philiprporter

Thanks Cav - will have a go when I get home this evening - presumably its easy enough to glue the pan back on? Yes I like the roof weathering too!! Incredible that these start life with pale grey roofs and yet I always assumed they were painted dark grey/brown when it is in fact layers of grime!

Cav - the weathering really makes it look the part - great job!! Hope this isnt considered off topic but I can't figure out how to do this: "The pan has also been tweaked as mentioned earlier to keep the head level at all times" - I've tried to figure it out from the various posts but am probably being dim - any chance of an idiots guide as to how to do this?! Cheers, Phil.

Looks great! I don't model OO gauge anymore, but I have one on order from Hattons - just looks great, I've wanted one for years and I just hope that Bachmann will apply the shrink ray and produce an n-gauge version at some stage. I also hope it sells well for them so that we can see other AC electrics emerging in the future.

Thanks for the kind words Steve - amazed by those two pictures - it really looks like two different locations! Incredible!

I thought I would take a picture from the 'other side' of the aqueduct. Lots of ground cover and vegetation to add, but the aqueduct is complete, aside from representing the white water that cascades down the steps - will do this with clear silicone and some dry brushing of colour after some practice on scrap plasticard. The whole thing is waterproof and there is a pump and reservoir arrangement beneath the baseboard so real water will flow in a continual loop once its complete (this was the subject of the RMWeb challenge entry which I never completed). The 'props' are there to support the reservoir structure - it collapsed in steam days and washed away ballast on the two running lines that exited the now-abandoned single bore tunnels - to repair it the outer and inner faces were smeared with concrete prior to adding the supports and I have tried to replicate that with model filler coloured and weathered. Need to weather the support 'props' some more.

One thing that amazes me with this location is just how much vegetation has grown over the years!! Compare this image above with Coachmann's and you will see what I mean! (and more has doubtless grown since 2008!!) Its made the modelling of the contours and hill slopes on the left hand embankment area particularly tricky - and modelling the rectangular water tank which sits in this embankment has been pure guesswork. Sadly this is on Network Rail land and they wouldn't let me anywhere near it! Makes me wonder how this guy got access to the abandoned tunnels, as NR were adamant that no members of the public were allowed anywhere near the railway on foot no matter what the circumstances??!! (Scroll down for the 'inside the tunnel' shots - fascinating). Thanks very much to everyone for all the very kind comments - as I have said before, your positive comments are such a boost to spur me on to try and finish the model which I have promised myself I will do this year so I can exhibit as soon as possible (exhibiting a layout being a lifelong unfulfilled dream of mine). I just wish Farish or Dapol would produce some n-gauge non-air conditioned mk2's so I can accurately portray the passenger workings! Ian - very interesting idea which hadn't occured to me - no space in my spare room for that at present, but it would be great to extend the scenery forward for exhibitions and enhance the 'trains in the landscape' feel - and yes, that warehouse is a very impressive structure that I would love to model. Let me get the main layout finished and I will then see if that can be done - its a great idea, so thank you!!!

Hi Millerhillboy I use the A4 size sheets that Slaters produce - the issue is that the sheet specified as being 'n-gauge' (Slaters item 0422) comprises very, very small stones which may be accurate in terms of their scale size, but just dont 'look' right to me. I use the ones that are labelled n-OO gauge (Slaters item 0419) - which are probably a little large (the stones that is) for n-gauge, but do somehow 'look' right! Those codes are taken from the Gaugemaster website - which is where I accidentally ordered the n-gauge sheets from, only to find the stones were too small to my eye. Gaugemaster were happy to replace for the OO-n gauge sheets - to find these sheets on the Gaugemaster site type Slaters stone coarses' into their search engine. As ever, no connection with Gaugemaster - just a happy customer. As an aside, one thing I have learned from building this layout to date is how often things that are built exactly to scale just don't somehow 'look' right (the stones being one example). I wonder what causes this effect? Does something weird happen to our senses when we scale things down? I know colour shades are affected, but didn't realise just how much this mysterious 'effect' affects other issues, such as contours, slope angles etc. etc. Anyway, I digress -hope the above info helps, Best wishes, Phil.

