Turnout improvement

 I am a big fan of the Fast Tracks track building system. This and 2 previous layouts were built using that system exclusively. My only complaint is the connection of the point rails to the throwbar. It may be a me thing but I have at least one solder joint fail every operating session. There's a slight rotational force applied to the solder joint every time the points are thrown.

So I put on my problem solving hat and came up with a solution I'm very happy with.
The task is to hold the point rails exactly in place and allow a bit of rotational freedom.
I sat down with Ryan and we came up with a design

 

In the photo from bottom to top, the photo etched tabs, a drilled and tapped throwbar and the drilling jig.
I found the smallest machine screws I could, 000-120, 1/16 long.
The idea is to solder the tab onto the inner web of the point rail and then bolt the tab to the throwbar.

I'm delighted to report that I managed to tap over 100 000-120 holes and not snap the tap

Installation is a tad fiddly and hanging to those tiny screws can be a challenge, but I'm delighted to report that the concept works.

To date I have 4 turnouts redone and they move far more freely than they did with the original method.
Once I get more done I'll break out the airbrush and paint them up, and I'm sure they will look just fine.

 

Love it when the tech works

 For the last few weeks I've been working on a window display layout for my local hobby shop,
Railway City Hobbies.
A local modeler who had remarkable talents in kitbashing industrial structures passed away and his daughter wished for an ongoing legacy of his skills. So a few of his structures were loaned so that they could be on display, (I'll be showing photos at a later date).

We determined which  structures could be incorporated into the space and a track plan was figured out.

 A simple switchback with 3 turnouts which would feature a short train and a couple of cars shuttling back and forth. The key to this was finding a control system to make this work.
Cue those fine folks at Iowa Scale Engineering and their Motorman control system. A bit of electronic wizardry that does exactly what we require for either DC or DCC equipped locomotives.
The auto-reverse is triggered by an under the track photo receptor, Trainspotter, which we also used to control the turnout motors, MP1. 
All in all a rather simple setup
I'd post a video, but it exceeds the file size allowed, take my word for it, the layout works exactly as desired
Now I can work on ground cover and other such things another couple of weeks it'll be in the store window