All in all a very successful outing (did I mention best in show!), and pretty much everything worked far better than before - obviously a result of my highly organised on going improvement program! The easy bit of this is to see what lessons were learned so they can be put into action before the next outing.

Biggest disappointment was that both the Dick Kerr and Westinghouse on their clever custom built chassis both failed pretty early on. One I think due to a simple electrical or DCC glitch the other due to the motor mount coming loose. Nothing too terrible but no chance at all to sort out on the day. Due to these failures the two 40hp Simplex had to do most of the work on their BlackBeetle SPUDS. These have probably been the most reliable over the shows so think I ought to order a couple more and get a couple of protected versions going.

My new idea of using magnets to fix the back scene worked a treat and have thought of a way of getting the lighting supports hinged to the uprights so I don't have to bolt them in every time. Will update on this when I know it works!

Simon and I also worked out a couple of simple running rules to make everything work smoother - we didn't stick to them but maybe next time!

We really could do with more operators though so if anyone wants to get involved do let me know.

So with all of this to sort out, what have I done? Started a new kit of course! I really have been very good in not starting anything new and it just couldn't last forever. So, look out for an update on the Kerr Stuart Joffre very soon.