marc smith

No problem @Jerry1975 - it's what RMweb is for - inspiration, help, guidance and feedback, and it's why I'm a huge fan of the forum, and all those like Andy Y, who put so much time & effort into running and maintaining it - where would I be without RMweb? Glad to hear you'll be adding some fuel tanks and other associated scenic items. It's all the paraphernalia & general "clutter" that help make a small layout more interesting IMO.

So @TechnicArrow - you are blaming me for this thread taking a Twister direction. Well, I'd point out that it's up to you to Mr. Whippy it in to shape. .....And up to me to apologise for my puns not improving, of course Back on topic (not wanting to side-step onto chocolate bar puns!) I did wonder whether you might automate the running. I'm looking forward to seeing how that works.

This is looking really.... tasty In fact, it's really Jubbly Flakin' hell Oh dear, please accept my apologies - my attempts at ice-cream related puns must stop there! Excellent progress good sir. I like this - it's something quite different. Can't wait to see it finished - now, is that an Ice cream van around the Cornetto..... argh - I said I'd stop lol

Hi Jerry, Yes, it has been a very difficult year, and for so many of us too However, a good hobby can be a huge help, and a pleasant distraction as well as a creative outlet I always liked "Barber's Bridge" too. It's one of the layouts that helped inspire me to build Hendre Lane (all those years ago!). Although I've been having something of a clear-out (and I really, really, really need to clear some more possessions / "stuff") I've been pondering building something very small - just to have a little project and a creative distraction myself. And funnily enough, I pondered something along the same lines.... You have made a good start sir - and yes, you really do need somewhere to run those diesels. Best of luck with it. I will be watching with interest

Hi @D602bulldog - apologies for the late reply. I only just saw this post... Yes, it has gone to a new owner. I'm sure the layout will live on - it's such a classic.

Some great weathering and painting here @Enfys_Rainbow Really like that Provendor store too. Am enjoying looking back through this thread. I always liked the building at the far left of the layout, disguising the entry point. The different levels really look spot on.

Looking good Captain K I especially like the retaining wall and backs of terraced houses - there's something so atmospheric and natural about that view. I must admit, I had completely forgotten about this project. I think I must have been distracted by just how good Bethesda is! I must also admit that it can be a distraction, when you model in several scales, and / or gauges. Keep up the fab modelling good sir

@naturol- 7mm will indeed bite hard. It leaves a great impression too. Oooh, tell me what you have planned for those wagons EDIT: PS Wayne - the Grampus is a bit of a fave wagon of mine. I have one that always looked at home on Poynton. Good to see one sat there again.... Now you'll have to finish painting it

Thanks for that @Jon73202, This thread is from several years back - I resurrected it, as the layout has now been sold on I'm sure Wayne (the new owner) will keep it going though. I really should get around to building a new micro O gauge layout - I've an idea niggling away for another space-saving concept... Alas, time & space are the drawbacks, as ever

Thanks for your kind words guys That was a fab day at Stafford @Andrew P - big thanks to Andy Y for putting that on. Can't wait for another rmweb members day This layout is now sold - I put it on Facebook, and guy asked me to put it by for him, after only about 30 mins Once we're ready to move house, I can start thinking about my next project!

Just looking back through this thread, as I've been selling a few items just recently (including another layout) I'm going to be advertising it for sale elsewhere, and just wanted to see if there was any interest in it? It's truly a Micro Layout, at only just over 3 feet in length, by around 15" deep. The fiddle yard is around 20" or so and includes a "wired-in" Peco Loco lift - so you can keep sound locos ticking away. Also included is the power supply for the LED lights - I spent nearly £100 on those alone. Anyone interested in buying this little Steelworks Micro - please PM me

Hi all, as per the title really, I was thinking about getting a Peco O Gauge Set Track point or two (at some distant future point) And I was just wondering whether larger locomotives will run through them OK? I'm thinking maybe a Heljan Class 37 or Western.... I've not tried one of these points yet - they'll certainly help save space in a small yard - but are they really only suitable for shorter shunting engines? Let me know your thoughts if you have used any of these points.... Cheers now

Two Class 08's are stabled in the yard, probably because something needs "tweaking" - there's some oil and plenty of tools in the grounded van body at this end of the yard. My long serving 08 (the Bachmann Brass one on the right) is going cheap, if anyone wants an inexpensive introduction to O gauge.....

And some more...... I'm never sure whether you should be "pleased" with your own work - or just satisfied? Oscar Wilde said - “We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless.” - which is why I maintain that Railway Modelling is loosely a form of art (well.... sort of, maybe). In any case, I'm pleased that it was well received at shows. Part of its' "success" is down to the sense of space, despite it's diminutive size - It's just 5 feet, including the fiddle yard - a small space in 4mm scale, let alone 7mm. This sense of spaciousness also relies on not having too much stock on the layout, of course. But one of my pet hates, is seeing the track disappear into the fiddle yard, and there just being bare wood underneath the bridge. I always like to weather the rails beyond the bridge / view-blocker, and add some grass / weeds, and continue any retaining wall - even if just for the first few inches. On PNS - I was glad that there was enough of the commercially available backscene, to continue it into the fiddle yard. It helped take the eye away from the end of the scenic area. Of course, those who know me are well aware of my penchant for using mirrors, to distract the viewer from the other end of a layout.... This also worked well on this layout, I feel. I had been concerned that it might be too large area, and would be too obvious to onlookers - but plenty of long grass and weeds, with half a tree in the corner, the overhead pipe and careful use of other scenic items did help take the eye away from the baseboard edge, I think.

