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And then there were two. My Accurascale pre-order has now arrived after a speedy trip - Dublin - East Midland - Leizpig - Los Angeles - San Franciso - Oakland in about 30 hours from pick up to delivery, kudos to DHL. Happy to report that 9021 arrived in very good shape and went straight into traffic on the Pullmans. Thank you again Accurascale.

Thank you. I've now had the model and the box under the big illuminated magnifying glass and given it a thorough inspection and can find no bits lodged anywhere. What I think may have happened is that the model was tested by Rails before dispatch (they noted it would be tested before dispatch in an email and the box has a 'Tested - LC' sticker on it) so maybe when they removed it from the box some of these tiny items that were dislodged on the China - Sheffield journey were lost at that point? Anyhow I have messaged AS support and hopefully they can ship the missing bits with my next order. It's a very minor item really and not detracting from my overall satisfaction of an outstanding model.

Happy to say the first of my pre-orders has made it the West Coast USA from RoS. All good - a few loose small items (four corner footsteps missing - annoyingly only three could be found in the packing) and one loose chain temporarily repaired with black tack. Running is excellent, no vibration at the default sound level and stay alive satisfactorily tested. Well done Accurascale on an amazing and impressive model! Notification also received that my AS pre-order dispatched today - just the DPS one to follow hopefully some point soon.

Progress this week has been on the 'dead' end of the main station. It's an end-to-end layout with a through station at one end. I'll have to either pretend the trains are working through this station or build a temporary track for them to run in/out of - probably the latter - but I needed a scenic break for the end of the board. I've built a Scalescenes girder bridge with a retaining wall. The platform continues under the bridge for longer trains. At the end of platform 3 where the railbus is sitting I intend to add some wooden steps for staff to access the fueling point.

Any of the eight Haymarket locos in TOPS-era blue would be appreciated- they were absent from the first batch. Rail blue locos released in first batch with 55 xxx numbers: Finsbury Park: 4 (1, 3, 15, 18) Gateshead: 3 (5, 11, 17) York: 1 (22) Haymarket: 0

I used double-sided tape. Downside with that was when I removed it from the paper it had some flex in it, but I was then fitting it back onto the master templot already on the board so it wasn't a problem.

Here is another interior I found, again a plastic one. This time it's a far north BSOT in 1987 - the buffet was not manned so we've taken it over for our own food preparation purposes. The cash drawer on the buffet trolleys pulled out of the end and so a cash drawer was fitted into the counter to use instead. Note also the alloy plate on the door into the former toilet at counter height, this was to avoid damage to the wooden door when the trolleys were moved in and out. The former toilets - as far as I can remember - still had the sink, but the toilet was removed and shelves were fitted. A trolley would just fit inside diagonally allowing it to be locked inside (or the red baskets could be lifted off and placed inside). Edit: I think this could be a Mk2? No window on the door to the vesibule and different window frame.

Here is the side opposite the counter that might have details of interest to some (ignore the much younger me). It's a WHL service in 1986 and this one has a lot less wood with formica panelling on walls, partition and sliding door. Note also the end vestibule has been painted yellow. Maxpax coffee anyone?

Martin - I found Templot a great help for laying regular Peco bullhead flexi where I wanted nice gentle curves. It was also of course used when I build my first ever point kit (Finetrax) as I wanted it to be on a slight curve. I didn't take many pictures during construction but the image shows it being checked in position before construction continued. Very easy to do.

Today was a Sprinter day in Auchentogle. I'd finished the superstructure of platform 2/3 and began to cut out the card for the platform top. The Class 156s are the longest stock I have - same length as a Mk3 but the underframe gear is wider - so I'm working the platform edge for those. Even with the very modest rail curves it might need some 'Mind the Gap' lettering. I'll probably leave the platform top in this state for a while, at least through some different running sessions with different stock in case there are any rogue vehicles that cause fouling problems. The platform edge for platform 1 is glued in place - the main station building will be on the left so I have to make decisions on what that will be before I build out the width of the platform.

After a break from the hobby for 20+ years I decided to build a layout again. My main interest is the Scottish Region and DMUs and my lack of space made me think of a small branch station. However the temptation of the (at the time) forthcoming Accurascale Deltic proved too much and I've been pushing the boundaries of my wife's tolerance over how big the layout could get (it's in our lounge) to include a main line through station with a branch platform and stabling/fuelling point for the branch DMUs. Location is somewhere and anywhere in Scotland. My early trainspotting years were in Fife/Edinburgh Waverley then I lived beside the West Highland Line and spent several years travelling the line behind 37/0s and by the time the 37/4s took over I was working on the buffet cars (BSOTs) on the line. I was then transferred to the E&G buffets and so 47/7 push-pulls will also feature on the layout. Working title for the main station is Auchentogle the branch station Glen Togle - both references from The Broons. It's OO scale, and switchable DCC / DC depending on what stock I run (at least until everything is chipped). Ballasting/weathering of the through roads and branch platform of the main station is complete and the platform (Scalescenes) construction in progress. In the image I'm running mid-1960s trains; the 40 on a sleeper making it's last intermediate stop on it's journey from London; the six-car Met-Camm on a morning commuter service - some of its passengers will transfer to the Cravens on the branch train; branch services will be shared with the Met-Camm at the fuel point; the Clayton will pop up the branch to pick up some wagons from Glen Togle Distillery.

That's wonderfully fast. I feel a bit miffed that these are being prioritised over pre-orders - I'm still waiting for my ROW order to be dispatched.