Well, Chrissy was excellent. Good food, the family around and presents that were well directed. Shame about the flu that was about. The Hornby Dublo presents were an 0-6-2 GWR tank loco. This is a re-paint but on a genuine GWR chassis. Wonderful condition and a very good runner. The other loco was a City of London by Wrenn converted to 3 rail. Again it is in excellent condition with no marks on it at all. A very good runner but with the normal problem of getting through some of the points – not a concern. The third Dublo present was a Through Station, bridge and loading guage. Very good condition, won from Peter Davies on ebay and in my opinion a bit of a bargain, but don’t tell him. I have posted pictures of these items on the New Layout album. I also have a number of great pictures of some of the older locomotives which I will post soon as I think that they are an improvement on those already in the gallery. I also have posted a picture of 80033 which was the subject of an earlier acquisition.

The track testing continues and is now nearly there but still with the 2-6-4T’s showing a tendency to de-rail the front bogie.

The large radius curves arrived today and I can report were a bargain. They were in very good condition. 4 have been used to replace the line on the new extension. Two were used to replace those ones which seemed to have a pitch point, and the last two were used to replace two standard curves which I has bodged to act as large radius curves using a quarter straight rail to keep the distance between the rails. I now need to run those trains which had problems previously to see if they are now OK. I am hoping that we have reduced some of the outstanding problems. One problem which is more difficult to overcome are the diamond crossings. I have 3 on the layout and they are a pain. The converted Wrenn loco’s lose contact going over them as does the Castle and the 2-6-4T’s have a tendency to jump their front bogie when they go through them. I think that they are recognised to be a problem so if any readers out there have come up with a solution please post a comment.

Three of the large radius curves that came with the job lot I bought in the Summer are the cause of problems. One seems to have a pinch point in the rails which causes the trucks especially to wobble and then uncouple – no obvious problem on close inspection but there is one there. Another couple do not fit well and again can lead to bogie wheels jumoing off the track. This problem will hopefully be overcome by the purchase of 8 large radius curves from ebay last weekend. These were bought for £12 including postage which again was a great price – need to look at the state of the rails before declaring them a bargain. They looked good in the pictures but that can be misleading as every one knows who buys from ebay. Otherwise its the points that continue to be their normal problem but I have enough to change out so slowly we are getting there. The CoBo now runs OK on the down line but refuses to reverse over points to get out of a siding so there is still work to be done there. We are getting there as the BR advert used to say, but they were privatised before they got there.

Visited a small local toy fair on Sunday. One purchase that can’t be discussed yet as it will be a Christmas present. But a did buy a Standard tank 4MT to add to the many I already have. This one is a little special for me at least being the two rail body on a three rail chassis. The two rail body carries the number 80033. This engine was used on the Victoria to Oxted line via East Croydon. When I used to go to school in London I would always try and catch this, the last steam train running out of Victoria, at I think 7 minutes past the hour from Platform 17. This platform was the furthest away from the main concourse presumably to reduce smoke pollution. I would then change at East Croydon for my onward journey. On reflection I think that the Golden Arrow was still pulled by steam during this period but the Oxted line lasted longer. So a little bit of the past is re-lived on the layout. The loco was a bargain at £30 considering that it is in pretty good condition, with few chips but weathered BR logo. The number is bright and in good condition. The other purchases were a few more rails and a BR (SR) green composite coach. This is not in brilliant condition with some tarnishing around the windows but this doesn’t show when you are about two feet away and was also a bargain at £18. These are over £50 when mint and boxed and who can tell the difference when they rattle around the layout. Mint and boxed is definitely the investment route but if you want to run them all you do is devalue the investment and leaving them tucked away in thier box seems to be a poor way of playing trains

I had forgotten how long it took me to get the original layout to run properly. Now everytime I run a new train we have derailment and disconnect problems. The Co-Co won’t run at all probably due to its slightly oversize traction tyres, so they will have to be changed. The Flying Scotsman de-railed its tender, the 2-6-4T derailed its bogie, the LMS train coal trucks de-railed and de-coupled etc etc. Points have been changed, new sections of track added, changed, moved etc. Every time there is a new train there is a new problem. I now remember the problems that I had before and they are all reappearing. Its the fact that the track is 50 years old and probably some time in its history has either been trod on or screwed down or both causing it to be less than true. This is combined with the fact that the transition from the oval layout to the new sections are at an angle which makes fitting the correct sections very difficult. The problems continue and no end is in sight at the moment. Although the running track has its own problems they pale into insignificance compared to the points. These are the classic derailers and looking at them there seems to be no obvious reason for it. I change them but then forget to isolate them form the rest resulting in them being used again – I must get a better system. The problem is that sometines they work well in a different place on the track so its best not to throw them away.

The latest pictures showed the initial layout of the track, with the next job highlighted as being to test run the trains to ensure minimal problems. The real problem was that when I began to populate the tracks with engines and rolling stock a terrible realisation occurred – the new layout wouldn’t house all the stuff that I have already. Nightmare, the main reason for the extension was to give more sidings for more trains and now I had less. Additional sidings have now been added in every place possible and teh net result is that there is now siding space for more trains – but not a lot. The initial running has identified many problems and it is a very slow process changing points and lines to make it all happen. Still it is frustrating fun and one day all will run, reverse into sidings etc without massive pileups and de-railments.

The new rails were duly picked up on Sunday from the train fair. I have now added the sidings and the pictures posted shows the layout without the debris on it. Not sure that it is finalised but it is a workable set up.

I have opened a new album to chart progress of the new extended layout. I am pleased to report that it has successfully uploaded 1024 sized pictures so quality is good. I have also ordered the file names so that the pictures will show the progress of the layout as time passes. All took a bit of effort so I hope that you think that it is worth it.
Extra rails to be picked up tomorrow, hopefully, so further progress can be made. Then each train has to be run on the running tracks to make sure that they work without derailing or uncoupling. Then it all has to be repeated on each siding. Its a tough life playing with trains!

The Wrenn City of Glasgow duly arrived today. It is in very good plus condition, with no chips, rubs or missing lining. The Box is pretty good too. No pictures as it has gone to Mike King for conversion to 3 rail. This will probably take a week or so.
The layout planning on the extensions has begun. A continuous 2 rail running track has been laid with some thought for where sidings will go. The angle between the original ovals and the extensions makes for some difficulties as the HD rails are very inflexible. I am not sure that we are at all close to the final set up but at least I am putting rails together. I am currently out of rails but Brian Godwin has rung to say that he has the rails I need so I just need to collect them. Initial pictures to be posted soon, probably in a new album which will follow the progress of the new extension.

The weather here has been terrible with rain all day and rain and sleet this morning. Just the day to be in the workshop working on the extension project. It has all gone very well. The connection to the old oval has been removed and the area cleaned of grass and gravel and the painted

The carriage sidings have also been removed completely and again the grass, gravel etc has been removed and the area painted.

The new extension is awaiting the rails.

A comparison of the carriage sidings before

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