Innovation comes courtesy of the numerous Arduino-based projects. Starting with the replacement shuttle control system, followed by the signal sequencer and the turntable control. It's been fun learning and revisiting computer programming after years of playing with a ZX Spectrum!
Plenty of restoration this year, 2016 began with a number of restoration projects, including the scrapheap locos and the City of Liverpool restoration (well creation really as it was a London)
Corfe Castle was soon brought to life...
Swiftly followed by Lulworth Castle...
Hogwarts Castle was a mixture of restoration and innovation as the nameplates and tender graphics had to be home made, this is where the Silhouette Portrait came in handy...
And was then put to use to cut the windows & doors for a number of coach projects, including a second blue & grey EMU set...
I continue to buy up scrap and hopeless looking items...
I think this 8F gets the award for most playworn locomotive restored!
This was also the first time that I'd stripped a locomotive to this level and managed to rebuild.
This even led to a request to repaint a locomotive for someone.
We did our first marquee events this year, also completing our first four day show, putting the rolling stock under plenty of pressure and with surprisingly few casualties. The extra effort involved in setting up on uneven ground ensured that the layout actually ran better than usual!
Probably the biggest achievements this year are the completion of the motorised turntable project. A project that took many months of research to complete...
Also some ingenious modification of an old signal to house the LED...
But this was nothing compared to the amount of work that was then required to install the turntable into the layout...
Then there was the replacement of the rear section of the upper loop. A project that was finally completed having been put off so many times...
It's also been a year of making the layout pay its way (or trying to) so a number of locos have departed this year, mainly locos that were seeing little or no use on the layout. Most selling for a profit, with the spare blue EMU making the most profit of all.
This hasn't stopped me purchasing locos of course, and having had the opportunity to run one of Nigel Smith's beautiful prototype Deltics earlier in the year, he was swiftly commissioned to produce one for me...
Finally, at the end of the year, the Berlingo departed to be replaced by a more suitable and convenient method of transportation...
First job of 2017 will be to get this racked and ready for the next year of exhibitions.
We've found ourselves exhibiting further afield this year, and next year we'll be travelling even further with the confirmation of the Warley exhibition next November. There will be plenty of work going on next year to ensure that everything is perfect for the biggest exhibition we've ever done.
We continue to attract positive comments with our "toy trains" mentality to running our layout and our obsession with constantly having things running, This can be challenging, especially with old rolling stock and two-man operation but it keeps us on our toes. The side-operated configuration of our layout also means that we're able to converse with the general public quite easily and the bookings continue to come in.
This site continues to grow in popularity, well over 1000 hits per month is the norm these days.
So as I reflect on 2016, it's been another year of hard graft, mixed with some great fun, 2017 will be more of the same I imagine.
So as 2016 ticks away to its end, it's time once again to say a massive thank you to all the clubs that have allowed us to exhibit this year and the paying public who've come to see us (one gentleman this year travelled from Yorkshire to Dorset to come and see us) and the clubs who have already booked us for 2017 and 2018. Thanks also to the regular viewers of this site and the Youtube page, you clearly have nothing better to do with your time!
We'll do it all again next year...
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