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Thank you very much! It is certainly a really verdant landscape - often seemingly a wall of green at times! I haven't made it to Hanbury Gardens, although the pictures looks great. Stones pines incoming, definitely an essential addition - I'm going to finalise the tree planting when I can integrate both the palms and the pines. On Caimanos - I believe (sadly) now entirely gone from passenger work, they held out on some InterCity services in Sicily until this year and I think only a dwindling number remain for freight on the mainland (although heartening that you have seen them recently). Where did you catch them and do post any pictures if you are happy to - I am basically building this layout to run Caimanos on freight trains!

I am keen to try to add the details that will, through cumulative effect, associate the scene with the Ligurian coast and a key part of this is for me is finding a way to represent its distinctive trees - in particular the palm tree, an iconic component of the Western Ligurian landscape and one which is most common around Sanremo and Bordighera. Palms of all types will grow in the Riviera micro climate, although the date palm is the most common. As such, I procured a pack of 12 palms from Amazon prime for £8, of which 6 scale to the right height range and so make good value at £1.30 a tree! They are 'plasticky' out of the pack and have excess flash but with a little work with the scalpel and a repaint to more natural, matt tones (Humbrol dark brown and Halfords 'ultra matt' green) I think they work well: Palms tend to be seen more at shore level and often actually alongside the railway, including adjacent to the catenary. I don't want to overdo them but anticipate including around four; they will also be complemented with the other tree of the Italian Riviera - the stones pine (more on them later) which will sit in greater numbers, probably on the first and broadest terrace above the tracks: I didn't think the scene necessarily needed trees but having started placing a couple (nothing permanently planted yet) it looks bare when I take them away!

Looking forward to these arriving - does anybody know if they are expected any time soon? (Eyeing the late crest sound fitted 48773)

(said Arnold vans: https://www.Hornby.com/uk-en/fs-2-unit-pack-2-axle-closed-wagons-type-gbs-in-brown-livery-period-iv-v.html)

Nothing more than an operating session tonight with the E483 at work again at the head of heavy freight, composed of whatever was at the top of the stock box! However, I have ordered further shrubbery including some flowers for the remaining clifftop - the area around Sanremo is well known for lavender and cut flowers for export, even in the 80s vans were attached to intercity trains for this purpose (Arnold have recently released an appropriate pair). I've also taken a punt on some palm trees to further enhance the general Ligurian flavour! Also, if you think my sea has regressed - it has! I added 'just one more' coat of PVA which went cloudy so I've had a repaint and now need to re- PVA. The moral of the story is know when to quit when you're ahead...

Appreciate this has been fairly quiet for a few months - the short version is: lockdown ended, I went to back the office and it was very busy and now lockdown 2.0 is back with dark evenings and I really ought to finish those final few jobs! Courtesy of Arnold, I am also delighted to see that there has been some progress with the promised model that inspired this in the first place, the E656 Caimano, CADs emerged last week on the Arnold social media pages:

Stock update - I have poached the beginnings of an infrastructure train from Rails that is offering a 4 pack of CLF-Bologna branded ballast tipper wagons for £52 (https://railsofsheffield.com/bundles/37/set-of-4-n-gauge-yellow-tipper-wagons-clf-ep-v-7407-) I recall seeing these when released c.2017 (?) at an RRP of £60 per wagon! Unsurprisingly, it seems they haven't sold well... Its also an excuse to post pictures of a CLF yard somewhere on the Milan-Modena route and an RFI train at Orvieto:

@Ian Morgan thank you for the friendly advice - I may well drop the TINGS organisers an email, it is only be c.1hr drive for me and it seems as if they aspire to a delayed September show (subject to CV19 restrictions) - which would give me a target to finish all the jobs I might not otherwise finish...