Funny how when I still had the layout, I wasn't posting anything..... but I still have some pics that didn't make the Model Rail article.... A "crew" of two arrived via Wickham trolley, at the end of the yard - one of whom was the foreman. Typical! If they'd all been workers, they'd have had to walk.... "Moaning" Dai Morgan was told to "look busy" - but he decided to nip out of sight and have that sarnie he had in his pocket.... then sit a while, to digest it and contemplate......

More snail's pace "action", towards the end of Ruyton's days.... A class 08 rearranges wagons in the tiny yard. A gunpowder van waits beneath the bridge, it is bound for the quarry beyond the little halt and the quarry is now unable to extend it's workings much more - it's too close to the village of Ruyton XI Towns for the comfort of some residents as it is! And perhaps underneath the road bridge is NOT the best place to leave such a railway vehicle - There's a spotter on the bridge, and he's well known to the locals, to have the occasional cigar I always liked the bridge at Ruyton - I based the bridge on my own "Ogmore Road" very closely on it......

I've got some stock I could let go with the layout Keith. I will keep some of my EM stock (as I've a really small plan... for when I eventually have space again / post house-move) But there are a few things I'd let go with the layout. Note, I don't have any of John's original stock from the layout though (I have been asked a couple of times) - my intention was always to run the layout in later years - as if, by some miracle, the line had survived... up until the early 60's

Hi all, and especially hi to @Wayne 37901 Wayne has indeed taken ownership of PNS - funny how I never called it that before, but in these days of the TLA.... it makes perfect sense I'm glad it has gone to a good home, and hopefully, I'll be able to get to see it again. Also hopefully, Wayne won't "modernise" it too much.... and clear all the weeds! As I'd said before PNS did its' job for me, in demonstrating that you can have a small O gauge layout that includes some run-round manouvres, and doesn't cost the earth - albeit a layout that can only include wagons and small locos.... But as many of us have noted - in O gauge, a shunter and just a few wagons can create a sense of atmosphere, and draw onlookers in to a scene. Even a single wagon can have that indefinable "something" - a certain "gravitas" perhaps? Enough wittering though - I mentioned to Wayne the other day, when I built PNS I hadn't fully decided what to opt for in terms of couplings. One drawback of making a fascia and in effect building your layout into a sort of cabinet, is that it can hinder ease of use of 3 link couplings.... Initially, I had thought that Sprat & Winkle couplings (my usual choice in 4mm) looked a tad obtrusive in 7mm. However, once blackened or painted, they don't offend my eye too much. Crucially, I could see the couplings in action, and as they were intended to be seen - within a setting / context. I had already installed S&W's onto some stock - but PNS was an ideal test-bed for installing them onto the rest of my stock. I could easily plonk PNS onto the kitchen table or the coffee table in the lounge (with some excellent train DVD's on in the background) and happily tweak the couplings in daylight (there's no window in my workshop).

Well, no takers yet @wenlock I would like a bigger house, sadly however..... I'd probably end up with even less modelling space anyway lol

Just wanted to add - now I've revamped the scenery, added a (removable) backscene, done some "tweaking", added a cassette for through running and rebuilt the fiddle yard. For reasons of moving house - Ruyton Road could do with a new home, and is for sale for a reasonable price (with the caveat that the new owner takes good care of it & keeps this legendary layout for posterity)

Hi Richard, Thanks for your kind words re PNS (I never called it that before! lol) I'm so glad you like the layout, and even more pleased that I got down to your local show with it - that was a great day, and a fab evening in the pub beforehand, I recall Yes, I need to build something else - I'm quite "fired up" about building another layout..... BUT, I need to sell a couple more layouts, and indeed quite a bit of stock first. We will need to move house in the future, and that will involve a bit of downsizing. So if you know anyone interested in "Ruyton Road" or "Wales, Rails, Rain & Steel" - let them know I'm looking to sell. If I sold another layout + some stock, I could justify starting one small project then I'm dreaming of a small, folding 7mm narrow shelfie

Thanks for posting that photo @Warspite And thanks to Mrs Warspite for her kind words, and of course for taking the photograph

Hello @Warspite / Stephen, Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the kind words. I still wish I had got to see your 7mm layout "in the flesh" - and wish even more that I could have had the opportunity to talk you out of dismantling it Hopefully, we can all meet up face-to-face at a show or an RMweb even again.... soon. If I can sell my 4mm "Wales, Rails, Rain & Steel" OO micro, "Ruyton Road" and perhaps something else.... I may even be able to talk Mrs Smith into allowing me space to build another layout before we move house - fingers crossed Cheers now Marc

Ah, thanks for that @Gedward I am obviously too lazy to read through the whole thread! lol In the past, I found that kneading PVA into DAS did indeed help stop cracking, as it dried out But I think that NSP clay you have used looks a better solution. The more this layout comes together, with the platform & buildings etc - the better that backscene looks. It's really got a true sense of the area.

A single engineers wagon - but it's empty... no ballasting going on here, and the yard is in desperate need....