Paxton Road from another angle...

Paxton Road is designed to be viewed and operated from the front, through it's panoramic 'cameo' window. The result means carefully controlled viewing angles hiding the compromises and physical size constraints of its 500 x 200mm footprint...

However, the beauty of an iPhone (other brands available!) is the ability to get it's camera in all sorts of places - now I could have gone to town with this, and done some focus stacking, but this quick snap through the 'opening' to the fiddle stick showed there is a workable angle here too, and this 'end' on view could be useful in future - unfortunately, in this shot, it shows the Dapol 50 from it's weakest angle, where the errors in cab shape (a common Dapol problem it seems as it's echoed on some of their other N gauge models - the 26/27/33 excepted) give a uncomfortable impression. However, look at the those trucks, that track, the body shape and the general textures and again, I can't believe this is N - plus it runs beautifully!

Heading back to more comfortable viewing (although it looks as if I need to glue the cab down properly on the truck) these PECO CDA hoppers are great value and realistic models - it would be great to see more modern image from them in future - although hopefully without the compromises 'for longevity' built into their new 5 and 7 plank wagons (with the awful brake lever - overly thick, crude and the tapered ratchet - a real low point on otherwise clever designed product). It stands up well to the Bachmann/Farish PCA which is nearly twice the price.

For a layout of such small size I love the contrast available from the yard area with paved roadway and structures to the 'countryside' and the road over bridge. The whole project has come out almost exactly as I had planned and proven to me that there is more to this scale than I had previously thought - and with that in mind, more N scale projects are planned for 2023. In the meantime, dig into the N scale label for the complete history of this project and it's rolling stock. Until next time, more soon...

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