I am building a 4 X 8 layout that is located in a spare room in our house. One day I know I will have to give up this room to be used for another purpose. To make moving the layout possible, I knew I would have to build it to come apart. Here is what I have done to make things easier on myself.

The layout is wired through PC connectors that I ordered from Electrosonic (similar to Digikey) for about $0.50 each. These are then connected to barrier strips to make wiring while sitting on the floor easier. The one connector is fixed to the layout end by cutting a blank switch plate with my rotary tool to just fit.

The track is soldered to perforated circuit board and then painted black to match the ties on the atlas flex track that I am using. I even added guard rails for good measure. This doesn’t even look close to prototypical but it’s incredibly strong. The prototype doesn’t have to worry about disassembly.

The ballast is laid in place with scenic cement. With the layout apart I painted the ends of the ballast with paint matching the ballast colour. This helps hide the crack. After the pain had dried I applied my favourite substance (super glue) to the ballast to make the bond that much stronger.

The ends of the bench work are aligned with dowel pins and held in place with bolts. Alignment is always perfect.

Just thought I would share my methods.