Fairlight Works

Dress Rehearsal

Approximately five years ago, my friend Tom said

I want to see what a Steve layout looks like after all these years

Well, add a few more years, and here we are:

It's not large, or complicated, or particularly clever, but I'm very satisfied to have finally made one. It pretty much fits the image I had in my head when I started, which has to count as a win. There are a bunch of things I could have done differently, if I was starting again with the benefit of hindsight, but it's enough.

I'm also very pleased that James's Quintus feels very much at home in this scene. It's such a characterful little loco, a clever cariacture, and brings a sense of place to the layout – a clay tramway engine on a supposed former clay tramway.

Both it and the NS2f perform well on the shunting puzzle - the little Ruston doesn't have the weight to reliably shift a full train but I'm sure will make a token appearance.

My mind is already on what's next, of course, but there's no need to rush...

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