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Afternoon Hadn't realised I've not posted an update since March. How time flies. Clevedon has a few shows this year, starting with the Southampton exhibition this weekend. Thereafter it'll be at York - Easter Epsom & Ewell - April Oop North - September (provisionally) Also, rather excitingly I can confirm a one off event on Sun 22 Oct 2017 (next year) when both Clevedon and Weston will appear at the same time. This will be the 100th anniversary of the WCPR's opening of the extension to Portishead and the WCPR group have decided to put a show on in Portshead to commemorate the event. It will be a light railway bonanza with a number of Colonel Stephens layouts in a variety of scales. More details will follow as they're finalised. Logistically it's going to be a challenge having two layouts operating at the same but it is for a special event. At this stage I'm not planning on repeating the exercise. As to Clevedon itself, fitter Hill's cottage is nearing completion and I've planted some trees behind the PW sheds. Photos attached with a temporary back scene. Everything seems to be where I left it and I'm looking forward to having a play next weekend. Do pop by and say hello if you're passing.

Yesterday saw a start on the bridge detailing. This is interesting as all the photos I have of turntables show subtle differences. On top of that, it is clear that, even in the these days of "preservation perfection" not very much attention is paid to keep turntables in the same condition as the locomotives that they turn. (One exception may the one at Minehead because that has become a prominent attraction because of its location). Just like in the real, good old days, turntables are utilitarian. They serve a purpose and therefore tend to get worn, damaged even. As long as they work, that is all that is really required of them. My photos taken at Didcot certainly support this observation. So I tackled the detailing as an exercise in customization. I am not, after all, building an exact replica of the turntable at, say, Bushbury or Monument Lane. The locking lever and the winding mechanism on the winding platform were the main achievements of the day. Much of the work is not visible as it involved adding extra strengthening below the winding platform to support the various components. The winding control box was fabricated in a way that emulated the one at Didcot. The double winding handle, fabricated from wire and etches, is free to rotate but does not connect to anything below. Neither does the locking bar actually lock anything. However, this has prompted the thought that the holes for the locking bar should eventually be added to the well wall.

Very much as predicted, progress on the Alco has slowed somewhat as I start to get into the dark and possibly dangerous waters of the valve gear. Couldn't put it off any longer (although the Markits etch was looking tempting!), so set to it and after pretty much a whole day of drilling and fileing I had this; not much to show really but this is a complete set of parts for both sides. Yes it is both sides as I made them up as pairs soldered together so that they would be the same and save on the file work but have not split most of them back in half yet. Towards the end I did hit on a really good way of making sure everything would turn out straight and level. If this has been done before, I can safely say I haven't seen it. Basically, it is just to put a drill bit through each hole and then grip it in the vice while pressing firmly down. The work piece should then be level about the holes at each end and can safely be filed down. As a brief distraction, I did make a start on what I hope will be the final version of the pony trucks. Roller bearings in the hope that they will allow the wheels to actually turn and being able to rotate around the left / right axis to try and keep them on the track. After a suitable amount of time to get my patience back I set about assembleing it all and to my utter astonishment it all works pretty smoothly!

Trackplan is now down and a single slip has replaced the originals catchpoint to improve operating potential. Wiring follows the traditional dropper method disguised with suitably modified chairs...... Turnout operating rods are now in place and awaiting completion under the baseboad.

So trackbuilding progresses at a sedate pace in the `senior` scale..... The way I had made the `servo` assisted crossing gates meant that I needed to fix them in place on the diorama before driving the `railroad` through..... I`m not gluing the track in place yet but am building in `sets` as I go along..... I`ve halted at the turnouts as I need to fabricate some 7mm sized turnout operating units. I `m intending to use the same system I have used in 4mm......angle cranks above and below baseboard connecting with rod and tube.... These are some 7mm trade offerings I`ve gathered over the past year and have managed to make some robust units... The C&L turnout kits I`ve had for sometime and used rather thin paxolin as stretcher bars which I fabricated a holed lug as the attachment point for the actuator rod. thank goodness you can get 14BA nuts and bolts !!!!

Nothing particularly new or exciting with trackmaking . Having used Exactoscale point kits in 4mm, I continued the theme by using C&L 7mm point kits which have everything you need and with which you can specify preferred rail chairs.... GWR twobolt of course. Having experienced annoying rust problems, and to some extent, soldering issues, with steel bullhead rail in 4mm I have chosen nickel silver rail for this project, which I am sure will make soldering joints more reliable over time and humidity. Making your own pointwork is a hobby in itself and isthe preferable option for this DCC project. There are three important wiring locations to think about....... Left and Right stockrails......... .....and the Frog....... I prefer to use suitably sized paxolin strip fixed to the plastic sleepers with Gorilla superglue. These will be drilled and dropper wires soldered on when affixed on the layout... I prefer to use blue tack to keep point timbers in place during assembly as it makes lifting the pint of the trackplan much simpler than double sided tape etc........ Of course you will find that the slide chairs at the point blade end will fall off when you lift the track up... so I fix them and any other errant rail chairs in place with THIN Rocket superglue...... For the plain track it`s the time honoured use of a track jig........ every fifth sleeper at the right end is unfixed and will be the location of the soldered dropper wires which will be hidden by `cosmetic chairs` Then off we jolly well !!!! ...............

As some of you know the platform and signal box are already completed.......... This project will be based on an actual location, not I may add, down to the last jot as I intend to add an extra siding or two by adding a single slip point into the equasion to improve operating potential and possible extension at a much later date......... At the signal box end I needed to think about the crossing gates and a working distant signal that in reality was probably a tubular post at the time of this photo. But I have changed to a wooden post. Crossing gates are a typical GWR figuration from a Sevenscale kit now produced by Springside Models..... I`ve taken a chance and used the whitemetal posts as supplied to motorize using a servo motor on each gate..... I won`t connect the cranks up until in position on the diorama....... meanwhile they have been etched primed before spray painting in company colours which will be weathered when in place..... For the single signal which protected the crossing and was pulled on when the gates were closed to road traffic, I used an old 1960`s CCW kit with extra parts from Scale Signal Supplies and Colin Waite..... Again all etched primed....can`t stand paint coming off models...... This will also be operated with a `bouncing` servo

Woodwork is not my strongest skill....... But the plan is to build a modest diorama/layout to feature my Churchill Halt model. Lightness and ease of transport is paramount with quality inbuilt lighting built early on so as to match the scenic work to my choice of illumination. It all has to fit into my shed without any fiddleyards set up....there will be one at each end of the project. I`ve based my modules on an article in RM Aug 2012 by Neale Burrows. MDF is too heavy so I was lucky to find all my timber from a local hardware shop. I started with a simple jig to drill four bolt holes at each end of what is to be four modules. Four sets of component parts to make odd sized modules based on length of halt platform and the position of pointwork and working crossing gates. Two modules at 3` 6". One at 2` 6". One at 4` We did have some sunshine ???? Each module has a set of adjustable legs. I`ve decided to use 5mm foam core as track bed and scenic work Height from floor to track level is 3` 10" and the visual window will be H 12" L 13` 6" Modules are now complete enough for me to start laying track and wiring up. I am pleased with the light from LED lighting strips. I will start a tracklaying blog in a while...................