benjy14

Next up, we see Big Boy #4023 on an eastbound manifest freight below. Above, we see #4023 at milepost 541 and below, passing Sherman station. Above shows Sherman station with #4023 and, finally, below shows #4023 heading into the top of Helix A to show that the ballasting really is complete around the whole of the upper level :)

Well, this Platinum Jubilee weekend did not pan out as expected... I contracted Covid, so we had to cancel our plans (I am negative now and very grateful to be fully vaccinated), which led to some unexpected modelling time and so I concentrated on progressing the scenery on the upper level. The first major milestone reached was that ballasting is now completed, although I do need to go back and tidy it up in a few places. I have progressed the ground cover considerably, although have run out of scatter material to finish it completely (more is on the way). Lastly, I have made significant progress with the scenery on top of Helix A, for which I have something special planned. This evening (Sunday), I took nearly 30 photographs, so this will be the first of three posts to show what has been accomplished... Above shows 9000-series 4-12-2 #9082 leading an eastbound freight train past the new milepost 941 and below, entering Sherman station. All that remains to be done here is ground cover for the station area, which should be arriving this week. Above is a helicopter view of Sherman with #9082 passing through to show the extent of the work done, including planting crossbucks to protect the grade crossing. A few moments later, we see below GTEL #71 leading Big Boy #4022 leading a westbound manifest freight passing the rear of #9082's traing in Sherman. Above is a close-up of #71 in Sherman and below, the pair pass milepost 941. That's the end of this first post; more to follow...

I've been doing some work around Sherman station on the upper level. Ballasting has progressed all the way thrugh the station and I'm now nearly on the final straight (around 6' to go), as can be seen below: As can be seen, there has been a change to the telegraph pole route. I really did not like the way it came across the tracks at such a sharp angle; it simply did not look natural. I have therefore decided to keep the pole route on the outer side of the track all the way around and simply omited the poles on the straight where the station is. The single pole by the station building is present in photographs I've seen and there is some evidence that the pole route is set back back from the tracks, so this could actually be quite prototypical. Overall, I think it looks better than the previous version; below is a side-on view. It certainly looks less cluttered, which is definitely a way of describing Sherman Hill in general... It may change again but for now, I am happy with it.

I found some time today to make some further progress on the layout and decided to concentrate on the area around Sherman station. First, I installed a grade crossing near to the station. Next, I put down plaster to smooth out the jump on to the raised cork base for the station and on to the crossing. I then painted the whole area with my home-made textured tan paint to provide a base colour. Finally, I installed the remaining telegraph poles that I have. The following photos show how it looks: Above is an aerial view of the station area with Big Boy #4014 working an eastbound manifest freight on Track 2. Below is a side-on view of the #4014. Further back, I have had to cross the pole route from one side of the tracks to the other, as shown below. This does not look brilliant but has been necessary because the tracks are unfortunately too close to the backscene to allow me to install them on the far side 🙄 Still, it gives a different view of the trains and means it will be on the inside of the track on top of Helix A. Finally, I completed a little mini-project. To go with the signage on the layout, I was also keen to have route maps so that I can show visitors exactly where the railway is in real life and as can be seen below, there are now two maps next to the door: The upper map shows the original operating range of the Big Boys when they were first delivered. However, as dieselisation took hold in the late 1940s and 1950s, their range was squeezed from both east and west until only Sherman Hill (or the Laramie Subdivision as it's properly known) remained (although they did very occasionally operate further afield). The lower map shows in detail the Laramie Sub, with lots of interesting information about the route.

With the season on the FfWHR getting into full swing, things have been a little quiet on the modelling front of late. However, I have now had the layout signage professionally printed and I've attached to the layout: In hindsight, I wish I had put a white border around the UP logo and I may yet do this, as I think the blue gets rather lost against the black. However, they server their purpose well for now... I have also been back through this thread and re-uploaded as many of the images as I could find following the Great RMweb crash of 2022! It must have been a mammoth task to get the site transferred to a new hosting provider, so it is great that it's up-and-running again. And indeed, it was a rather pleasent stroll down memory lane looking back at the development of the layout since 2019. Looking ahead, with Broadway Limited recently announcing a run of undecorated Paragon4 Big Boys, there is a distinct possibility that the locomotive roster could increase in the not-too-distant future and this is provide some fresh impetus to resume working on the layout.

