James, that's looking very nice... isn't great how inspirational the shows tend to be! Wish we had more down here. Need some inspiration to geta TMD underway... ;)so keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more as she nears completion.

Great to see you getting on with this one again - I take it you decided not to sell?

On the cosmetic fishplates, I'd be tempted to leave them off the inside altogether - less accurate, but it's not going to cause you any problems that way, and it won't look too horribly wrong, surely?

On the 08, they're just short enough that you need the frog and switch rails to be live - but only just. I had a spot of bother with mine when one of my soldered bonds fell off - so the frog was live, but the switch rail wasn't. You could always retrofit feeds to the frogs if you haven't got them already - going in behind the vee is fairly discreet.

Thanks guys!

Pete - funny you should mention that bridge - I've been wondering about that today. I originally was just going to paint the MDF grey and add something on the top, but the view 'through' the bridge I think demands some semi-detailed bridge deck. I suspect I'll add some 'beams' out of balsa or plasticard - and then handrails to the top (as it's supposed to be a lightweight(ish) access road for occasional use in emergency to the MOD base (Fire access I wonder?). How's that sound!?

Will yes I may well need to retro fit wiring to these points - but the tricky thing will be fitting point motors! Current plans are to 'finish' the layout and then pass it onto a new home to make space for four layouts/diaramas! So yes it will be sold - probably in early 2011 - and I'll put it up on here when the time comes

1) OO layout using Paxton Road stock - prototype location to be determined (probably southern, MOD based). Trackwork to be large radius Peco and Exactoscale fast track bases and Nickel Silver rail.

2) P4 layout 'Rose Hill - Marple'

3) P4 Manchester Ship Canal railway 'Meadow Lane' diarama (or you could say a small layout) designed to fit on a shelf in my study - but be built with baseboards capable of extending!

4) OO diarama using Paxton Road stock - I'm thinking two parallel lines with bullhead track as a yard and a running line in front with concrete. Non-location specific! Will also fit on a shelf in the study and be a good photo back drop whilst I'm building No.1

Thanks for the interest and encouragement guys!

Thanks Colin. If/when it goes on sale I'll post it on the forum and thanks for the positive feedback I'm pleased people see it as something to aspire to! There are no secrets or special tricks. The trackwork is just Peco Code 75 with small radius points (space saving at the time ). It's worth noting I've modified the crossing near the portakabin by interlacing the points slightly to get a closer to accurate gap between the run around loop. The other thing I'm dead keen on is making sure the trackwork all flows really smoothly - looking at transition curves and no sudden changes. Even the track from the run around loop to the back headshunt and warehouse siding is slightly curved if you look at it