Jonnie

With the construction of the river/canal basin completed I moved onto getting the track aligned and secured to the boards then wired it all up, a few hours plodding away and modifying Peco Electrofrog Points and soldering on so everywhere has power, the layout is DCC. I tested it with my Lionheart Prairie and all worked fine, the points are controlled via DCC Concepts Cobolt DigitalIP motors via the NCE PowerCab, my other layout Paystow uses this but also has the lever frame set up for more enjoyable operation rather than having to go via the accessories function all the time. Here's some pics as I've progressed a fair bit in a couple of days. Wiring up the Peco points, the plastic is cut here to join the stock rail to the heel of the points. The Pagoda hut under construction. Another of the halt, the water tower in the background was one I picked up off eBay. These two buildings are from Skytrex, they're great models and Paystow uses them too. They're sprayed with my air brush using GWR Stone Nº. 1 for the building itself and GWR Stone Nº. 3 for the doors. The windows on the waiting room are Halfords white spray paint. The roofs of the buildings use Halfords primers, white, grey, black, red, yellow and brown misted on (so sprayed from a distance so they sort of dry midway towards the building to give a rough effect. I then moved onto weathering the track with Halfords spray paints, same method as I did for the roofs of the buildings above. Close up of the weathering. The point work close up. After weathering the track was very quickly wiped over with an old piece of balsa wood which took the layer of paint off the top of the rails and left them clean, I use stay alive in all my models but its no excuse for not keeping the track clean. With the track down, weathered and in place I went onto the next bit which is the creation of the hardstanding area so I've used DAS modelling clay all along the front here, two bags of it were used, it isn't that thick. It looks a bit rough and ready as a surface as it is intended to be a road way/hard standing so to get the imprint I simply blobbed a brush up and down into the clay whilst it was still soft. I'm putting a video onto my Instagram to show what I mean. The brush with the remnants of clay on the bristles, it is simply just a dab up and down with it all over and it puts little imprints in the surface which makes it look a bit rough and ready like a road. Once dry the whole of the clay area will be sprayed up with Halfords paints again, the platform area is next to tackle and then I'll ballast the layout.

A little update on my layout. I've wanted to add a river/canal to a layout of mine for ages just never had the motivation to do that. Well I spent yesterday attempting wood work, not perfect but it's given the boards a bit of strength and I'm pleased with outcome. Today I'm wiring in the track and getting that working before moving on to more detailing. The finished river bed. Looking from the other end. The building underway, it's made out of 9mm ply and strip wood. The build underway. I started by cutting along the board with a jigsaw and then fitted some wood to the cut lengths to allow the sides to be mounted to.

Croftview Halt My next O gauge project (click here for my last O gauge layout, Paystow) is a small fictitious GWR halt with a siding somewhere in Devon/Cornwall based on no particular location. The boards are a Tim Horn scenic set, 8' by 2', the layout is an extension to Paystow and the fiddle yard sits between the two layouts with a further fiddle yard beyond Croftview just so trains can go off scene. Paystow is 12' by 2' so this gives a total scenic section of 20' if displayed together. As a start I've got the scenic set sorted out, decided on a simple track plan, pinned down the main points to stop everything moving around after drilling holes for motors and then started plonking buildings on and creating a platform/halt. I'm going to try on this layout and introduce a form of river/canal/stream as part of the scenic which isn't something I've tried before so a new area for me to have a go at. As this is an extension to Paystow it'll be DCC and using Cobalt Digital IP motors, NCE PowerCab and the signals/points controlled from a lever frame. The name Croftview I've chosen as my two rescue Greyhounds came from the kennels of the same name in Kent. Few pics attached showing the small layout so far. This way will be straight off into a fiddle yard, nothing too large though, only enough to take a train off scene and allow another one on scene. The main fiddle yard is the other end of the layout. The start of a halt, just a piece of wood with 3D printing platform edging stuck to it. Looking the other way, the signal box was plonked as an idea but in reality it is too big so I'm going to put that on Paystow to change that up a bit and make a ground frame hut which can also control a level crossing sit here instead. The layout will have two signals to protect the points and a level crossing that I'm going to put just after the points near the signal box in the above photo. A river will be going to the right between the edge of the layout and a roadway which'll run parallel to the track as an access to the little goods shed that'll also be created.

