Oh boy, did I just screw up!
I've had a gap in the trackbed at the back of my layout for a while. Right where the track leaves a turnout on the outside mainline and starts heading up the mountain, my trackbed was flawed. I wound up with a gap about 2-3 inches long, and at least half an inch deep. Sending trains up the mountain has never been a problem, but there's just enough give that trains coming down the mountain could flex the track a little, and have problems on the turnout.
Deciding against cutting the whole section out and relaying the trackbed, I opted instead to fill the area in. I built a dike on either side of the track with modeling clay, and used an eyedropper type bulb to fill it in through the ties with relatively watery plaster. (okay, water putty) So far, so good, and all according to plan.
Then, I managed to knock over the plastic cup that had my waterputty mix in it. Right across the tracks, completely covering two lines, and a key turnout on the inner mainline! A little cursing, several handfulls of paper towels, and some water to try and wash the area out, and I'm fairly certain I can still run trains over it. The downside is, I expect that switch to give me problems forever now, and it may well freeze into place once the putty dries.
So, anyone else ever have disasterous mishaps while working on thier layouts?
I've had a gap in the trackbed at the back of my layout for a while. Right where the track leaves a turnout on the outside mainline and starts heading up the mountain, my trackbed was flawed. I wound up with a gap about 2-3 inches long, and at least half an inch deep. Sending trains up the mountain has never been a problem, but there's just enough give that trains coming down the mountain could flex the track a little, and have problems on the turnout.
Deciding against cutting the whole section out and relaying the trackbed, I opted instead to fill the area in. I built a dike on either side of the track with modeling clay, and used an eyedropper type bulb to fill it in through the ties with relatively watery plaster. (okay, water putty) So far, so good, and all according to plan.
Then, I managed to knock over the plastic cup that had my waterputty mix in it. Right across the tracks, completely covering two lines, and a key turnout on the inner mainline! A little cursing, several handfulls of paper towels, and some water to try and wash the area out, and I'm fairly certain I can still run trains over it. The downside is, I expect that switch to give me problems forever now, and it may well freeze into place once the putty dries.
So, anyone else ever have disasterous mishaps while working on thier layouts?