Penybontfawr layout for sale!

After giving things some serious thought, I've finally reached a decision to sell my current layout "Penybontfawr" 
It's not been an easy decision to make, but because of my health and the fact that I'm 69 at the end of this year it means that I can't keep lugging such a large layout about anymore. It's my own fault I suppose, when I started to build it I was in a better state of health and it was smaller than my previous layout "Steam on the Cambrian"
However I just can't physically hump stuff in and out of vans, cars and exhibition halls anymore.
The other big mistake I made was building the baseboards from 9mm MDF, It's too heavy and I should have used plywood as my previous efforts. But, you live and learn and I've found out the hard way.
Despite asking people I know for help with exhibiting at shows, I'm finding it very difficult to get anyone to help me with the setting up, operating and dismantling the layout.
I still have a few exhibitions to attend with the layout so I can't let it go until after the 20th of May, unless any prospective buyer will honour the bookings I already have for it.
The bottom line is if any of my readers of my ramblings are interested in owning Penybontfawr then get in touch.
I'm open to sensible offers but do have a "reserve" price in mind. (Note: NO stock or locos included)
By the way the layout is being photographed next week for Model Rail magazine. This will be my 3rd layout to appear in Model Rail.
I'm not giving up railway modelling as I do have a micro layout on the drawing board to replace it.
Anyone interested can see the layout running before you make an offer. PM me for further details
Cheers!
Frank

Illuminating!

Took delivery yesterday of these working lamps.
Sold as street gas lamps on "Wish" you get 5 of them for £10 including shipping.
The only drawback is that they are LED and need a power supply of 3 Volts maximum!
All the rest of the working lights on my layout are filament bulb types wired to run off 16V ac. So, I set about making a really simple power supply to power these lamps from my 16V ac supply.
I wired 4 of the lamps in series so now needed a 12V dc supply.
I used a single diode to give half wave rectification, a small smoothing capacitor to eliminate any flicker, and a 1K ohm resistor in series with the lamps. this gave me a measured 11.5V across the lamps, Just shy of the recommended working voltage. They are seen on test in the picture. I left them running for over an hour and the series resistor never got warm The current consumption is about 10mA.
If you follow this idea and use all 5 lamps in series you can dispense with the IK ohm resistor or replace it with a low value one of say 100 ohms.
All I have to do now is paint the lamp posts chocolate and cream and install them on the platform.