I have been writing up this contribution bit by bit for nearly a month now (editing as and when necessary), but since progress has been slow for various reasons, not all related to the layout itself, I have decided to make a post.

I am an assiduous reader of almost all of the blogs and, while it is no great consolation, it is encouraging to see that more experienced modellers make mistakes and confess them. Since I am basically optimistic I refuse to give up unless I am absolutely forced to and I am still plodding along. Having finally sorted out the question of the Hornby switches mentioned in my last entry I reassembled my switch bank just the same as before, since there is obviously no problem with placing the on/off switches in between point switches, while making slight modifications to its emplacement.In fact, being a different colour they serve to distinguish the different groups of point switches. I then had my baseboard tilted on edge for three whole days while working on the underside and set about reforming the wiring. I isolated the street, station and fiddleyard lighting wiring from the point wiring. I had used the point return wiring but it had caused interference in certain cases, so I gave the lights their own independent return wiring and they worked successfully, with one hitch: one of the pins will not stay fixed in the switch, although this is a minor problem to be solved in the future. I then set about connecting the additional droppers I had installed and at the same time remade some dicky connections I saw that might have caused problems in the future.

The next step (currently under way) is to reconnect the point leads to their respective switches. This is a slow job, since while I did keep the pairs of red and green wires correctly paired, the numbered sticky labels I used to identify them were not as sticky as they should have been and several have fallen off them, so I have to test them pair by pair to identify the correct switch.

I have done test runs with my Bachmann Class 150 DMU (power car only), my Bachmann DMU Class 108 (which doesn't derail but has other problems such as erratic running) and my Hornby Stanier 2-6-4 tank engine and they respond to the commands, albeit on the slow side when wanting to slow them down to a stop, when they overrun the stations. Also, once stopped, sometimes they won't start again. I have'nt tested anything else, since I keep the rolling stock stacked away in their boxes.

These test runs have shown two problems, one of which was known and has been commented upon elsewhere, namely the Bachmann DMU, when running head-on counterclockwise on the circuit, derails at a particular set of points, but the cause is that the two rear wheels of the rear bogie (note: only two of the wheels) leave the track at a spot some distance before where derailment actually happens, the vehicle runs along a straight until it reaches the points and then derails completely. When pushing in the same direction and either pulling or pushing in the opposite direction, no derailment occurs. Something similar happens with the tank engine, but in a different place; when running head on clockwise nothing happens but when running head on counterclockwise it derails in the same place (which is a totally different place from the DMU). It is obvious that tweaks are required, but the problem is where and, once located, more importantly, which is the appropriate solution.