Something of a summary of progress on various fronts.  Thorpe's Trial & Error continues.  Work on the little warehouse building (Bricks & Mortar) continues and has been 'on the bench' today (well, this afternoon as domestic duties took up the morning).  The little warehouse drops down behind the viaduct but the drawing below is the 'master' drawing and made up of many layers, mostly transparent, so the whole facade shows up here where, for real, it does not.  So the drawing is always work in progress, constantly revised and updated and has now reached 'S' in the revision alphabet, sub-revision b. The drawing was started 2 Jan 2018.  The left hand end is the terminus or town end;  the right hand end is a plate girder bridge and the faint line cutting it in two marks the end of the workshop/railway room:  the bridge carries the layout into the car-port type structure (covered over but not enclosed) and will be drop-in so that the workshop can be secured with a lockable hatch and operated as a shunting layout in cold weather.  The half-a-bridge inside the workshop will be replaced with a very short traverser to allow a tank engine to run round - parts for that are ordered and, I'm told, on the way (thanks @Mikkel for the tip about linear rails).

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A couple of photos of the layout, taken in poor light in order to show up the signal lighting.  They look too bright in the pictures but can be controlled with a set of tiny variable resistors in the electrical department.

The drawings for the signal box are completed (and it appears in the drawing above) and having tackled brickwork for the little warehouse, I will probably make a start on the box in a week or two.  One thing I hadn't expected is the sensitvity of the signal mechanisms (above baseboard) to changes in temperature - it was 22 degrees today in the w'shop. Just as soon as I adjust them to level on the servos when set 'on', the temp changes 10 degrees and they aren't level again.  The ringed starter - showing green - allows a movement from the goods road to the Up Branch line.  The three doll bracket in the middle is the Up Branch starter from Road No 1, the starter to Up Branch from Road No 2 and backing from Road No 2 on the Down Branch line.  By the signal box, there is the Up Branch starter from Road No 3 (5' arm due to its height), backing signal for Road No 3 to the Down Branch and the small signal on the right controls entry to the Goods Yard.  In the distance, there are the Down Branch home signals for Roads 2 and 3 (2 doll bracket) and a ringed signal controlling exit from the Goods Yard to Road No 3.  I have yet to make a start on ground signals....but they are planned.

Another view of the country end.  The left hand track terminates in a stop block.  The other three tracks will exit through the (newly refurbished) hatch.  It may seem counter-intuitive to place a long plate girder bridge where one might have put a tunnel or an overbridge as an exit but I think there's enough space around it to make it work and having what is effectively a lift out section solves the security/weather questions.

Over a few months, I've been working on an alphabet. It's based on a variety of sources, none of them quite the same - so this alphabet is another variant. It all needs more work but is usable in its present form although I still need a 'V' and a 'Y' but won't bother with 'X' or 'Z' (unless you want Devizes).  As these are drawn letter shapes, they can be used to make up signage - they are not a "font".  Many years ago, as comic relief from A levels, I studied typography at evening classes and have retained an interest in it (see also Thorpe's Trial & Error). There is so much signage associated with railways and stations, I couldn't imagine not having the capability of turning it out here. Notice how different black out of white is compared with white out of black - the latter being the more usual arrangement.  The letter shapes, sizes and spacing are identical in each.  I trust two full stops in GWR is correct for 1927.

And lastly, this one for one of the arches in the viaduct.  It's pretty much a copy of the cover of a book of 1920s French postcards (no, not that kind, actually scenic views of Cannes) so is authentically early Deco and something I can probably paint, using the transfer method I used for 'Thorpe'.