Hi Coachmann - couple of shots as promised - not much time to add scenery this weekend I'm afraid - lots more to do, but at least I managed to 'grass' the bank on the left with a base layer of scatter - now need to blend it into the slope above the tunnels and add static grass - next weekend I hope. Best wishes, Phil.

Graham this is praise indeed - very kind of you indeed - although I reckon that your wonderful urban environments are probably trickier to make look convincing than rural environments and the intricacies of the built environment require much more time and patience than the less intricate application of flock and scatter! Well, thats my experience at least. Having said that, my next layout will be a Japanese Shinkansen model in n-gauge so that will be my first dabble into the urban environment - we shall see what pans out! Steven - yes I may have to sneak the three famous gents in somewhere not too visible!! Maybe under the canal bridge?! Its a great place to model and a great place to visit (as Ian says, some nice pubs!) and a great place to watch trains! Joseph - agree with your views on the track layout - but my first layout was in OO and was an end to end affair - for this one I really wanted to just watch trains run through the scenery and that is of course where n-gauge offers so much potential. Thanks to all for the very kind and encouraging feedback - its a real boost to someone who has to model in fits and starts!

Hi Coachmann - will get the camera out for you on Sunday - the 'whole' view isn't nearly as scenically developed as the shots of the tunnel area, but hopefully it will give you the general impression - the Styrofoam embankment on the far left of the pictures above will be 'turfed' by Sunday though, so there will have been some progress in that area. All the best, Phil.

Thanks so much for the kind words Coachmann Herus and Douglas - really gives me some encouragement to crack on and finish the model!! The grass above the tunnels is a mix of two shades of static grass applied with a puffer bottle, but the effect I wanted to create was the ridges caused by slow soil creep that are such a feature of the 'real' slope. The styrofoam was covered with brown-painted cheap Wilko flexible filler and then covered in a layer of normal turf flock. Once that had dried I applied silly amounts of PVA to form ridges (to represent the soil creep ridges) that were liberally dusted in static grass with the styrofoam block angled such that this slope above the tunnels was flat to avoid the PVA dribbling downhill - then left it for a good 48 hours to dry solid before vacuuming the excess static grass. Bushes are coming soon and I have a LOT of trees to make!

Many thanks indeed for the kind comment Simon - it was Graham Hedge's 'Hedges Hill Cutting' that inspired me to go n-gauge - and his Stoney Lane Depot just blows me away with the quality of the modelling. If I can get anywhere close to Graham's quality of modelling during my lifetime I will be very happy!! Millerhillboy - thanks so much! The superelevation was a pain in the neck to get right - shims of Styerene strip inserted beneath the sleepers on one side - the issue I had was with ballast swelling and forcing the other side up on one of the running lines - thankfully this only afflicted a short section of track between the aqueduct structure and the tunnnel mouth, so its not too visible. This swelling happened because I used 'scenic' ballast as opposed to good old fashioned granite chippings (which dont absorb water) and because of the folly of making the baseboards from foamboard which doesn't hold track pins firmly and therefore allowed the swelling ballast to lift the track. Foam board has many advantages, but I won't be using it again!! The stonework is Slaters stone courses (the OO/n-gauge sheets, not the really tiny n-gauge sheets) - painted Humbrol Matt 84, left to dry, then painted solidly in matt black which is quickly wiped off with kitchen towel (and left to dry again overnight), then cream acrylic wash applied to bring out the mortar (and left to dry overnight for the third time!!) then one light pass of some very fine emery cloth to remove the cream 'haze' from the surfaces of the stones and a final wash of dark grey acrylic to tone everything down. I add weathering powders to some areas as a finishing touch. This all takes a while as you have to leave overnight to dry between stages, but the effect is pleasing. The tunnel mouths are Peco (chopped about a little) and are treated in the same way.

