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I have undertaken the task. We will talk about mastered when it goes back together!

The more I thought about it, the more I realised I would like to get the boards apart again. The more I went to look at it, the more I realised I really didn’t! Eventually splitting them won out. Mainly because I know I would forever regret not splitting them whilst it was still relatively easy. I’m also regretting being a little eager in the early days and not sorting the fabric of the room out before starting. It’s a good opportunity to sort out a few bodges that are bound to come back and bite me later. Daunting as the task was - I had to insert two 9 way d-type connectors under the boards and cut through the middle of a double junction in the fiddle yard - it actually came away fairly easily. Now I’ve actually done it, I need to take a few more steps backwards before making a proper charge forwards. Ultimately, there’s nothing you can’t fix, so if you have some doubts about where you are, undoing a few steps isn’t as hard as you think. Here’s problem 1. The fiddle yard points right across the join. What fool would do this? Problem 2 at the other end of the board, the platforms and buildings across the join. But also an unsatisfactory backscene, some unsatisfactory building work and a wavy platform top. There’s much to be gained from this. First job is to insert some connectors. To help with the awkward position, I used bigger connectors than needed. And then, hardly more than a year’s worth of swearing later, I demonstrate my Moses trick. This is definitely warts ‘n’ all, although I seem to have run out of ‘n’ all!

Thanks! I love the dullness of 80’s containers. Painting mine a flat red is on the list.

Wiring (lights and signals) plus sort the backscenes properly. And just in case I ever need to move it.

A quiet week whilst I contemplate splitting the boards… 40122 lifts a ballast train out of the through line.

There are some great hashtags on Twitter, but #Raturday takes some beating… A pair of 25s bring through a long rake of empty vans. In reality they run together like hungry rats in a bag, due to having different decoders in them. Something to note for my sought after 20’s.

Whilst giving some proper thought to my next steps there was a rare opportunity to enjoy some running time. A no-boiler 47, much in need of some yellow dominoes, gets a Speedlink service moving from the yard. From up on the roadbridge we see a pair of 47/4s passing at the South end. The large logo 47 has brought in a Holyhead to Euston relief service, which it will hand over to AC power, whilst a generator 47 brings in a relief service from Coventry to Llandudno. A diverted West Coast express sees an 87 hammer through on the usually freight only line. The cross overs are only 30mph from the down line through the station, but Up trains can pass through at 70. A fortunate turn up was the green class 40 putting in a shift on a ballast working from Arpley to Penmaenmawr. I really like this view, but the Superquick viaduct really isn’t good enough. The ballast train will run round at Christleton, so we see it pausing in the late evening sun. The shunter has unhooked the loco, but it has to await some passenger moves before running round. I thought I’d try a new shot through the tunnel. I can’t quite get enough angle to fit the loco in view. The points in the foreground split for the Crewe and Warrington fiddle yards. Meanwhile it’s all action at the north end. The large logo 47 has gone for fuel, whilst a 45 waits alongside it on the holding road. To the right two trans-pennine services roll in together. With a DMU in platform 4, the pair of trans-pennines are routed into platforms 2 and 3. I don’t often do this, but having them either side of an island platform works well (and is good for spotters making the leap!). Here we see them snaking through the station throat - it’s very satisfying to watch! It also results in a pleasing line up at the south end. The sole passenger is still absolutely non-plussed.

I think that may be the solution. I’m contemplating taking a couple of steps backwards, splitting the boards again and sorting some proper backscenes. I think inexperience has got me into something of a corner. Hopefully I can reverse out before I find myself stuck!

So, some actual modelling. The problem with having people around that know what they’re talking about is that they tend to know what they’re talking about. Hence this evening I have been cursing my collection of saws trying to cut the 90 degree corner of the multi-storey to a quarter circle. This allows the backscene to curve round and avoid any shadows. Following some excessive use of the anglo saxon vocabulary, I have managed to temporarily mount some of the Gaugemaster sky backscenes. Now these seem a little more Balaerics than September in North West England, but they seem to work in the photos. I’m not fully sure they are right, so thoughts very welcome. They do cause a very obvious problem in that they highlight the missing side of the tower block. Potentially my forthcoming low relief buildings will help hide that…

Go for it I say. And don’t hesitate to share the photos of the junk - not only does it help inspire people to think they can do the same, it also gives a great reference for you in the future. One of the great things about this community is it’s honesty, we probably all take as much from someone confessing to launching a loco across the room as we do from the is-it-really-a-model type photos (sometimes from the same author). It’s not Instagram and I’m very happy about that. Plus, if you do start a North Wales thread, there’s no end of people on here who can drop everything to come and chat! It’s a wonder any of us get anything done at all.

An absolute specialty of mine. Try a pale ale instead.

