Wouldn’t it be nice to have one? Don’t use spikes at all.

Today is a big day on the Metropolis Atlantic Commercial Railway. Mainline track is complete on the main level of the model railroad. Now I can run trains!

In the photo, you can see the bricks holding the freshly glued track in place while the glue sets. I use thinned white glue for adhering flex track. I find it useful to be able to soak the track with water  to soften the glue and realign track if necessary or plans change.

That’s quite a mess to clean up. Some interesting things to point out in the photo:

• Some things needed to be finished first like the track under the bridge and the retaining wall.
• The bridge itself is structurally sound but can be finished later.
• The transfer building was finished but could have just been mocked up to position the short track that serves it.
• You can see part of the scratch built station on the right. It and its tracks can be lifted out for final detailing.
• Photos taped to the wall are indictions of what the backdrop will look like. The container docks are the destination for the tracks under the bridge. The tracks actually go to a return loop.
• The foreground will be a yard throat.
• The orange block is a quick checking device for vertical clearance.
• The line on the sloped ceiling at the right will be the height of the upper deck.

I expect the shake down period to be brief since I tested everything as I went along. There is much to do still with turnout control and control panels. It’ll be fun to be able to follow up with projects that appeal to me in the moment rather than be focused on track laying – and figuring out what I need to figure out before I can lay track in an area.