After much deliberation, the next version of 'Crowsnest Tramway' is being built in 16mm scale. As I have just passed the age of 60, my eyes are not so forgiving of tiny parts as they once were! Also, experience has proved to me that, with narrow gauge models, the bigger the scale, the greater the reliability. In fact, with 16mm, faultless performance is attained relatively easily.

Some years ago, I built a chassis for W G Bagnall 284 in 16mm scale. After a 'world tour' through the hands of various collectors, this came back to me in 2005. During the summer of 2006 I took some time off, in lieu of a holiday, to get the model to a state where only the 'details' remained to be added.

As can be seen, the loco is complete enough to look the part, though lacking the small detail parts. It is enough though, to enable me to get on with planning and building the layout.

The plan of the new layout will be based closely on the very first version of Crowsnest Tramway but, hopefully, be capable of performing its intended task as a 'shunting puzzle. Currently, the size is planned to be around 3ft 6ins by 2ft 6ins - just right to fit in the back of a short wheelbase LandRover.