Oh, what a truly exhausting day, body and fingers now aching. Today I spent 9am to 5pm working outdoor. I still have some energy left to blog about it so here are a few thoughts that I wanted to offload.

I started my day at 9 with a visit to the wood mart. I got an extra sheet of 10mm 2.5 x 1.7m plywood. This second sheet has been cut into 8 pieces for me so I could focus on cutting them to smaller sizes later. I wanted to get extra sheet now so that I do not need to travel to the wood mart, which is about 800m by foot from my place. As I don’t have a car, I need a push cart to transport back and return it to the mart.

These sheets will be for extra modules for Segment B to D and for sub-roadbeds. Earlier I wanted to build the Segment E to H and A first and lay some tracks. After giving some thoughts, I decided to do segments at one go. I wanted to make sure all the segments connect with each other properly and that they are level and stable. So this and next weekends will be invested in building and completing the module base structures. Any problems with the structures could be worked on before I focus all efforts on laying tracks.

The forecast for the day said that it will be sunny with spots of rains at the later part. Hence I started early to make sure I cut most of the parts before it rained. As always, I worked outdoor. Measurements for the module parts, clamps, L-square and my Dremel DSM20 mini circular saw were all set up for the cutting. The practices I had last week allowed me to work more efficiently this time. Still does not take the pains of my back.

Not bad for a first hour. I managed to cut these parts for Segment E and the back panel for Segment A. And, an IKEA bag full of end profiles for all segments, which took another 2 hours to measure and cut.

There were spots of rains during later part of the day but I decided to ignore them and continued my work. Thank God it wasn’t that heavy and last only 5 minutes each time. Still my neighbours were wondering what I was doing there. By 3pm, I completed all cuttings, and realised that I forgotten to cut the long panels for Segment B to D (the end profiles were however, pre-cut).

So this was how tidy I was  😛

During the week, I measured and marked the end profiles for drilling. It was the offline work that I do each night during the weekdays before I headed to bed. A bit of paper planning and thinking what I wanted to achieve each weekend.

I had the parts of Segment F to H from last week’s work. For the rest 2 hours, I assembled them into 3 standard modules. Each module is 92cm long x 30cm wide x 15cm high.

The completed modules for Segment F to H with additional span in the middle. I drilled holes for the support legs, which I have cut to 87cm long.

Nope, this is not a table but the (lower) base of my Segment A (remember the one on top of chest of drawers). It too received the side and back panels.

Above the front view of Segment A. The two panels in front are end-profiles to be attached to Segment H (left panel) and Segment B (right panel) respectively. I will drill some openings so that I could reach from the bottom, sides and back in the event of derailments. The top level will be 10.2cm above this base level. The top level can be removable too so that I would work on the wiring and turnout mechanisms (more of this later)

As it stands, the completed modules for Segment A, F to H, and parts for other segments and support legs.

Till we meet again next weekend, good night, wherever you are.