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Hello. As Highclere is due to be on display at the RMWeb members day on the 2nd July it is about time I got at least the trackwork on the scenic boards finished off so I can run things at the show. The plan at the moment is to take just the two scenic boards which will hopefully give a flavour of the layout, even if it wont be finished. So today I finishyed off the trackwork on the second board and got things running along it. I am now happy with all the track with the exception of a little bit under the bridge which is a little too awkward to get to and replace, the photo below shows the bit of track in question but bear in mind its been exaggerated a bit by the zoom on the camera lens! The next step now is to take a serious look at the joint between the two scenic boards. When the layout was first built the join was very good, but now its looking very suspicious and this was confirmed at the 2mm Expo in Oxford a while back. Luckily a good friend Mark (Mitziblue) is going to help me with it. Another thing I need to take a look at is the connectors for the lighting as for some reason I could not get the lights to work today. I have had problems with them in the past and I dont think the connectors currently on the layout are not very good quality so I am not getting enough power to the lights (the tube starters are in the lighting pelmets). Hopefully I will get an order placed tomorrow for some replacement, better quality connectors. Missy

After cleaning the weheels and adjusting the pickups, the chassis now runs very nicely (it was pretty much just collecting current from the centre wheels only!) I have made a start at modifying the lighting arrangements to match the prototype, so the top and middle lights have been removed, as have the associated conduits. I fear that this is going to require a repaint though, the blue I can cope with, but I'm not too keen on doing the wasp stripes! Ah well, we shall see what happens. I'm also considering fitting lighting to the remaining headlights, one red and one white (or a yellow LED as it'll probably be) The main bit of progress has been in replacing the handrails with wire ones, as can be seen here More updates as thing pregress! Thanks for looking J