This week has finally witnessed a little bit of progress on the layout. Previously I had become very unsatisfied with the original 3 ft fiddle yard and only 3 lines. It was not big enough to accommodate a 2 coach train and locomotive. So I purchased another baseboard (Tim Horn) and the original fiddle yard had a scenic break added to it, about one third of the way down. This now gives me 5 ft fiddle yard, with four sidings (although these are not yet all laid down and wired up).
New view of the layout with the extension added (right)
This redesign is much more satisfying. Firstly, the head shunt at the end of the station is much bigger. This is great, as originally the locomotive would disappear part away into the fiddle yard to run around its train. Secondly, I can now run longer trains and more of them, significantly increasing the operational potential of the layout. The downside is the layout is now 12ft long, so I can hardly call this a micro-layout any more! It was meant to be a quick project, but has taken on a life of its own. It is all good though, I am quite pleased with the way it is shaping up.
The new fiddle yard in progress!
View back towards the station from the new extension.
There is an awful lot of detailing working still be done on the baseboards and there has not be any progress on this! I still need to build a few structures and add the scenery around this. However, momentum and enthusiasm have both picked up a little recently, so I am hoping to achieve some more progress over the coming weeks. The class 22 and 3 mk1 coaches plonked on the layout at the moment represent some projects for the coming weeks. My normal enthusiasm for painting and detailing stock has disappeared over the last couple of months. I have the Howes sound chip ready to go for this locomotive, so I hope to get this in the paintshop soon enough, although I have still to add the detailing pack to this locomotive.
The extended headshunt, with plenty of room to run around.
Class 22 ready to head back to Exeter via Barnstaple junction.
Hopefully some more progress to report this week!
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