If only I wasnt back at work tomorrow 

now, now, not thinking of using the angle grinder again were you ?

Doubt Mrs EC would of approved of a layout on that scale!!!!

48ft is bad enough 

Crikey @swisstrains ! Yes I can see I'll need to do a regular biit of hoovering, so far I only do it after landscaping/drilling work etc.

I thought I would have another look at the brushes on the troublesome locos. Both sets were not flush flat at the end (one loco had a brush with a steep raked end and the other loco had both brushes with indentations in the ends. I've cautiously sanded these flat with ultra fine sandpaper.

I'm just running the locos to test. Is it easy to buy replacement brushes as I notice they are very soft and pressumably need swapping out from time to time? 

It is funny seeing the locos run without their body shells - make you realise what an illusion the whole lark is! I noticed the bogie pins do come astray without the housings on!

Ps. why on earth do mototrs need pencil carbon in them to run???

Don't forget Matt that the ends of the brushes will develop a concave indentation with use because they take on the shape of the commutator. This is normal and doesn't need correcting.
If you need spare brushes/springs your favourite South Coast model shop should stock them. I'm not 100% sure but I think most Fleischmann N Gauge (and some HO) locos use 6518 brushes.

The old chap obviously had a thing about large lorries traversing country lanes. He rushed, well hobbled, out into the lane to remonstrate with the driver. I heard something about “f...ing drivers, f...ing transport firms and f...ing pantechnicons”
Ok....a very boring, uninteresting story which has, for many years, stuck in my brain. I know not why.

A similar encounter, although not because someone didn't like lorries, occurred when a delivery was due at the Watercress Line. The lads had got a loco loaded on the lorry at Barry and had set off in advance. Being well ahead of the lorry and feeling in need of refreshment, they stopped off at a pub on the way.

While they were there a elderly local was curious about a large group of strangers in the pub at lunchtime and asked why they were there. Upon being told that they were waiting for a train his response was along the lines of "Don't be so bloody daft lad, ain't been a train through here in years. They closed the station years ago."

Eventually, the sound could be heard of a heavy lorry approaching so the lads drank up and left. On the way out one of them tapped the old chap on the shoulder and said "Here's our train" 

looking good @chrism,

Cheers, Craig

your triple signal on the other side of the bridge LHS of picture, was that a kit??

It started out as one but has been heavily kitbashed. It was sold as Langley Models' Kit D7, Triple Post Lower Quad, but that has the three upper posts if different lengths and was far too short for Coniston. That 3-doll post and, and the single on the other side of the track, were extremely tall so that drivers could see the arms from the other side of the bridge.

I chopped off all the post parts and replaced them with square brass tube to both increase the overall height and get the three arms at the same height. The arms indicate a clear road into platforms 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

The single post on the other side of the tracks actually has two arms - a high one facing south to indicate a clear road into the goods loop and a lower one facing north as the advanced starter signalling that a train may enter the single line section up to Woodland. That one started life as Langley's kit D6 2 Aspects Lower Quadrant, again with all the post bits cut out and replaced with brass tube - and the lower arm and bracket rotated around to face the other way.

One of the arms on the 3-doll post and the lower one on the single post are workers, activated by thin brass wire wire to solenoids under the baseboard. I had hoped to get all five arms working but, due to the baseboard framing, there wasn't enough room for all five solenoids so I settled for having just one arrivals signal and the advance starter signal working. The same switches that power the solenoids to clear the signals also enable the track power for a short section in advance of the signals so that trains cannot pass a signal at danger.