Hydraulic Jack

I've just sorted myself out with an RMweb account & I've been following the thread on Ranelagh Bridge with some interest. It's a location that has long fascinated me from the time of my first visit to the area in the Spring of '73 to view Westerns and Hymeks. The Sept 82 edition of RM contained an article about a layout based on RB which initially stimulated my interest in building something similar. This was rekindled by a feature in the Oct 99 edition of Rail Express. I eventually got started in the Spring of 2000....!I've based it on the post turntable era. The depot was, even for a stabling point, fairly primitive. There never seems to have been any form of shelters over the pumps and very little in the way of admin./facilities. I was fortunate enough to be able to view the location quite frequently between Spring 73 & early 77 by which time loco visits were declining owing to the introduction of HSTs in Oct 76. I paid an 'unofficial' visit to the site in Feb. 77. There was access alleyway round the back of RB which served the flats behind and there were stone bollards up against the brick wall at the back. I was a bit more athletic in those days and you could balance on these bollards & obtain a good view over the depot. On this particular occasion , the Sat. when D1023 worked the Capitals Utd. railtour, myself and a friend were beckoned over the wall by depot staff. We didn't need telling twice...we were over the wall! D1023 came on the depot for servicing & it was the only loco there. I think the depot lingered on into the mid-80s before becoming a car park. Despite being a simple location it does make for quite a satisfying layout. It seems to work best with about 11 locos. I've used cork for the raised paved area between the tracks and Metcalfe adhesive paving slabs on top of this. The rear walling is Hornby straight walling and the water tower is Hornby too.There was a small shunters' office( officially daubed Uncle Toms Cabin} at the east end of the depot beyond the road overbridge which was sited at the end of the pilot road. This I've modelled this using the Prototype Models GWR Goods Office. The road overbridge is a final requirement & I;ve yet to source anything suitable in 4mm. Point operation on the depot sems to have been entirely manual with shunting signals. I'd be interested to know if anybody has managed to find a suitable, easy to assemble backdrop for the flats behind.