Progress of any extension to Paystow stalled, the boards etc all still exist but are not set up (yet) to make it longer. I am intending to extend the layout for later in 2024 so it can appear again at exhibition. New signal box and goods shed are to be added. The layout did appear at the Spa Valley's model railway show in September after feeling a bit defeated by the whole thing after several months of not being used it was nice to see so many people appreciating it despite appearing the year before. I am planning to extend the layout two ways, at the back and and the end to make it into a longer scenic section: 8ft by 2ft depicting a GWR halt and siding will be the added scenic section, part of the idea is in the last photo on the last post I made. Adding 1ft to the whole 12ft length at the back of the board to add in a bay platform and a separate way onto and off the board. Engine shed to the siding at the front of the layout. Attached is the idea for the 1ft to the back of the board, the new track is in blue, the current track is in black, nothing really exciting track layout wise but mostly will be scenery I suspect. What do people think?

Paystow is due to appear in the next issue of Model Rail Magazine. Some images taken not that long ago of the layout feature here. There is an extension to Paystow coming, 2ft by 8ft GWR halt with a couple of sidings is the theme, the boards are built and the track plonked down loosely, just need the weather to warm up so I can get in the shed and crack on with it!

Paystow Track Plan.pdf Track layout of the main layout is attached.

The layout scenic is 12ft by 2ft, the fiddle yard varies depending on whether it is at an exhibition or not. It is set up as a 'U' shape in the shed and then as an 'L' shape at exhibition. The fiddle yard I've not many photos of but it is three roads and a head shunt, see attached. It was build in quite a rush before the layout was exhibited at Spa Valley and then modified whilst there to get it to fit in the slot we'd been allocated. In the shed this is still the fiddle yard but there is a 3ft by 9ft section that connects it to the main layout via some 2nd radius curves and a short straight in the middle. I was going to rebuild it but then thought this actually works so will leave it as it is albeit might extend it and add another road in the future. If an admin can move it to the 7mm section I'd have no objections.

I've recently added some more bits to Paystow ahead of a photoshoot in the near future. I thought you might like to see these.

I have another thread on here for my OO gauge exhibition layout 'Paybury' which I built during the various lockdowns of 2020. It appeared in the Summer edition of Model Rail last year and then at the Spa Valley Railway's Model Railway Weekend in September 2021. Around the same time I made a bit of an accidental purchase on eBay, seeing a Class 08 shunter with DCC sound for £150 I thought I'll go for it based on the price of decoders and the model alone it was to me quite a steal. Anyway, I won the auction and subsequently the parcel arrived... a lot bigger than I'd expected with 'O gauge' stamped firmly on the box I thought ah, that was a bit of a mistake. Part of me had always wanted an O gauge layout but venturing into the unknown with 7mm scale is something I'd been rather wary of but armed with my newfound 08 I thought I'll give it a go and just scale up the sort of things I'd done before. I'm blessed with the space to build something quite nice so a 12ft by 2ft set of boards were duly purchased from Tim Horn, arrived, assembled and some track plonked down. To cut a long story short the layout was started last September and was finished last month just in time to appear at the Spa Valley's Model Railway Weekend and it certainly went down a treat. The photos attached are of the finished product but if anyone is interested in seeing how it was built I'd be more than happy to upload those photos and show progress but working backwards! The layout is GWR themed as there is plenty of stuff available in O gauge to run on it, buildings are all kit or scratch built other than the signal box, the track is Peco, the point motors are DCC Concepts Cobolt Digital IP (soon to be worked off a DCC Concepts S Lever Frame), controlled by NCE PowerCab. It is a DCC sound layout, all the signals work. Any questions by all means please feel free to ask! If you follow me on Instagram @payburymodelrailway you will find plenty of reels and photos of the layout, including quite a running session this evening at home. I hope you enjoy these pics :)

I'm glad you liked Paybury! It is available to appear at the odd exhibition if any exhibitors are interested, just drop me a message. I didn't get to operate it myself this weekend, I was firing the Bulleid on Saturday and driving the 33 on the Sunday so a couple of trusted fellow volunteers had the pleasure of driving various Southern locos up and down.

Thank you for your kind words! I've been rather busy in the real world of late with Spa Valley and two major events that have taken place, both very well received by the public and busy, As mentioned above, Paybury can be see in Model Rail issue 200, available now. Chris Nevards great photography picked out the layout in far better ways than I ever could with a phone! I've recently given into temptation and now have another BR(S) Green DEMU and one of the EFE O2s on the way so that'll mean an excuse for more photos... Paybury will be on display at the Spa Valley's first Model Railway weekend on 11th & 12th September along with a range of other layouts, details can be found on the Spa Valley's website here. Couple of recent pics of the M7 shunting and one of the 22s idling away.

