Power

The power cabling between the controller sockets and the braid is made using 30A cable. It was attached to the braid on the underside of the track using crimp on eyelets and brass wood screws. This will enable me to run power cables across to the far reaches of the track at a later date if the voltage drop across the braid becomes an issue.

Excess batten material provides the guides for the cable as it runs back to the controller sockets.

An additional feature that was added to the design is a set of 4 double pole relays to reverse the direction with the flick of a switch. These operate between the controllers and the track and would not harm transistorised controllers if used in the future.

Click here for a schematic diagram of the wiring showing how it works.(1024 x 768 GIF 20kb)

The braid was attached to the slot using a transparent epoxy painstakingly applied to the slot with a small stick. I eventually judged the quantities of glue to mix enabling about half a metre to be held in place with masking tape for the five minutes it took the glue to go off. This was by far the most tedious aspect of the construction by far and I'd love to know what other techniques have been successfully deployed. After saying all that the braid is flat and true and the colour marking of the slots is clearly visible so I think it was worth the effort.