Hello Gilbert,
May I congratulate you on reaching 500 pages, I have been following Peterborough North for some time on this forum and I think you have built an amazing layout which captures the era very well. The pictures can almost be taken as the prototype and truly capture the atmosphere of the 1950's steam railway.
I grew up in Hertfordshire close to the ECML and can remember trainspotting, at Oakleigh Park in 1959 on my way home from junior school. N2 on the locals and of course Gresley and Thompson pacifics on expresses. Unfortunately my mother took a dim view of me being late home from school, so by the time I resumed in the early 60's the changes were well advanced. I still have my notebook from 1962/3 and fortunately I had graduated from just recording numbers, to including details such as time of day, type of train and destination etc. But by the summer of 1963, steam was almost extinct at the southern end.
I have to admit my modelling interest is centered around the LMR/GW, influenced by many holidays in North Wales, where in the early 1960's, apart from some DMUs, most trains were steam hauled along the coast and the branches.
On the question of loco lamps have you tried the ones manufactured by Modelu, they are 3D printed to scale size and have holes already in the bases which fit most loco lamp irons - no more need to drill holes in Springside lamp bases, which I agree is a real pain. The lamps come unpainted and you have to fit the lenses, but once you have done the first few they are fairly straightforward.
Congratulations once again and I look forward to more of your pictures.