I read back through the blog a ways and must say I find it amazing how much has been accomplished on the layout this year. What normally would have taken a few years has been completed in a matter of months. The progress culminated last Saturday when, for the first time ever, I was able to run a train all the way around the layout. What did I pick to commemorate this historic moment? My gorgeous BR50 from KM1? My MBW V200? Maybe my very first 1-scale locomotive, the class 212 diesel-hydraulic? Nope. Without any fanfare, and to give me the best chance of success, it was my diminutive tank locomotive with a Maxi track cleaning car...
And successful it was, until the train approached the station. I had forgotten that the curved turnouts from Huebner had polarized frogs, and without them being hooked up there was no power to the locomotive, so I had to attach feeder wires to those. Since I'm only using one station track in each direction in the station right now I could get away without having to keep switching the polarization. Anyway, after that was taken care of, it wasn't long before more and more trains found their way around the layout. Not everything went as smooth as hoped. The grades are very steep, and the F-Zug coaches are routinely ripping the couplers out of the sockets, breaking the tabs holding them in in the process. I will need to come up with a more permanent coupler solution for those, I think. But the train makes it up the grade and fits in the station!
By-and-large, the first few days of running have been a success. I'm very happy to watch the trains traverse the different levels. I still haven't watched enough to see where and when to expect a trains to appear next, i.e. what level and what track, so running trains is still a bit of a mystery.
Still, I was able to run two trains at once, and at prototypical speed they take three to four minutes to traverse the layout once. Here is a video of the parade section:
Oh, and lastly, I figured out the short lead and stub siding to the 'north' end of the station, providing both a scenic element and some operational fun.
There is still so much to do. Hopefully I don't get distracted by being able to run trains, now...
Stay tuned!
