Conrail76

I remember the article in the Model Rail supplement (think I've still got it somewhere) and looking forward to seeing this layout at the 1994 Imrex show when it used to be at the Royal Horticultural Hall near Victoria -needless to say it didn't disappoint!

1994 doesn't seem all that long ago but I suppose now this would be considered to be a 'period' layout. Interesting choice with the loco hauled passenger trains, liveries and the mixture of first and second generation DMUs which were around during that time.

Plenty of examples on the Croydon Tramlink believe it or not, once you're away from Croydon town centre, especially on the New Addington section.

Thanks for sharing, watching that video has given me a bit more inspiration and reason to crack on and get the baseboards built and track laid for the N scale shortline layout I've been planning over the last 2 years. It's supposed to be set in the Midwest early 80s, I've got an Atlas sound equipped Alco S2 which will be the sole motive power.

I've converted a couple of sound locos myself into 'dummies' of which I had running issues with. It was just a matter of popping off the keeper plate on the bogies and taking out the geared axle wheelsets and flipping them over so that they didn't line up with the idler gears to make them free running. That way I've still got all the sound and light functions and it eliminates the problem of speed matching when running them as pair with a 'powered' loco. I suppose if you were running a non sound dummy you would want to pair it up with a sound loco which has the same prime mover, i.e. EMD 645 turbo [GP40/GP50/SD40] or EMD 645 non-turbo [MP15/GP15/GP38] like for like.

I've been looking at these as well, maybe if they produce a corn syrup or vegetable oil tank car then I might consider buying a couple but I have to agree about the high prices being a bit off putting. Even some of the latest tank car offerings from Walthers and Atlas have been going up in price but the detail is getting better all the time, a far cry from some of the 'shake the box' kits I built when I first started modelling American 22 years ago -but I was only paying between £5 and £10 per kit, Happy Days!

Like the photos from your earlier post with the grain hoppers being unloaded, something you don't see recorded all that often. It looks like the 'Bobcat' is being used to pull the hoppers along with a cable attached. Plenty of detail there which can be replicated on a layout.

I've always found that full size mock ups are a good way of working out a trackplan and placement of buildings as to what works and looks good. Also it's always a good idea to work out all the switching moves you will be making when operating the layout as well because anything overlooked in the trackplan, clearances, length of switching leads etc can come back to haunt you [ask me how I know about this!].This looks like a good project and I will be interested to see how this develops. I've been building a 7'x 6' L shape [+6' staging] 3 turnout switching layout for the last three and a half years now but it's a fairly generic industrial scene with no 'giveaways' so I can run anything I like as long as it's within the timescale of the last ten years or so. Keep up the good the work, look forward to seeing more of it.

Just seen this for the first time, an interesting and original concept with the yard sandwiched between two dummy mainlines [just like the real Hither Green]. gives it the illusion of being bigger and a sense of place. Keep up the good work.