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Well well, a very interesting project indeed. This may be the inspiration I need to get 66170 finished. I look forward to seeing the work when it begins! 66177 had both cab roofs painted white, the one at the exhaust end just tends to get covered in clag You can just make it out in the picture Another loco (the one that was at Toton for years as a spares donor) now has a fresh maroon roof one end where the white test application has been painted over. Anyway, back to the mundane and 66030

The worn appearance of the quay sides is very convincing and you're right, carving in dry material will give you a better finish as it doesn't move as you score into it. I agree with Paul (and others) about the bolts not looking right - and I think the cable tie idea is a great one! I'm sure you could cut along the length with a sharp blade and metal rule. The standard you're setting yourself looks very high - excellent work. My only constructive comment I guess would be, would it be worth filling and re-scriping some of the stonework as in the pictures it looks a little wonky in places, where I guess in reality these stone pieces would be perfectly rectangular and in line? I look forward to seeing the next steps - looks like you're really enjoying the summer holidays

The ribbed middle section from a plastic cable tie could possibly be used to represent a rack. Might be a bit difficult to paint though... Paul.

Personally, I think you should ditch the bolts and either use chain to lift the gates or threaded rod, something like 12BA or 14BA. Sorry to sound negative but I do think that as it stands it won't match the standards that you've set for the rest of the layout! Please take this constructively. Paul.