The end comes off

Well, I got the electric screw driver and a crow bar out and with a bit of nerve racking violence the end 'backscene' came off. Its amazing how it has made the layout look much bigger already.

The new alignments of the platforms is going to be quite cool I think.

Next thing to do is to turn the whole layout around and to modify the behind the scenes track layout. I'm trying to think of a way of making part of the upper scenery removable in case of derailments on the hidden section. It won't have any points in it or tricky curves so all should be straight forward but sod's law says that as soon as I can't get at it something will come off... humm?

Looking forward to making a new bit of layout and then playing with it... ahem, having an operating session I mean.

Or it could go this way

This way it would fit with the plan against the layout frame and the switch area could hang just below it with the controller beside it on a shelf. This would be compact and tidy and not too obtrusive. I've printed this out and put the switches in their correct place and they all fit, it will be a bit of a rats nest but if I make a big effort to keep it tidy all will be well.

In the great plan St Ruth is directly above Port Lucy, the other terminus of the railway so I can't have too many dangly bits... ooh er missus.

Destruction begins again

I had some time in the garage today and have taken the bull by the horns and dismantled the control panel leaving the 50 way umbilical attached to the layout with bare ends where the panel was. Fortuitously I made comprehensive notes on the wiring of this layout so taking it apart and then remaking it should be simple... hum.

I've been scratching my head about the new control panel, I don't know whether to use a track diagram with the switches built in as the previous effort or to make something more compact with switches in rows more akin to a lever frame.

This is the new layout as a diagram. The switches could be laid out in a row which would make it easier to attach to the front edge of the layout. Now it won't be ever operated from anywhere but the front it can be attached permanently without need for the umbilical.

Happy Holiday Season

I've been busy doing other things so the railway has taken a bit of a back seat but I did get invited to a little exhibition in Porthmadog so I dusted off Arnold Lane Wharf and also converted my test track into a snow scene. The church will find its way onto the main layout so not a waste of time and apart from some filler and a couple of trees I had all the bits and bobs in the garage.

I've even been allowed to have it in the living room on the grounds that it is a decoration rather than a layout. Syd is putting in a few miles round and round too.