The last push with Max to get the remaining boards erected and the cable runs to the board terminals. At the end of erecting ten boards, twenty sets of legs (with forty nuts and bolts) plus the 22 bolts between boards I, in true MFI fashion, end up with two left over bolts – which is giving me pause for concern. I am going to have to go round and see if I can find out where they should be as I am not at all sure that there ought to be any leftover.
Fiddle yard 24.10.25
Most of the main cables are now in place at baseboard ends and I need to devise the plan for powering it all up plus rectifying the problems arising from storage – some track is going to need replacing so I need to obtain some track as I think I am going to cut out some sections and replace – but with the added difficulty of adding power as I know that relying on connectors is not ideal.
Station throat 24.10.25
There will probably be a gap as I plan the next stage – this week has been largely physical and the next stage is technical. There is still one gap between boards which I have to close but I need to go round the layout ensuring level in all directions as I know there is one point which was not quite level. It will be down to some juggling.
Control panel and station 24.10.25
Looking at the photos it is obvious that some tidying in the room would be a good idea before moving forward with the repair work.
Today the focus changed as I wanted to rebuild the wifi system. I have replaced on a like for like as the old units largely worked but there seemed to be something falling over.
So everything was powered down and a new base unit installed plus two new extension units. However the 2.4GHz band appears no more stable as the signal on the secondary units disappear. Previously the base unit was similar to the extensions and as there is a replacement in the post I will probably swap it all round again.
The signal in the study has reverted to the router and the streaming to the hifi has gone back to be intermittent – although the signal shows up as pretty solid on the phone display. I manage to test to streaming to the Chromecast and that held up for a good few minutes. Let us hope that happens when I use it seriously this evening.
The floor has gone missing again 22.10.25
Extricated from under the railway were five or six boxes of historic railway bits and pieces – far more than I can remember – but then they have been under the desk for a long time (and I can finally unplug the last old phone handset. Once I have been through the contents the boxes can go upstairs – but for the moment the floor of the study has vanished again under these boxes. There are a lot of kits which can probably be dumped.
Today the action moved away from the railway room to the other desired outcome of tidying the study. However there is a lot of sorting out and so the picture comes from the middle of the sorting out (I wish we had a sorting hat it might speed things up) as four or five or six piles of magazines going back as far as 2017 are sorted.
Some are going upstairs and some are already bound for the dump. There may be more for the dump later – but this is just a starter workout.
I do not know how much mess it has caused upstairs – that will receive attention later. Tomorrow will be about the wifi as that is going to have new equipment but the same technology – I looked at reviews of the newer technology and was not convinced – some of the poorer reviews hinted at real problems which I wish to avoid. However it does mean the computer and so on will all be turned off. That is close to panic inducing in itself.
The cupboards at the end need emptying as well – the time has come to get rid of an awful lot of dross which has been accumulated over the last sixty years in some cases.
Having had Sunday off we start again in late morning with moving the stereo upstairs and at least the radio works as does media streaming and it seems to be capable of being very large when I feel like it. However putting it on the top shelf of the bookshelf is probably unlikely – it looks to me as it if will all be a little too tall so need to move it down a shelf.
The railway books are now upstairs – but there is a big box which is still downstairs and I am in two minds about moving it – I really ought to get on with reading the contents.
Spirit level 20.10.25
Have a look at the existing re-erected parts of the layout and hopefully we are getting it back in place and flat and at least capable of working again. We have to have things on the level of course and this little item is key to that.
The study is hardly showing signs of improvement – so tomorrow the aim must be to ensure that is looking better and start removing things so that the previous concerns are not repeated.
There is a big empty space on the desk occupied by that stereo box for the last seven years which is immediately replaced by items from the floor as part of the redistribution of the of contents on the floor – so things have just got moved around so far. If we can empty a cupboard later on then it will go into those spaces – perhaps the drawer with the CDs in it.
Having decided that the wrongly placed bolts need to come out of Board 3 again I shuffle it back ready and also know I have to straighten it up slightly. I unwrap board 2 ready for attention and also put the shelves back in place.
With Max able to scramble around underneath we soon have the wrongly attached leg on board 6 off and then correctly re-attached. We then walk the layout into the desired position in the far corner of the room and move a few other things.
Then we add boards 3 with a correctly attached leg with the right spacers in place against the radiator and then board 2 in the corner which is all we can do as we do not want to block the door at present (that is board 1 and is part of the fiddle yard.
Into the corner 18.10.25
The bookcase formerly in the hallway and its contents make the journey into the room and placed roughly where it should stay all being well – and we ensure that the other power sockets are all accessible. Only the one with the power block already plugged in is not easily reached.
