Up the Slope

Today saw the remaining track used up (I didn't make it to the model shop in the end because my car was boxed in) and the line up the gradient to the upper level laid. This was quite a long process because we had not yet made the ply trackbed for it. Originally I was just going to lay the track on the polystyrene, but in the end I opted for some 6mm ply instead:

In the photo above you can see the first roughed out ply put temporarily into place. It took quite a while to get it all smooth, and whilst the gradient probably isn't constant, it looks alright and more importantly it works fine.

After it was soldered and pinned into place it was time to test! Here we can see the flagship of the line hauling a mixed train (all my current stock, with the exception of those without wheels/couplings!). Clearly the carriages have been sent to the wrong railway, these should've gone to the RAF base at Calshot!

I really love the running qualities of that loco, it can slowly creep up that steep gradient fully laden and it doesn't even seem to take any effort to do so. On the other hand, the "Tin Turtle" seen in the background can just about haul two carriages. It runs on a tiny Caramel (I think that's right) chassis and whizzes around but has absolutely no pulling power. If I had the skills I'd of course buy Nigel Lawton's simplex, but alas, sadly not! 

And so another day quickly draws to a close. Still more trackwork to do, but that will have to wait for a couple days. Tomorrow I might try and work out how big the control panel needs to be now that I have the switches. I also hope to make a lot of progress on the fiddle yard (Dad made the basic frame today whilst I was track laying).