Dirty Mouths (Tunnels)

I guess nearly a year and half is quite a long time to leave between updates.  A year and a half.  Layout must be complete by now?  Only a couple of months work, surely?  Hmm.  Not quite.  And don't call me Shirley.  (copyright Frank Drebben)

Work has been sporadic.  Understatement.  More than one hour a week and it has been a good week.  More than two hours and it's been exceptional.

Still, progress is progress and after (i) making enough cuts to the planned track that would make Beeching clutch the table for support, (ii) a very enjoyable holiday in the south of France in 2011 where the evening's were spent drawing wiring diagrams by candle-light (with a copy of Model Railway Electrics by Fred Martin - http://tinyurl.com/cy9ssn5) while listening to strange noises in the woods in the dark and (iii) cutting and varnishing base boards in a cold, cold shed with only Radio 4 for company - a layout is finally running.  I was particularly pleased with the switch panel.  More of that later.  (Not much later, though, not sure it's going to survive toddler-attacks.)

Three key issues now need to be addressed: Scenery (needs some); locomotives (needs some) and lifting bridge (needs Dr Brian Cox to explain why it never sits in the same place twice, it's more restless than Schrodinger's cat).

And it does need to be remembered that this is layout is intended to fulfil two purposes: 1. A train set; 2. My modelling layout.  This was never going to be straight forward - imagine a layout being administered by a coalition government.  HS2 will be finished before this one.

Positives, though.  Have started making the scenery!  This is the part I've been looking forward to the most.  I have no idea what I am doing but lets not let that get in the way of enthusiasm.  One piece of good advice I read a while back was don't look at other models when building / painting, look at real items.  (Seems obvious now but, to the beginner, you'd be surprised.)  With that in mind, see attached a couple of 'cheap' plastic kits which are being altered for use in the back scene in the 'country goods' area ... more of which is to follow.