So, having declared that the layout was 'back on track' in my last posting I then didn't put anything on the blog for another six months, what has been going on? To be honest, not much; modelling has been pretty much confined to my usual Friday nights out with practically nothing going on between one week and the next. Some of the reason for this has been practical but most has just been down to not being 'in the mood'. I'm sure most people get those times when they look at a modelling project, imagine what they would like it to look like and then think, 'if I wanted to get there I wouldn't start from here'. Probably the 'kiss of death' was a PM from the editor of the Scalefour News asking for some words about the layout.

Looking at where I had got to I have come to several unpleasant conclusions the most critical of which is that the basic infrastructure I built for the layout almost five years ago just isn't up to the job. I have found myself not wanting to progress on the scenics because the boards were not designed to allow easy access to work on the mechanics and electrics underneath. The main layout base was a shelf of 15mm MDF on some spur shelving and the viaduct section and other areas of the layout were built as 'jigsaw' pieces which sit onto the shelf. The result is lots of odd-shaped boards with lots of joints between them. These boards are then difficult to separate and impossible to 'put on their backs' to work on anything underneath. With the benefit of hindsight what I should have done is build more conventional board sections which could be separated and then flipped up on their backs for access. The nature of my modelling means that I often have several goes at building things, my interest in electronics for example has meant that several major redesigns in the wiring have taken place as my experience and the tools available from the MERG have developed.

So, I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that Empire Basin may well get redeveloped. I'm looking at the bits of the layout work, ideas that mostly worked but I'd like to have another go at doing better and what things were just bad ideas in the first place. The double track secondary main line is going to stay. The vertical fiddleyard to save space will be mostly unchanged. I think I will abandon the lower level section and the steep gradients to get there as Alex Jackson couplings and changes in gradients are a recipe for heart-ache.

So, the closure notices are up, the public inquiry has started and the permanent way team have taken delivery of a new vehicle.

It will come in handy to move the gas axe around when the time comes. I'm not intending to do anything really major for a few months. I've been putting a few ideas together in Templot which are slowly coming together.

On a more positive note I've also signed up as a founder member for Cambridge Makespace http://makespace.org/ who are setting up a public workspace with access to various tools I've been wanting to try for several years but could never justify (3D printers, CNC milling machine, laser cutter etc.) I'm really rather excited about getting access to these kind of facilities. The 'hackspace' movement http://hackspace.org.uk/view/Main_Page is slowly taking hold in the UK with a fair few similar organisations springing up in major city across the country. It will be interesting to see what use of these the model railway community make.

David