I think you have a point regarding exhibition layouts and in general the increasing standards , this can only be a good thing , but , on the other side of the coin it can lead to self-doubt and dismissing of your own abilities and layout.

Regarding signalling , to be honest , unless you went to a very specialist exhibition , I can't see too many picking fault with the signals you have , and to cite an example, Dresden Neustadt did until recently have semaphore signals - whether the DR semaphores were notably different to DB ones I really couldn't say , they looked like the sort of thing that Viessmann make so that would be good enough for me. Now , if it was colour lights then that might be different with the ex DR Hl signals...

As for layout subject , I'd have thought something a bit different from a TMD or GWR BLT would be most welcome , if only for the visual differences.

Mmm, know the issues.

I've found exhibiting gives modelling a purpose, rather than aimlessly fidgeting around with whatever hairbrain scheme pops into my mind at the workbench.

But on the flip side, it dictates what you need to do by a given date - in so doing sucking some enjoyment out of the workbench evenings, making things a chore occasionally.

As a non- or loosely- affiliated club member nowadays, I've found it much easier to avoid the politics. I'm just not interested, and the kind folk who regularly help me out don't seem to be either.

So yeah, on balance I'd go for it.

But only on your terms.

What Jamie said, basically. Politics exists outside my little bubble, with which I'm quite content - you don't have to engage with the strongly-opinionated if you don't want to.

I find the motivation of deadlines vital, what I'm trying to learn at the moment to convert the rush of getting something done on time into motivation for steady progress *after* the show. Most difficult, since I keep getting distracted, currently by Russian warships of all things.

Now , if it was colour lights then that might be different with the ex DR Hl signals...

Therein lies the problem... Bad Horn uses DB Hp light signals!

it dictates what you need to do by a given date - in so doing sucking some enjoyment out of the workbench evenings, making things a chore occasionally.

I find the motivation of deadlines vital

I can identify with both sides of the argument as far as deadlines go. I don't think Bad Horn would have been completed in anything like the timescale it was if I hadn't been invited to a show. On a small project such as this there wasn't too much tedium, but if I had a large layout that needed ballasting or all the track painting it would be a different story.

The next slot at my local exhibition is 2015(!), so that's a deadline to complete something really impressive by. I suppose if nothing else Bad Horn offers me a fallback should a follow-on project not be completed in time!

At this moment there are three contenders for the next project: trains running through a landscape in N, an H0 depot (I'm watching ebay for Fleischmann turntables at the moment!) and an O14 canal restoration scene. I may work on two (or all three) concurrently to give me an escape should I hit a wall on one.

I think there's still a lot of potential with Bad Horn , it's more about setting the location - If it were somewhere on the former border between East and West , perhaps with a re-opened link towards the East after unification , then the Hp signals and theme become far more viable in terms of ex DR stock appearing.

Contrived - perhaps , but there was some mingling off ex DB and DR motive power , ie class 216s at Nordhausen.

As I said in my earlier post , unless you're at a specialised exhibition , I can't see too many picking fault , and especially as the locos and stock are well matched.