Some minor adjustments to get levels nearly right and a slightly worrying gap at one point – I may need to adjust levels slightly away from flat to close it up.
Max also goes around and re-tightens every thing which was in place – and we will have another go at that at some point.
Overnight the reason for the spacers came to me. It is due to the window sill projecting into the room and it is to ensure that the two legs which might be impacted are enough into the room not to be a problem. If only I had remembered this sooner it would have saved a lot of fiddly work with the setup.
So board 6 was completed this morning with the spacers and then board 7 followed – being lighter and smaller this was fairly straightforward. Board 3 was unwrapped for the next step.
There is some track damage at the end of board 4, 7 and board 3. There is certainly some track lifted and out of alignment on board 4. Being shifted around whilst in store probably led to most of this. I am hopeful that none of it will need track being completely replaced – Peco Streamline is usually fairly robust, but I eventually find something really out of place and I have a feeling I will need to replace the entire yard.
When I come to put board 5 in place I find the geometry does not work and the radiator is in the way. I try to walk the layout to the far end of the room – but not sure it actually moves. The secret weapon – Max is visiting tomorrow and we can use the extra pair of hands.
Documentation 17.10.25
So it was all documented and I should not have jumped to the wrong solution – it might not be the best documentation in the world but it exists! And in the relevant place!
So taking it easier today I move some boxes around and unwrap board 5 which is the other large board (so it is heavier and more awkward) which is at the other end of the room. Having done so I can see that it is annotated on the board that this one requires double nuts on one of the legs. Why at the moment remains a mystery – but it means that the ones I put on board 4 yesterday because it said wide was incorrect. Getting these legs off again is annoying but eventually I have one off, replace with normal bolts and then the second leg is very difficult – but eventually this bit is correctly assembled.
Mystery almost solve 16.10.25
As I have not yet explained the mystery to myself I decide that I will put board 5 up with one leg only but link it to Board 4 so that I can unwrap board 6 and see if I can work out the spacing conflict. Looking at the legs for Board 6 I find that one of them is also marked as needing additional spacers so when I unwrap it the solution may be clearer.
Progress today was very definitely limited. The header photo is a little misleading as one of the legs under the furthest board is simply propping up the board as this the one that needs the additional spacing – but still not 100% sure how it works. But it is looking more like it used to look. Boards 5 and 6 both have some track damage at the ends and this will need attention before anything else.
Back in 2014 I erected my layout in the railway room and it was working. Then things happened and in 2017 it went into store and no progress could be made.
Fast forward to 2025 and once again the railway room was empty. It has a new ceiling and everything has been decanted from store to the room and it all has to go back up. The worst mayhem is shown. The last time I did this I was a lot younger and I knew how it was all supposed to fit.
Board 4 unwrapped 15.10.25
So I get one board up (board 4 is key as it is the only one with 4 legs) and realise that some 4 bolts have spacing washers to stand proud and I could not remember why. Some quick thinking and I wonder if it is to do with the leg being further away from the radiator. So I unmount a leg and then remount it with two of the spacer bolts. However the heads do not fit in the recesses provided so it turns out that is not the reason. Drop the leg off again and re-insert the original bolts.
Then I move onto board 5 and there is extra labelling next to the bolt holes indicating this is where the spacing washers are needed – but for the life of me I cannot work out why they are needed. Perhaps it will eventually come to me. Board 5 unfortunately shows some damage arising from storage with some displaced and bent track at the end of the board – I have to hope that I can restore it once it erected. It looks like the track needs sticking down.
I also find I have forgotten how the boards are secured together – trial and error shows that bolts need to be put in place so the single bag of bolts needs sorting into the different possibilities – with butterfly nuts, without and the different lengths and washer sizes – the latter I think secure the board with no legs. I sort the bag and with Board 5 partly in place I find I have done as much as I can manage today.
A rather different excursion today we join the Railway Touring Company rail tour from London Victoria to Worcester. This was booked some months ago as it is one of the shorter day excursions which we can join and leave at Staines-upon-Thames.
Operations on the Day
Originally Clan Line was due to haul the train throughout, however we are advised prior to the day that between Gloucester and Worcester the train will be diesel hauled. I see a report that it was not possible to get the locomotive serviced and turned at Worcester so this will happen at Gloucester.
The train arrives at Staines slightly late with a class 47 diesel on the rear. We are in the supposedly air conditioned Mk2F dining coach but it is soon clear that the air conditioning is not fully functioning which makes for a warm morning. We are frequently reminded that using the door windows to observe external activity is ill-advised and it all makes steam haulage ever less attractive.
