Timber!

The last few days has seen me back in the garage cutting up bits of wood into a vague attempt to sort out the woody problems. This included extending the boards so they all match. Along with building new legs and adding bracing to the exsisting boards. This is all done and has proved successful in that everything fits together. I still have the end plates to do but i shall probably do that closer the time.

The next task is to lay the track and add the wiring. I will begin from the current scenic break and work round so that i can have it in a working U shape initially. Then i will complete the last two boards to give me a continious circuit.

This means i need to consider the station again and how im going to do it as i currently dont have a clue so no change there then.

Flasher and Furniture

In an effort to finish the scenic section of the layout to a reasonable standard ive tried to get most things sqaured up. So today i fitted the last of the station furniture and did the last of the wiring (accept for fitting the two signal switches in the panel) the front section is nearly done. I might now look at the end plates for the layout as well as getting on building some more legs. While doing this i will crack on and look what the fiddle yard needs doing to it. In this case everything except the boards!

I would say im roughly half way through. There lots more to do and the clock is ticking. Better stop yakking and get cracking.

Fiddling Around

I decided to make an effort and get on with some jobs today. This has meant the fiddle yard boards are nearly ready to go and have track laid on them as they have been bolted together and aligned ready. I will take the scenic section down so i can box it up ready. I might as well do it now as it all needs doing.

One job i have to do is to build some legs for the fiddle yard. I have two legs i can widen by replacing the cross members but i need at least two more which will have to be constructed from scratch although i hope this shouldnt be too difficult.

In terms of the scenic section i have added the concrete barriers to the bus station today and stuck down some of the industrial estate details. Hopefully in the next day or two i will pack it down and do the end plates (see above) and then begin work on the fiddle yard.

Before i do this however i have also drilled the hole for the digger. This needs wiring in so i need to solder up some wires (should only take 10 minutes or so) so i can get this working. I will do this before i dismantle it so i know its done.

Anyway enough for now!

Latest Photos

Well trainwest has now passed so i thought id upload the latest photos for you all to enjoy.

Update

Well i wasnt able to get the switches but i did get some smaller details along with an ac to dc converter.
Also the last 47 needed has arrived in the form of 47975 in dutch for the princley sum of £59.99. I only need two more locos but i still have lots of dmu gaps.

Im also still considering the fiddle yard and what im going to do there but its late and another day beckons!!

Trainwest

Just a little note to say im at the Trainwest model railway exhibition at the christie miller sports centre in Bowerhill, Melksham. Some very good layouts to be seen, i also hope some of my stock will get a run. Or thats the plan anyway.

Fenced

Well fence has arrived and installed. I begun the job now of ballasting in the rear area and also sorting out the indsutrial units so they can be fitted. All being well this should be completed in a few days.

The paving in the bus station is now complete along with the platform slope. I still have the concrete barriers to add in the bus station.

Once the two sets of jobs above have been completed in terms of the main layout i can begin adding the details. Ive got two ice cream tubs of bits that came of Westleigh mk1 some of which will go on to mk2. I need to sort through and choose what i will use and what i wont.

I also need to get back to construction issues such as the fiddle yard. So far only the boards have been built so theres plenty to do but thankfully plenty of time to do it all in. Its still only 23 weeks though!

Bus stopping....

Today i did some work on the bus station. I fitted the tarmac sheet and surrounding wall and then proceeded to ballast in around that. I still have the platform to do along with the paving in the bus station area itself but if i can get the bits i will be able to finish this off tomorrow and sunday.

I also hope the fencing should arrive tomorrow. This will allow me to get on with this and finally finish it.

The to do list gets shorter and then gets longer when items related to things recently completed appear so it seems to be in a state of equilibrium.

Replatformed

Well not replatformed as such but restationed certainly. Ive decided to do away with the bridge and go back to something similar to Westleigh mk1 and have a footbridge and bus station. Once i have the continious run up together though i will be looking at putting the bridge in and hopefully by that time i should have a station building of some for or another.

Apart from that board 1 is virtually complete and work has commenced doing the back area of board 2. Im going to use the knightwing fencing and am currently awaiting its delivery. Hopfully it should be here Saturday so i could start it then. This mean i should be able to complete the majority of the layout over the weekend. It will then also mean i will need to consider the fiddle yards. But theres still stuff to do before then!