Building a traverser-type Fiddleyard

My existing fiddleyard consisted of wooden pse frame 3ft x 15in with a 9mm MDF top. Track was laid loose on top, connecting to the scenic section by means of fish plates. After much deliberation I decided to replace this with a traverser style fiddleyard.


Preparation
To do this I acquired the following:

• 2x drawer runners
• 12mm 5-ply, cut into 3 pieces - one for the entry to the yard, one for the actual traverser and another piece for the end to act as a stop and guide
• 2x lenghts of 2x1 PSE timber.

Total Cost of the above was approximately £5 - the drawer runners accounting for most of that.

The MDF top to the existing board was unscrewed and carefully prised off.

Stage 1: The Structure

The first task was to mount the drawer runners. These were mounted on the lengths of timber, the ends of which were screwed to the frame. In order to let the runners extend two slots had to be cut into the frame, to the same depth as the height of the runners. The three top pieces were then screwed on top - the two end pieces directly to the frame and the main piece to the runners, which was then slotted into place like a drawer.





Stage 2: The Track

The track connecting the traverser and the scenic section consists of 3 sections of Hornby standard straight track (R601) , copper clad sheet cut into strips (available from Maplins, other electricals shops and model supplies shops) and some work with a soldering iron. The track was laid in place and the sleepers nearest the join removed. Copper clad strip was then glued in place with UHU adhesive and pinned down. The track was relaid and pinned down, and then soldered to the copper clad strip. Once firmly in place the track over the join was cut using a cutting disk in a drill - this method helps to ensure the ends meet up when the boards are put back together. The track over the traverser board was also trimmed to length.

The first section, cut to length and awaiting soldering.

The first piece has now been soldered and cut at the baseboard join. The second piece has been laid in place.

The second piece in situ, cut to length and awaiting soldering.

The third and final section on the far side of the board has also been installed and all bits have been soldered awaiting the addition of wiring.

Stage 3: The Electrics

Since the layout is DCC installing the electrics involved gluing two plastic connector strips to the underside of the fiddle yard, one on the moving board and the other on the stationary section. Into each of these boxes I fed wires from all the tracks on their respective sections and then connected the two sections together with only two pieces of wire. Finally I added a plug-able connection from the traverser board to the main scenic section, into which the controller connects.