Thank you both very much for your comments, much appreciated! One of my longer term projects is to put lighting into the cabooses, which I think will really bring the night-time scene to life Ben

Just a small update for Friday evening... I've now installed the lighting for the run-down shack on the hillside overlooking the mainline and it's made quite a difference with the layout in night-time mode. Below shows 9082 on the last stage of the climb to Sherman passing with an eastbound manifest train.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been continuing to fettle the track joints in the helixes and have reached the point where #236 now negiotates both with any issues except on the top of helix A (where the track is tight-to-gauge on four joints) and on the temporary points mid-way up helix A (for which custom-build replscements are to be installed). As I now cannot progress this work any further, I have returned to working on the presentation of the layout and have completed a couple of jobs I've wanted to tackle for a while but have put off as I viewed gettng the layout operating properly the higher priority! First, I have completed installing and painting the fascias on the layout. My main aim was to hide the word work supporting the helixes but otherwise leaving them open as people do seem to enjoy watching the trains in them! I may well take up a suggestion made earlier in the thread about using black netting in due course but in the meantime, the first photo below shows the layout from the door: And above shows helix A. I think it looks much better and whilst it could be a little neater perhaps, it has vastly improved the overall appearance of the layout. Second, I have been able to install the beautiful, hand-crafted "Dale Junction" sign that my wife gave to me for birthday just before the first lock-down struck, as seen below: The sign was a bespoke commission produced by Glenn Williams, the Boston Lodge Carriage Works Manager who is responsible for the stunning paintwork seen on the locomotives and rolling stock of the FfWHR. It was an incredibly thoughtful present and I'm glad to have finally installed it! It is seen mouned above Sherman station, where "Union Pacific" type 4-12-2 #9082 is passing with a freight. Next, I have found that it takes quite some explaining to guests to describe how the layout is orientated and even I sometimes get a bit confused about what tracks go where! Taking inspiration from other US layouts I've seen, I have designed some signage to place around the layout. I have printed off some mock-ups and once I'm completely happy with them, I will get them professionally printed on to self-adhesive paper for fitting to the fascia. The first one can been seen in the above photo but below shows the one for Dale Junction: Futher round the fascia, where the tracks disappear off-stage, there is a sign that describes where they are going, for example below: Finally, I have done a little more ballasting and I am now on the approach to Sherman station, so attention has turned about how to finish it. I have found a wonderful colour photograph of Hermosa to provide inspiration, starting with the fact that I had the station building back-to-front! Work has been limited to putting in a cork sheet to raise it to track level, and placing a ramshackle hut and car next to it, but I think it's going to make a nice cameo scene that I hope to progress in the coming weeks, together with pushing on with the ballasting (only about 12' to go now!).

Hi Richard, In general, I would agree with you. If you've followed all of this thread, you'll know that I had an issue with one of the Big Boys being unreliable and that turned out to be loose screws in the leading power unit; once they were tightened, it transformed the performance of the engine. When the Consolidation first arrived, it was truly dreadful and there was clearly something seriously wrong with it. It turned out that the wheels had not been pressed on to the axles correctly and at least two of them we not square, so it was not surprising it could not get round even the gentlest of curves. Fair play to Broadway Limited, they sent me a complete replacement set for just the shipping costs and that has transformed it. All that being said, on closer inspection of my track joints in the helixes, there is no doubt that a number of them were not as smooth as they should be and I think it must be the design of this model that makes it intolerant of such issues. Strangely, I also have one of their 2-8-2 Mikados and that runs beautifully everywhere, but it does seem the driving wheels on that model have more side-play that the Consolidation. So whilst it is annoying, I have become much better at laying flexitrack joints and can now normally fix a troublesome joint in less than 5 minutes. I take the view that this work is going to make the operation of the layout better overall and that can be no bad thing... Cheers, Ben

