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About this blog

Great Central Railway, Loughborough South Junction.

4mm 00 Gauge 
16ft x 7ft 


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Welcome! 
Welcome to all of you viewing my brand new layout blog. This layout is 16ft x 7ft and based on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough, specifically between Bridges 333 & 335. The layout was started in December 2019, and here in this blog, I intend to show you our previous steps and our future progress on the layout, Demonstrations, Tutorials and plenty more. 
Take a look down below to see some history and what to expect.

History on the Location

 

The Great Central Railway is the UK's only double track mainline preserved railway. The line runs from Loughborough Central to Leicester North travelling for approximately 8 miles. Bridge 333 sees the exit of Loughborough Central's platforms as the railway heads towards Quorn passing Loughborough's Up Section Signal, past Charnwood Water and under the public footpath bridge. The layout is set between these two bridges. In terms of locos and rolling stock, GCR hosts a variety of different examples which allows the modeller to use near enough any ready to run rolling stock within reason. 

 

Why I Chose to model the Great Central Railway, Specifically, Loughborough's South Junction,

So... why am I modelling the Great Central Railway? And specifically this location? 

Knowledge of the LocationThe main reason I chose to model this area is because not only am I a Fireman and Second-man, I also work for the Railway on their Operations Department. This allows me to access locations which are out of bounds to the public in a safe and sensible manor. Good route knowledge is also essential which it comes to modelling a set location. Thankfully this means online research is kept to a minimum. 
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SignallingFeaturing eight signals across the stretch of Loughboroughs station limits, these will all be modelled using Ratio semaphore signals and we are currently investigating getting some signals professionally made for the layout.

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Class 50's to Jinties! - Modelling a preserved railway does have some benefits, with the Great Central hosting such a large collection of Steam, Diesel and multiple units, as well as a huge amount of wagons and coaches. No need for modellers license here, as it is not uncommon to see a Class 50 hauling a rake of Windcutters or a 3F hauling a lunchtime dining train as well as many more colourful yet accurate combinations of rolling stock together. 

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Buildings and StructuresThese will be made primarily from scratch utilising laser-cut brickwork from L-cut Creative, 2mm Grey-board, and a selection of details and Plasticard products made by other manufacturers such as Evergreens and Wills Kits. 

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SceneryAreas such as embankments and other raised terrain will be made using foam and Sculpt-a-mold. We have just started creating these as well as other scenic assets. We will be updating the blog regularly as we make progress on the scenery. 

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Track work We have used Peco Code 75 track work and Electrofrog points. It is ballasted using Green-scenes GS408 and GS409. The point-work is powered via a Gaugemaster transformer and uses Peco's new Twist-lock Point Motors, of which I highly recommend. 

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Power and Control The layout is powered using Roco's Z21 system and MultiMaus handsets. It is DCC Operated. 
Weathering You will also see some examples of weathering and how to achieve realistic effects on buildings, rolling stock and more! 
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Summary

So, as you can see there are many plus points to modelling this location, and railway, and that will hopefully be shown over the next months of modelling as the Layout Progresses.
Thankfully, my other half Kirsty has a lot of modelling expertise as well as myself, as not only has she built layouts in the past, she also has a very large collection of 00 gauge Bachmann and Hornby Models Not forgetting other manufacturers of course!! As there is two of us working on the layout, Hopefully progress will be quicker than usual, but still remain to the same high Standard. 

All the best & Thankyou for reading.
I Hope you keep an eye on this project for future updates! 

Michael Sutton & Kirsty Beardmore. 

 

Entries in this blog

Kit Bashing Ratio Signals

Kit Bashing Ratio Signals. Welcome to this small blog entry. Whilst I have been working on the track-work on the layout, and carrying on ballasting, I thought I'd take the time to show off some of the work Kirsty, my other half, has done to adapt our packs of Ratio LNER & Lattice Signals.  Loughborough Down Main Outer Home.  Loughboroughs Down Main Outer Home signal, was one of the signals we tasked our selves with trying to make our selves. We used the LNER Pack of Ratio Signals

Michaelsutton1u

Michaelsutton1u

Ballasting the layout.

Ballasting, a task which is feared of by many railway modellers across the globe. Welcome to this new blog entry, where I hope to show you a quick and effective method of creating ballasted Code 75 Wooden sleeper track which looks professional and realistic.  The Materials you will need for my method is as follows.  Deluxe Materials - Ballast Bond. (Approximately £6.00 Per 100ml.)  Fine Spray Bottle - Containing Luke Warm Water with two drops of Fairy Liquid.  Greenscenes Ballas

Michaelsutton1u

Michaelsutton1u

Great Central Railway, Loughborough South Junction. - Welcome!

Great Central Railway, Loughborough South Junction. 4mm 00 Gauge  16ft x 7ft    Welcome!  Welcome to all of you viewing my brand new layout blog. This layout is 16ft x 7ft and based on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough, specifically between Bridges 333 & 335. The layout was started in December 2019, and here in this blog, I intend to show you our previous steps and our future progress on the layout, Demonstrations, Tutorials and plenty more.  Take a look down

Michaelsutton1u

Michaelsutton1u

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