Thanks Brian. What I really love about this hobby, apart from my love of the "real" thing from my boyhood days, is the different aspects and skills required. One day I might be laying track, another day building a plastic kit or yet another day building and testing electronics or programming a microprocessor. About the only skill I seem to have lost over the decades is my woodworking skills, and to think I got a prize at school for that! Hence why I started this thread to see how others have got round the problem by the use of pre built units or kits.
Good luck with your new layout, you seem to be making good progress.