A few reminders from earlier on in the summer, of why the Ffestiniog still captures the imagination.

The new signal box at sunset in early August. The station has little of the nostalgia that I remember from childhood but the impressive new track layout does have it own charm. The new platform has less detrimental effect on the station than I had expected. It's the canopy and treatment of the actual station building which is really sad and out of character. Penrhyn remains my favourite location, I think the building will have to be the inspiration for the station I build for Borth y gest.

The McKenzie and Holland signals really look the part. Carriage 17 had just come out of the paint shop. It smelt fantastic! I really like this livery and can foresee a rake of 'Woolworths' liveried stock making it onto the model eventually. 

As you will have seen, the blog has taken a back seat in the last few weeks. As a head teacher my summer was taken up organising hot meals for my schools following the best laid plans falling through mid August. Summer 2014 will be remembered as the holiday thwarted by Nick Clegg and his free school meal ambitions. To top it all, this week Ofsted came calling! With this little hurdle successfully out the way, I am looking forward to a little more time tinkering away at the model this winter.

The curved back scene has been completed with grey primer and handles to aid positioning.

 The back scene papers were applied using spray mount. This seemed to go well, and avoided any nasty air bubbles. 

The completed panels. I have filled the top space with expended foam to give further strength.

The model has been moved into one of the downstairs rooms so that it can be worked on over the winter. A purpose built room will be created in the garage next summer.

The moment of truth, would the colours look right?  Well I think so. The model is now really starting to come to life. I can't wait to see the scenery developing. I am going to experiment adding further day light bulbs in the next week to sharpen the lighting further. The pelmet is going to be painted satin black and the legend 'Rails to Black Rock' added. The row of cottages will then receive windows and roof.