Anthony Ashley

Ed, Thanks very much for the photo. All photos add to the quality of the layout, as you never know what additional gem is hidden in the detail. Thanks again as I appreciate your contribution to the process. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, I am happy Bunnings have raised the quality of the XPS from the green stuff. I used the green to create my castle floor but would not use it for hills or mountains. Ross and I spent today working on levelling both storage yards. This required adding a few more support rods and supporting braces under the boards. Thanks to Ross for his ongoing support and assistance. He has an large electronic leveller which indicates on the read out how much the end of the level needs to be raised or lowered to get a flat area. Minimum measurement is in mls. I think it was 2.4 m in length. We were happy when we got a reading of 1ml over the length of the level. If so this works out at a maximum gradient of about a 0.3%. This should be fine for the yards. Next is to prepare the many points I need to incorporate into the layout and then lay the track. No need to alter the uni frog points but I have many older stock as well which will need to be cut and wired across 2 rails. Have had a great discussion with Lez over a photo posted by Jamie (7APT7). This photo by him showed a very dilapidated trackside building beyond the Pen-y-clip viaduct. Unfortunately this photo has been lost to the site on server transfer. At the time of posting I looked at the photo posted on 23 Feb 20 at page 38. I thought I would go back to it on modelling the building, but as I said it has been lost. I have tried to contact Jamie without success. Lez and I have agreed that we think it was probably the smallest LNWR stone loco shed possible with some internal wood framing. The roof from memory was also wood. Given the photo was taken in 2020 the structure was to say the least very dilapidated. I only remember the floor having stone and with some very rusty rails evident. I think I shall create a shabby stone building 30 mls by 70 mls with a poor wooden roof. If anyone can remember any other details from this photo which will assist please add a comment. Thanks to Lez for assisting in this process. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, Sorry I misinformed you the other day. The other material I saw at Bunnings a few years ago was green and not dense enough. Went to Bunnings and looked at the blue XPS by Bastion. It is almost exactly the same as the Knauf board. I think the blue stuff is good and have bought some to supplement my dwindling yellow material. Have a few photos of the storage yard boards. Both are about 21 feet or about 7 metres long. View of the "Chester" storage yard View of the Holyhead yard We need to level off these yards and then start laying track. Regards, Anthony Ashley Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, Looked again on line. Redbak do a sheet called thermal gold which looks the same. Only issue is that they are in North Geelong. A long way from Sydney and either further from Brisbane. Have not found a Brisbane or Sydney supplier yet but will let you know if I find one. Getting back to the modelling, I fitted the last storage yard board last night 505mlX1,220ml. It fitted like a glove and neatly fits the gap!! I am going to get Ross to help level off all of this new work with is long electronic level this week and then on with the storage yards track work. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, I looked at the blue material from Bunnings but it is much less dense that the yellow Knauf board. It is no wherenear as good, but have a look and see what you think. It is really unfortunate that Knauf are no longer making the board. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Sorry John, I did not see your post over the page. The material is Knauf Multi use Foam Board. I used to get it from Bunnings but it is no longer stocked. I rang Knauf directly and they no longer manufacture it. Looks like we need to look at alternatives. I have 2 sheets left!!! The other word for it is extruded polyurethane, I think. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, Have glued and shaped the rest of the hill under the road viaduct. Photos below. Sulpted hill I have also added another base board for one of the storage yard run around loop. The only major base board section left to fit is the joining section, which will fit in the gap area in the above photo and create the Holyhead run around loop. Hope to fit this in the next week. It is only 508 mls wide and will be supported by the two existing edges either side of the new board. Next is to paint the new hill brown and then look to add vegetation to them. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, Road base has been sanded back and the hill next to the rail viaduct roughly shaped and laid in position These still need to be glued. The pieces which have had the shaping finalised have been glued into position. Photos below. I think gluing these together and then shaping will be the best plan. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Dear All, Have laid the last section of road. First section was laid a few days ago and has been sanded. The patches showing below will fill a few gaps. The upper section of the road is the newly laid, but prior to sanding. The new section will need to dry for a day and then be sanded. Then I shall add the cardboard edging and then the foam hillside in front of the road. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Ade, Thanks for your post. Will try to maintain a regular posting of material!! Have been sculpting the foam around the edge of the mountain. Photos below. Prior to the foam being added to the right end of the rail viaduct. First foam section Next piece Have cut a track in the bottom foam section to insert a cardboard support to act as a brace for the last pieces of foam. They will stadily climb up the wall. Next to lay the plaster road base and then fit the cardboard backing to the above section and fit the remaining foam sections. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John and Scotty, Belatedly thanks for your comments. I did a lot of work on the layout prior to the layout tour which John mentioned above. With the extreme humidity in Brisbane over the last 4 months I have had a layout break and working in the train shed was really difficult. A couple of months ago I did cut and fit the next section of the Chester storage yard. Had to cut a large sheet of ply down the middle, then place both pieces across the grain of another sheet, glue, corn and paint. Then had to fit more suspension rods around the perimeter of the layout and fit it in. Definitely a two person job and Ross helped out again for this task. Photos of the finished board with some temporary track work in place. Track section on plan With cooler temperatures and less humidity I will get back into the shed regularly. Have started to tidy up the right side of the mountain section with foam board edging added to lay the bitumen road base. Some licence has been taken with the actual road formation due to space constraints. I will continue to work on this section over the next week. In addition there are only 2 sections of base boards to add to finish this part of the layout, one 1.22 mX1.3 m and the other 1.22m X.57m. This board has been prepared to be cut to the required sizes. Happy easter all!! Regards, Anthony Ashley

