hi again, firstly an apology for the delay in any update, have had a lot going on at home the past few months and progress on the layout pretty much ceased to exist.
firstly the xmas break took a lot of my time which i would have liked to spend in the attic, then we had to get a shift on decorating the nursery as our 2nd is due mid March and we hadn't done anything to be honest so that has caused the delays.

as i said i will hope to upload pics soon as there have been further changes to the layout,

firstly i wasn't happy with the station part, i liked the two shorter dead end sidings which fit a 3 car DMU however the main line station just wasnt long enough, could only fit 4 MK2e coaches and when a full HST parks it blocked the double slip and DMU sidings access.

secondly i have removed the turntable, i was planning this area as a heritage area which could run trains as well as a tourist hot spot with sheds and viewing platforms as a usable scenic area but the area was too crammed with track, also the turntable wasn't motored and my efforts of installation was driving me a tad crazy.

i have also removed the branch line which ran past the turntable and then rejoined the main line, the idea was that the point were the branch line rejoined would be covered with a tunnel and would have looked as if the branch line traveled in a different direction however actual running of the branch line resulted in the inside main line being unusable.

i have regrettably removed the two DMU sidings/ platforms, i think what i'm planning will make up for there loss

lastly the by pass lane on the outside main line has been removed, again this wasn't long enough to house a full HST so was redundant, i also cannot decide if i should keep the storage siding at the top of the layout (above stations) i was planning to put a tunnel portal and make it appear as if a train is coming from/ heading off in a different location but am worried that there will be a lot of tunnel mouths (due to the main line having one to hide the sharp curve (2nd+3rd radius)) so feedback/ comments would be greatly appreciated.

on to the new ideas....
for the area were the turntable was i was thinking of the heritage railway theme again, maybe just 2 or three sidings with a period shed with the usual scenic to create a period visual as a 'day out event' and a small head shunt for the 'just in case event of a steam train breakdown'.

the main line station will now hopefully be long enough to fit a full HST or at least 6 MK3 coach lengths to show a small town station similar to St Erth, however were the DMU sidings once were, i hope to take a line from the double slip and make a small TMD, i mention HST a lot however i will mainly run goods/ engineers and DMU's with the possibility of a HST for the morning and evening commuters.
the TMD will possible have a small yard area also, *ideas/ thoughts welcome*, i was thinking a small concrete plant or quarry type scenic but space is limited probably only 2'x2' but could be extended.

i am also considering if i should run another line the hole way around to use as a branch/ heritage line, Swindon were i live has a 2 track main line with branch line towards Cheltenham which would be similar to my thoughts.

hope this all makes sense
please post any thoughts or suggestions as this would be much appreciated

will post pics soon

thanks for reading my ramble