Laying Track in the Portable Fiddle Yard

Although I built the legs for the portable section of the layout (Innsdorf station and village) and the board for the fiddle yard, laying of the track had to wait for an opportune moment because I could not do it in the model railway room: it needed a longer space. This meant either outside (in the garage) if and when the weather was suitable, or along the landing when I could be sure of a few days free of grandchildren or other guests and when I had enough time in one chunk to get on with the job! That time had finally come and the track has been laid. The whole portable layout was erected on the landing so that I could line up the fiddle yard track with the track on the station boards. I could also test the stability of the legs for the whole portable section and to do some other jobs which were difficult (some of the scenic work) or impossible (attaching the boards for the back scene) while Innsdorf’s boards were in their place in the railway room.

I had acquired some figures courtesy of last year’s Noch Advent Calendar and most of these were installed as part of this project because it was easier to access the ice rink, Christmas market and the station concourse where several of them would be going. I have finally included some passengers with wheeled luggage, a distinctive feature of modern rail transport. It is all beginning to look good now.

I had to buy a little more track and while at Trains 4 U discovered some HO scale street Christmas decorations which were added to the purchase and have really set the scene at the Christmas market and beer festival in the station square. I am very happy with what I now have and feel I am getting there with an exhibitable layout with some interesting detail to hold attention between trains – vital with a terminus layout where one cannot keep trains running continuously. The back scene now needs painting and the track and overhead tweaking (especially where the layout joins the fiddle yard). Looking forward now to moving back onto developing the mountains and the other two permanent stations!