The Duke of Edinburgh on my layout

 

The Duke of Edinburgh's recent passing reminded me that he, and the Queen, once visited my layout, Flockburgh. 

At least, they visited it in the form of miniatures based on their 1950s selves by the German model manufacturer Preiser.

Of course I tried to find a photo of the event, and the only one I located is above. Phillip is in the blue suit on the far left of the photo. Not sure who he is chatting to, because the Queen is further along the platform talking to Teddy Roosevelt if I remember right. 

I hope he enjoys the Class 20, although I expect he'd prefer a steam loco. Or more likely, a wander down tot he quayside for something seaworthy.

3mm scale Matador

Around 9000 AEC Matadors were built fro both the Army and RAF. According to Wikipedia, the flat fronted cab was framed in ash, clad with steel. Whatever, the simple design has made them a popular subject with modellers for many year. It's a far easier shape to make than the curvy, but probably more useful, Bedford.

After military use, many lorries found their way into civilian roles. Sadly, not nearly as many as railway modellers would have liked. Plenty of layouts in the old days saw ex-Airfix models pressed into use. Most civvies were recovery or heavy haulage trucks - positively massive compared to their companions on the road.

Anyway, while 4mm modellers are over-supplied with nice de-cast models, 3mm scale fans can chose from Continental stuff at too small a scale or pretending that HO models are right. Thus, the appearance of a Russian plastic kit for a Matador by Zvezda was welcomed by the community. Some preliminary measurements indicate it's not perfect (sligthly too tall, slightly too wide and a bit short) but we'll take it.

The kit is intended as a wargaming model. It is made of a nasty, brittle plastic. Construction is glue-free and the windows are solid.

I opened out the windows, did away with the glue-freeness, bust an axle (repaired with plastic filler) and threw the rather odd "crew-cab" style tilt away. A replacement scratchbuilt out of plastic sheet makes the model look rather less massive than it otherwise might.

Not bad for a penny under 3 quid. Or 2p under 6, since this is kit number two as I b******d up the first attempt...

Zvezda Matador at ModelZone

The Queen visits Flockburgh

This Jubilee weekend, it's a good time to remember some of HRH Queen Liz's less well know trips around her dominion.

Back in 1958 she spent a pleasant few days on the England/Scotland border in the little coastal town of Flockburgh. To make the visit extra special, Prince Phillip has been left at home lest he offend someone by singing all the verses of her Maj's theme tune in the bath.

Verse 4 was thought to be a particularly good one to avoid what with the lines:

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,

May by thy mighty aid,

Victory bring.

May he sedition hush,

and like a torrent rush,

Rebellious Scots to crush,

God save the Queen.

probably not being the best thing to sing to a town half made up of men in skirts with thick red whiskers. Instead a courtier has been arranged to accompany her on a low-key visit to find out what the ordinary people get up to.

Sadly, this turned out to be unpleasant activities involving Haddock. Whilst the local advertising might claim that this makes it happy, HRH is less keen and awaits the fastest service back to the capital.

(Modelling note: This is HRH Queen Liz from the 1950's as realised by the German model manufacturer Preiser. The produce a range of famous figures and they do include Prince Phil although he is elsewhere on the station.)

A Class 37 would fit.

Among the box of diesel loco bodies that Mark brought along to the show was a Class 37. This caused me both joy and pain.

The Class 37 locomotive is my favorite big diesel. I have a few 4mm versions and a DJH kit for the same thing in 7mm (I know, I know, there is a RTR version but I wanted to build the kit) so there would be a lot to be said for adding a 3mm model to the fleet.

I could even buy an excellent kit. Building wouldn't take long as the body is a resin casting a lot more impressive than the one in the photo. It's just that I can't see any change from £100, which is a bill I don't need right now for a toy train.

So, I convinced myself that the loco wouldn't fit in the headshunt. With the real thing being 10ft longer than our largest current loco, I was sure that we'd be back to shunting one wagon at a time if I built one. We can't do that so there was a good reason not to splash the cash.

