No things haven't suddenly progressed! The improved weather has led to distractions in the form of the garden railway. Taliesin was steamed at breakfast. It can be seen here at the as yet to be named station next to the pond. Its not often the loco runs with such a light load, but this run was to test the track and check that the sprung points were working after the winter. 16mm scale modelling has been my main focus in the last decade with 5.5mm taking over in the last year or so…...

The brand bright four wheeler was one of the first carriages I built, it doesn't get much running these days as the bogie coach rakes tend to take favour.

With the completion of the fiddle yard, Welsh Pony has been able to run around a train for the first time. Fixed magnets have been strategically placed to uncouple vehicles. It has been possible to complete a full shunt of a slate train with brake van completely hands free. It's unlikely that a  lot will be done in the next few weeks as it is the report season for anyone who works in education!

Time has been a bit short over the last few weeks, but some progress has been made. The track has been laid into the fiddle yard area and the first road on the sector plate laid. The fiddle yard area uses Peco 12mm gauge track. The sector plate is only short due to the restrictions of space in the room but will have a larger alternative for exhibitions which will include points to allow locos to run round. The sector plate will also link up with the line that will be laid within the road at the rear of the layout. Looking at the options of how a line might have been built round the headland towards Cricieth it would seem that a line that followed the road and footpath to the beaches would have been an option. Perhaps this line would have been an electrified tramway as was proposed for the original PBSS railway. The track will be very unobtrusive but will give a lot more operating options by its inclusion. Because the scene has been condensed and levels played around with, the gradient is steeper than in real life, but I can imagine a Bruce Peebles style electric loco hauling a train on this upper branch.