mason

Old oak common, between the stores and the factory.

A couple of arty farty shots from the on shed diorama. I have put them through a couple of filters to try to get a diesel fume look but I’m going to try to achieve this naturally over time. Still lots of detail to add. Iv tried to add a wet look to the floor using woodland scenics realistic water and just spongeing it over lightly.

Thank you I would but there is loads of glue at the bottom of the railings fence that gives it away hahah

Couple of photos of recent progress in the scenics.

A short video of the progress on field view basic scenics started ready for the finer details https://youtu.be/ys0zdHsVIKw

More of an update than the last The alpha central is now back and refitted, DCC cobalt motors are now fitted and ready to wire and Iv now added the ground signals and exit signal on the left side. the right side will be on ground frame levers, probably not prototypical for a yard like this but I wanted to add a mixture of things. The signals are all traintech and look superb and are so easy to set up on the alpha system. The motors and signals all run off a separate accessory bus into an alpha sniffer which then has the alpha central plugged into that. Very simple.

Not yet the signals arrived today and my Alpha panel will be back in the morning so I’m going to concentrate on the electrics next week one evening

Wow you have been busy

Ah awesome sounds like you’ll have a house full then hope you will have a nice railway room to escape to

Thanks Andy moving to the south coast?? Sounds lovely where are you moving to.

More of a small update the canal/wash water section has been cut out and had wills walling added. Iv used filler to create a mud basin. Next is to blend some mud textures and colours in before adding the water. the track has also been pre weathered before ballast is added in. On the electrics side of things the alpha central has gone back to dcc concepts with a fault so until then trains have been suspended. Hopefully get that back soon so I can fit the ground position signals on the left side of the layout.

Just a little montage video more progress today with a bus wire added

Hi Many thanks for your comment no that’s correct as every build is bespoke and we quote to specific customer requirements. Every job is different to the one before and the one after.

The Little Layout Company are able to design and build any size layout that is specific to your needs and the space you have available. Whether you just want boards, track and wiring, a simple layout for you to add personal touches to, or a fully complete exhibition standard layout – all are possible! I can even come to you should you have a fixed resident layout that needs a new look. I can provide you with a scratch built building for you to add to an existing board; there are many possibilities to add those finishing touches please check out our Facebook Instagram and our website www.thelittlelayoutcompany.co.uk

Track laid this week using code 75 and Peco bullhead track. I do wish Peco world step up production on the bullhead system as it’s crying out for a 3 way. The water are has been cut out too I’m unsure if to wall this as canal or put embankments on it into a Dyke which there are lots around us even one runs under our drive but I think it’s a bit steep . Any thoughts always appreciated. also pictured are the splitters for the prodigy system. I’ve tested the front board panel on all 3 ports and it works with two handsets. Iv now added the rear triple port which I’ll test tomorrow. The point motors will with through the DCC conceits sniffer into the alpha box. I like to keep the wiring simple. There is also an overhead light system to go in which my brother in law who is a freelance electronics wiz Is developing to run everything in day to night with yard and buildings. Having worked in the spirit of Swindon layout I was so impressed with Wills lighting system I wanted to do something like that similar.

The past two years for little layouts have been a whirlwind with so many builds in so many locations and a trip to do a build in France, it’s left our show layouts being rushed and not totally what I wanted to build. Field view has been in my mind for a few years and after my amazing wife and family redesigned my workshop while I was working in France it’s given me an 11 ft space to play with. We have always built small layouts for shows and I guess in keeping with our name it showcased small layouts but Iv always wanted to go bigger , obviously not to big due to space transport and man power. But now we consider ourselves established it’s time to step it up a little. We decided to use Tim Horn for this build instead of our own boards, Tim has been a great Allie for us in the past few years with my father in law ( our carpenter) being unwell but thankfully on the mend. Tim’s boards are perfect for show layouts and we commissioned tim to build the 11ft x 16” scenic boards with full photo frames in 3 sections. The fiddle yard is in development. The scenic boards sit perfectly in the workshop. The scenic boards sit on a permanent frame while in the workshop and will have trestles when out at shows. So far we have built boards and fitted the backscene and positioned the control panel board. We are using a DCC concepts alpha central control unit for the points and a prodigy express for Locos. We are adapting a way to add extra ports for the prodigy to expand controller potential. lots more to do and lots of updates to follow.

