As the end of June approaches I have had some time away from modelling to reflect on progress so far this year. Having just read my end of 2015 entry with plans for 2016, I see I am ahead of my planned schedule for Legge Lane Gauge O.

Essentially, I have one and a half locos done so far, the turntable has been completed and run in, and the track has been laid and wired up. With three locos running, the shed is already getting busy. I have mixed emotions about having a layout with no points, but I have no space for 6ft radius points. I have decided to drop the cassette storage concept and add a quick-fit removable fiddle yard to the left of the shed. This could use the three way C&L point I made this time last year.

A start has been made on the engine shed and I discovered some very nice windows from York Model Making which can be fitted soon. The inspection pits inside the shed have been completed and also the ash pit on the other side of the turntable.

There are two steep inclines on the layout now. The first is the coal ramp into the coal hole below the water tower. The approach road is also inclined so that I can add the fiddle yard without cutting into the decorative frame. This incline is no problem for the locos but I have noticed some slippage with the Jubilee. This is interesting because the sound synchronization is controlled by sensors on the driving axle, so slippage really does result in the correct sound.

Mentioning sound reminds me that the sound project is coming along nicely. The two kit built locos have Digitrains' sound with Zimo 645 decoders. Both the Jinty and the 4F have real recordings added to the chips which is an essential component (if there is a prototype that can be recorded). Sound is catching on in the UK - see Coachmann's thread for his inside-outside Oswestry layout.

The next loco is a David Andrews Compound. The tender is finished, painted and logo-ed, the engine chassis is half built.

I have also been rushed into buying two coach kits and there will soon be three coaches on the go - the built but not painted Kitchen Car and now two Mark 1 coaches from Just Like The Real Thing. I expect to build all three and then batch paint them.

Complete breaks from modelling are probably not a bad thing as I can think about where the project is going and do necessary research. But I am now ready to tackle the ongoing projects in a weeks time. "Focus" was my one word New Year's Resolution and I think I am doing quite well. Planning for the future sees three more locomotive kits in the wings as well as a Lee Marsh Royal Scot, scheduled for late 2017 delivery, which will be the 100th anniversary of my father's involvement in the Great War. The Scot will be named after his regiment - "The Kings Regiment Liverpool".