Just to prove my point, I tested the model. It fits. With two wagons. Even allowing for buffers'n'stuff on the ends it will work.

I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad.

Lutterworth 2012

The Lutterworth model railway exhibition programme is unusual in that it's written in the manner of a tour guide for the event. If a visitor starts at stand 1 and reads each entry, they get a pleasant tour of the show. Our entry read as follows:

No3 Flockburgh - Phil Parker
The next layout is somewhat unusual in so far that this mdoel is based on a scale of 3mm to the foot, everything is just that bit smaller than OO gauge. These are quite rare owing to the fact that the modeller has to make most of the pieces himself. Kits are available with the aid of the 3mm Society for the modeller to build rolling stock. The layout was intended to be a test bed for trying out 3mm stock and represents a small branch line on the English/Scottish border circa 1960s. The track was hand built as were the rolling stock and locos. The operators will be pleased to answer any questions.

Writing a programme in this style is a fair bit of hard work for the editor - no cut'n'paste from the supplied texts - but it makes a change. I couldn't see it working for a large event but when you are hoping for a large contingent of non-enthusiasts through the door then it makes perfect sense.

The show wasn't large, but for their 40th Anniversary a sports hall had been hired. It's a cracking venue, large enough, warm enough, bright, and with a good floor. There was plenty of circulating room too.

There were a couple of layouts that really appealed too. "Layout Phil would build" award goes to Tremore. Taking a parkway station as its prototype, it is compact any yet has intensive operation, albeit automatic and consisting (prototypically) of a single car DMU shuttling back and forth. For added excitement, an 08 shunts a few wagons in the background. I've been looking for ideas in this area myself and now feel a bit inspired to have another go.

On the other side of the aisle was Rowthorne, a different proposition. Whilst still OO, this is a 13ft long roundy-roundy with a small station and modest fiddle yard. I could quickly see where the buildings had been sourced and appreciated that this was very much an attainable model for anyone with the space to build it. For the average exhibition visitor, it licks a lot of boxes. You can let the trans circulate or do a bit of shunting. While there is a bit of building required, not too much and using Peco track on simple baseboards would see the builder with a layout operating pretty quickly. Amongst all the finescale stuff, this is probably more important as it helps get people into building things. I bet a few left the show with new enthusiasm after watching it.

We weren't the only 3mm layout in the hall either. One stand away was Hemlock. The gauge this time is 12mm and (boo) it's Great Western. Mind you, he could run a Class 22 without being wrong !

Finally, the all important food note: Tea - Good and free to exhibitors. Cake - None. Lunch - Excellent - Thanks to The Frank Whittle pub to whom the task was contracted by the show. (You can see it here but it was obviously called The Balloon when Google visited)

Oh, and I won 2 raffle prizes ! A book on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway plus a DVD of Express steam trains. This IS a first.

More photos on Flickr.

Lutterworth tomorrow

We're back on the road tomorrow. This time we're taking Flockburgh to Lutterworth show, under 30 miles away, so not (hopefully) on the road for very long !

The layout hasn't done much since it's last trip out but I will be packing a bit more lead in some of the locos to see if it makes a difference. The Jinty certainly worked better last time after gaining weight faster than a fat bloke with a free pass to Greggs.

See you there !

Lutterworth MRC website

More details on UK Model shops (with satnav postcode)

York 2012

The 50th York Model Railway Exhibition. We wanted to visit this so much. For once we actually dropped hints in several quarters last year that we'd really like an invite. After all, we'd done the 40th and several others before that so we weren't exactly newbies. When the exhibition manager, Mike Cook, rang up and said "I understand you'd like to come to the 50th", we were well chuffed.

Sadly, Mike didn't make it to his 50th show - but we did and were determined to do him proud.

