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Marlott

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Pub: The Albion 86 Armley Road Leeds

The pub in my previous post is the former Albion at 86 Armley Road in Leeds. This is what it looks like now:     This is the Google Maps reference: https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7972561,-1.5723353,3a,75y,33.46h,97.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sR3k-CLrmyuA9zxl5DT2Eew!2e0!7i16384!8i8192   This is a Google Maps shot from a few years ago when it was still a pub:     I have only been to Leeds a couple of times and I have never been to the Albion.   
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Platforms

The platforms use Peco platform edging with a cardboard top. The fact that this is a terminus means that the platforms meet at one end. To avoid joins in the surface, I cut all the platforms from a single sheet of cardboard using a template marked on tracing paper laid on the baseboard. The surface is airbrush painted with a Humbrol grey and then weathered using pastels.
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Signal Box

Signal Box

The signal box is made from the excellent Severn Valley Models etched brass kit. The kit is assembled using cyanoacrylate glue and goes together very well. I used Deluxe Materials Glue'n'Glaze to attach the window glazing. I struggled with one or two of the small parts, particularly in the stair case but that was more my one-eyed ham-fisted approach than the kit. Once complete it was primed and then painted with Precision Paints light stone and dark stone plus Humbrol for the walls, windows and
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Diversion

A Diversion - Stamford Engine Shed

I came across a model I made some time ago just for interest when I did not have a layout: Stamford Engine Shed in N gauge based on the Prototype Kit:     I scanned in the original Prototype kit and then used The Gimp to replace all of the brick surfaces with a Scalescenes equivalent. The roof tiles were replaced using the same technique with a home made slate paper made from a photo of the roof of the school at the Beamish Museum. The water tank sides were drawn from scratch
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Ballasting

Ballasting

For ballasting I use sandpit sand bought from ToysRUs before it disappeared. It is reasonably coarse so can pass for ballast in n gauge.    One of the things I do not like about commercial N gauge track is the depth of the sleepers. I therefore wanted to use the ballast to hide this depth consistently. After some experimentation I came up with a scheme to achieve this.   Once the track was laid, I lined the edge of the sleepers with evergreen 1mm quarter-round StripStyrene. T
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Planning

Track Plan

The proposed model is not based on a prototype. I have a lot of admiration for modellers who create accurate representations of real locations and often find them the most interesting layouts at exhibitions. Part of the enjoyment for me however is to decide what I want and where I want to put it. I do however want to create something that is at least credible; allowing for space compression!   I have spent much time studying other layout plans, internet resources and experimentating wi
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Weathering

Subdued Colours

I was pleased to get a comment from Mikkel on the subdued colours I had used on the engine shed. Despite not achieving his amazing standards I thought I would share how I do it. Subdued colours are something I am aiming for on the layout as I always like the layouts with subdued colours at shows. On the engine shed I used The Gimp to subdue the colour of the printed Scalescenes Red Brick, however on the other areas and all over the rest of the layout I use pastels. I have two sets that I rely on
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Yard

Coal Merchants Office

My most recent project is not very ambitious: a coal merchants office for the yard. It is based very closely on the Scalescenes kit, however I modified the window to suit a prototype I found on the far right of a picture of Kings Heath Station, just because I liked it. I realised having completed the build that it is quite similar to a OO gauge kit given away by Metcalfe on the front of the Railway Modeller a couple of years ago. The brick work is just the Scalescenes original however I put the
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Lighting

Lighting

After a long hiatus I have finally got round to another post.   I often find that some of the layouts that stand out at shows are those that are well lit. I think it is particularly important in small cameo layouts. I am also struck by how much layouts of this type look similar in dimensions to home aquariums. Home aquariums always seem to be well lit. This set me thinking.   So I visited my local aquarium supplier with the dimensions of my layout noted. In addition to seeing
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Control

Control 2

In control I explained how the underside of the layout is wired. Now for the controllers and control panel.   I decided on two controllers. This is perhaps more than necessary for a layout of this size but I wanted two controllers to get optimum control of different loco types. I find that the older locos and some recent ones respond better to PWM feedback controllers. I used the now defunct ECM controllers on earlier layouts many years ago and found them to be highly effective. The mo
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Other

Billy Bookcase Fiddle Yard

If I can build a Billy Bookcase layout, then perhaps I can build a Billy Bookcase fiddle yard.   Adjoining the 80cm Billy Bookcase on which the layout lives is a 60cm Billy Bookcase. I do not think that the 60cm version is made anymore, however, I have one and it is the ideal place to locate the fiddle yard.    Although the layout itself will only accommodate short trains, I did not want the fiddle yard to be restrictive length. I therefore decided to build a traverser rather
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engine shed

