Hi,

Since our last working session at our club meeting, we have been able to get together a couple more times after work.

The first job now that the Cork had been installed to form the track bed, was to offer up the track, shape it, cut it and work out where the droppers were going to be placed. In a departure from the rest of the layout, we have decided to use Concrete Sleeper rail on the End Loops. In hindsight, our initial decision to use wooden sleeper track just doesn't sit with a modern image layout. So as well as the End Loops, in due coarse we will start an upgrade process on the Heworth Main Line, the work being carried out mainly at weekends to avoid disruption to the network

Here is a shot of the track being put in place on Module N.

A shot taken after the track has been laid and propped up with 1/32" styrene to super elevate.

Knowing that we had to join rails on each of the End Loops, one of our members suggested that we stagger the rail joints so that the fishplates wouldn't straighten the track work mid bend. Although these joints are a little bit more tricky to work with, the end result is rewarding, as there is little or no discernible effect to the curve of the rail. This picture doesn't do it justice, so I will try to get a better one and update the blog with it.

As we now had the track laid on both of the End Loop Modules N / F which attach to the Fiddle Yard, we then needed to attach them and secure the rail ends, using our method of soldering the rail to screws placed close to the end of the modules. We also needed to fit some track to the ends of the Fiddle Yard as we had left these until the End Loops had been ready. These were put in place last night, so now we only have to lay track on the End Loops that attach to the Scenic Boards (Modules M / G) and fit the track on the Scenic Boards to meet these and we are running

Cheers, Mark.