This is somewhat intimidating part of the whole process to me, purchases can be sold on, designs can be rethought and controls are somewhat interchangable.  Laying track however is a "forever" action, if the track is out by as little as 1mm then the railway might not work, at least as it appears to a novice N gauger.  There is a real pressure to align track piece 1 because track piece number 32 that will be laid in a month can critically depend on it being placed in the right place at the right rotation.  And after the x/y/z location is deemed correct are you sure you shouldn't be soldering something to something and clipping this sleeper and cutting a gap in that rail?

As mentioned plenty before the point of this blog is to illuminate how building a new railway is challenging to the novice, and in the case of track laying this is especially prevalent.  Any one of the operations necessary to lay track (outside of RTR, what does RTR mean?) is straightforward as an isolated activity but determining the necessary actions AND a sensible order is a "many to many" problem.  Should the point motor access holes be drilled first?  Should you connect a set of points together and lay several pieces simultaneously?  Glue or pin?  Solder droppers before or after laying the track?

I'd like to write out a set of instructions here about exactly what to do and when, but quite frankly I feel years away from stating with any confidence THE sensible approach.  Which isn't to deny the plethora of instructional booklets, book, videos and websites.  The problem is that they all have a slight difference and evaluating which approach is best for me is not possible until I've actually laid some track for better or worse.

So the approach I started with was this: 

1. Print out the complete track plan from Anyrail,
2. faff with printer settings to minimise borders and scaling,
3. reprint the trackplan,
4. wish I had put the 10cmx10cm on top of the other elements,
5. realise that the track was going underneath the track plan,
6. realise the track could be laid on top of the track plan,
7. place track piece and mark its location,
8. drill through for dropper access,
9. solder droppers onto track,
10. fit track and secure with track screws,
11. connect fish plates
12. goto to 7

The underboard electrics will be a separate entry! The longer I keep that shame from public viewing the better.

The picture attached resembles the progress, the angle of the cork underlay shows the quayside edge, the small triangles will be lowered and a quayside piling introduced.