Over the past week, I have had the pleasure of showing the layout to two sets of friends and it is nice to be able to report that it performed faultlessly (apart from the one time I tried to drive a train manually!) for nearly 4 hours of operation. I'm pleased to be able to share some of the photos taken by one of the visitors... Above and below shows Big Boy #4023 working a westbound manifest freight. Below shows FEF-3 #838 passing Dale Junction with an eastbound reefer train. And finally, below shows 4-8-2 Mountain #7028 pausing at Sherman with an eastbound mixed train. The ballasting has nearly reached this part of the layout and it will transform its appearance when it does! However, despite the excellent operation, there is more work to be done on the track... Last year, I took delivery of a stunning Broadway Limited 2-8-0 Consolidation #236 seen below: The model includes working marker lights and a smoke unit, and is destinted to double-head a freight train with the Y3b (which is rather light on its feet and so needs some assistance). However, it is exceptionally sensitive to the track; in particular, it is consistently derailing on a number of joints in both helixes. I have therefore spent a number of hours fettling the track joints further so that this model will negiotiate them and I'm about 75% of the way there. Having done more than 15 now, I have settled on a technique that seems to produce reliable results. It remains a bit of a mystery why this model is so sensitive (even the new 4-12-2 will get through joints this model won't!) but, of course, all of these improvements will lead to better overall running reliability. Once this is done, the next job will be to tackle four troublesome joints on the top of Helix A; these are tight-to-gauge, so I am hoping to find a way to resolve that without having to lift the track (which is ballasted and weathered).

Well worth the extra time in using Code 70, as it looks so much better than Code 100 but I obviously don't need to tell that Always love visiting York as it's where I went to university and we have family who live there, so never need much of an excuse to visit but it's always nice to have one, so thanks for the invite! Likewise, you'll need to come and see some Big Boy action (phwoar!)...

I feel your pain Jack! I am still fettling track and sorting out issues on Dale Junction... It seems each time I get a new locomotive, it reveals another track defect that no other locomotive has problems with. Of course, sorting them out improves the overall reliability of the layout, so it's no bad thing, just seems like a bit of a never-ending task sometimes It's cracking to see such good progress on your layout; the station building in particular is very eye-catching. Looking forwards to seeing the scenery progress

Thanks for taking the time to put up all of these pictures Jamie. It has been very enjoyable following your thread and especially the ones taken on Sherman Hill, which I will definitely use for reference as my layout progresses. I can't believe you got a cab ride! Like you, I hope to get to the US to see 4014 in steam; never did I think we would ever see that happen... Hope you get the layout built for your granddaughter

Well, it's been a little while since my last post on the layout. Not an awful lot has been done in the past couple of months, although the ballasting is slowly progressing along the upper level. However, there have been some new rolling stock acquisitions; as well as 12 new box cars (I am starting to put together another (and final) freight train, which will live in active staging and so be available to enter the scenic part of the layout as soon as an operating session starts), there are also two new locomotives added to the roster. Below is 4-12-2 #9082: This is a Broadway Limited "Hybrid Brass" Paragon4 model that has just been released and is seen hauling a westbound empty reefer working off Track 3 at Dale Junction. AIUI these locomotives had the longest rigid wheelbase of any locomotive in North America and quite possibly in the world. Joining #9082 is another Broadway Limited model, FEF-3 #838: #838 is seen above working an eastbound reefer train on the approach to Sherman on Track 2. This model also fitted with the new Paragon4 chip. Unfortunately, I am having some issues with the front driving wheel derailing, so I think I will have to return to fettling the joints in the helixes again if there is no other obvious problem (I have checked the back-to-backs and they are perfect). Of course, the 4-12-2 runs perfectly over all of the track... Speaking of track, there are some alterations being made to the track work in Helix A. The double junction in this helix was proving unreliable, so I decided to take it out. It is to be replaced by a custom-built junction that will look something like this: This is a very rough diagram drawn in XTrkCad but it shows the principle. Leaving the storage yard, a train will climb the outer track. It can then either (a) stay on that track and emerge on Track 1 as an eastbound train, or (b) use the cross-over and then continue to climb to the upper level on the inner track where it emerges as a westbound tain on Track 1 at Sherman (remember trains switch tracks at Dale Junction). I have also removed one of the cross-overs at the top of Helix A because I tried to crow-bar a Peco curved point, which has an outer radius of 36", into a 30" radius curve; it did just about work but it was ugly and with the removal of the double junction, it will be largely redundant. Of course, this change will prevent ascending and descending trains from crossing in this part of the helix but this seldom happens and the result will be a much more reliable junction.

