It's been a long time since there has been any real movement now, but I think I've had some good excuses!

Back in March work went absolutely mental, and most of my waking hours were spent working, or keeping the essentials going. I had also adopted a homeless cat and was trying to get her living inside. She loved it inside, but did not get with the other female cat in the house, so eventually I gave her up for adoption via a local rescue centre (and just this week I had news that she has found a new home). The in the middle of it all, my employer decides to relocate the office from central London to Watford. As I live on the Kent/London border, I did not fancy the commute! So throw in finding a new job for good measure, not so easy at the moment!

Anyway, suffice it to say that I succeeded and did still manage to get some things done:

1. All loco's have been chipped, so now only my most recent acquisition is unchipped.
   
2. A spiral was commissioned, but ultimately the clearances (or better absolute lack off) around it proved insurmountable, so track plan variation 'B' is now what I'm working to.
   
3. My tests in trying to use SEEP's with Roco HOe points proved that this was the wrong choice as I could not get them to work reliably (for me anyway, YMMV).
   

However as I cut the motor mounting lugs off the points already, I now have to replace quite a number of points and buy Roco motors, this is an expensive lesson! And that is a mistake that I will not be making again!

So it has been off to KGR numerous times to collect points and motors. A great thanks to Andy!

As the Roco point motors use much less power than a SEEP, I can also use a Lenz LS 150 with a Fleischmann power supply (which I have from way back) to drive two motors from one outlet. This means that for the 17 points on the layout, I will only need 11 outputs. Saving a whole LS 150.

Once all the points and motors are in, then I'll be finishing off the fiddle yard and station finally by nailing down all the track as I have left the nails sticking out a little to allow me lift it if required (just as well). Then it's onwards and upwards. The board for the upper level has already been sourced cut to the rough size required.... Hopefully the weather will turn a little warmer soon and I can get back outside to cut wood. It's a real pain to have to do this inside (as I don't have a garage or workshop).

The new track plan has only one place where the tracks cross, and there one of them is on the level, so no complicated joins required at a height. Unlike the previous plan, which would have seen at least five joints.

So I hope to be able to post some photos soon, now that there is a chance of some progress again!