very nice train collection!

Enjoyed the update Nat. Johnathan has already asked the question I had about painting the insulfrog points. It does make a huge difference and you've done a good job at getting a realistic effect. If you have a multimeter you might just want to test to check electrical continuity over the plastic bit of the frog - there shouldn't be any of course. Occasionally metallic looking paints have some metal in them to give the effect (not sure what it is). I am sorry not have replied to your earlier request for things I'd like to see in the running session but I was more than happy with your selection. It must have taken a while to get that recorded and I did like having the three trains running one behind the other. It also really showed how your layout is taking shape and becoming a real place. Stephen

Fantastic running session loving the 52s can't wait to see more 👍🏻

that is a lot of rolling stock, great layout

Hi Nat, I don't like the look of Insulfrogs either and agree they stand out like a sore thumb (on any layout). I was surprised at how effective painting them has been in making them look loads better. Out of interest have you tested whether or not the silver paint is electrically conductive (I guess a small gap could solve that problem if it is)? I also wonder how durable the paint will be over time with wheels regularly going over it, but even if a thin line gets rubbed off it's bound to still look much nicer than all plastic. Those facia panels have made a big positive difference - it's nice to see them most of the way around now! It's been a while since I've commented, but I've enjoyed seeing the various bits of progress over several months now - it's all coming together nicely 🙂

A very impressive loco collection there Nat.

Good morning Nat! That's an impressive roster of locos you've collected! You need more BR Blue though! :)) I do like how you've acquired locos from across the eras though, which is something I consider every time I see a manufacturer bring out a new modern image loco, such as Revolution's class 66! The A4's are probably my favourite steamers too, although I also have a soft spot for Black 5's and 9F's! I've got Sir Nigel Gresley on preorder too, in its preserved livery of Express Blue - blue of course! :) All the best, Ian.

THat's and excellent representation of steam traction Nat. The London Transport Pannier would not have been under LMS. London Transport was its own public transport organisation although it did share some tracks with some the Big Four and BR and still does with Network Rail (as Transport for London). The range of diesel locos and multiple units is very impressive. Stephen

Just catching up on videos after my weekend away. You have been busy Nat and it was really good to see in the running session all your efforts bearing fruit as the layout takes shape. Just about to watch the meet the fleet video so no doubt I'll get a look at the TINGS purchases. Stephen

You're making some excellent progress Nat! Love that you're making the hillside elements removable, which is something I'm hoping to achieve myself! Congratulations on the subscriber count, I see you're already halfway to 300 now! I like your new additions from TINGS, especially those wagons! Can't wait to see how you progress... Cheers, Ian.

GOING BACKWARDS ? Not impressed with todays layouts. I had N scale large mainline exhibition layouts 30 years ago, with fully functioning signalling that operated exactly as per real life, track circuits are unavoidable for this (which cost just 1p each) !!!! Scratchbuilt pointwork with realistic curvature (commercial products are virtually all unrealistically too sharp), with the track plan complying with real life rules concerning the positioning of points. Fully functioning overhead catenary, with some Electric locos actually collecting current from the overhead wire, with no issues crossing baseboard joins ! Both my German & Japanese N scale layouts appeared in a number of Modelling magazines from Britain's (Continental Modeller) to Japan !!! NOTE: The expansive German Sommerfeldt range, provides accurate fully functioning Catenary equipment for many European Railway types of Catenary including Britain in N, HOm & HO/OO scales ! The first layout seen, has a track plan that looks like a toy train set. Long dead straights with absurd 90 degree curves. No comprehension of signalling, and what appears to be Modern overhead EMU's, with no catenary in sight, and steam era scenery. What all this reveals is today's modellers appear to have absolutely no comprehension of the complex rules covering the operation of real railways. And DCC seems to be simply making the whole issue a million times worse, and far more expensive. It's simply a game of "Toy train Sets" today !!!!

Looking good mate can't wait see the hillside develop 👍🏻👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Good morning Nat! Looked like it was a good show! Enjoyed seeing the Rapido 'Peak' samples, as I've got my pre-order in for a class 45! Cheers, Ian.

