpendicular to the roadbed. My cut is angled to match the face of the benchwork. This introduces a whole new issue of trying to maintain the rail alignment. I realize now that I should have attached the bridge to the benchwork at a location that is perpendicular to the trackbed.
This has been a great learning experience. Nothing is ever permanent and it can be fixed. So I will go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments, some more calculations, and build it again!
I will update the blog with the results!
That's it!
Scott
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