Hello from Oxfordshire

[Triumph]

Hello all,

I've been following various layouts on this site for a while but have only recently joined.  I can honestly say it was Dave's superb work on Waverley West that finally gave me the push to try for something new.  I've never modelled a real location before, on the basis of the old cliches, you need too much space, it won't look right, not much ever happens there....and so on.  I asked myself what I wanted to see, and I decided that it has to be Deltics in blue, and looking at the latest Hornby layout, Grosvenor Square, I quite fancy an overall roof.  So, scouring the web for pictures of ECML locations, I figured Darlington would be an option.  I haven't got enough width to include the main lines, only the station itself, but looking at what I had already, I could see a way it could be reworked to give me north and south platforms, with two bays in the middle from the south, and extra lines outside all of that, 6 lines in all, all encased within the walls of the overall trainshed roof.  Of course, I've done the rookie mistake of filling the width of the board with track, leaving no room for buildings.  Given I'm in the loft though, I might be able to tack some extra scenic strips on the edges!!

 

Hopefully the pictures give a clue as to where I'm going (if I've figured uploading correctly).  This is a layout that has languished for a few years following various house moves, so the plan is to remodel the station throat, extend in length, to eventually create a roundy roundy layout with some storage loops on the other side.

 

What originally started as the loco depot, I reckon I can make into the engineers sidings on that south side of the station, and looking at google earth there is still the remains of a turntable to try and include.  The buildings still bear the legend LNER Engineers Dept 1932, so that would be good to include too.  The extension to the north, I'm hoping to include the road underpass and ramp to car park at track level.

 

On the farside of the layout, eventually I'd like to include a TMD, but that's a way off yet!!

 

 

Anyway, it would be good to hear from people,

Cheers for now,

Tony

[crompton 33]

Welcome to the RM  Blue side.

[Ohmisterporter]

Welcome to the forum Tony, you are off to a good start with the layout.

[jcm@gwr]

Hello Tony,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Jeff

[tractionman]

Sounds like a great plan Tony, hope it goes well and I'll look forward to seeing more pics of those blue Deltics!

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[Triumph]

Thanks for interest everybody!  For Keith Tractionman, here are the Deltics.  Bachmann v Lima.  To be honest, the is is the first time the Lima one has been out of its box in about 15 years, I was expecting it to look worse....I'll fit a chip in it and see how it runs.  I'm not expecting much from the pancake motor!  The Bachmann nose has it doesn't it?  I still have to fit some of the detailing parts as you can see.

 

 

[Triumph]

Also, I've been laying some more track, And I've got the station throat as I want it.  Here's a view from the south, and a view of the up main, with a 40 waiting to depart.

Tony

[Triumph]

Finally for tonight, here is the other end of the station as it currently stands.  The end of the world as we know it!  Originally this board was to be a small terminus station.  Considering it has been in storage being moved around various houses, the only damage seems to be the loss of the lamp on top of one of the buffers.  Not to worry, I'll try and find some led replacements.

 

I'm leaving the two central roads to form the bay platforms, and platform 1 for the south is on the far side, with platform 4 heading north nearest the camera, with the duff patiently waiting for the track to appear.

 

The plan is to build new boards to continue on from here, and create the northern station approaches.  But I need to sort out where the kitchen extract is going to run before I build anything else :-0

 

Thanks for looking,

Tony