Being near the rear of the train in an enclosed environment it is impossible to establish which locomotive is doing the work today. The hand out guide does not have the final timings as it shows the train having a water stop in Gloucester Yard rather than going to the station for the locomotive to be removed.
Verbally it is reported that on the outward journey the diesel was only carrying its own weight with Clan Line doing the majority of the work. Shortly before Gloucester there was a signal stop. At this point I was near the front of the train and carefully observed the move away from the stop – and it seemed that Clan Line was doing a significant part of the work to get the train moving again.
The detailed timings from Realtime Trains for the outward journey show that in general the planned timetable was maintained well, coming to a stand after Cholsey as we were running early. There was a water stop between Wantage Road and Challow.
Our return trip ran early from Norton Jn to just before Cheltenham Spa as we took the path allocated to a Cross Country service which was not running due to industrial action. However there was a service which had to leave Cheltenham Spa before we could enter the platform.
We are in the third coach of the train on reversal at Gloucester and for a period of time Clan Line is definitely working hard judging by the thick black smoke in the sky. On the climb to Sapperton Tunnel we came to a stand for a few minutes although this is not obvious from the timings. Although until then I had been able to hear Clan Line working on the restart it was notably quiet and I suspect that the diesel was doing rather more of the work – no proof but we went up the gradient well – which leads me to think that the diesel was helping. Thereafter time was recovered against plan and we were running at close to the locomotive limit regaining lost time as far as Didcot.
At Reading I think we were due to take the re-instated line under the main line to regain the Southern so a small piece of unusual track. In addition the curve from Abbotswood Junction to Norton Junction was track I believe I have not previously covered and which I failed to cover using my Heart of England Rover earlier in the year.
Meals
One of the purposes of this trip was to sample breakfast and dinner – both silver served by the dining team. They work hard in delivering the food to us and of reasonably good quality. Plates arrive early and cool a little too much prior to the food arriving – but it has never been easy to serve perfect meals on trains and it is these days very rare.
Rolling Stock
The stock was as promised Mk 2 air conditioned. The defective air conditioning on the outward journey had been rectified by the time we returned so that was very welcome on a warm day. I would have a personal preference for Mk 1 stock – with windows to hear what is working and let the smuts in. However this is not a universal preference of course.
Modern steam tours are ultra safe of course. However getting a photo at Reading was discouraged for fear of causing delays and even at Gloucester it was a mad dash. I realise people have to be considered stupid but the complete loss of all steam run pasts and even thinking that travellers may want a decent pictorial record of the day seems lost these day. With busy railways crossing the tracks as we did nearly 40 years ago is impossible but it might be nice. At Staines it is not possible to get a photo from the station footbridge – the lower panes are all white not clear – why? Even more exotic how about a bluetooth relay from the cab with commentary from an individual as we pass places, and pick up the sounds of the locomotive – but delivered via a bluetooth signal to a phone or similar and insisting that it can only be heard with earphones so it is not imposed on all travellers?
Summary
It is not a cheap day. I am not 100% convinced it is value for money. It was a pleasant day out but I am not that keen to repeat and book another trip in the near future.
Puy de Dome (borrowed without approval from https://tinyurl.com/tripadvisorpuydedome)
Final Thoughts in the lounge
I had hoped to visit Puy de Dome, an extinct volcano near Clermont-Ferrand. Online it was unclear if the bus service from the station was running hourly or every two hours – the last check I undertook prior to leaving home only showed the two-hourly timetable. This would have meant a very tight connection into the train to Beziers (the hourly service would have made it easy). I therefore abandoned the idea without checking in Clermont-Ferrand as I wanted to avoid the related stress.
The entire trip including hotels and meals cost around £1050 for the hotels, rail travel, meals and the final flight back to the UK (although that was not the full cost of the air flight as Jackie let me use a voucher).
In terms of main line rail travel the costs were the Eurail ticket £130.17 and the extortion (to my mind) fees for the seat reservations between Paris and Clermont-Ferrand (both ways) and between Beziers and Nimes which cost £50.03. In total £180.20.
In terms of distance it was around 811 miles. This works out at around 22.2p per mile – which means that it is slightly more than I spend on most of my single day outings in the UK. However on none of the four days was I travelling by train all the time – so it is not an entirely similar comparison. Had I wished more mileage might easily have been added.
Metro and tram trips were additional mileage and cost. They were an absolute bargain in my opinion.
Travelling with a heavy case was not helpful on the metro and lifting it above my ahead (and down again) received some welcome assistance a couple of times. On the return to Paris it was in the vestibule out of direct sight which also worries me.
Overall I thought it went well. I did everything planned and had some surprises along the way. And it was something I have not done for a very long time. I may do it again when the opportunity present itself.
