Minor setback down in the shed tonight, well perhaps not? I noticed that the silver paint on the rails had chipped off in a couple of places, on closer inspection I discovered that running my nail along it it scrapped off pretty easily. It seems that the plastic that the track is made of doesn't like the enamel paint, or the mix of enamel and plasticote. It is the sort of plastic that you can never superglue when it breaks almost nylon like! I also discovered that the paint had resulted in a slight slowing of rolling stock

So I scrapped off all the silver and the brown of the top and inside of the rails,I guess life is a series of compromises. So Im happy to live with black rails for the time being, they still contrast with the now brown sleepers.

I would like to get some suitable size ballast next to see how it looks.

In the meantime I have made the first video on the layout, as it is in the shed the two halves are separate but I hope it still gives a feel for the size.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hGuVNL0oOw

John