Join us for a weekend of railways, large and small! We're operating our first Model Railway Weekend this September with a gathering of model railways in a variety of different scales, come along to see layouts at Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge & Eridge with trade stands too! Our main area of layouts on display will be inside the engine shed at Tunbridge Wells West, access will be possible from 10:00 to 17:00 on Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th September, entry tickets can be purchased on the day or online, prices are shown below. We will be operating our two train service using 'Sir Keith Park', 'Douglas' and visiting Class 33/0 33002 'Sea King'. Trains will operate from 10:30 to 17:30 on both days of the event with evening Fish & Chip trains on Saturday 11th September, you can book to dine behind 'Sir Keith Park' online here. Trains will call at High Rocks & Groombridge throughout the day as they operate between Tunbridge Wells West and Eridge. Train Fares Adult All Day Travel + Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways - £12.00 Senior (60+) All Day Travel + Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways - £11.00 Child (2-15yrs) All Day Travel + Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways - £6.00 Family (2A+2C) All Day Travel + Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways - £30.00 All HRA passes, Virgin Vouchers, recipricol travel arrangements and other local discount to travel schemes will continue to be accepted throughout this event. Model Railway Exhibition & Brake Van Rides – Tunbridge Wells West Adult Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways Only - £5.00 Senior (60+) Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways Only - £4.00 Child Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways Only - £2.50 Family (2A+2C) Tunbridge Wells West Model Railways Only - £10.00 The above ticket prices will give you access to see a range of layouts at our Tunbridge Wells West station as well as visit the Engine Shed and yard area. Brake Van rides will also take place throughout the day at Tunbridge Wells West and visitors with Model Railway Exhibition tickets will be able to enjoy rides in our Queen Mary Brake Van from the yard area down to one of our sidings. Confirmed layouts Paybury - OO Gauge Badgers Mount - OO Gauge Blackgang - Gauge 3 Crown Electrolytic Plating Works - O Gauge Tramlink - OO Gauge Little Totston - OO Gauge Long Sutton - N Gauge Beside the Sea (Pier Railway) - OO Gauge Beachlands - N Gauge by Andy Harlow Popley Halt - N Gauge Lego Model Railway - L Gauge Groombridge - N Gauge Childrens layout - G Scale Mining Model Railway - G Scale West Sussex N Gauge MRC Modular Layout Book online here.

My recent birthday saw the arrival of some additional China Clay wagons, so here are some photos from a bit of a running session with just the 08 and a Beattie Well Tank yesterday evening. The 08 is fitted with sound and a stay alive so keeps me entertained for a while moving trucks around! The Beattie Well Tanks will follow in due course after the M7 and H class. I post more onto my Facebook page if you want more regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/PayburyModelRailway The 08 shunts a BR standard brake van. Beattie Well Tank shunts China Clay wagons in the goods yard. 08 shunting. Close up of the wagons, 08 in the background. A rake of China Clay hoods. Close up shunting of the China Clay wagons. 30587 on Paybury Shed. 13363 arrives with a rake of Clay hoods into Paybury station.

For anyone interested, this is the size of 'Paybury' and the components that created it.

A Saturday morning at Paybury, I thought some might appreciate the photos. The M7 arrives with the daily van train whilst the resident B4 shunts wagons in the yard. The B4 dropped down to the Paybury Lane siding to drop off a wagon. B4 having dropped off a wagon. USA tank 30069 after shedding at Paybury overnight waits to head off light engine back to Southampton Docks.

A lovely model and a great engine in real life, I bought the model as little momento. When I was younger I spent a day at the North Norfolk and 65462 was running and thought this is a nice engine, several years later and being incredibly fortunate to be able to do this sort of thing, I hired the J15 from the North Norfolk to Spa Valley in 2019. I had a a few turns on the engine during its visit, a pleasure to drive and fire so that sealed the deal so to speak on me getting one! They do look rather at home on Southern branch lines I must say!

Thanks, Dave. I have considered it but you might just have given me the motivation to go ahead and do it!

