One of my readers commented today that they hadn't seen a blog update for some time. Nearly three months, in fact. There are various reasons for this. I have not given up on the layout - far from it - but a combination of summer holidays and a bit of a setback have conspired to stop development. The setback is that my curved crossover (shown in this photo) is not properly laid out. Trains approaching on the outer track from B2 get derailed when they reach the first curved point. The curves are too tight, and there is evidently a discontinuity in the curve that causes derailments. I simply can't allow that to continue.
There is no solution to this that doesn't involve compromise. The trackbed is too tight to allow me to correct the alignment of the crossover, and I can't re-do it without completely rebuilding that side of the layout. At current rate of progress that would set me back several months. I have experimented with a couple of alternative arrangements which will work better, but none of them has quite the operational flexibility I hoped for. I just have to accept that, I think. So I am now deciding which configuration to use, and will then implement it. I hope I'll get on a bit more quickly from now on.
