Ididn’t want to start the grade as soon as you come off the bridge, so I added two layers of cork on top of .040″ of styrene to raise up the roadbed.  This is long enough to it’ll stay level until the track enters the tunnel portal that’s going in this area.

Then I added a Woodland Scenic 2% riser for the grade and painted it black to help conceal it.  Since the track here will be hidden in the tunnel, I’ll lay the track right on the riser.

Hoping to the have other main completed tomorrow.

However, with spring and the mowing season approaching I see that idea being a pain in the rear every time I need to open the door.  So today I did a little rearranging.

The main issue I had to deal with was how to mount the lights in the garage with minimal damage to the walls (it’s a leased house).  I settled on a really simple idea using Hercules Hooks and Hook & Loop Velcro straps.

Two hooks and  straps are used per fixture (for each end).  Attach the velcro strap around the light, and then use the plastic loop on the velcro strap to hang the fixture on the Hecules Hook.  Simply but effective.

And a look at the switch (on the left wall in the above picture) that controls the lights.

Finished the platforms yesterday. A pretty simply kit to assemble. The base is painted Floquil Concrete, support beams are Floquil Roof Brown, and the roof is Floquil Rail Brown. I actually wanted to paint the roof Roof Brown as well, but ran out of paint.

Things began rolling along will installing the bridge piers and get that all situated.  I first painted the abutments with a wash of Woodland Scenic slate paint, and then used some styrene pieces to raise the bridge up to the benchwork top.

And then I noticed something….not good.  Even though the bridge was even with the benchwork on both sides, it wasn’t level. Something was wrong.. really wrong.

It appears I have what looks like a slight bulge in my benchwork. On the Elmwood side you can see it (how I missed it so far I have no idea), but it’s not that big a deal.  It actually adds a little natural looking hill in the benchwork.   But on the river side, the river is cut right almost at the apex of the bulge, so I ended up with river banks at two different levels.  How much of difference?

It looks worse that it really is though.  A little extra cork, a Woodland Scenic riser and then all will be well.  Just a little added work, though I guess I’m just more annoyed that I didn’t see this a long time ago.

So anyway…. I wasn’t going to let this stop progress.  Today I began securing in the first sections of the track.

I began at the bridge and worked westward, installing the switch and junction line.  I’m using Latex Caulk w/Silicone for securing the track in place.

After assembling the track with guard rails and side rails, I spray painted the whole thing Rail Brown.  After that dried, I went back over the ties with a Floquil Rail Tie Brown pen and then finished up by cleaning the top of the rail with a brightboy. Turned out pretty well.  Using the paint pens made painting the ties a breeze.

Painted using Valspar 4007-10A “Skyscape”.

The markings next to the roadbed are guides for masking tape that’ll be used to super-elevate the track.

One thing I’ve read several times online by other modelers is the how overly wide the cork roadbed is, and I think I agree.  Having the roadbed beveled right at the edge of ties seems to give you a cleaner, more prototypical looking ballast line.  So once I get track curves shaped, I’ll mark the tie edges on the cork and trim the edges to narrow the roadbed.

The brick walls were painted Roof Brown, the doors and support beams are Stainless Steel, the windows are Pullman Green, the roof is Grimy Black, and the floor is Concrete.

The rail is Micro Engineering Code 55 weather rail. Got it from some extra pieces of concrete flex I had left over from the old layout.