It has been exactly two months since I did any serious work on my layout. Checking back on the Build #10, I stopped at one-half of the staging yard track arrangements. I am happy to reduce from 7 originally-planned tracks to 6.

This time around, I went back to the standard modules Segment F-H. I disassembled all the 3 modules and took them to the front garden for further work. The nice thing about having a modular home layout is, you can remove them anytime and work at a more comfortable location. I avoided having saw dusts flying around the balcony and living room.

The modules received all the “heat and humidity treatments” in the last 5 months (Jan-May) and I did not notice any serious wrapping of the plywood, so this was a good news.

In Build #9, I illustrated how the sub-roadbeds will rise and drop at each module. I started with the bottom level first. As I wanted to embed the sub-roadbeds into the modules instead of on top of them, I had to make 8cm cuttings so that the each sub-roadbed would fit in neatly. Making such cutting was not easy. I used my Dremel to make the horizontal cuts and a hand saw for the vertical cuts. I need to get a chisel next time. I would be much easier to chisel the unwanted parts (note to self: buy chisel!). I finished off by using rough sandpaper to make sure the cuttings are clean and straight.

The above photo shows the first piece of the sub-roadbed fitted into the cuttings. The rest of the modules received the same treatment and as a results, the sub-roadbeds are now embedded. The photo below showed the gradient from 0cm (top end) to 3cm drop (bottom end), over a distance of 276cm giving a gradient drop of 1.09%.

All the modules were reassembled for another photo shot.

As always, my faithful RDC was doing its job of clearance test. I left 8cm between each track centre and the edge of the sub roadbed, so that there would always be enough clearance for trackside objects or should there be a derailment, the train would not make an immediate dive to the floor. At a later stage, I would add low skirting made out of styrene or cardboard to protect the edges. Extra insurance is always welcomed.

The clearance between two adjacent tracks has also passed with flying colours.

That’s a few hours of work this week. Enough to get myself back into the modelling mood. I am not rushing, so I hope you have patience with my modelling. I look forward to feedbacks!