Tuesday 7th April 2026

I had decided that for this layout, like a previous N-gauge layout, I wanted to have a means of stopping at least some dust. The best way to achieve this seemed to be a lightweight curtain and  I was wary about putting it up myself so waited until our local handyman was available. The curtain track went up last week and so I was able to begin work on the layout in earnest. So far I have marked out and begun cutting the cork base for part of phase 1 of the layout, but I also wanted to do scenic work on the track with sleeper grime and rust. So after 5 days not much progress can be seen. However, that is also because I have been playing with my 3D Printer to produce some railway clutter such as trolleys, pallets and a car. These are waiting to be painted. But, I have also been searching for suitable 3D Models for more serious things like a viaduct, platforms, station buildings and signals. There has bene a lot of learning and experimentation as I have replaced the standard 0.4mm hot end nozzle with a 0.2mm nozzle (where the melted plastic gets “extruded”). This wasn’t easy and not helped by the fact that the documentation for the printer is for an older version of some features.