Engine Shed Details

A quick run down on materials used for the engine shed.     Outside bricks: Scalescenes Red Brick TX01 with the colour dulled down using The Gimp Inside white washed bricks: Scalescenes Painted Brick TX05 Guttering: Ratio Guttering & Drainpipes Doors: Ratio Doors with the arched tops removed with a razor saw Roof: York Modelmaking Slates N-Tiles01 Windows: Scene-Setters Glazing Bars 3x4mm -  I got these at a show. They are not currently
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Other

Pub

I never got back to posting after Christmas. First a job change and now ...   So here is something I did earlier. Not my best modelling but I am curious to see who recognises it. If you do recognise it perhaps it looks a bit different.    
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Cattle Dock

Weathering Cows

It is not every day that when I am asked what I have been doing that I am able to answer "weathering cows". I had that opportunity today so I grabbed it with both hands.    My original plan included the possibility of a cattle dock. The time has come. The cattle dock is going in the original planned location at the back to the right.    I want to make most of the features on the layout either scratch built, or made from less familiar kits, in the hope that it will look a litt
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Scenics

Cheating - a very similar but different photo

Here is an attempted wide angle focus stacked image to get good depth of focus close up. Unfortunately the wide angle does not focus so well at this range around the edges. My eyes are not what they were either so my judge of focus may be impaired, however I think it is all in better focus than any of the images that went in to it.       It is similar to the last photo I posted but is actually completely new.    
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Control

Point Control

Last year I was asked a question about how I intended to actuate the points. Unfortunately I missed that question and so have only just responded. Apologies to Jack Benson for that. Here is the explanation I promised. I am using stiff push/pull wires under the baseboard as shown here:     The other components in the design are choc-box connectors. The brass insides of the choc-box connectors are used as joiners for the wire to allow the system to be re-configurable (see 1). T
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Scenics

Tree

My inspiration for model railway trees dates back to the 1970s. We always believed that, no matter how good the track, stock, buildings and scenery were, model railways were always let down by the trees. There did not appear to be a good way to build a realistic tree. Then I saw Pendlebury by Bert Topping in a couple of magazines of the day. There is a picture of one of his trees here on rmweb. Page down through the post. As I remember it, his methods involved blitzing (using a blender) dyed, fr
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Track

Track Laying

The track is glued to the foam board cover on the baseboard using water proof wood working adhesive. Testing was completed bit by bit as the track laying continued.      
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Cattle Dock

Weathering Cows Too

More on weathering cows. The cows were weathered using Modelmates Mud Brown weathering liquid. It is very easy to use. It is water soluble but dries like ink. To weather the cows I just painted it on and then let it down with a wet brush until I had the colouring I wanted. The cattle dock is weathered using the pastels method.  Perhaps I need more cows in there?
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Marlott

Baseboards

5mm ply was selected for the baseboards. If offers enough rigidity for a micro layout but is also very light. The small layout size means that a shallow edge frame suffices to provide the necessary rigidity. Having made these decisions the ply wood was bought. The images show the boards upside down showing how the edge frames are attached.   No scenic sections are planned to be lower than the track so the baseboard covers the entire area. The baseboard for the fiddle yard uses the same
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Scenics

Bridge

The line exits stage right through the back-scene. I have decided to use a low relief bridge to disguise this exit. The exit is just a hole in the back-scene board and also cut in to the back-scene sheet:     The idea of the low relief bridge is that it will just slot in to the hole to make it look more bridge like. Since I want it to recede in the gap on the underside, it also has to be removable to allow separation of the layout from the fiddle yard.    Here are a
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engine shed

Engine Shed

After a long hiatus for the summer progress has continued a little. The engine shed has been largely finished for some time but I put the internal white washed bricks in this week to finish the job. The engine shed will be adjacent to the coaling stage, to which I am adding coal now!    It is not modelled on a prototype. It is however in the GWR style with similarities to Tetbury without the water tower, or a shorter version of Wallingford.      A view looking insid
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Scenics

Presentation

To support the back-scene, control the viewing angles and support the lighting a presentation box was required. This is constructed out of the same plywood used for the baseboards plus a few odd bits of wood found lying around the garage. It is held together by half round moudling and glued with water proof wood working adhesive. It fits snugly round the outside of the based board and is bolted to it using large bolts with glued captive nuts. This works because the design of the Billy Bookcase m
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