Glad you've managed to find your modelling mojo and look forward to your update

This is looking like a really fascinating project, especially with the automatic control using iTrain (something I do myself extensively). Love that flowing pointwork in the station area, very beautifully laid. Are there any recent updates on the layout? Do you have trains running? Would love to see some photos (or even video!). Ben

Since my last post, I have continued the process of working on the reliability of the layout. Using #4023, I think I have now found and eliminated all of the rough bits of track, which were mainly joints on the inner tracks of the helixes (which are 27" radius), with one exception... The double junction in Helix A is not proving reliable and to be honest, I am not that surprised given that I tried to crowbar a short, straight Peco diamond crossing into what should be a smooth 30" radius curve. I have therefore commissioned a custom replacement to be designed and built, which will hopefully drop into place and I will finally be where I want with the running of the layout Having reached this point, I decided to resume work on the scenery, adding telegraph poles, and continuing with the landscaping and ballasting. Further, there are some locomotive updates, as will become evident in the following photographs. On the upper level, telegraph poles have been installed (about half-way round), the ballasting continued (again, about half-way round) and the base coat of "desert" landscape (a mixture of cheap B&Q tan paint mixed with dried sand) is nearly finished. I have some rock faces left to cast but it won't be too long until I can progress the scenery to next stage. Below shows Big Boy #4023 thundering across the grade crossing just west of the summit at Sherman: I mentioned previously that #4014 had been involved in a head-on collision with #4023, which caused some damage. On further investigation, it was discovered that the accident actually uncovered an assembly fault with the lead driving unit. There is a plate in the power bogie that had two loose screws; the jolt of the collision was enough to move said plate, causing the unit to sit down on the rear axles and hence, the running suffered. With the screws tightened, the performance of the locomotive is transformed (and not unsurprisingly, it is considerably better than it was before the accident!) and it is now in front line service. The picture below shows #4014 approaching Dale Junction on Track 3 with a westbound train of empty reefers: It is also good to report that the option in iTrain to detect non-arrival of trains seems to work supremely well and I have no doubt it would have prevented the accident. That said, had the accident not occurred, we may never have found the fault in the front unit of #4014... Next up below are two views of Big Boy #4024: This is a 15-year-old Precision Craft Models (now Broadway Limited Imports) model and was originally #4023 (of which I have a modern BLI version). It has been renumbered and had an upgrade to an ESU LokSound 5 decoder. Despite its age, I think the details stand up well to modern standards, although it does not have some of the refinements such as illuminated marker boards and lights, and it is an extremely capable hauler. It is seen working an eastbound manifest freight away from Dale Junction on Track 2. Finally, another Big Boy... The photos above show #4021 working a westbound manifest freight through Dale Junction; note the loaded ballast hoppers on the front that were added to the train at Granite. This is yet another BLI Big Boy that has been renumbered from #4020. My thanks to Simon from SH Modelmaking for his continued excellent service and work on my models (usual disclaimer!). Work will likely focus on the scenery for the next few weeks until the double junction for Helix A is ready for installation. Thanks for looking!

Nothing that I can see but moving the front unit by hand feels very "odd" is the best way I can put it... It's not as free as the other BLI Big Boys, so there's something off with it but it does still run fine otherwise so I suspect you're right about it being annoyingly simple. I think that's a pretty essential job for me to do, yes; thank you for the suggestion. I have some spare 3mm ply, so I'll use that to form a simple guard. I have discovered that in iTrain, there is an option called Detect non-arrival of trains. Having said I'll take a break from the layout, I decided to have a quick run over lunchtime with this option enabled and it is very clear that it would have prevented the accident... When it happened, I checked the mimic diagram and it was showing one of the trains three blocks behind where it actually was, so the trains would have been stopped automatically well before the collision occurred. Further, I have also discovered that I had configured two blocks to be much shorter than they actually are, with the result that with this option enabled, iTrain kept stopping trains in them (as it thought they should have reached the next block). Every day is a school day and it looks like more testing is in order...

So today I had a small disaster. Having dealt with the issue in Helix B (the curve through two rail joints needed to be sorted out), I was happily running trains without incident. I then heard a collision. Looking round, I saw two trains stationary as they headed into Helix A; this is bad because the trains cross between tracks, so I knew instantly what had happened… Sure enough, a head-on collision between the two trains. On investigation, I discovered that LocoNet had crashed, meaning that iTrain was not receiving block occupancy updates and it happily drove 4014 into the front of 4023. Whilst neither has cosmetic damage, there is something very wrong with 4014 as it now persistently derails and is going to need to be professionally repaired. Of course, it could have been worse; there is no damage to 4023 and had the collision been side-on, something could have taken a long drop to the floor. I’ve decided to take a break from the layout for a short while. I’m expecting a delivery in a fortnight of five upgraded locomotives plus some other goodies, so I’m looking immensely forward to that. I know I’m extremely lucky to have the space, time and resources to build my dream layout, but I have found it a bit frustrating of late, so I think a little time off will be a good thing.

