Gremlins

The day had more annoying news: chipping in the counter top, and rats in the back yard. urgh.

However, I did break through the modellers block, and soldered the feeder cables to the long tunnel track along the wall between Talheim and Emsingen. The track is laid, the glue is drying. Using some flex track I managed to dance around some more clearance issues on this supposedly straight section of track.

I also found a potential solution to allow for easier switching moves in Talheim while also taking care of the clearance issues between the main out of Talheim and the circular track. I need to get another pair of switches for this, so for now I glued down some roadbed that is taking the narrower route from the tunnel portal to Talheim.
I decided to drop the approach semaphore in Talheim and allow switchers to pull out cars up to the tunnel portals on either side of Talheim. It's easier to switch Talheim if I can use the train as a handle...

Did I mention I have a lot of tunnels? One of the compromises I made when planning for this room. Yes, I'm not particularly fond of the time trains spend out of sight, but I'll live with it. ... At least for now. One of my favorite views is only visible to the camera...