Surgery May Be Required

After 24 hours of thinking about how to get access to the offending tortoise I have almost come to the conclusion that surgery will be required.  Scenery surgery that is.

My two options appear to be either to go up inside the helix (in a bent over fashion since I will not be able to stand up) reach through the helix and feel for the screws or terminals (since I probably will not be able to see it and work on it at the same time, it will be one or the other).  This will result in bruises, cuts, language and probably many trips to the soaking tub.  Or the other option appears to be to remove a section of scenery to gain acceptable (buy not great) access to the offending tortoise.  I would then make this piece of removed scenery a hatch that could be removed when this unit decides to quit again.  Which if I do this it won't.

(A close up of the offending tortoise.  The green piece of wood next to the tortoise is the fascia going to Furnace, the strip of wood at the top is the helix and the sheet of wood at the bottom is the backdrop in Brooke.  Not a lot of room!  The cardboard strips is part of the scenery that would have to be removed.)

 

(The black triangle outlines the scenery that would have to be removed.)

My other lighting issue is with an under counter light that started smoking and quit working.  I tried a new bulb but it was a no go.  (That would have been too easy.)  I now have all of the info on the ballast and need to find where I order the lights to get the part number to see what a new one costs versus a new ballast.

Since neither of these projects appear to be moving to completion very rapidly I decided to remove the Brooke trestle in preparation for installing the scenery around it.  When done this will finish the mainline scenery between Hood and Thorny Point.

(Section to be sceniced.  This area will have two small waterfalls, one on each side next to the track.)