David, Thanks for the comprehensive post. I agree with most of your points. I think you are saying that the front elated building had a ground and first floor. The photos that I have seen are indicative of the ground floor being free of any building around the entire U shape. I think there was no building in the ground floor but only the first floor. I have the book Railway of North Wales Bangor which has a very distant photo of the building. Cann't see the lower floor occupied. I will make the elevated section 30ml wide and 30 ml tall. The building is framed with white pots both vertically and horizontally. 2ml square plastic rods should do the job nicely. I shall fit the carcass of the building inside this frame work. Thanks for your contribution. I might create a short paragraph on the layout about the building using the info you have provided. Thanks again for your contribution. Last weekend the British Railway Modellers of Australia held their annual convention in Brisbane. Layout tours were conducted on Sunday afternoon and mine was a part of the list. I tried running the Irish Mail rake and manged to do so for about 5 hours. Have added a couple of photos to show the rake ( not accurate in this photo but I have the exact coaches to make the 1960 rake) I have been busy with Bangor yard buildings. The goods shed is nearly complete and the Engine Shed only needs a roof to be added. Photos are below. A class 55 diesel and a 17 coach rake, showing the size of the Irish mail rake. The engine shed is visible on the left of the photo with the Goods shed on its right. The Engine shed is 6 tracks and inspection pits on each. I had some trouble making the roof supports which needed to be exactly the same. Eventually used one as a template to cut the rest. I think they are well lined up and should produce the required effect. The engine shed roof only has a few pieces placed in position but not stuck down. More work needed on the roof. Both sheds visible. You can see the detail in the engine shed. Once the roof is cut and stuck it should be effective. I need to download the Scale scenes zinc roof sheet to cover the non glass sections. Lining up the roof supports to match the window frames was a nightmare. Cloe up of the Goods shed. Over head view with the uncompleted Engine Shed roof very obvious. I shall add drains and down pipes on the top of the pylons on the side of the shed. I need to get my son to 3D print them! Side view of the Goods shed. Rear view of the shed. I shall finish the Engine shed roof and apply the drains to the Goods shed once I have then . Next is the Repair shed in Bangor Goods yard. Regards, Anthony Ashley

Mr Gibbons, Thanks for your comment. Bangor at its height had 3 large sheds, ss shown in the plan below. The engine shed and Goods shed are named in the plan. The Goods shed is exactly that same design as part of the Repair/Engineer shed which is the large shed on the left of the plan. The additional part of the repair shed is the elevated section. This is not really shown on the plan as it extended the brick saw tooth section both in width and in length. I used the design from the scale scenes North Light engine shed for the Goods shed and will do so for the rear of the Repair shed. It is exactly the correct design if made wider and much much longer (Goods shed is 15 roof sections and the Repair shed 10 saw tooth sections. Given both of these are mainly brick I think it would have taken much work to move from another site even if nearby, but I do not know. Some of the bricks may have come from an earlier engine shed if this was demolished and relocated. Thanks for your comment. I had looked at the disused stations web site but unfortunately it does not have any detailed photos showing the relationship between the two repair shed sections. Your comments are really appreciated. Regards, Anthony Ashley

GWR, Thanks for your contribution. I had no information on the Railway Institute. The link to the web site is very valuable and I shall use those photos to help construct the building. It is quite large and relatively isolated from most other buildings, so will look impressive against the hill bank on which it is situated. Thanks again for your help. I am a little disappointed that there have been no response directly to my questions on the Bangor engineering shed, as I have exhausted my resources in trying to find relevant information. Ross came around the other day and we agreed upon the most likely building arrangement between the saw tooth section and the U shaped wrap around elevated building. Will need to implement those decisions unless I get something more on it. Thanks to all for your contributions to date. Regards, Anthony Ashley

John, The mainline is operational apart from a triple point which needs replacing, so I should be able to have a train or two operating on the mainline. The layout is on the layout tour so all are welcome to come. Thanks for the question. Am expecting Ross to come over tomorrow to assist with the bus lines from the Bangor Goods Yard switch to the terminal strips. There are 6 lines to lay. I have also been studying the Bangor Goods Yard Work Shops shed. The building is about the same size as the engine shed but comprised of two parts, The first is about ten sections of roof structure similar to the Goods shed- a saw tooth roof line of 10 sections. At the front of this structure is an elevated U shape building of standard design. The elevation allows the locos passage underneath the U shaped section into the saw tooth section. The photos that I have are below. I have spent about 5 years trying to find better photos, but with no success. The issue is that I can not see how the two sections are linked or joined. If anyone has access to better photos or knows the structural arrangement of the 2 sections I would appreciate a comment. Photos are below of what I have. The workshop is the middle of the picture with the front section elevated on white piers and the saw tooth section behing it. Cloer picture of the workshop just bekid the climbing road. A white framed building is behind it. The three main sheds are visible in this photo starting with the engine shed at the bottom right, goods shed in the middle and workshop on the left If anyone has more info on hte workshop I would really appreciate contact through this blog. Regards, Anthony Ashley