Good morning Nat! The 37 looked really good, and seems to run much better than mine when running slowly on DC! I think I'm going to have a similar issue with that viaduct! I'm planning on using the Metcalfe kit but don't think I've got enough height from the top of the foam down to the baseboard, so some surgery will be required!!! All the best, Ian.

I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like a Class 37. The viaduct looks good where it is, and it was good to see the running session which also showed off your wiring of that section to store the class 68. Stephen

Good progress being made Nat. To remove the rapido coupling on a Farish 66 you need to pull the whole bogie out. Once out use a tiny Jewellers screwdriver to remove the plastic frame around the wheels. Be careful as you remove the frame as the front part holds in a tiny spring behind the Rapido coupling. Cheers Euan

very nice

Nice update Nat, the viaduct looks really good - I do like the Metcalfe kits. Thanks for sharing. Chris

Good evening Nat! It's interesting how you isolated the sidings to allow multiple locos to be run in the area! I hear people say that DCC is too complicated all of the time, but this appears to be way more involved as this particular problem just doesn't exist in DCC layouts! I enjoyed the show segment! I'm off to GETS next month, so this was an nice appetiser and has got me enthusiastic about my visit! :) All the best, Ian.

It was interesting to see how you deal with wiring to allow you to have isolated sidings. I thought the use of the terminal blocks was very clever to give you so many options for routing locos while isolating others. The show looked a good one and I notice you lingered on the stand with the O gauge locos. I think if I moved away from N I would go to O. The O gauge layout at the show looked very good. Stephen

Hello Nat ! I see my compatriots are already subbed - so I'm late to the party so to speak. Neat bit of work on the border and embankments. Layouts ways come to life once the scenery starts to go in. Cheers Euan

Good morning Nat! I'm a great fan of using greyboard for many things, and while I use it for one of my backscene sections, I'd not considered using it at the front of the layout! I had been intending to use thin MDF, but now I'm reconsidering! The scenery is going to look awesome due to your perseverance in creating some excellent structure for it around the layout! Looking forward to seeing what you get up to next! All the best, Ian.

Hi Nat, you're making great progress on the layout 🤩 You should give Delux Materials Tacky Wax a go on your droopy couplings 🤭 it's non permanent , a tiny bit will keep the coach attached and not effect the movement around corners 👍 Very best wishes from the Emerald Isle ☘️

All that effort to get the structure right is really going to pay off when you start doing the scenic work Nat. A you say it's going to look so good around that corner with scenic material in and the track ballasted. I admire your perseverance cutting all that 3mm card and shaping it. Before you paint any of it I suggest you experiment to see how it responds to paint, especially if it is water based. I came a cropper early on when I was building Grey Havens with card covered foam board that turned up like stale bread after I put some paint on it. I think because you have used 3mm card and provided you don't use too watery a paint it will be fine, but better safe than sorry. Stephen

Best class of steam engine right here fellas

Hi Nat, sometimes you can pair up couplings that may be odd heights or check to see if this coupling has a spring in which case removing and refitting can work. I have a City of Birmingham coronation class, a beautiful runner too. All the best.

Hi Nat! Loved those kebab skewer strengthening aids! Great that you can move large sections of landscape around to work on! I'm definitely looking to do something similar on Shelfington in various areas! Looks like you've got some nice new stock! Shame about the coupling issue! It looks like the coupler on the tender is sitting too low! I can only mirror what others have said about using some sort of magnetic coupling! I've also had success with Blu Tack and Black Tack, although that was more about keeping the coupler in its pocket rather than making the connection stronger! Was surprised that the loco with the DCC chip ran at all, but good to see you sorted that with a blanking plate! All the best, Ian.

Lots of new locos nat. The Coronation class loco looks very good but alas suffers from the curse of the saggy coupling. Looking at the shots you took I am not sure the coupling itself is sagging very much, but the coupling pocket sits lower than the pocket on the carriage and so any sag makes it difficult to couple. Not a lot you can do to put that right. I have seen on the N Gauge Forum people suggesting to use some Tacky Wax if you encounter this problem to hold the coupling in place. It is made by Deluxe and often used to fix figures to layouts especially where you might want not to fix permanently. Alternatively y could change the coupling either to a dapol easy shunt or a magnetic coupling, but as Endoor says that would limit both which carriages the loco could pull and which locos could pull any carriage. Personally I would want to be swapping over couplings too often. Stephen

Hi Nat, nice work on the scenic strengthening! I think I too would go for Hunt magnetic couplings between the new steamer and the Pullmans, but that wouldn't be any good if you want to mix what it pulls, or what other locos pull that train. I imagine the surprise decoder in your EWS Class 66 wasn't getting enough power for its circuits to work until you had about 5 Volts at the rails - I think that (or maybe as much as 7V) is the minimum level decoders have to work at to be NRMA DCC-compliant - so that would be why it would suddenly spring into life.

