Making things even

Well, after more cogitating, I've decided that the path of least resistance is to put temporary shims under the casters that need them whenever my layout sections are attached to each other and in use.

The steps will be these:

First, I'll line up the sections as they are to be arranged for operation. I'll get them lined up as perfectly as possible, and the tops level with each other by putting shims under the casters of the units that are lower than the others.

Once lined up and leveled, I'll clamp them, then drill holes to line up the sections with bolts. I'll probably use wingnuts, although I'd love it if I could find some kind of quick-release bolts.

I'll mark the shims that I use as precisely as I can, because when setting up to use the layout I'll want to first put the shims in place, then do the bolting, so that sections aren't "hanging off" of each other because they aren't quite level at the ground.

As my buddy Keith pointed out the other day, once the plan is worked out, I'll probably be focusing on one section at a time. The only time I'll need to have them hooked together while building is for working out transitions from section to section, either in track or scenery.

For the track itself, I'm considering two approaches:

#1 would be to lay track across the sections, then very carefully saw it apart at the gap. Biggest downside there is that the track will often cross the gaps at an angle, which means the ties would be cut across at an angle.

#2 would be, at least where there is an angle across the layout section gap, to leave room for about a 3-inch filler piece of track. In the end I'll probably use both methods depending on the individual situation.

So the next steps are these:

* Determine if there's a quick-release connecting mechanism that would be an alternative to bolts and wingnuts.

* Then enlist a friend to help me with the leveling/connecting task, probably about an hour's worth of work...