Without having RR Track to test the new interchange curve, I imported a JPG of the layout design into GIMP, (a poor man's PhotoShop) where I cut and pasted the O-98 LH switch and four pieces of O-88 curve into the space that the new track would occupy and the curve fits and clears the tunnel entry with sufficient space to give me some landscape options. Whew... that was one long run-on sentence. I used to get grief about that in school.
With the curve fitting, I again went to Lowe's and got one more piece of 5/8 OSB to make the sub roadbed. In the main layout construction I literally used every scrap of OSB I had. It's not expensive, a little less than $15 for 4 X 8, but I can't that in an Acura. So I had the fellow cut it into 3, 32" X 48" pieces which nicely fit in the backseat area. Since I was chopping it into small pieces, pre-cutting it this way didn't cause any trouble.
Here's the pieces roughed out and just laid into the space. I'm going to wait until the track arrives from Ross to make the final fitting, especially where the big curved piece with butt up against the existing sub roadbed on the right side. There's no rush, but I decided it will actually be better to have this additional layout structure in the front of the mountain to support me when I'm working on the back reaches. It's also important to lay in the final topographical contours of the mountain's slopes.
I may ending up moving that portal back an inch or so just to provide some more clearance. I used my "Rota-tape" again to good use. If any of you remember back three years ago, I used this MicroMark tool to draw the curves on the OSB. It's a tape measure with a pin at the center of the head, and a pencil lead on the tape's end. The tape is calibrated to allow for the distance to center. You pull it out to read directly the radius you want, push the pin into the surface and scribe the curve. It's better than trammels since it's so easy to adjust. I made the pieces 10" wide so it's 50" radius on the outside and 39 on the inside.
Again, L-girder facilities adding this stuff. A couple of new joists, some risers cobbled together out of 1 x 2s, and there you have it.
