Well, that is the second exhibition done and dusted and on the whole things went a lot better than the first but still found dome things that I will do differently next time (Nottingham in March). Biggest problems, again seemed to come from the fiddle yards - both of them this time. The smaller yard at the far end which is laid with two ordinary OO Peco small radius points gave problems, just couldn't seem get any stock one side of the Y point which effectively meant I had only one road to play with. Think the only solution is to relay it again but this time with the larger radius 0-16.5 points that work fine on the rest of the layout. These will take up more space though so think I shall have to bolt on a small extension to the end.

The traverser, despite a total rebuild was still a complete lottery as to anything would run over it. I actually found that the weight of the stock on the boards was affecting the alignment which is not a good situation. I think there must be just too much slop in the runners. Again, I think that the only solution is to rebuild and lay it with points but again will have to add a small bolt on extension to make to make the roads long enough.

Locos were a lot more reliable this time but still had the little Simplex refuse to move at all despite having worked perfectly the day before and the Dick Kerr worked nicely in the morning but went on strike completely in the afternoon. I imagine that both are probably something really simple but haven't looked into it yet.

Have also been wondering if there is a better way of supporting the boards using fewer trestles as they take up so much room in the car. I could just put one under the middle board and then one each under the two outside boards (there are five boards in total), but this would completely rule out being able to erect the layout myself which is something I would rather avoid. A girder system perhaps but would have to be careful that it didn't take up more room than the trestles.

Am having a bit of a rest from these matters though for a few days and instead have made a start on one of the kits that has been staring at me, goading me into making a start for a couple of weeks. More on this soon.