Flockburgh was titivated with several new details. I finally finished a number of jobs that I'd been meaning to do for some time ! We pitched up at the Racecourse and set out our stand. It turned out to be just below the exhibitors tea bar which meant much abuse from people hailing from Hull who refused to lower us refreshment on a string all weekend. Not to worry, all went OK after the hasty repairs and we departed for the B&B.

Now I know that most bloggers will write about the train sets on display, or bemoan the trade support. Not me. I know what you want, the behind the scenes stuff. Well, here it is. The food was a bit rubbish.

You  might look at me and think "There's a man who has a spoonful of All-Bran for breakfast and then goes out for a jog" but you'd be wrong. I like a plate of bacon, sausage, egg and beans occasionally. Mainly, when I'm staying somewhere where they will cook the stuff for me. I'm far too lazy to do it myself and anyway it's not special then is it ?

It certainly was this time. Delivered on a tea plate, which should have been a warning, one bite of the sausage restricted me to cereal and toast for the weekend. A discussion about the "Harvest Mom" cereal with another exhibitor revealed that although they are decorated to look Kellogs, they in fact hail from Aldi. The bacon tasted cheap and like the egg, was undercooked.

You might reasonably suggest I should shut up. After all, the other guests ate the stuff happily enough but then maybe I was still getting over the sandpaper towels after my shower...

Not to worry, we thought. We thought we'd eat at lunchtime, the restaurant has always been pretty good.

It is. So good it had run out of food at half two on Saturday and an hour earlier on Sunday. We ate at twelve on the Monday...

On the other hand there was a shining light in the comestibles. Sunday evening saw a celebratory buffet at the National Railway Museum. It was the 50th anniversary show, not something that many (any ?) other model railway exhibition can boast. Sadly, it was also a memorial to Mike who had booked the thing with the intention of attending himself. Glasses were raised to his memory. And before you moan, we had to pay for the beer ourselves. Nice pint too, if a bit lively but at least we could discuss the roof detail of LSWR coaches while we waited for it to settle.

The light but delicious buffet was followed by a truly delicious ginger and rhubarb syllabub. Not exactly the sort of food you associate with the railway museum ! Wandering around the hall with the place to ourselves was great, but City of Truro in light steam outside was magical. A nice meal, excellent company and the smell of steam engine, what better way to spend an evening ?

Enough of the eating, what about the show ?

Excellent. Mike had booked layouts he enjoyed for the most part and his choices were pretty good. Opposite us was the Gresley Beat and through gaps in the crowd (number were up this year) we could see the delights of a well modelled 82 wagon long train.

Behind us was the "Layout I want to build" from the show. Easingwold East is a tiny (6ft long) EM gauge minor station. Not exciting to watch, or to operate I suspect, but lovely to build. The plan was simple with only 4 points but I could see myself producing it. In OO, you could kit-build the structures simply enough and it wouldn't take up much space. Pottering around with some small engines looked fun too.

Trade wise we had a good choice. I'm on the lookout for projects and picked up a couple. York isn't a show full of box-shifers, much to the chagrin on some on forums, you get some decent independents instead. I have a definite hankering for O gauge after looking at some of the models on display. My soldering iron trembles at the possibilities...

Our efforts seemed appreciated. All day, every day, there were interesting questions to be answered. The photographic backscene seemed to be the subject on peoples minds, closely followed by the couplings. And if I had a pound for everyone who said "What a lovely scale" I could have bought the Garratt off Baz that I resisted.

Not everyone was a happy bunny. If you insist on telling me everything that has gone wrong as it's going wrong then don't be surprised if I suggest you might like to go and look at another layout. And when I say that, I mean it. If you don't take the hint, be prepared for some of the dullest operation you will ever see. Not that doing this works, people like that seem to stick to the barrier like chewing gum to a good pair of jeans...

