I guess I was supposed to be here about a year ago but Covid happened. I actually had a trip over to Tims planned between the first and second lock down but that got delayed to the start of this week. Tim Kindly agreed to me using his laser cutters for 3 days but in the event it only took 2 to do the new boards for Brettell Road. I must say there was only a few of the most minor amendments needed which I was very pleased about and unlike some of our previous efforts next to no scrap bits this time!
Here we see the new board meeting the old. Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of drawing baseboards up digitally and cutting them on a machine is that everything should be consistent. In the event the track bed was about a mill and half too high which considering I had rebuilt the main lines wasn’t to bad at all. Nothing a few minutes with a saw and a chisel didn’t fix anyway!   The end back scene from the original layout has been cut away.

Overview of the 2 new boards.  Unlike the previous boards the mainline is flat on these boards with the yard rising behind them.  Kings Heath station was the inspiration for this arrangement. Time will tell if I need to get creative about how the wagons in the yard stay put.

Looking towards Stourbridge.  The platforms will fill all of the view here along the mainlines  I have a thing for stations with much longer platforms than the trains that serve them.  I wonder if its because much of the northern half of the North Warwickshire Line had stations like this (as a kid our garden backed onto it)?

With hindsight it was probably a good thing I was a tad obsessive about the buildings and detailed up the side of the pub that, at the time of building it, I never thought anyone would see!