Fancy gradients and spectacular curves are all very well, but the railway still has to perform. Hence the trial run with a narrow-gauge train to ensure that nothing falls off, derails or looks too silly. Fortunately a pass was recorded against all three criteria, and we were cleared for takeoff.
After a bit of a lay-off for Christmas, the New Year and some sort of Indian adventure, the layout is progressing steadily, particularly on the narrow-gauge front. This egg-shaped bit of board will eventually be the site of a castle, surrounded not by a moat but by a complete circle of 009 track, wigglying its way up from the exchange sidings at the far end. And yes, we do know we have just made the wiring a bit more complicated that we originally intended.
And this weird bit of origami is a mock-up for the still house, just to show we are thinking ahead:
