After a couple of tries I had a really good phone conversation this morning with Dave Smith at Midland Railway Centre (soon to be formerly Metalsmiths) and have ordered all the parts for the turntable as well as one locomotive cassette. These will be delivered next month so that I can drive back with them at the end of November.

Dave has been really helpful. He had noted my SketchUp design and we talked about how the various modules can fit into the cabinetry. The "fiddle yard" will actually be one (eventually several) of MRC's locomotive cassettes, designed to hold one large 0 gauge locomotive but also for my purposes a tank engine plus coal or ash wagon. The locomotive cassettes can be ordered with handles, so storage of locomotives under the layout will be safe and not prone to potential damages. At least until I drop something.

The turntable will be a Ransomes and Rapier 60ft diameter table, large enough for all ten wheelers and consolidations (4-6-0, 2-8-0) that would have been around in the mid-1950s. LM® Pacifics are not going to be catered for, along with 9Fs, etc. My current initial roster will include two 4-6-0s, a 4-4-0, an 0-6-0 and my new friend Dobbin ( the Jinty 0-6-0T).

The plan for early 2016 will be to fit the baseboards and lay the track, leaving the actually brass turntable deck until last. Or maybe that order will change. But I am keeping an open mind on this sequence until I have read all the instructions!

The only thing left for the immediate future is to buy enough C&L flexitrack.