Perhaps a word on operation (or my aspirations for operation!) - clearly this is a deliberately simple layout - essentially a scenic section of single track with a passing loop to the rear. Operationally, I plan to hold an 'eastbound' and a 'westbound' train in the loop, one headed by the E483 and the other the E656. Currently, I have a basic DCC controller but in the future I aspire to a more advanced once that will allow me to control the points in the passing loop. To add some further interest to this I'd like to add a reed switch to the passing loops that sets a basic colour light signal at the front of the layout - I'd like to use the signal to tell me when one train has entered the loop and cleared the point so I can release the other train in the other direction. This system would also have the benefit of enabling me to stay 'scenic' side at the front of the layout - and I also like that it means the signal would have a quasi-prototypical role in that it won't be changing simply for the sake of it - it will be communicating basic route information to me.

Thank you very much indeed @Settebello for your encouragement and I have to say now that I am in the stage of adding scenic details I too am eagerly awaiting the E656, I can't wait to see it on the layout! Re: a show - I am flattered! I have never exhibited anything (do I get invited or do I apply?!) but if someone will have me I would certainly consider it (not least because then could justify buying some more stock to my wife... !) That is a delightful model of the 207, you've definitely got something fairly unique there!

Thank you! I still need to do a post on the rocks...

Further progress - Liguria has been wired and... I cracked and got an E483 in 'Mercitalia' rail colours to run under them. This means a milestone has been attained - for the first time ever I am hauling Italian stock, with an Italian loco, on an Italian themed layout! This is also the first model of an electric loco for me and I have to say, I quite like modelling 'under the wires'. Certainly catenary in model form is less visually obtrusive then real life, admittedly largely because you can tower over it! I managed to pick up a pack of the Dapol catenary masts for £5 which will suffice until I elect to upgrade. Since the picture, I have also started to add some trackside vegetation at the base of the retaining walls.

Update - the sea has been added! The wires are about to go up so I thought I would take the opportunity to pretend we are on the Cumbrian coast and run a nuclear flask trip working (this isn't as mad as it sounds - when I travelled on the Cumbrian coast line last August on a brilliantly sunny day the Irish sea almost could have passed for the Med!)

I am currently building a small slice of Italian coast (see: "Lockdown Liguria") and would like to use Dapol catenary as some cost effective OHLE. If anyone has a pack (eg: https://railsofsheffield.com/products/14584/Dapol-ncat1-n-gauge-mk3-high-speed-catenary-mast-pack-of-10-?gclid=CjwKCAjw5cL2BRASEiwAENqAPqOcQgICRr0gwti2rH8-5mnZHT8Y523f6eal-6YgCfSju7eZk_tWsRoCEowQAvD_BwE) hanging around that they don't need, please let me know - I think 10x single masts should be sufficient (I am modelling a section of single track line).

Thank you very much indeed, like all railway modellers sweeping reverse curves hold plenty of appeal and if they can be Italian then that is even better! Good to hear that you think they look 'right' though, I didn't have much length to work with but think they are sufficiently generous to look natural. On motive power, the TEE Ligure is a fine train (whether the multiple unit or loco hauled as later) and I have considered hunting down the Kato TEE FS carriages that were produced a couple of years ago to represent it. The Blue Pullman has been circulated as just 2 power cars, but I think Rule 1 will remain in force for the foreseeable future! I have browsed Loco models before and been tempted, although as you say the quality is an unknown. After waiting for so long, I am happy to wait a little bit longer for the Arnold Caimano. (Although I am considering acquiring an Arnold E483 Mercitalia for some interim prototype traction, even if it is not a true Italian classic!). I was not aware of Euromodell FP - undoubtedly beautiful, although - as you say - also eye wateringly expensive! Ciao

Thanks Ben and I'm glad that there has been a vote for the embossed card because I have since followed my instincts, taken off the Wills sheet and doubled down on the card approach! Agreed that the plants growing out of the walls et al should help to tie the scene together (Mininatur perhaps?), along with some capping for the walls (and also some RailMatch 'sleeper grime' to tone my sunbleached track bed down a bit too... ) I have also replaced the mock-up galleried tunnel with something more permanent, as you can the glue is quite literally still drying and the clay yet to be toned in...

Some more progress has been made since I took this pic, although the main event is the arrival of the Blue Pullman which means I've inaugurated some kind of St. Pancras-Pisa service under Rule 1...