Work has continued on testing and improving the running qualities of the layout. I have discovered that Big Boys #4023 and #4014 are excellent at discovering track faults, so I continue to run them extensively to find problems. Over the last week, I have corrected two issues in the storage yard (which bizarrely only occurred when #4014 ran through the tracks in the "wrong" direction) and another at the very top of Helix A (a simple bit of super-elevation sorted out the problem). #4014 has found yet another issue in Helix B, which I suspect is being caused by inverse cant. Of course, it is in a very hard-to-reach place but I'm sure I can resolve it, although why it is only #4014 that comes off here is a mystery! The issue on the point frogs seems not to have been a shorting issue at all but rather, an intermittent problem with the wiring in #3954, as I found that when it stalled, there was no short indicated on the Alpha panel and gently tipping the engine was enough to get it moving again... So it looks like my plan to insulate the point frogs is, well, pointless but I see little point (sorry!) in undoing the work I've done. I will continue to work on finding and resolving track faults because whilst I would like to resume work on the scenery on the upper level, there seems little point until I know the trains will operate smoothly and reliably. I am getting there slowly but surely, and touch wood, the uncoupling issues seem to be a thing of the past now that I have spent the time upgrading to Kadee couplers and ensuring the trip pins do not foul the rail heads in the points. I have put together a new video, which I have uploaded to YouTube, railfanning at Dale Junction in 1956; I hope you enjoy it!

That is precisely why the single engines on the FR face Blaenau AIUI. Palmerston was indeed turned on a waggon turntable (I'm sure I saw a photo of it being done); that is the usual method. In general, you always want to keep the water in the Englands near to or in the top nut because they use water very quickly at line speed. When the FR single engines are working on the Welsh Highland, it is easier if they are facing Caernarfon if they are only working as far as Rhyd Ddu... This is precisely what happnened over the Winter of 2015/16, when the FR was closed and we ran twice daily to Rhyd Ddu in the FR timings. Before Christmas, it was Linda and Blanche, and after Christmas, it was The Earl with one the Ladies, both of which had been turned to help the crews manage their water levels. If you're going over the whole WHR, it makes little difference, although as a point of interest, the steepest part of the line is Tryfan Junction platform, which is 1-in-37 towards Port.

Yes, it was indeed David Lloyd George on the gorgeous Col. Stephens set, and it was a splendid day out in absolutely glorious Autumnal weather. It was terrific to see the railway at its absolute best with lots of trains and lots of people. Of course, the railway is still operating under Covid restrictions, and there was not the usual number of people in their Victorian finery, but given the restrictions, it's been an incredibly successful year and I think we've been very lucky to be able to continue to enjoy our hobby.

Hi Paul, Well, I think this is a case of mea culpa, in so much as I have managed to get #4023 and #3954 running around the entire layout perfectly... I decided to have another look at the remaining places where they were derailing and sure enough, I found another couple of "humps" in the helixes. In one case, I had to take a saw to the lowest supporting uprights to eliminate it (I will fill in the gap with wood filler) and in the other, I was able to move a supporting upright to resolve it (fortunately, it was not fixed in place!). Why it was only these two locomotives that were prone to derailing remains a bit of a mystery, although I have noticed the pilot trucks of both ride up a little on the grade crossing on the upper level, so I will check their back-to-backs as I suspect they must be slightly out. Of course, these changes should improve the overall running of the layout and indeed, this afternoon, the layout ran in fully automatic mode for 45 minutes without a single derailment or uncoupling; with four trains running, that is a combined total of well over 60 scale miles. As you might expect, I am well chuffed with this! The last running issue that I now need to address is the shorting over the point frogs issue. Four packs of insulating joiners arrived this morning, so over the coming week or so, I will contine with the programme to get these installed... #3954 is my go-to engine to test this, because it seems to be much more prone to stalling than any of my other locomotives. However, no more work this weekend because I'm off to drive Blanche at this weekends "Bygones" event on the FfWHR Many thanks for your input on this, it is much appreciated. Ben

Hi Paul, Yes, I have checked every wheel with an NMRA standards gauge and they are all perfect... Ben

