So, not a whole lot going on again.

I've primed my Peco Dennis, ready for base coats which will hopefully go on in the next few days. I'm going to keep the same black and blue colour scheme I had decided on.

I was recently in the UK, so I visited K S Models in Stevenage (which is an excellent little shop) so I stocked up on some plasticard and bought these

the Cambian Models 6 ton GWR crane, 1 plank PO wagon and GWR N30 loco coal wagon. They went together well, but the crane is rather fiddly. I'm going to spray them to in the next few days. The crane is going to be plain BR black, the N30 the usual BR grey, and I'm not too sure about the 1 plank wagon, more research is needed, I think.

I also hope to find time to start stripping my previous attempt at a layout. The plan is to remove everything, then cut the board in half along its length to have a 4m x 55cm area. The plan I drew up is this:

I'll probably modify it slightly once the boards are set up an I can get a better feel of how much space I've got. The setting is supposed to be somewhere in an alternative version of the Forest of Dean in the '50s where the tramways were modernised into a narrow gauge steam operated network. The thin black line is meant to be 009 track, which is slightly higher than the standard gauge to allow easier transfer of goods.

I've also been pondering which coupling to use, because I would like to have hands free shunting with delayed uncoupling. I was looking at Sprat & Winkle and Dingham, and as much as I like the look of the Dinghams, I will probably go for the Sprat & Winkle, as they look less fiddly and can be built so the vehicles can be put on the layout either way round.

(Sorry for the lack of pics, someone seems to have taken my camera.)

EDIT: I've started this thread about the construction of the layout: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/97276-ketford-00009-gwrbrw-baseboards/