After the first exhibition. It became very clear, That some major work was needed.
The Electrics needed a complete overhaul, The trackwork was most definitely past its best.
Nothing on the layout was abused, but it was definitly showing its age.
So, a plan was formed for a major overhaul!
The layout looked very bare with all the track lifted. it was a huge job and tricky to preserve as much of the scenery as possible. but over time, new Woodland Scienics foam trackbed was laid in preparation for new Peco trackwork. The decision was made to use the mainline 009 track instead fo the original crazy track. Although the layout is not based ona particular prototype, we have tried to keep the original Welsh feel that the original builder had in mind.
But Welsh narrow gauge lines took particular pride in their running lines, and when budgets allowed, they were generally or good quality. Particularly the likes of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland.
The control panel had to go. Again, it was great in its day and had done 30 years of service! but times had moved on. The number of dry joints was getting silly and constant repairs would hav been needed. But also, we wanted to be running sound locos and have full digital control of the layout. I could have updated the panel, but it just wasn’t worth it. We h=now have touch screen control of all the points. through the Fleischmann/Roco Z21 control system.
The first thing to tackle was the trackwork. First generation Peco 009 pointwork was never going to cut it in 2024.
The trackwork was lifted and all the old ballast was ground away. A very messy job, but it had to be done.
The layout had been designed and built as a runners layout. With shunting possibilities sidings. We wanted to retain that but fundamentally, this was going to be our new exhibition layout and every effort was made to ensure smooth running on the main line.
The fiddle yard didn’t escape either. Much like the rest of the layout, in its day, it was great. But times had moved on and it had never been designed to work with the likes of the new Bachmann models that were rapidly becoming the mainstay of our rolling stock collection.
We swapped all the pointwork (even in the fiddle yard) with the longest points Peco made. and, once modified for DCC, they have proven to be reliable.
But, what we created was something that we like to think is rather special. Not a replacement for the original layout, but a refurbishment to give it many more years of service.