So it's been a little over a month since my last post and there has been progress on the layout, albeit a fair amount of it being rather frustrating... Frustration #1 was derailment problems in both helixes. I've had this before and tried to resolve it with some careful superelevation, but I found that Challenger #3954 and Big Boy #4023 were routinely coming off. I had not used #3954 very much for another reason (more on this later) but I decided I had to tackle it because two difference locomotives having problems would indicate a problem with the track. So, I looked more closely and sure enough, I found two places where there was a nasty "hump" in the transition between two of the quarter-turn sections of MDF from which they are constructed. It was actually quite visible to the eye and using a digital spirit level on my iPhone, I found that on the climbing track, it was going from a near 3% gradient to 1% on a curve... In a way, it's a miracle anything stayed on...(!) Whilst not easy, I was able to rectify this is in both places it happened. In the first, I was able to deconstruct the supports and removed around 5mm from the very bottom support. On the other, both supports were incredibly fortunately placed on cork, so after removing the screw that held them in place (not easy with other about 50mm of clearance but I had a couple of tools for the job), removing the cork lowered them by 4mm. Hey presto, no more nasty humps (or, at least, far less noticable) and strangely enough, the running suddenly improved. Fortunately, there does not seem to be any other places where there is a problem, so hopefully this will lead to much better running and reliability (more in this later as well). Frustation #2 has been with BLI Big Boy #4023, which went back to the US for a warranty repair earlier this year. Whilst most problems with it were solved, it still has a tendency for the front driving wheel of the leading power bogie to derail (this despite the derailing issues with #3954 being cured). I can't face sending it back and have found by trial-and-error that it can make a westbound trip via Track 3 without problem, so worst case is that it will have to be limited to this circuit. It does, however, mean I can recreate one of my favourite prototype photos: Above shows #4023 swinging off Track 3 at Dale Junction with a westbound manifest freight. For the original photo, you will need to turn to page 87 of "Union Pacific Across Sherman Hill" by George Drury; I do not think I am allowed to reproduce a copy here. I have also purchased from eBay a huge rotary snow plough and as it seems to be alright light engine (i.e. it seems to be the force applied to the locomotive by the train that is a part of the problem), it might well end up pushing the plough around the layout. Whilst probably an unlikely duty for a Big Boy, it's not beyond the bounds of plausibility in the mid-1950s when there were very few classes of steam engine left. Fustration #3 has been problems with #3954 stalling on the pointwork in the storage yard. After some research, it turns out that using Insulfrog points in the storage yard was a mistake... I thought I was saving time by not worrying about changing the frog polarity of Electrofrog points and could have all of the rails live. Unfortunately, the problem is that the RP-25 contour wheels can bridge the gap between the rails at the frog and, of course, on DCC that courses a short. Having looked at a number of solutions (including using nail varnish to paint over the railhead), I have embarked on a programme to install insulated joiners at the frogs of all of the Insulfrog points; this does mean that I am relying on the contact between the switch blade and stock rail to conduct power to the frog, but initial tests are promising and #3954 now glides over the points every time. The side benefit of this work is that it is releasing a lot of metal joiners, which I am going to need construct the storage cassettes (I have a lot of odd lengths of Code 100 track that I can use up). Frustration #4 has been issues with uncoupling. Whilst improving the helixes will undoubtedly help, I have made a really concerted effort to eliminate every single "low quality" coupler and to have Kadee #5 throughout the entire stock. Much to my surprise, I found that I still had a considerable number of cars using cheap-and-nasty couplers, and some on non-Kadee wheelsets. Below is certain to be one of the least interesting photos I've posted but shows the scale of what needed replacing... If anybody has a genuine use for these, I will gladly put them in the post in return for a small donation to the Welsh Air Ambulance. In conclusion for today, it has been a frustrating few weeks and I have been questioning my sanity at constructing such a large layout, especially with so much "civil engineering" which has never been a strong point of mine. However, I have been here before and I am finding solutions to all of the problems I'm coming across, and as I do, the performance of the layout improves. This process was inevitable with such a large layout, especially as it's the first (and hopefully only) one I'll be building. Indeed, I have not had any uncoupling problems at all recently, and #4023 aside, no derailing problems either. I would like to return to scenery construction soon and push on with the upper level, and now I seem to be getting these reliability issues resolved, the motivation for this is returning... I think a little more running/testing is in order (especially with the prospect of four of my locomotives coming back from SH Modelmaking in a couple of weeks) but I think my target is to have the basic scenery on the upper level completed in time for Christmas.