We drove back very tired but with the feeling that this was a show Mike would have been proud of. The racecourse floor is hard, even with a square of carpet to stand on, and three days is surprisingly long to play trains (I'm getting old) but all of this was worth it to be the owner of the plaque you see at the top of this post. York is a special show. It's old-fashioned in many ways but I would never turn down the opportunity to attend. I'll even have rubbish breakfasts and exfoliating towels and not moan. Well, not much anyway.

You want to look at some models, well here are the photos.

Amersham Today

All being well, we'll be spending today at the Amersham Model Railway Exhibition showing off Flockburgh again. We don't do many one day shows, but this one is just down the M40 so it should be too long a day.

To be honest, we didn't bother putting the layout away after York. That can be done on the way home tonight.

Of course there was a little work - the rolling stock has been tweaked a bit as there are a few repairs required after the 3-day extravaganza. Mostly this is coupling bars pulling off or links vanishing. Neither are jobs I like to do at shows, spare wagons are a much more sensible option. At least, that's my excuse for building so many of them !

More details of Amersham show on UK Modelshops Website

Waiting times

Another question for you - How long should a passenger train stay in the station on a model railway ?

On Flockburgh, the passenger service alternates between the goods trains. It's purpose is to give the operator time to sort out the freight service in the fiddle yard. Thus, a 1:100 scale passenger has about a minute or so to get on board and find a seat.

This short delay seems to perturb some of our viewers who go into "nothingismovingonthislayoutwhydoesnothingevermoveonrailwaysatthisstupidshow" mode. You can feel the disaproval of the crowd. Presumably this is because they have never travelled by train so don't realise that the things actually stop at stations. Or that they would rather be watching a model running like a hampster in a wheel.

I like to think that a short wait in the platform gives the layout a bit of rythm to its operation. Sometimes there is frnetic shunting, sometimes a pause to listen to the birds and look at the scenery.

What do you think ?

Last minute repairs to the locking bolt

As I type, we've just returned from York and after nearly three hours behind the wheel, and three days of the show, I'm too knackered to blog it properly, so that will have to wait for later in the week.

However, the trip nearly had to be cancelled at the last minute. Unpacking the layout to load it in the car, we discovered that somehow, the bolt that locks the fiddle yard in position was broken and in the process, lifted several inches of track. Quite how this happened, I don't know but without that bolt, the electrical connection and more importantly, the alignment of the tracks doesn't happen.

To make matters more interesting, we found this at 9:30 in the morning on Friday. The show closes for setting up at 5:30pm the same day and we were 3 hours away and had other plans for the morning.

The bolt is square section K&S brass tube running in more of the same. It is soldered to some PCB sleeper strip on the basis that this should allow the two halves of the outer tube to align and let the inner one slide. The resulting arrangement obviously isn't very strong.

My repair involved replacing the sleeper trips with a slab of PCB. This is stronger but slightly thicker so first it had to be thinned from the back with the power sander. Not easy or precise but it seemed to work. The bolt outer tube is attached with solder and heated with my gas torch - the only way of getting enough heat into the joint to make the metal run. The brass was still warm nearly 5 minutes later !

All the emergency bodging worked. The bolt was stiffer than before but at least slid and aligned the tracks properly. After 3 days of use, it was becoming easier to slide too. Phew !

York Show

By the time you read this, hopefully we will be all set up and ready to play trains at the York Model Railway show. If you want to look us up. Flockburgh will be on the ground floor of the racecourse. Stand number 5 if you are looking through the programme.

If you are visiting, please drop in and say hello. As usual, it's always nice to meet readers of this blog, excellent fellows that you all are.

York Show Website

3mm Post Office van

I can't resist posting a picture of the finished PO van. A little bit of digging on the interweb provided me with the correct colour scheme, or at least what I think is the correct one.

All this surfing revealed that people who preseve these things don't all paint them in the same colours. Maybe the local depots had a different take on the correct livery but I doubt it. The Post Office was always a pretty strict organisation.

