To call this a blog is to misuse the word. It has turned into an annual report!

So, what has happened since last April? To be honest not that much, I spent a large part of the year avoiding the model Railway. My MOJO was AWOL. But a few months ago, I crawled in under the base boards to try and get going again. Actually the catalyst turned out to be, that the DCC 8 way Solenoid controller that I need to control the points at the other end of the fiddle yard that had been out of stock for almost a year, was again available. I bought one straightaway and got the points (and therefore the wiring of frogs) done at both ends of the fiddle yard. This left just the largest crossover. A curved one with a total length of about 4’. As this was on an open frame incline, I decided to cut sections of the extruded foam away and use underboard point motors. Once this was done, the up main line was complete both, in terms of track and power. To test it I pulled a Bachmann class 40 out of storage where it has not been used for about three years. I added 5 BR MK1s, including a few old Lima coaches with some serious wheel flanges. The train did a complete circuit without stalling, derailing or coaches jumping in the air as they crossed though my OO-SF points. I discovered that some of the motor growl was actually the Lima flanges crossing track chairs on my SMP flex track! But this was the first time I could sit and with a train go round and round since 2011. When I built a Hornby track plan layout together with the boys. I sat there with a glass of wine and felt the MOJO creeping back.

As those who have read this blog might remember from a year ago I have spent  a lot (too much) time building a control panel, which the for the last year has sat gathering dust under one end of the layout, To be honest I was not expecting it to work that well when I reattached it to the layout (just one cable with a RJ12 connector for over 20 points . But to my surprise and joy it still worked. There is only one point that does not respond as it should.

The landscaping on one of the open frame sections is now at the brown paint stage and I have bought a lot of static grass, Noch Glue and this is probably the next thing to tackle.

I have spent the last few weeks building the main station building. That is now nearing completion. So, all in all at the moment things are finally moving again.  Whether or not the next blog post is up in 2020 will be a good indicator of the level of my motivation.

I should finally add that in these Corona times. I am one of the lucky ones who still have a job, I have now been working from home since the midlle og March. Since the day job is maintaining unemployment benefit systems, My job is probably more certain than most people’s. Denmark is under a lighter lockdown than the UK, but it was implemented much earlier and has been such a success that they have actually closed the special Corona wing down in the largest hospital. The lockdown is being lifted as I write this, with the certainty that this will cause the number of new cases to rise, but hopefully under control. I follow what is happening ‘back home’ with anxiety as I have senile and house bound parents. I know that politics can be a problem on forums, but this is a blog. The NHS is really proving its worth and greatness. Whilst I applaud the praise it is getting from politicians, I would like to say to them, Put our money where your mouth is. Pay the NHS staff a decent wage, raise taxes on the rich to pay for it if necessary. To those (including myself) who were dismayed to see Boris Johnson as PM. Always remember it could be worse… you could be in Trump land.