PT segment track status: complete

Finally the track on the PT (pre-tunnel) segment it's glued and electrically interconnected. It took quite some time because of the many little things that had to be done/fixed:
-various feeders had to be extended, since the original size was too short and they couldn't reach the space underneath the switch motors, were they're supposed to connect
- a couple of sections of track already cut to size had to be readjusted, because the original dimensioning wasn't done with one end firmly connected to the next piece of track, but rather simultaneously on both sides, hence small errors; but just an extra 1 mm in flex track length becomes a large problem since the track starts to buckle
- holes were drilled through the plywood for the PT switch pair
- the holders for the switches/switch motors on the PT segment had to be further tweaked, since the original versions were built just to get them up and running, but they couldn't properly sustain a train going over; so for the 3 switches on PT, a new plywood piece was glued next to the existing one holding the motor in place, and then different strip(s) of plywood were glued on the surface securing everything to the big foam board; for the first switch in the pair a foam holder was glued underneath the ballast piece since it was a better approach
- extra care was needed to avoid any kinks in the track pieces connecting to the switches, so pins and more pins and pins without the head were used
- for the second switch in the PT pair, the end of the remaining point blade also had to be extended since it wasn't staying in the tie plate, and with everything glued it gets pretty complicated to further modify the switch (the other point blade was extended here: http://piko-modellbahnen.blogspot.com/2010/08/test-driving-through-pt.html); the same old method was used, with 3 stranded wires soldered together forming the "extension", and this soldered to the tip of the point blade (originally i tried to solder on the outside of the blade, but the switch wouldn't go all the way through, so i used a small file to clean the solder and redo the same thing on the other side of the blade)
- a strange issue persisted with the (same) second switch in the PT pair - all the length of the switch is placed on a constant ramp, but the last portion (right over the switch motor) was level, which looked peculiar; all the various foam pieces - unglued yet -were measured and found to be the correct size, the switch itself wasn't bent and anyway it is rather flexible vertically, even in its foam ballast, so the only explanation could be that the big foam board was thinner in that exact spot; the fix was to use a strip of 1mm beneath all the supporting structures in this area as to "bump" the height
- the movement of the point blades on the first switch in the pair wasn't right in one direction; it seemed like the point blades would stall for a moment in one direction of movement; a little filling on a tie support causing this fixed it
- all 3 motors on the PT were unmounted, then remounted to test the access through the plywood holes; first the screw holding the actuating wire is loosened using a small enough ratchet that fits in the underneath hole, the actuating wire is removed from the mechanism, the 2 screws securing the motor to its plywood base are unscrewed and the motor then comes off; when remounting the screw for the actuating wire needs to be tightened a bit, otherwise the ratchet will not work, and the motor will have to be removed again to access this screw.

All the testing this weekend was done using the PIKO BR 01.5, since the Lenz BR 66 developed a small problem with one of its small rear wheels - namely a 'tick' every one revolution. I couldn't figure out exactly what causes it, so I mailed Lenz the exact problem, and they're sending a new type of wheels. Hopefully in about 2 days they'll arrive. As for the PIKO loco, I've spent quite some time with the desk lamp studying if the flanges touch the tie plates of the Tillig code 83 track, and couldn't come to a definite decision. However, after this weekend operating sessions, comparing the tie plates to their original state, several bumps on the plates seem to be a little shiny, a sign that sometimes the flanges do make contact. I'm looking into buying replacement wheels for the tender, since 2 of the motor wheels are located here and also because the difference in pulling power on the new Tillig track vs the old thick PIKO track profile is dramatic - the loco barely pulls itself on the new track. And it's definitely not because of any oily debris on the traction tires, since these were cleaned properly.


The photos: 1. final preparations before glueing the switches in place; 2. glueing the track under (proper) weights