Every example displayed a black bonnet and chrome grille but elsewhere there were some other bits in black around the windscreen. I pondered putting these in, my new Trumpeter brush was holding its fine point very well, but in such a tiny scale they could look a bit heavy.

Worse, the script "Royal Mail" over the crown on the side is either gold or black depending on whose version you are looking at. I went gold but can't be sure I'm right, the photo on the left would tend to suggest I am wrong. This is an area where I am sure the Postmaster General would have laid down the law.

Not to worry, the model looks nice enough. A little weathering courtesy of a thin wash of dark brown is all the dirt I needed. Some post washing lackey would doubtless have removed all the filth each day so there's no need to serious deposits.A little light much just highlights the detail.

3mm Society Morris 5cwt GPO van kit

Another goodie from the 3mm box is this whitemetal kit for a Morris Minor 5cwt GPO van. Produced by the 3mm Society, I think it will make a nice detail item for the end of Flockbrugh.

You might notice this week that I'm working on several projects in an effort to get the layout ready for York show at the weekend. As such , I need fast details. The sort of thing that is easy in 4mm scale but a lot tougher in a modelling scale such as this.

The good news is that for once, I have a quick project. All the parts are cleanly cast and go together very well. Assembly takes around 20 minutes with superglue and accelerator. All I have to do now is fit the headlamps, which will be a little tricky without any positive location aids, but doable.

If I want to quibble, the wheels are a bit chunky. More Chelsa tractor than vintage van, but I'll live with them since making proper wire wheels is beyond my abilities.

You'll probably say that these things were off the road by the time of my layout but I'm not so worried. Flockbrugh is a backwater and the Post Office haven't got around to replacing this one with a more modern Morris Minor.

Foden Steam lorry - Can I use it ?

Digging through my box of 3mm scale bit'n'pieces, I found this - a Whitemetal Foden Steam lorry.

There are a few issues with the model. The back end needs raising or the front dropping. At the moment it appears that someone has decided to "Pimp my steam lorry" and got the instructions for the suspension mixed up. I suppose I could put a load on the back that appears to be enormously heavy but I think just filing a bit off the front would be a more sensible scheme.

But is it worth it ? How late did these things stay in service ?

Flockburgh is set in the late 1950's and early to mid-60's. Now I know that some vehicles lasted longer on the road than others but I suspect I'm stretching things a lot to keep this one. I mean, when I was a kid in the late 1970's we stayed every year for our holidays in a small Scottish village where the milk was delivered by horse and cart but that was an anomaly.

Anyone care to recall a reason I shouldn't put this back in the box ?

What a difference some scale makes

Digging through my box of stuff for the 3mm layout, I found a little plastic VW bus bought from 3SMR. According to the packet, it's 3mm scale but not the UK version which is 1:100 but Johnny Foreigners flavour, 1:120.

Not to worry I thought, it's probably going to be nearly right. Perhaps a little small but not something anyone will notice if I don't sit it near a person.

So, I spent a pleasant evening painting the model in an approximation of the classic VW colour scheme of cream over sealing-wax red. The windows filled up with Krystal Klear for flush glazing looked better than the very recessed supplied glass. Even a painted VW emblem on the front looked the part.

Into the box it went and off to Basingstoke. Once everything was set up I put my new model in place. Instantly I could see just how big a difference there is between 1:100 and 1:120. That bus is tiny. So it's back in the box for the time being.

Basingstoke 2012

I'll confess to being less than enthusiastic about attending this show before we went. The paperwork was on the late side and I didn't worry about chasing it up as I wasn't too worried if the trip fell through. Basingstoke isn't a town that fills me with the urge to visit - I doubt many people chose to holiday there and all I recall from my only other visit was that there was a long and complicated journey to a place with a shopping centre with roof-top car park.