Yes there all on the same bus ill look into the snubber and see what it’s all about

Hi I’m after some advice if possible. I’m running an ECoS 50210 unit on a layout that has 46 digital cobalt motors, these are wired into the dcc bus and have programmed well. However I have 11 motors that will run perfectly and then they lose there address. They programme in again fine and run for a while but lose there address again, always the same 11. Iv sent the motors back to dcc Concepts and there fine and Iv fitted a brand new batch of 11 but after a while they do the same. Can anyone help??

It’s all ok I’m out of the cage and sat comfortably with a cold beer in hand.

Hi Andy hope your keeping well since I last came over, I bet the workshop looks different now

Hi Ian it has been a while hasn’t it. The business has taken over from personal projects but I wanted to do a little something I can play about with. I think it will be a keeper, the advantage of this is can be extended with Tims super boards. The hoppers are of course Cavalex Models and just outstanding, weathered and detailed in house at little layouts. I must get more to make up a decent rake. what have you been upto recently?

Its been a while since posting anything of any substance on here, in a way that is good as its a testament to how well The Little Layout Company is performing. I only ever build layouts for myself when its for our trade stand. But on visit to Tim Horns place i picked up a small 2.6 x 1 feet photo scenic board.As usual my mind started thinking what can i build and once i had the board home i thought that its time to go back to basics, where the little layout company started, with small micro boards, minimal track and lots of detail. It wasnt long before i had a few lengths of peco bullhead and a point on the board, wired for dcc and a cobalt digital motor running the point. The next phase was what do i do next, how will the scenics work and how can i get a few elements of industry, greenery and detail into this small space. A rummage through a few boxes ( as a businesss building layouts i have a lot of odds n sods boxes ) I found a Bachmann building a scalescenes half printed kit, a model railway scenery wall kit and a few chunks of rubberised horse hair. The backscene was an off cut from a job so that went in straight away. At this stage i was only a few hours into the build and it felt great being back on the micro layout builds again so i cracked on. sleeper grime was aerosoled on the track work and while drying i made up the wall kit. I want this to stand proud of the backscene to give it depth and a slight angle so this was packed out with 1" of foam. then i had the thoughts of what to do with the gap on the top. Rubberized horse hair, of course, brambles. A bit more rummaging found the right shades to match the backscene trees and foilage. using peco layering spray i added different colours and statics to build up the foliage on the horse hair and then they were stuck in place. Once the sleeper grime track base coat was dry i used dcc concepts fine N ballast just lightly ballasted in and then the usual pva mix to seal, once dry the track was weathered with an airbrush using railmatch roof dirt and weathered black then the chairs brushed with dark rust.# the foreground scenics were an easy job, sleeper grime base coat with fine silver sand sprinkled on then repeat a few times until you have a noce uneven gravel and mud base. deluxe materials aqua solution was used for the puddles. I used a Chris Nevard technique using das clay and stippling it into the ballast and track for the covered areas in front of the gates. Lots of barrels and pallets and odd junk help to make the scene. Im pretty pleased for around 10 hours work.

I don't want to hijack Martins fantastic thread but i wanted to say thank you for all the kind comments in regards to the base frames for Martins layout. Alan our carpenter and my farther in law is doing well and fighting the fight. He takes pride in his work and is the backbone of our success as a business. This was a huge undertaking given his health and getting kind comments like you all have made gives him and us a huge lift. We are looking forward to the next stage of the build for Martin, thank you again. On a personal note, Martin the stock is superb and i may have a couple of locos for you to look at of my own. I am looking forward to creating a fantastic scene for this great looking stock.