Well you know how it is, our hobby is supposed to be a relaxing, fun one, but you know how it is you start chatting to people and before you know it you have made a commitment.

That's what happened to me, I made a comment to a couple of chaps at the Warrington club one night that I had an LMS layout, they came round to see it, and before you know it the trap had been sprung and I agreed to take the layout to the October exhibition.

Of course, none of this was my fault, I was totally innocent, just like when I sent an email to a certain Magazine and one thing led to another and I have a visit from a photographer in the very near future.

So faced with this what else could I do but PANIC, PANIC, PANIC So I ran off and hid in the loft, even though it had Spiders, that's when the Domestic Overlord found me, told me to stop whining and actually do some modelling for a change.

So where to start and what to do, I thought making a list would be a good start, but as the list got longer, I gave up and just started working the little jobs starting from the left side of the layout working to the right, and I have made quite a bit of progress.

Station lighting was added to the down platform, this was recycled from broken street lights, but matches the ones on the up platform (yet to be broken).

I managed to finally fit windows and doors to the station buildings, but like most things in N gauge from normal viewing distances you cant see them (that explains why its took so long, that's my excuse anyway ). I need to work on the gap at the bottom of the building but again looking at it without the camera you cant see it.

I finally managed to fit a chimney to the down building, but lost my white metal pots so had to improvise.

Carried away with chimneys I fitted the final missing ones to the street at the outskirt of the town, and applied a little weathering to the roofs, not sure though? So I was halfway along the layout, and you could actually see the progress, well I could.

My attention then turned to creating a new surface for the canal, in an attempt to replicate that dirty look most of them seem to have. Flushed with inspiration I then set about a paintbrush the Domestic Overlord had very kingly procured for me to do some domestic painting, to provide some rushes/weeds (yes I know they need painting).

The canal barges that I have been slowly building got a bit of attention, and have finally been painted in a colour I like, had cargo added, their LMS lettering and a bargeman added.

I still need to add mooring ropes, paint the capstans on the canal side and maybe add a crane?

I even managed to paint the facia, a rather nice shade of green the Domestic Overlord kindly picked out on Saturday for me, OH MY GOD HAVE I FALLEN INTO ANOTHER TRAP, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE HOUSEHOLD PAINTING TO DO????

If I ever survive you can see Foster Street at the Warrington Model Railway Exhibition in October, I will be easy to spot, just look for the downtrodden looking person covered in emulsion.

Until the next time Happy Modelling