A few weeks ago, things began to look up. At Doncaster we met the exhibition manager, Jeremy Bagshaw. He made the effort to come and find us to have a chat and apologise for the paperwork delays which were due to a few changes of personnel within the team. Better still, he made a real effort to stay in touch.

On arrival at the show, a relatively simple journey it turned out with the Satnav picking a good route, we wandered into the hall and accosted someone waving a tape measure. He quickly pointed us to our spot which was well marked showing both layout and barrier lines. We were in a sports hall, the floor of which had been covered with a rubbery sheet to protect the surface. It did this well and as an added advantage stopped dropped little parts from bouncing too far when dropped as I found out later.

A quick set up was followed by a wander where we found tea was being served along with free fairy cakes ! Now that is a good thing. OK, so they were on the tiny side but you don't look a gift cake in the mouth. At least the L&WMRS members with Meacham didn't when we delivered their refreshments.

Accommodation was around the ring-road at the Hilton Hotel. Apparently this isn't a crazy as you might think, the place was pretty much empty apart from us exhibitors so I bet a cracking deal had been struck. Show to hotel were less than ten minutes apart on fast roads. Truth is, we are aware there is a town of Basingstoke but never saw any sign of it all weekend.

Saturday arrived and we started to play trains. Being in the hall furthest from the door, it took a few minutes before we saw anyone. When they arrived the trade was more interesting as is normal at this time. Soon we had an audience and amazingly, for a Saturday morning, chat. Real people talking to us and asking interesting questions. Just what we love. Better still this carried on through the weekend.

Saturday evening saw a quiz in the local indoor bowls club. This was run by the treasurer and won by the exhibition manager. Something going on here we all thought ! And as for the question about flightless birds, if it had mentioned swimming, I would have known about the penguins. After all, I've seen Happy Feet 2 twice ! On the plus side, for the first time ever, I got a football question right - What nickname is shared by a football club and a WAG ?

Sunday was much like Saturday. Sadly the numbers seemed a bit hit by the good weather driving people to garden centres but there was a rush towards lunchtime and there were apparently respectable amounts of people in the door.

Our layout ran amazingly well. The extra little bit of track added last week makes a huge difference to the way it works. As well as allowing sensible running around with the diesels, the headshunt sees lots of use now as the brake van dumped in there can be left a long way down and out of the way. That means shunting isn't carried out over the crossover resulting in an improvement in running.

Thanks to all those blog readers and 3mm Society members who dropped in to say hello. None of you brought any cake I noticed...



Layout wise, the show was mixed. Some I liked, some not. Just like any other show really. It's not helped that I have weird tastes in trainsets. The prize for Layout Phil Would Like to Build goes to the N gauge Kidmore Manor. A tiny roundy-roundy with loads of delicious detail in the scenic section. Not the most exciting model to operate, as I found out for a few minutes, but great to build. Mind you, no one told me about the working signals which would have provided some switch wobbling action !

Second prize goes to Owoh Nine Wells Watercress farm. I like the pun and I like the weird prototype. OK, so it's a single line in a box file, but that is certainly different.

Mention must be made of the fantastic modern image 7mm scale rolling stock on the layout next to us on Invergeachy. I don't think I've seen better quality modelling for a long while. Maybe I could have lived without the sound which seemed a bit distorted in the DMU's and earned a cheer from the room when it was switched off, but the smoke effects were clever. The operator switched them off as a loco approached me in case I didn't like the smell (I was hanging over the model with the camera) but as I explained to him quietly later, it was nicer than the aroma of the person standing next to me.

Trade wise I picked up some bits and pieces. There are some projects for magazine work and a new tool or two. Blog readers also have a treat coming up with one purchase. Watch this space for more.

Anyway, it was a good show. A very good show. We were well looked after by a friendly club. After all our initial scepticism, I'd now say we'd be happy to take an layout if they wanted us. Mind you, with over 10 enquiries from other clubs, we might be a bit busy in the future.

See more pictures on Flickr.