Thank you and I think the HDR mobile phone pic is perhaps being harsh but certainly applying the appropriate colour palette has its challenges, I've already repainted the base of the rock face to match the rock armour (the real rocks were, ironically, too realistic!). Reference pic attached from 'research trip' aka holiday to Sanremo...

I have since read that the factory fitted Zimo sound will feature the option to represent different train types, ie: I assume slow freight vs faster running. Does anyone have any further details or, better yet, a video clip of the sound yet?

Retaining wall dilemmas... I have painted and installed a short section of wall on the west side of the layout using the obligatory Wills stone sheets (gaps and cap stones will be dealt with later): However, I also have some Vollmer embossed card - seen here towards the east side (I'm experimenting with using the buttresses to distract from the repeating pattern... ): It might be sacrilege, or maybe I just haven't got the colour right on the Wills sheets, but I actually prefer the embossed card - direct comparison: All thoughts on this welcome before I pass a point of no return...

Thank you @5944 - it seems I am almost spoilt for choice, even in N, when it comes to Italian catenary! Perhaps not unduly surprising given the dominance of electrification in Italy. My soldering is very average, although admittedly this would be exactly the sort of project to learn on and improve it with. I'm not sure whether I interpret the pricing as 25e for a 5 masts (or 25e for a single mast with 5 parts?). The latter would seem steep! I may install the Dapol catenary as a generic option for the sake of completeness and then build and install something more prototypical from either this kit or the other posted by @Settebello as a subsequent upgrade I think.

Ok, as promised, I will seek to document and summarise the main stages of the build. First up is the foundations and I wanted this layout to be light, portable and low cost without compromising on the overall appearance. As a result, this is my first layout built with a foam (ok, expanded polystyrene) baseboard that has simply been bonded with PVA to heavy duty card, the latter procured free from the deluge of lockdown parcel deliveries (the card encased a picture frame so was good size). The foam sheet was 1 from a pack of 4 I got in B&Q - a pack costs £20 and the sheets are 1.5ft by 4ft. The foam sheets are just about big enough for loop in N gauge, although the width is on the limit for completing a continuous run loop. In addition, I really didn't want 'set track' curves on show. My compromise was to use a small stash of Fleischmann track, unused from a train set received over a decade ago. I used the broadest fourth radius to make the reverse curve at the front and then completed the loop with the aggressive 9 inch first radius Fleischmann curves that would subsequently be hidden in tunnels. Modern image bogie stock has no issue with this and all my current Italian stock runs through it fine, my assumption is that articulated E656 Caimano will too! Here we go, the moment Lockdown Liguria was born: I have formed my loop using the Fleischmann track as above and you can see that I have marked off the foam board I will remove to create the 'coast'. The extra parallel track is me working out how I can add a passing loop so I can alternate trains; I realised I needed to (and subsequently did on eBay) procure a pair of the Fleischmann first to second radius curved points that means I can maximise the loop length and hold a 5 passenger coach or 10 bogie freight wagon in either direction. Here all I have done is cut the coast and bonded the foam to the card base, the card excess has been turned into a backscene and that vertical piece is solidly in place using a hot glue gun and some triple thick corrugated card slabs that came in yet another parcel as supports - even at this stage it is strong enough to allow me to pick the layout up using the backscene alone: Overall, foam/card baseboard has been something of a revelation - super cheap, very quick (an hour?) and no warping or any issues with flex. Being honest, for smaller projects I can't see myself ever using anything else again. Finally, having completed the above you can see that I am experimenting with foam offcut and foamboard to test locations and heights of retaining walls; nothing is permanently fixed at this stage in terms of track or the very initial 'landscape' beyond the backscene.

@PaulRhB I have actually just been exploring this! I know there are mixed opinions on using background sounds, although I think a non-specific ambient sound such as gentle waves breaking could be effective. At the end of the day, I've got a good bluetooth Bose speaker that can go underneath or behind in the non-scenic section so this will be fairly easy to experiment with.

Thank you - post on rock construction to come!

Grazie mille! Thank you, much appreciated