Gosh. Another year has arrived and the layout still isn’t finished!

This time of year is always busy with various family birthdays but I have managed to find time to get a bit of modelling done. It doesn’t help that my progress this time isn’t really progress, rather the correction of things I didn’t get right in the first, second or even third case. Ho hum…

The camping coach is all but finished, it just needs weathering down slightly and detailing added. Transfers were from Fox and I’m pretty happy with how it’s come together. The steps are made and I’ve a collection of figures to add a little cameo here when it’s all done.

Progress with the E116 B set has been glacial at times, but both coaches have been resprayed chocolate and cream and one coach is now flush glazed. Lots of individual pieces of 0.5mm perspex cut and filed to shape before being secured with Klear.

Now there’s just the small matter of changing the bogies, since it would appear the set had 9ft fish belly type and not the pressed steel type which I’ve modelled. I’ll have to swap them out and use them for something else.

I’ve got some Bristol Division transfers from Railtec for the ends too yet to do.

Lastly, having never ever seen a photo of the bridge on Station Road prior to its demolition, two turned up on the local Facebook history page which, yes you’ve guessed it, showed the bridge looked nothing like the first, second and third one I have built. So with suitably sized underwear on, out came the mini drill and circular saw and I did the best I could without destroying everything and bearing in mind there’s a piece of 12mm ply acting as a track base which obviously I can’t do anything about. I think we’ve got there and a little more weathering and maybe a little filler will finish it off.

Tonight I’ve been sizing up the signals required for the layout and next I real want to get the whole layout up for some testing, oh and sorting out the fiddle yards.