As people seem to like these photos on Facebook I thought I'd add them here for others to see. The layout does have its own Facebook page which details how it was built and is more regularly updated than my postings on here: Paybury Model Railway please feel free to give it a like or share! Come and see Paybury at the Spa Valley Railway! Before the photos, I have some news that might interest people that'd like to physically see the layout. The Spa Valley Railway, where I am the Commerical & Finance Manager, will be holding its first ever Model Railway Weekend on 11th & 12th September 2021, subject to things we've all become familiar with. 'Paybury' will be going along so people can see the layout and this will be the first time the layouts appeared in public and probably only time the layout can go anywhere in 2021 – I'm usually too busy at weekends with the Spa Valley! Other layouts are being arranged and the weekend is mainly being run because a number of us that are members have our own layouts suitable for display. It is by no means an exhibition, just a gathering of model railways of various gauges. PM me or email Jonnie.pay@spavalleyrailway.co.uk if you're interested in bringing your layout along and I can send over some provisional details. Anyway, onto 'Paybury' pics from the past week when I've randomly pointed my phone towards the trains... Baby Warships were a regular visitor to the Paybury branch, here D6321 arrives with its China Clay train waiting for the gates to be opened to allow it to continue onto Payford Bridge... The Paybury shunter, B4 30089 goes off shed. This model is the Dapol version and is one I've fitted with sound and stay alive, it was very easily done for anyone uncertain as to whether it is possible. This was the first time I'd hardwired anything DCC and it has come out very well. Paybury lives inside and this was a nice sunrise shot taken one morning the other week, I just happened to be in the room at the time so my phone came in handy! 1121 idles awaiting the early morning commuters. Another Class 22! This was acquired and arrived this week, sound fitted like the other one and idles away in the yard over the back at Paybury one evening. The street lights are rather bright and whilst it probably isn't prototypical it illuminates the layout enough to operate it and still take photos in a 'night time' environment. D6325 waits to depart with a passenger working. As USA Tank 30069 rolls in with a freight working. The USA Tank, a long way from Southampton rolls into Paybury with a selection of SR wagons. And finally, Rocket appeared with its open top carriages providing a perfect solution to modern day open air travel in 2021!

Some pics of 'Paybury' of a quick Saturday afternoon job last weekend to add a 'section signal' just before 'Paybury Tunnel'. I'd thought for a while about putting in a signal just before the tunnel portal, mainly for an added extra, a Dapol SR rail post was duly acquired. The drilling of the hole didn't really impact on anything. There was a bit of foliage to remove beforehand but once out the way it was a quick and easy process. Signal plonked in the ground, I also added that SR signalling equipment case at the time. Signal blended back in and pulled off. Back scene has slightly bubbled here. Back to danger again. This showed up how I really need to blend in the track going into the fiddle yard which will be done when the weather is warmer and the layout can be moved to a more suitable location. The track at the moment allows for me to run trains though which is what matters!

Some more pictures I took earlier of my Class 22 on a branch working, this is a great model, so much so I have two of them, sound fitted. I'm waiting on a 8' by 18" diorama case to begin the extension of 'Paybury' down to the China Clay works but hopefully it should be quite a hit the ground running build once the board arrives as the track etc is already in stock. Whilst I'm waiting on the boards, the Class 08 I have is being fitted up to have sound with the M7 and Drummond 700 to follow. D6321 idling away outside the station. A rare view of an empty siding. Hauling a couple of MK1s, these are renumbered after a couple of coaches we have at the Spa Valley. A J15 took a wrong turning! This is probably my only model (other than a 1366 for the China Clay bit) that isn't SR. My reason for buying it? I hired the real one in October 2019 to the Spa Valley and had a good couple of turns on the engine during its visit.

Thank you. I do have a selection of LBSCR (Terriers, E4) and SECR stock (H, P, C and Birdcages), if you look back through this thread you'll see some of them in action. LSWR is just my personal preference and I seem to have more of. Spa Valley as a location is purely just because I'm the railways Commercial & Finance Manager so it is an easy place for me to take it! Some of our volunteers have their own layouts (some have appeared in Model Rail) which could bring together a nice outdoors gathering at our Groombridge Station this Summer, providing the weather is nice! Beattie Well Tank with some China Clay wagons, a sign of the future for when I extend Paybury...

A few photos from a running session this weekend, and a shot of the whole layout. It might appear at the Spa Valley Railway this Summer with a few other members layouts, subject to the way of the world right now! M7 arrives into Paybury The Q1 awaits departure whilst the Pull/Push has just arrived. Collecting the goods. The whole layout.