Hi Nice update there, good progress and nice loco's too. Thanks

get a hunt magnetic coupling for the tender and the brake coach. that's probably the easiest option.

nice train collection!

Hi, to join track lengths on a curve it works best if the joins on each rail are about 40 mm a part. So cutting one rail on each piece and the sliding them together keeps the track in the correct shape. I made the same error years ago and had it pointed out to me. I glued my track to the board with Copydex using track formers and weight to hold it in place for 30 minutes. Hope this helps.

terrific layout and well planned out. I can’t imagine trying to change brushes etc on an N gauge loco etc, but you can certainly squeeze so much more in. Thanks for sharing Regards Charlie

Well done Nat - excellent progress - very hard to maintain that curved join on the track - we have all been there. Regards Steve

Morning Nat! Great to see the layout growing with the branchline now connected! Must be very satisfying to get the trains running on the new track, even if it's only temporary for now! Loved the solution for implementing the hard standing with the multiple layers of greyboard! Very well thought out! All the best, Ian.

great progress, and love those green coaches, nice collection

Real progress there Nat. It's always a great feeling when you get a train to run to or from a new part of the layout. Stephen

I went there!

Hi Nat! As you know, I love those loco boxes! The only problem is that I seem to fill them up too quickly! I wasn't too bothered whether the laser burns were inside or outside, as it was always my intention to paint them... one day! Lol! Another thing I'm always putting off is sorting out my couplings! I have a love hate relationship with the standard Rapido couplings, but think I'll be changing to hunt couplings between pieces of rolling stock, and Dapol couplings between loco and rolling stock! Again, one day it'll happen! Cheers, Ian.

Hi Nat. The couplings do make a great difference especially in the ease of use in coupling and uncoupling. Well done in acquiring the skill to work around a camera. Stephen

Hi Nice video, and informative, I have been thinking about buying some of those WWS Loco storage boxes but I saw another video, on them showing that a cl 08 would only fit in upside down as the box isn't quite wide enough for the coupling rods (did you have this issue?). Also the Hunt Coupling magnets are a great boon for most model railways and I have started changing some of my wagons to them. Thanks

A very nice cat, the couplings make a big visual difference. The boxes are great too. Interesting I have both the warship and the Western, my farish warship really smooth but the western is a bit noisy and jerky. How do you find yours?

Hi Nat. Nice adjustments to the track layout. What was the blue-coloured screwdriver-like tool that you used to push in the track pins, please?

Hi Nat! That was some impressive track work skills! The sweeping curves look so much more effective now that they've been brought closer together, and the trains looked great traversing them! I wouldn't worry too much about uploading, we'll all still be here when the next video drops! All the best, Ian.

Hi Nat, the new alignments look nice - as you say, it looks nicer when the curves all sweep around together in a similar way. It looks like you didn't have to do too much wrestling against the track either, which is a bonus!

Good to see the changes nat, which really improve the curves. The voyager and pendelino looked good going round them. Don’t worry about how frequently you can upload videos. Most people are working and can only put up videos from time to time as work gets done. We’ll still be here. Stephen

Just a question the fuel filling point should may be kept free rather than for storage, the changes though look good,

Hi Nat! Looks like you had a bit of a spending spree at MRS! Lol! I don't blame you! Don't think you'll be disappointed with the loco boxes! I'm already thinking about getting another couple! That DC controller is great too! You also got a nice little collection of wagons! I think that the magnetic couplers will be a great help, especially when moving the stock to and from the layout! Not sure what to suggest about the derailing Pendolino, other than check the back to backs as Stephen suggests! I'm off to the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, and hope I can pick up a few decent additions to Shelfington! Enjoy your new purchases! All the best, Ian.