Thanks very much indeed for the very kind comments everyone - am just sorry that progress and therefore updates are so painfully slow! Hopefully the improvement in appearance caused by growth of vegetation(!) will spur me onto greater efforts - as will the fact that I don't need to do any more hacking of styrofoam to make the hills and contours - that was not much fun and sculpting is not my strong point I now realise!! All the best, Phil.

Slow progress as ever, but have managed to get going with some of the hills other scenic bits and bobs...the green isn't as vivid as it looks in these images. I have temporarily removed the signal - kept catching it every time I worked on the layout!

Just received my replacement blue-grey set from Hattons - the glue is still there on the motored power car windscreen, but its very slightly better than the fisrt set and, along with Peter above, I have swapped the bodies over to avoid the 'gluey' windscreen power car running first (it doesn't push well over one of my points - thats my poor track laying to blame I hasten to add!). It really is a mystery why the dummy doesn't suffer from the glue issue while the motored power car does and I'm wondering if Dapol know what the story is here and if anything can be done about it? No issues with speed - it took and hour and a half of running in post-oiling to get to a decent top speed (sluggish at first), but it now whizzes round at what looks to be a much higher scale speed than 125mph! This is on DC. The exhaust deflectors are a lovely moulding - fit perfectly and look the business. Yes, roll on the catering vehicles!

Interested to hear this. I spoke to Hattons today (having returned my set) who confirmed that all their blue-grey HST stock have the 'glue' issue to varying degrees which appears to only be affecting the motored power cars and weirdly not the dummy power cars. I'm not sure what to do - its one of those borderline things that may bother some, but not bother others, but it really ought not to be present. Hmmmm Dapol have sold out of blue-grey ones from this batch so I have ordered a replacement from Hattons and will try to live with it - as another poster has said, its not such a big deal in n-gauge, but equally for ï¿¡129 notes I have mixed feelings - aaargh what a dilema! To not have a model I have waited ages for or wait even longer and hope that another blue-grey batch appear soon that don't have the glue issue - but will the next batch be 254 (making the western region coaches I have redundant) or 253??! Answers on a postcard please! Thanks for the heads up on the exhaust deflectors - didnt spot that and its good news because I really want to add those

You won't be disappointed (as long as you don't have the same windscreen issue I had that is!) - it really looks the business and for my money the coach roof colour just isn't noticeable enough to be an issue. Can't wait to get my replacement from Hattons! Just a shame that the bank holiday means an extra day to wait!!

Just unpacked mine and taken a few snaps. First impression - it has the 'wow' factor when the box is opened. Closer inspection however reveals what looks like a glue line along the base of the power car (the motored one) windscreen base so this is heading back to Hattons - bit gutted having waited so long for this However, the difference in coach roof colour isnt an issue as far as Im concerned - pics below of the book set MK3 (Black roof) and the earlier MK3 with a very slightly lighter grey roof and another image showing the earlier MK3 coupled to the power car. All in all it looks fantastic, though I wont be test running as it needs to go back due to the windscreen issue - something to look out for. So, here are the pics - not great quality Im afraid, but should give the general idea of the roof colour issue:

Will do - fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow!!

Will do - hoping it will arrive tomorrow

Just had email from Hattons saying blue-grey HST's are in stock and my order has been processed and card charged - so it must be on its way soon - happy days!!!

Many thanks for the kind comments Coachmann - capturing the 'feel' of the location has always been my intended aim which partly explains why everythiung is taking so long!! The overflow structure itself was devilishly complex to get looking right (and even now I'm not sure the proportions are quite right or how I can model the foaming white water without it looking unrealistic) and getting the hillside immediately above the tunnel mouths looking correct will be tricky and is the next job - but important to get this right as the 40-45 degree slope is not just an unusually steep slope, but also a distinctive feature of the location. Yes both the single bore tunnels will be modelled as disused which sets a time limit on the era and saves me time too! Best wishes, Phil.

A little bit of progress on the scenery:

Does anyone know the answer to the above question regarding smoke deflectors on the blue-grey power cars now that delivery is imminent? Thanks, Phil.

Great! Many thanks indeed - credit card at the ready then as soon as these hit the shops!