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I have now finished wiring up the points connector to the Stowey Green baseboard.. Apart from a couple of poor connections on the terminal strips everything seems to work…. which was more than a a pleasant surprise…
Looking forward to seeing the ‘Top’ of the board again. I have made out a simple plug that powers the whole board so I can test with some trains without needing the control panel..

Been rather busy at Home and Work so progress on Stowey Green has been slow.
.. But finally managed to get the Soldering Iron and tools out and have commenced wiring in the Power and Point control connectors to the layout.

Power feeds all connected (White Blue & Green) all done – next job the point control (Red & Yellow)…
.. Proper tidying up will happen when all has been checked and everything has been screwed down…

.. It has been a busy month during this month of Lock-down. I have been working on the Wiring for the layout and the control panel ‘Box’.

The downside of my ‘Over Engineered’ approach to railway modelling is the complexity of the wiring it introduces.

Here is a view of the underside of ‘Stowey Green’s board with the ‘temporary power wiring’ removed that allowed me to play up till now.

.. Here are the ‘Pre-Wired’ 25way ‘D’ type plug and socket ready to add to the board. One for Power (Green Blue) and the other for points – both have ‘estimate’ length wires to fit into the boards 4 terminal strips after a bit of trimming.

I have also fitted the 12 way Plug/Socket for the layouts ‘Upper Station’ section connected to it’s own terminal strip ready for fitting. I wanted to be sure I could remove this section for access.

I have also completed the box that will become the control panel for ‘Stowey Green’. It’s based on what I did for Burton Phoenix – but with space for a larger panel and more room for the GaugeMaster controller on top. This one will probably be painted white using left over paint for when we do a bit more touching up the woodwork in the house next few weeks.

.. Due the current ‘Coronavirus Lockdown’ – I have ran out of excuses in not working on the ‘N’ Gauge ‘Stowey Green Layout’. Reading through the planning notes I realised the layout is ‘VERY’ late as I started thinking about this layout in 2008…

Believe it or not I have been so busy working in the layout.. that I have neglected doing any updates here..So far I have finished the track laying and basic wiring for the lower ‘baseboard’ level – and have had some fun actually running trains. I have made the incline and upper ‘Upper Stowey’ station halt sections for the upper loop. The upper section is currently being tested to make sure the little tank engines make it up the hills.

For the first time since moving to North Wales I have ‘proper’ plans and vision for the Burton Crumpnold Layouts for the year…

.. The first stage is to finish off the modifications for Burton Phoenix with the new corner section. So, after a lot of rearranging in the railway room, all of Burton Phoenix is up – even if it is a bit of a squeeze…

Now I can finish off and check the wiring of the complete layout when all sections including the fiddle yard are attached.
For maximum flexibility I have used a flying lead to allow the layout to be electrically split into 2 power control section when the fiddle yard is attached. (If space is tight it can be operated with just the corner unit attached – but just as single control section.)

.. Once testing is complete I can then finish up any scenery work. All being well I am hoping to informally display the layout during the year.. Probably starting at the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza in May.

.. When the work on Burton Phoenix is complete.. The Next mission is to restart work on the ‘N’ Gauge ‘Stowey Green’ Layout.