Last week, I went to the design center early and started messing with the assembly of the track. There were numerous things I learned. There were a number of things the track had already completed that were good designs. There were some issues that needed to be addressed and re-designed. There were also things I believed to be issues, but were actually able to be fixed with just a few tools.
Things that I found that were relatively flawless were that the vertical supports were a simple, working design. They were redesigned last year and I see no reason that they need to be designed again. I put a mechanical bogie on the Eastern side of the track and found that were not many alignment issues. The Eastern Loop is functional. The support brackets are adjustable as well. I found that feature to be helpful in resolving numerous alignment issues.
The alignment was one of the major problems our group first found. As I was deconstructing the track, I found that their already exists a method to adjust the alignment. This is very helpful as it means less things to be re-designed.
The track did have a number of problems that would need maintenance or re-designed. All the screws are either stripped or bent. All of them will need replacement. The locations where the bogie rides on two tracks as it is switching is also an issue. If it is not aligned properly, the bogie will either get stuck or fall. To address this issue I drew a full bracket to increase rigidity. This design is still being discussed.
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