97xx 9711 at Albion Yard

Today will be interesting. I’ll find out if the layout fits in the car. Breaking the layout down was entertaining as the mods listed in yesterdays post were sort of built one on top of the other, I knew how to take it apart when I started, but with the new backscene, fascia, wiring loom, legs, and lighting rig, it’s all ‘a bit different’ as it comes to bits. Today I’ve been scribbling letters and numbers on all the new components as they come off, and making a list of all the bits, new and old.

As the layout is as old as one of my daughters it’ll be intriguing to see if anyone recalls it in its earlier ‘fotopic’ days, the basic core of the layout has never changed, though I’ve been a serial building developer and mover throughout the period. Anyone who has had a layout for a while will know the project stagnates from time to time, this happened with Albion Yard too. With it now being ‘finished’ with the new display, I can see me actually installing it in the back of the garage to play with after the show, I’d assumed I’d bung it into ‘storage’, but the apearance now has made seriously consider using it rather than hiding it away. Also some of the locos like the one above, have had subtle alterations like the Shawplan ‘Heritage’ laser cut cab glazing fitted, all these sorts of modifications make the train set ‘new’ even for an old layout which this one is in my eyes, though this is its first show. What a difference a week can make.