Track time is finally here

Time to lay some track.

Finally the time has come to get stuck in and lay some track.

Over the last few weeks I have been working up to this moment.
I have now painted the staging ply black (or for my layout a very dark grey called monument).

I then set about laying all the cork for North and South staging including the approach tracks from the main deck.
Before I could start, I needed my 920x600 x 3mm sheets of cork cut into 17mm strips. But, with the help of Dad and his 20ton guillotine the cut of 20 odd sheets of cork was completed in no time (rather than having to cut each 17mm strip by hand / ruler.

After a quick trip to Oakleigh to pick them up, I set about laying the cork.

During the time before actually starting I figured I would make a jig so I could pre drill all the holes needed for the H&M and Tortoise turnout machines.

I set about laying the cork in the South staging first. Then moved to the return loop and the approach tracks.

Then I moved to North staging and the North approach tracks. During this time, the track plan for the staging turnouts was altered slightly to better accommodate the approaches and also clear the L girder below staging.

Once the cork was completed, I then painted all the cork black to blend in with the dark staging that I plan. I did this for all the cork including the approach tracks.

Once the paint had dried (this happened in no time due to the very hot summer were having..)

I then set out laying the South staging south end turnouts and the return loop. Once that was done I made a start on the 6 tracks of south staging.

So far I'm about 1/2 way through South staging. So stay tuned for the next update.