Between the visit of family from overseas in September 2024 and September 2025 I attempted to resolve as many issues as possible in the Garage Railway. Though some things had been caused by the move of the layout from Chorley to Leyland some were the result of having made too many compromises in the original design. Although I could run trains around the full circuit without incident for say 5 circuits, on the sixth it might derail or stall. If this happened in the wrong part of the lower boards it was quite difficult to find the trains, or lost wagons/coaches and recover them.

Therefore, in August I finally admitted that I was not going to be able to solve these issues and it was time to dismantle the layout and start planning (one of my favourite parts) for the next one. 

In the few weeks before the visit of my grandchildren I added a few temporary scenic features, knowing they would be torn up when they left.

A week after they left I began dismantling the layout, salvaging all that I could and takin the wood from the ten boards to the local tip. It had been The layout had been 14 years in the making so it was a bit of a wrench, but also as a less cluttered garage emerged opportunity to advance the plans for the next. Within a week everything had been listed and boxed.

The main consideration in planning has bene whether to stick with OO, or to change scale. It may be some months before I report on that.

The Last Train run on the first Garage Railway (click to open video in a new window)

The first of the ten boards dismantled:

All gone!