Test run

Woo Hoo! I finally have all the unitrack pieces for my railway station layout and I was able to do a test run with a couple of locomotives. There are some connection issues at the unitrack joiners, but overall it works! As you can see, I managed to cut the table tops for each of the modular sections. The table tops are 3/8" birch plywood. These were cut several week-ends ago, but I didn't take any pictures of it until tonight. Getting clean looking curves on the reducer module was a challenge due to the lack of carpentry skills. I used a jigsaw to cut the plywood with a 20TPI scrolling blade. The large number of teeth on the blade helped to make nice clean cuts in the wood. It was definitely well worth getting the blade because it saved me from having to apply wood putty on any rough edges. Afterward, I used my electric sander to fix up parts of the curves. At times, the jigsaw had a mind of its own and decided to go in a different direction. I also used the jigsaw to cut the straight edges on the reducer and bridge section. I used my 90 degree angled aluminum strip as guide for my jigsaw to ensure the edges were absolutely straight. The next step is to attach the frame underneath each table top module. Although the birch plywood is good quality (it has seven layers), it still exhibits a bit of warping due to our dry climate. Unfortunately I won't have any time this Sunday to work on the framing due to the World Cup final. Spain versus Netherlands. There are too many other distractions keeping me away from the layout.