Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
How about blackening the rails before assembly? This is worthwhile because (a) the blackening acts as a primer / basecoat for subsequent dry-brushing and (b) doing all of the rail prevents any shiny / unpainted bits showing if the rail moves in the chairs at a later date.
Hi Graham, you can't see it in the photo and I forgot to mention it but I did blacken the rails before I started.
I spent 10 minutes later last night running my tram engine up and down the section to test all was well and I can confirm that it runs fine even when running very slowly with both the wheel treads on the tram and the top of the rail blackened.
Next in the saga is to firm up my track plan and see what else I need to make.