i wanted to provide you with an update on our tinplate layout. We only have to install a few more pieces of "fly off the table" protection, but it is 95% complete at this point. It has been quite a journey. I tried to do everything on top of the table as it would have been done in 1938. Repros, restorations, and survivors are the only items on the table. Even the screws are slotted (not Phillips heads). Controllers and switches are all period 1938. At some point I would like to replace the 012 switches with the 223 switches with built in non-derailing feature, but the 012s have been modified with accessory power shunts and insulated tracks to emulate non-derailing.
Mostly the trains are tolerating all this, but they do have trouble negotiating the curves and the friction of the curves causes variations in speed which if you lose situational awareness can lead to a pretty horrific derailment (that's why we have the "fly off the table" protection). AMTRAK are you listening?