So what next for 'Paybury'... Well, the 'Paybury' layout itself won't have a great deal of change, it all works and when we're permitted to do so it'll likely visit the Spa Valley Railway for a weekend at some point during 2021. There is, however, a project looming to extend the layout down the bit of branch line that is no longer there. For anyone that hasn't really followed this so far, here's a bit of fictional history of 'Paybury'... "The Paybury branch as it’s become known was originally a 7 mile long line to the village of Payhound however the onset of WW2 stopped the planned extension of the branch to meet up with the London, South, North, East & West Railway at Payage Junction. Instead, the line beyond Paybury was closed in 1938 to allow an airfield to make use of the 1 mile long level straight across the Paybury Meadow. Paybury itself is a thriving little village you can see in the distance from the station, population c8,000 people but the primary use of Paybury is for freight distribution, although there is a regular branch line service. It is usually steam in the week and on Saturdays with a lower cost hourly DEMU service on Sunday’s. Regular branch traffic in the 1960s was M7s, Class 22s, O2s, 700s, DEMUs and Beattie Well Tanks with the occasional off region locomotives sent down from the local shed, 71K Hunmouth West. Paybury became a sub shed of Hunmouth and a B4 was out based at Paybury to enable daily shunts to be completed without needing to send an engine up the line. Part of the line beyond Paybury did continue in use to enable the China Clay at Payford Bridge to be brought back from the dries, what was the original mainline now forms part of a siding and run around loop. The line was threatened with closure in 1971 but the closure wasn’t forthcoming due to the China clay demand, the station site at Paybury was subsequently listed and today there is a thriving passenger service as well as a strong freight industry." So... with an 8' 18" scenic set ordered from Tim Horne, the next phase will be to re-build the China Clay section of my original layout (I was never 100% with it) as an end piece of Paybury. It won't break 'Paybury' up, that'll still be independent, it'll just go from one scene to another, the extension being called, 'Payford Bridge'. To give an idea here is a mock up below. Whether it'll come out looking like this I'm not too sure! 'Paybury' itself was just some track laid out and played around with then it ended up coming together! Limited to 6 points ideally as I already have the Cobolt motors. The DCC supply will come from 'Paybury' or it'll be independent.

Some photos of the trains running up and down recently. Dapol B4 shunting, thanks to YouChoos this model is now fitted with DCC Sound, this was the first model I'd had a go at fitting sound to and it wasn't as difficult as I first thought, around 2hrs all in. It also has stay alive on the model which helps for one of this size, although to be fair it's pickups are rather good and the track is regularly cleaned. Is Paybury on the Isle of Wight... Who knows, it seems to mainly have LSWR models appear on it, here is a recently acquired 'Calbourne' from a friend. I'd been after one for a while so when it was for sale I jumped at the chance! Class 22 arrives with a Milk train, this is now sound fitted too. This photo finally inspired me to fit the head code blinds and the extra panels to the side. Head code fitted and on show, need to tone the brightness down though. On Sunday's the DEMU's operate the branch, here 1121 is sat ticking over (it is sound fitted too) with the saloon lights providing a nice warm glow to the Sunday morning service as the wagons parked up ready for Monday morning await collection. The Saturday evening freight arrived so late the driver of the Class 22 dumped it in the steam shed and went home, the driver returned this morning to take the loco back to the local depot further up the line.

Thank you for your kind words. It was something to keep me occupied mostly during lockdowns in between being able to open the Spa Valley, hopefully this Summer we'll get back to the enjoyment of steaming and dieseling up and down the High Weald. This afternoons little task was to make an entrance sign for the station. It is quite a simple little thing really, a 40mm by 20mm creation in Adobe Photoshop, the colour coming from the BR Totem which was an image I had on file, the font is Gill Sans and the arrow is one created in Adobe by blending 3 together. Printed on an A4 bit of paper then stuck onto some card from the back of an envelope which was painted in BR(S) Green! The 'posts' are just off cuts of DCC Concepts bullhead rail I had, painted and glued to the card, it was then just plonked down with superglue and hidden by the vegetation. Took about an hour all in with drying time for the paint. Edges of the sign have been trimmed very finely with a sharp craft knife then just lightly brushed with BR (S) Green to get rid of the white edge.