30 pages of the “highest quality journalism” is certainly worthy of comment. Christleton has come a long way over the last 5 years, albeit most of the progress has been in the last 18 months, which the increased frequency of posts reflects. I suspect it will take a lot more than 30 pages to get the layout to anywhere near where I want it to be. The scenic work as I turn my attention to the main straight is bordering on the daunting! I think most of all I’d like to say thank you to you all for your help and support in helping me get this far. My knowledge of the railway in 1986 has expanded vastly from the somewhat naïve newcomer with a soft spot for sealed beam 45s! From regular contributors to occasional thumbs-upperers (sic), you’ve all helped keep me going even when I question if it’s really worth the tears and the pain! For the 81 people who choose to follow the thread, I can recommend professional help, or at the least recommend some fine pale ales. Cheers all, now let’s go do some modelling…

A couple of shots from a very enjoyable evening with visitors, including the new civil engineer’s rake. The level of detail on this is great and they set a new bar for rolling stock on the layout. It’s fascinating to see how other people operate it, particularly when they obviously know what they’re doing. Christleton certainly needs more nights like this!

You may have covered this already, but how did you apply that tidy white line to the platform edges? The intermittent line is particularly pleasing.

A few photos from ‘test running’ ahead of this weekend’s visitors. A pair of peaks passing at the entrance to the bay platforms. Classic trans-pennine traction. I have to place the camera carefully as they both have the same number. I’m awaiting the forthcoming Heljan 45/1 before making a decision on my peak fleet, but two 45/0’s need to become 2 x 45/0 and 2 x 45/1. The increased availability of sealed beam peaks makes this a financially tolerable possibility! The 45 on the blocks alongside a large logo 47. The passenger seems unimpressed by such impressive Sulzer power behind him. Tut. Possibly he’s more interested in the 33 arriving in a Crewe to Bangor service. A discussion about brick colours is high on the agenda this weekend. At the other end of the station the 33 has paused whilst the 47 has been released from its train and run on to the other TP set. This area is next for some scenic attention, mainly along the backscene to improve the overall effect.

Of course. I was forgetting that Glasgow got done early. Still, I think the mid 80’s appearance of Central has a lot to offer in terms of inspiration.

Megapoints - I had a quick look and it’s not for me. I doubt anything commercial will hit the spot but always worth looking. As for the costs, you may not be able to pick up my accent, but my username should give a hint as to my likely financial output! Glasgow Central isn’t a bad shout. I’ve always intended it to be in keeping with the second half of the WCML electrification north of Crewe, so that style of signalling and OLE structure is definitely what I have in mind.

Signals and gantries are timely questions, as I find myself pondering them more and more. I’d quite like to get some basic scenery down across the whole layout up to the double junction, leaving the carriage sidings and stage exits to both Chester and Warrington until later. Then I thought I’d turn my attention to OLE and signals; the two of which go hand in hand as they tend to get in the way of each other. The compressed nature of a model railway probably won’t make it any easier. I think that the plan will remain like that, however I am considering a couple of trial structures at the south end. And that means sorting out some sort of signalling control. My existing panel is very much a temporary thing and always intended to be replaced. I’ve toyed with relay control before and always concluded it’s too complicated to do quickly, so it’s gone on a back burner. I have a couple of basic sketches of my proposed panel and semi-interlocking, which I’m considering making a small trial version of for the south end. Which is to say, yes.

Although it possibly looks better when you can only see railway, even if there’s not so much “throat” in view…

Christleton will see its first proper visitors this weekend, so there’s been a huge amount of room tidying followed by some extensive track and wheel cleaning. This means I’ve remembered about the rest of the railway that isn’t the South end overbridge! Still my favourite view of the layout is looking down the station throat and seeing a 45 taking over a trans-pennine set from a 47.

Cheers. That’s exactly what I have in mind. Can you get the loads out without lifting the trucks off the track? I was thinking a small piece of steel on the bottom will make them able to be removed by magnet.

Great little video. The 37 sounds really convincing, it’s amazing how the newer sounds really date the older sounds; even though they used to sound good. The layout’s really beginning to look the part now. Great work!

Not much progress, just a couple of gates and a bit more fencing. The wires to run along the top are currently being stretched by hanging a paint tin from the ceiling to stop them pig-tailing. A toffee apple 31 catches the late evening sun in the stabling sidings.

I am. I just wasn’t born in 1757! (Although metric was in use pre-railways - go look at any canal signs.) Imperial remains only for measuring vehicle efficiency and real ale. 0.5 mm sounds ideal, although maybe prone to warping?

How thick is 20 thou? I’ve been using 2mm clear plastic from B&Q. It’s got great structural strength but it is the devil’s own work cutting it.