Fine Tuning Trackwork, Etc.

Track
I've spent quite a bit of time the last couple of days testing the track I've laid so far. And so far, so good. I've had to make some adjustments, especially at a particular pair of closely-placed turnouts, but these weren't too difficult. My NW-2 diesel seems to run through just about anything without balking, but my 0-6-0 steam engine is pickier, so I use it for my initial testing. It is very adept at finding any spots where the gauge is a hair too wide or a spike hasn't been driven deeply enough and it protruding. Thus, when the steam loco rolls smoothly through a section of trackwork or a turnout, I'm satisfied it's safe to "sign off" on the work.

Backdrop
I plan to get over to Lowe's tomorrow and, among other things, buy backdrop material. I'm going to use Masonite, 1/8" if available. Since my layout is "semi-modular" I plan to cut the backdrop material the same length as each section. It will be 16" high (my layout is 42" high). My corners are too tight to allow bending Masonite, even with soaking it (as Darrell suggested), so I'm going to use the back of linoleum for the corners, just as I did on my Idaho layout. On that layout I blended the segments, including the linoleum, with patching plaster, which proved to be effective and durable (see my photos in last June's postings).

Weird Weather
This is strictly an aside, nothing to do with model railroading. My main reason to head to Lowe's is to buy some material for insulating a pipe leading to one of our outside faucets. A cold wave is heading toward the Houston area and there may even be a little snow on Friday. Last year it did snow, on December 10th, tying a record for the earliest snow here, a record that would be broken if it indeed snows this Friday. This area is subtropical, and on average receives snow every four years, and miniscule amounts at that. So two years in a row? We must have brought along some sort of snow curse when we moved here from Idaho, thinking we'd left that kind of weather behind!!