RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted April 9, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 9, 2012 I have been reviewing the progress I have made since I first started my layout in my current home in 2007. The first board to be laid contains "Walnut Grove" station. This can be seen in the distance! This area of the layout has not been modelledas yet, but currently looks like this: In the foreground is the high level mainline. The goods siding was a later addition, first appearing earlier this year. This was the first area to be modelled and hides the first return loop. The second one has yet to be built. This is how the area now looks. Still not finished fully. The main station I have been working on is Lilac Grove: This is how the area currently looks: And: The town has also appeared: I still have another station to work on and the terminus that gives the layout its name, Park Road. This station will sit above the fiddle yard. The following shows this area of the layout at the moment: There will be a second return loop at the end of the fiddle yard. Mike 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) Nice looking layout so far. Lilac Grove looks like it will be a busy station. Edited April 9, 2012 by thebritfarmer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted April 11, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 11, 2012 It certainly has the potential to be. Convergence of both mainline and branch line as well as the route to a goods yard. Sorting out the timings of the trains will be fun! Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex98 Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Looking good so far. Will follow with interest, Alex Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted October 29, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 29, 2012 Thought I would give a bit of an update on my layout. It is currently sat idle and lonely as I languish in the sunshine, working in Kuwait. The layout is guarded by various fierce creatures, including SWMBO.! I began work in 2007 and have been seadily working on it ever since, when time, family life and work permit. The layout is in the late 50's to early 60's, because I wanted a mix of steam and diesel. In terms of regions, it has a mixture of locos, as I would sooner run those trains I like the look of. There is a mixture of pacifics, and smaller steam locos, along with classes 08, 25, 31, 37 and 55 from the diesels. There will be four stations on the layout, Lilac Grove, the main through station at one end of the layout, where branch and mainline merge, with a goods yard just up the track. There is a hidden return loop where a train can be held for a time before continuing its journey. On the branch are two further stations, Wlanut Grove and Digby Junction. The later is just before the merger with the mainline. The junction takes trains down to the fiddle yard, or on to the final station, Park Road. Or at least it will when this is built, as it will go over the top of the fiddle yard. This final section is likely to be some way off yet, as the fiddle yard with second return loop needs to be completed, wired and have points motors and block detection fitted. The layout is DCC, but as yet I don't have any sound locos, considering the too expensive for me at the moment. Some more pictures to illustrate the current position of the layout. This one shows the track leaving Lilac Grove on the way to the return loop and goods yard. The town is to the left of the track. This is the other end of Lilac Grove station showing the branch line to the right and mainline to the left. This is the same area just before I left the country. Whilst in exile I am working on a couple of goods sheds and a single box. These will be left as the individual walls for the ease of transport and fully assembled when on site - modelling flat packs! Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted November 15, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 15, 2012 I thought I would add a few more photos of the work on the layout. 75069 passing St Peters Goods yard and heading towards the return loop. A night time shot of St Peters Goods yard. I am pleased with the effect, but am struggling to get the next section of the layout lit. When I return home in the summer, i will endeavour to sort this out. 60031 waiting the off from platform 2 on the Up main at Lilac Grove. Slightly out of focus on the loco! "Ottery St Mary" heading towards Digby Junction on the Up Main with 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted December 24, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 24, 2012 I had hoped to be home for Christmas to be able to assemble the two 'flat-packed' goods sheds and one signal box. However, things conspired against me, so I am still in Kuwait, but will be home for a week at Easter instead. This means that in the interim I will be building the bridge supports for where the mainline crosses the branch line by Walnut Grove station, as well as the retaining wall that accompanies it. The one problem, I am not totally sure how long the wall needs to be! Guess I will have to make some of it and complete the rest after I have paid a visit home. That then means I have a number of jobs to try and complete when I am home for the summer. The main one is to finish the fiddle yard and associated return loop, so that I have a complete circuit! I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I hope that you receive the stocking fillers you have wished for. I won't be, but I am not a jealous guy. Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Nice layout. Enjoy the sun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted December 26, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 26, 2012 Christmas Day in Kuwait consisted of another cast sky and rather a lot of rain! No different from the living in the UK. Christmas Eve was sunny and warm. Boxing Day started out sunny then the cloud turned up, it was warmish - 19C, but it has been a lot warmer! Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 My mate in Bagdad said it was raining there too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted December 27, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nice to know it wasn't just located on me! Sunny again today, but wit a bit of a breeze. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Good size layout you have!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted December 29, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted December 29, 2012 Good size layout you have!! Thank you. The outside is around 18ft each half, then inside around 16ft each half. Part of the reason it has taken me a while to get to where I am now. The working sabbatical is only adding to he length of time for construction. Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Thank you. The outside is around 18ft each half, then inside around 16ft each half. Part of the reason it has taken me a while to get to where I am now. The working sabbatical is only adding to he length of time for construction. Mike Sounds good buddy!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted April 6, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2013 Well, after 7 months away from the layout I finally got to spend one afternoon doing some work on it during my brief return to the UK. Only 11 weeks and I will be back for a longer spell of 2 and a half months. Managed to purchase some more track and extend the storage sidings of the fiddle yard. This is not the final design, but somewhere to get the trains out of the way to make track cleaning easier when I get back in the summer. Part of the list for the summer jobs will involve completing the return loop and hopefully the sidings in the fiddle yard. That is slightly dependent on available funds of course. The area of focus at the moment is around the two country stations on the branchline - even though most of it is double track. The approach to the first station, Walnut Grove, is under the mainline. The supports are now in place. I just need a suitable bridge and am currently thinking of a girder bridge, but I am nit sure if it will be too much. New buildings are appearing in the station area, notably the signal box and goods shed. Both are incomplete because I couldn't remember how the goods shed finished off, and I wish to add the internal detail to the signal box . I am also undecided as to whether to switch the goods shed here with the one at Digby Junction, partly because of the available space and the fact that, as the picture below shows, the track would have to curve, or it would reduce the size of the platform. Fortunately I have time to decide what I am going to do before I have to do it! In the meantime I am considering scratch building a viaduct for the mainline between these two stations, partly due to the inspiration of reading the work of others on this forum. Mike. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 At least it's warming up now so it won't be such a shock up in the loft! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted April 7, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 7, 2013 Compared to the temperature here in Kuwait it was a shock when I was up there last Thursday! I have now thawed out, having enjoyed temperatures of around 32C today. Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Very impressive setup... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted April 9, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 9, 2013 Very impressive setup... Thanks for that class "66". I still have a long way to go before I will be happy with it, but then are any of us ever totally satisfied with our efforts? Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted May 10, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 10, 2013 Well the retaining walls have been built and are now ready for installation on the layout. Only five weeks or so to go! I have started doing some research in order to construct some viaducts for the mainline at the top end of the layout. I am going down the plasticard route. It is time to be brave. Also I will have something to do whilst in Kuwait on my return in September. Just sorting out my list of jobs for the layout once I get home in June, assuming SWMBO doesn't have an even longer list of things she expects me to do! Mike 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted June 20, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 20, 2013 Finally back and managed to do some work on the layout today, as the temperature was more pleasant. I have decided to switch the two goods sheds round, the bigger one to Walnut Grove, the smaller one to Digby Junction. Yesterday I had a nice present from the taxman, so today I purchased my first sound loco, a Bachmann class 24. Having run it in I then tried it and I have to say I am impressed with it. It will make me more patient in terms of starting the trains from stop! I have started assembling the retaining wall that I have been building, but have not got too far, as the opportunity to run trains was a little too great! However, having also fitted decoders to another couple of locos I found a problem with the layout. In order to ensure power to the track, I have to pull down on the one of the two wires from the DCC unit to the track bus, not quite sure why and will have to look into this more over the coming days. Several jobs to be done over the coming weeks, more as they start to happen, along with photographs. Mike 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 looking forward to the photos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted June 29, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 29, 2013 Funny how family life gets in the way! Haven't been able to do anything on the layout for the best part of a week. No photos as yet, will try to get more doe soon. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted July 18, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 18, 2013 Well I have finally managed to take some photos of the limited progress I have made. The lovely warm weather is now restricting further progress! The first photo shows the fiddle yard. This shows six roads, with the return loop on the right. I suspect I could fit in at least another one storage road, if I need to. Still a long way to go before this section is complete. The next step is to work on the baseboard for the return loop and complete that, then I will have a complete circuit! The next photo shows the more or less completed retaining wall for the mainline as it passes Walnut Grove. The area between the wall and the station will be infilled with a small woodland to provide a contrast between the two areas. The third photo shows the retaining wall and bridge, made from Scalescenes products. The big question is what to use for the bridge, I think the best option is probably the steel panels, but I am not sure, need to think about it for a bit longer! The signals are the Hornby ones and at some point will be replaced with others, but that is some way down the priority list. The final photo shows the farm I am building for the countryside above Walnut Grove. This is something I can do outside in the garden when it is too hot to be in the loft. I still have plenty to do and am frustrated that I am not making more progress, but such is the way of life, at some point I am sure things will progress more quickly. MIke 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted July 23, 2013 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted July 23, 2013 Further progress today. Started changing the facing of Walnut Grove station from red brick to the stone ashlar. An in progress photo is included. Too hot to be in the loft. Just the strong breeze to contend with in the garden instead! Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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