Show's over!

After months of preparation, it was all over in a flash - two days of solid train running and trying to keep two running loops in constant use, not easy at the best of times but throw in old stock and old track and there will always be derailments, un-couplings etc. Very difficult to hold a conversation with people who take an interest in what I'm doing while also keeping an eye out for things going awry.

As for casualties... there weren't really any - Just a broken wire on the SR EMU which was re-soldered within 10 minutes and a minor fault with the brush spring on Dorchester that will need some further attention. City of Birmingham was rather under-powered, I suspect this is a magnet problem as it seemed barely able to pull much more than its own weight and was stalling rather than slipping. The neo magnet in this one is different to all the others I've used and was in my previous Gresley chassis, which was also under-powered. I'd also forgotten to check the tyres on the surviving green Deltic - two were missing and the other two were too big, so this one spent the weekend in the sidings, along with Cardiff Castle as I ran out of time to replace the rear coupling.

Everything else held up really well and it's so nice to come home with the box of rolling stock in complete working order.

Nice to see so many people taking an interest in my layout, we never intended to show it and it's debatable whether it will get another public showing for a while.

None of the steam locos would double-head using the old A3 controllers, they just couldn't cope with the power consumption. Even powering up slowly wouldn't do it, however the Bo-Bo's, Co-Bo's and two of the Deltics weren't a problem at all. Personal favourite moment of the weekend has to be the double-headed Deltics pulling a rake of 17 coaches, which they managed with ease - after around 40 minutes of running, both Deltics were just warm, not hot to the touch and it was great to see my new Royal Scots Grey get a good run.

Brighton Belle also performed really well, great considering the amount of time that's gone into trying to make it run properly on 3 rail. I  sandwiched 3 Dublo Pullman coaches between the two end cars to re-create the 5 car Brighton Belle set, of course the names and numbers don't match the real thing but when it's running it was hard to make out - only a BB purist would know!

The portable layout is now safely stored away ready for its next outing at the end of October. As I spent so much time and energy getting all my rolling stock in good order it means I have very few projects to distract me from working on the loft layout and now that Autumn is nearly here, it's a bit more comfortable working in the loft.

Deltics in action with 17 coaches...

Lots of pictures to upload shortly.