Trackbed Cont.

OK. I'm back from my couple of days away.

Today I managed to cut out one of the 4 bits of trackbed that needed doing.

This is the main line gradient going from the fire station to the off scene loop.

First things first was to mark out the angles that needed cutting. I decided to simplify things and cut it from a single straight bit of ply. I have a lot of lengths of this ply already cut out, so it seemed like the obvious option.

This second photo shows the mess of permanent marker on the polystyrene left over from various planning stages! I won't bother to explain them all, but the two parallel blue lines show where the polystyrene needed to be dug out for the trackbed.

And thus I was ready to cut out the polystyrene. This was done using a long wood saw. It meant I could do the whole length in one go, making for a level trackbed.

And here is the end result, showing also the trackbed on the hidden loop which has now been glued down with expanding wood glue. This stuff is great because it sets within 30mins with a very strong bond. The ply is very bent (the joys of buying from Wickes!) but this glue had no problem keeping it flat with a couple clamps.

The trackbed I added today has not been glued as I will need to work out where the hole for the point motor will need to go. It'll be easier making this hole without the ply getting in the way!