Souvenir of Basingstoke

Basingstoke show was excellent - I'll fill in a longer post tomorrow once I've sorted out the photos and unscrambled my brain a bit.

In the meantime, here's the best buy I've made at a show in a long while. Regular readers will know that our 3mm scale layout, Flockburgh, arrives at exhibitions complete with a row of souvenirs in an effort to impart more seaside air than simply having a beech, bit of sea and some beach hits. Enough so you might be tempted to check your shoulders for guano...

These are unearthed from car boot sales, seaside resorts and now the bus enthusiasts stand at Basingstoke model railway exhibition. The truly horrible key rack I am holding in the photo was picked up for 50p

Bargain. All I need to do is add the town name (Flockburgh, not Basingstoke) and hang it on the fiddle yard. I'll even keep the photo as it looks just how I imagine the beach on our little bit of Scotland to be.

(Thanks to Chris Nevard for the use of the photo)

Ready for Basingstoke

OK, the track is laid, ballasted and blasted with lots of lovely static grass. I've wire a link in to the main board so we get that electricity stuff in the rails to allow the locos to work. It seems to work OK so we'll give it a go.

As you read this, we should be in sunny Basingstoke. All being well, there will have been an adequate breakfast and then a pleasant drive to the venue. The wheels will be cleaned and the layout operate as expected.

There will be many people "helpfully" point out that we don't have any buffer stops in front of the chapel because they want to show off and don't think we are clever enough to realise this. I will try to be patient when I explain that it's on the "to do" list and will be completed.

By lunchtime this might be with the added suggestion that if they had ever built anything themselves and not just spent their hobby time salivating over the pictures of choo-choo's in adverts in whatever magazine they prefer, then thy might understand that it takes time to do some jobs, especially when you have to make everything.

Alternativly we will have abandoned our trip somewhere around Oxford in a traffic jam and given the whole lot up as a bad job.

Whatever, I'll do my best to let you know next week.

In the meantime, why not visit the Basingstoke Show website. Then come along, say hello, don't mention the buffer stops and bring cake.

Getting ready for ballast

The new track has taken a little leveling. I also managed to get the uncoupling magnet in the wrong place at my first attempt. Bits of thin cardboard have been slipped under the track to sort of both of these problems and wagons can now be shoved back and forth along the lines. The front one seems especially smooth, which is good news as it's going to be seeing a lot of use in the future.

Positioning magnets is a bit of an art. The allow the coupling to do their thing, the wagon must be pushed beyond the magnet so the hook can come up again. With a building at the ends of the track this requires the uncoupling position to be on the old board. The alternative is a wagon pushed to the wall with its coupling over the magent. Guess how I know that !

Once happy, we gap the track and cut the baseboard joins with a slitting disk. Droppers for electricity are soldered in place and rail joints bonded, something I've not done elsewhere and sometimes regretted.

A waft of primer and couple of coats of Railmatch underframe dirt and it's ready for ballast. A sliver of plastic packing between the boards will hopefully stop them sticking together whilst only leaving a very tiny gap in the stones.

Achieving flat trackwork

The inter-baseboard gap might have been filled but it showed up another problem - the ground level between the two boards included a step. Not a problem for the scenery but those finescale locos are as good as (proper, pre-CGI) Daleks at working the stairs so this needed fixing.

Digging out an old chisel and honing the edge on a stone, I set about shaving the extension top away. I didn't use a best chisel for this as I wasn't entirely sure what I'd find in there. A stray nail wouldn't do the cutting edge any favours.

After half an hour I'd stripped away several layers of plywood and had a feeling the base was below the level of the trackbed bottom. The resulting surface isn't pretty but I'm sure the track won't mind too much. As long as those rail tops are level and smooth, the trains will run.

The short panels of PCB track are just long enough to allow us room for an extra wagon. A couple of sleepers removed from the end of the old track should let the join be tidy. Hopefully all this can be done without too much damage to existing scenery.