Things are beginning to fall into place. Most of my 7/8ths stock is out of storage, which has reminded me that I can be quite a good modeller, at times.

I'm beginning to assemble some stock ready for the arrival of Gerald Road, helped by a visit to Trident Trains who were very good to deal with. Next up is fitting DG couplings to the stock.

The garden has been tidied up a bit. I'm disappointed with the state Teddy is in, so soon after a rebuild. It is something I'm going to have to address.

A bit of good news is that our carpenter thinks a space saver staircase is an option for access to the loft.

My thinking around layouts is still settling down I forsee a short period of building more micro-layouts , if only to display some stock. 

TAoC baseboards are now in the loft, and I still hanker after building it to show it could be done as Roy Link envisaged it. 

Meanwhile I've been out and about in London, which means I travelled from Stoke station for the first time in many years. The last time was after a visit to a client some 28 years ago, when our company booked me into the worst hotel I've ever stayed in.

You could argue that it is a boring station these days, but I still rather like it.

Now Breath

 

Or that was the week that was.

And what a week it has been. with the mortgage offer deadline dangerously close we exchanged and completed in two days, during which I had to demolish the entire ELR.

So here we are with a much bigger house, on the fringe of Stoke on Trent, and a much smaller garden.

Then, there is the model railway room in the attic. On the plus side, it is 22ft x 8ft. On the downside, it doesn't have standing headroom, and this is the access.

So, what are my plans?

I've sold two of the wagons from the ELR, and I'm desperate to get rid of the lifted 16mm rail to replace it with a portable line.

There are a lot of options for 7/8ths and 16mm lines in the garden, more than I realised when we viewed. I might even build some small dioramas in the less accessible places.

Indoors I'm torn. I've committed myself to n gauge by buying Gerald Road to reconfigure it as a new Tanat Valley-based line. 

Being so close to the Caldon Canal I'm keen to build an OO industrial line, with a Cromford and High Peak vibe. Also in OO I want to get the East Coast light railway out of my system. 

I still want to build a simple OO9 layout to use my Festiniog/Penhryn locos on, and simple is the keyword.

As predicted Flemish Quay suffered badly during the move, but nothing terminal.

Then there is the big project. What that will be will depend on how I come to terms with access to the loft.