So, having sat down and opened the box, I checked to make sure all the parts were there. Easy enough in the Peco kit - the exploded diagram and parts list corresponded to all those big grey lumps of metal. Having a basic knowledge of steam locos, I had no trouble here. The Branchlines chassis kit was rather more fun. The parts list in the instructions included such joys as "Etched nickel silver fret of most parts (1)". In fairness, everything else is listed fairly clearly and has been packed into small resealable bags in an organised way, such as wheels and axles and crankpins and associated nuts being in one bag. I should really have taken a picture of the various bits in the kit before I started, but having got up the courage to start, I dived in.

Starting out, I managed to get the main frames off the etch, remove the etched representations of the springs (as mentioned in the instructions, if I wanted a full footplate on the body) and fold it into something vaguely box-shaped. Out came the soldering iron, away went the swear box, and construction commenced.

So far, I have a basic brass box with some spacers. Not too shabby, thinks I. Best to check it's square, though, so I popped the included bearings into the etched holes in the chassis, reached for an axle and... oh. The axle doesn't fit through the bearing. Hum. Not that the chassis isn't square, it won't even go through the first one. I decided to try the axle through just the chassis, and no surprise, it's a fairly sloppy fit. Not even at the end of step 3 of 23 and I've hit my first hurdle.

The axles are 1/8" steel, and the driving wheels are described as "specially commissioned, black plated, steel tyred, wheels of the correct pattern" which is all well and good, but doesn't tell me much about why the 1/8" axles won't fit through the 1/8" bearings. Incidentally, there are two types of bearings included (both for use with the 1/8" axles) - described as "long brass "top hat" bearings" and "short brass "straw-hat" bearings". The axles will happily pass through the long bearings, but not the short ones. Could anyone offer ideas or advice on why this might be, and how I could go about remedying this? Incidentally, while I'm asking, apparently the long bearings will need shortening at a later stage and I have no idea how to go about this - the instructions assume you'll know how! So it looks like I'm signing off for tonight. I'll post a picture showing where I've got to in the morning - the light here is no good for photography sadly.