May 5th

So, here we are at the one month mark! I am happy to announce that I am now the proud owner of a fully working 'N' Gauge Layout!!!

This morning I VERY carefully whipped the tops off of those super-long point motor pins with the Dremel (note to future readers - NEXT time I will position the point motors, mark the cut off point with a thin marker pen, remove the motors from the layout THEN cut the pins down to size on a workbench and replace, the method I employed today was NOT very clever!)

But, it worked.

Next came the long awaited sidings, these are three lengths of Flexi Track. I laid it in position and marked in pencil where it overlapped the points (by quite a lot considering they come in yard long sections!) I cut it down with the dremel and squared off the ends with it too. You need to stock up on fishplates by the way, as Flexi Track and Streamline Points do not have them already fitted in the same way that Set Track bits do. Also of note, the pencil marks I made on the rails completely vanished under the glare of my LED work-light, so I would advise using that thin marker pen once more! Again, somewhat against my own advice, I trusted my instinct and cut it by eye - the section fitted, but it was a siding and I had the luxury of it not mattering if it came up a couple of mil short or long - I wouldn't advise this approach when precision counts! The next two sidings were produced in the same way, I had two yard long sections of Flexi Track and that allowed me to make all three of the sidings with a piece about 15" leftover​. They are held in position by double sided tape running the length of the straight section of each - this will stay where it is and be covered when the track is painted and ballasted.

And there it was! All that remained was a quick test run with the Class 08 shunter and some wagons! The point switches all did their jobs, that was my main concern as I felt haunted by unexplained wiring malfunctions, but no - it all works like a charm! I have a secondhand Capacitor Discharge Unit coming in the post, but don't really need it. I think I will fit it anyway (belt n braces!) I'd also like to have a signal light connected to the non-scenic point motors, but I think I'll consult the forum on that.

So, if anyone is reading this who is thinking of commissioning a build - my advice would be DON'T DO IT! Many of you out there might already know why I say this, but there is more to it than just that. I went to my local timber yard exactly one month ago, and came home with a sheet of board and some 2 x 1 batten - and in that short time I have made this layout, AND it doesn't represent an actual months work either, far from it. I have pottered around on it just at weekends and the odd day off, sometimes for ten mins sometimes for two hours, so let's call it a few days at most - and I've enjoyed it all immensely and I now have a layout that I KNOW. If someone else were to do it for you, I don't think that it would be the same at all - and if you were really unlucky, your layout could be made by someone who just doesn't care whether you get what you paid a lot of money for, or when you get it.

Unfortunately, there are people like that out there - but I like to think that the law is now closing in on them, fast...

So, Future Reader - you CAN do it!!!!

(.....And if you can't - PM me, and I'll build one for you!)