The Flying Plank RR is operational!
Most of the track is down, and in its final positions. I still have some wiring do to, and some fine tuning on the track. However, I can run a long train thru the whole layout without any drailments or odd behavior.
And (insert drum roll here) the suspension bridge is open for traffic! It is made from roughly 600 Lego bricks, two blinking red leds, and several yards of 80 pound braided fishing line. The cables (fishing line) actually support the weight of passing trains. Before I tensioned the cables, a train would cause enough sag in the bridge deck to loosen the electrical contact with the track at one end. Now, there is no movement on the deck at all. The cables run underneath the layout, and are tied together below. That way I can adjust the tension later on, or as the cables stretch out over time. The cables on one end of the bridge go into the ground far too close to the tower, so I will be moving that back soon. The blinking LED tower lights are powered by the track power circuit, so anytime the track is on, so are those lights. As I wire up the lights in buildings, I will be adding a second circuit on a switch so that interior lights can be turned on and off.
Now I move on to touch up paint, then trees and turf and some silly things I have in mind.
