Whilst work was ongoing on Weyford, a start was made in converting the town from Cottleston Park to Yamanouchi Oshika. Stripping off the UK buildings was fairly easy as not all were fixed down, and two sections are removable for access to the tracks beneath.

Firstly we have a 'before' picture...

The buildings in the background are on the removable boards; the lower board has the bus garage with station building, the upper has a number of shops. Once these were taken off work could begin preparing the new ground level. Some of the support framework for the scenic boards can be seen.

This picture clearly shows the change in level from the main board to the fiddleyard. This was a hang-over from a much earlier design for our club layout. It is quite steep, and tests the mettle of our stock; the second picture shows a series 100 Shinkansen being put thourgh its paces. Some UK stock, especially steam engines, struggled with the combination of grade and curve...none of the Japanese stock have problems here, although some of the Shinkansen do struggle with the slightly tighter inner tracks...

Some new framework was added as a support, and a new top was cut. Immediately noticable are two things; we have dispensed with the change in levels and we have extended the scenic area to full board width (3 foot).

In between this activity, my series 100 Grand Hikari Shinkansen was given a stretch of wheels. I don't think there is anything more impressive that a full 16-car Bullet in N Gauge

As a final point, one of our club members (009Matt on this forum) has had a new arrival; a second mini 009Matt arrived on the scene this morning!