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  • 1 month later...

I would go with the breakfast, as having stayed at the Hilton Double Tree, I know how good it is, and quite fancy a full English breakfast right now. Weetabix will have to do for now!

 

It's amazing sitting eating your breakfast, whilst over looking the M K Dons stadium.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Deltic's, but that one looks very smart.

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Hi James,

Great set of pics, the layout really is looking very good, all the extra detail does pay off. Sounds like you had a good time after the show too eating and drinking with the other exhibitors. 

 

Cheers Peter.

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It's been a busy time and I've got a bumper update to share from our weekend away at the Hornby Great Electric Train Show in Milton Keynes last week!

 

30530990747_2f61d9dd2a_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

My container train is gradually getting there with more weathered containers taking over from the shiny unfinished ones, here we can see Freightliner's 66555 piloting a service through the station past the newly-installed van hire depot.

 

45471325041_0eb8e2dd22_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

And best news of all, following repairs by gangmember Martin Browning, our bright red 'Bendybus' is back in action again! It can be seen tucked at the back of the street scene on the Southern end of the layout below.

 

30530821057_4c550f855b_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

We had to be careful in positioning to avoid the classic "bus on a bridge" cliche that pops up frequently!! Also new is the Oxford Diecast Ford Transit dropside, I've painted it blue and converted ours into a garden waste carrying version. It's amazing how many dropsides you notice on the roads once you start making a model of one! 

 

Highlight for me was friend-of-the-layout's Marcus Lambert appearing with his "Purple Penetrator" for us to run on Loftus Road! This beauty is Porterbrook's D9016 Gordon Highlander in it's now-classic but short-lived purple livery. It also has some of the best sound fitted via enormous speakers inside it's milled-out chassis, and was such great fun to play with!

 

45419488502_b96702f8df_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

It made sense to place this at the head of the Virgin XC train to recall the glorious late-90s times of random hire locomotives brought in on Virgin services, much to the enthusiasts' delight! One of the hardest parts of the weekend was having to reluctantly give this back to Marcus on the Sunday evening..!

 

43653953540_aed77cd62b_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

The venue itself had moved from previous years, now being at the ArenaMK/Marshall Arena - the interesting part being that it has a football stadium as it's centrepiece. The accommodation was lovely, being based in the Hilton DoubleTree on site, and within a short walk of the venue. So it was most interesting opening the hotel curtains on the Saturday morning to be greeted with this view below..!

 

30531095937_17e87ce098_b.jpgStadium MK by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

And of course it goes without saying that aside from Marcus' purple 'Deltic', the other highlight of the weekend had to be the buffet breakfasts! This certainly filled a hole - and what a great way to kickstart the day!

 

30531028337_c603dfe4d9_b.jpgCatering at Hornby Great Electric Train Show 2018 by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

As is standard for our weekends away, my best mate scoped out the highest-rated curryhouse (going by reviews) in the area for us to try out - we went to the Jaflong in Milton Keynes, which gets a full thumbs up from the Loftus gang! 

 

There were reasonably nice sandwiches available during the day for exhibitors, along with Martin's newly-introduced Loftus Road Emergency Survival Kit (packed with biscuits, chocolates and crisps!) but to be honest I was still stuffed from the buffet breakfast extravaganza! 

 

31596561678_f9ca2f4f6d_b.jpgHornby Great Electric Train Show 2018 by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

The show itself was great, very busy and featured a superb selection of other layouts familiar to RMWebbers including Talbot Lane TMD, Dubmill Sidings and many many more! In the hotel bar in the evening it was great to hang out with the likes of Ian Bishop (Legomanbiffo) talking about his beautiful orange Ford Focus and the great bunch of guys who form the Hatton's team...who, frustratingly, despite being very merry, commendably would not give away any secrets as to their future production plans!!

 

43654005460_35e8c60959_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

It was also the first show where I'd had my complete new rake of Virgin stock running, this includes my original Airfix RFB conversion alongside 6 Hornby Mk2Es that I've finally finished - the lights worked a treat in showing the interior.

 

45419512142_74a51a5c38_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

47348 St Christopher's Railway Home takes over from a poorly 47817...

 

44746190264_bb196f822b_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Once pride of the RES fleet, EWS' tatty 47736 Cambridge T&RS Depot is relegated to performing engineering stock positioning moves on Loftus Road...

 

44746231874_5c84a13fa8_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

We've also undertaken some work on the scenery since the last set of photos appeared, I've been spending a lot of money on various Preiser figures to populate the layout and make it look more like the busy London that we know & hate!

 

45419618782_71a21a330a_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Meanwhile, the vehicles are being focussed on now, each one being stripped down, passengers fitted, repainted where required and reassembled before being glued down. The aim of this is to have a gridlocked road when finished - watch this space!

 

31596599278_fd8bf71c91_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Mike Denwood's detailed handiwork inside the station building can just be glimpsed through the window in this shot!

 

Finally, you can't beat some heavy freight action!

 

31596448318_46f0cdd66f_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Former Loadhaul 60038 takes a train of VGAs past the station...

 

...followed by 58017 Eastleigh Depot on a rake of petroleum TEAs.

 

45471301551_6c43afb180_b.jpgLoftus Road by Worthing MRC by jamesmakin2002, on Flickr

 

Overall, it was a great show and we very much look forward to our next show season in 2019, kicking off with the Southampton show in January.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Cheers,

James

 

What date is the Southampton Show.? Would like to be there to see this layout but away for part of the month.

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  • 2 months later...

It's not just the rolling stock modelling that makes Loftus Road special, it's everything else beyond the railway boundary that gives this layout a sense of a time and place - the attention to detail is some of the best I've ever seen.

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Stunning work, looking forward to seeing it again at Southampton! Will be following your techniques on the containers James, that train looks superb, I remain extremely envious of your skills!

 

Totally unrelated, and not meaning to be out of order, but can people please not quote huge posts when posting a one line response, even more so when the post is still on the page, it makes the thread very disjointed.

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Having read the comments above about the detailing and look of LR, it set me thinking that it is nigh on sixteen years (Pete and/or James will correct me if I am wrong) since we first took three bare-ish baseboards to a very small show in East Preston (West Sussex). I seem to recall Pete and I spending a long while underneath LR, trying to get the wires on the Lenz unit to make James' EWS 37s run.

 

I think that the amount of time we have had with the layout has meant that we have been able to develop ideas and look at what is happening around the Earl's Court area in order to make it as realistic as possible. Before we even started, Pete had taken many photos so that we could get the track, station buildings and even positioning of point motors accurate. Further pictures of other buildings nearby have been used over the years in order to build a wider picture of the local area - we lost James for about three months somewhere in Google maps when he was coming up with what is now Spanker's Row (don't ask why that name)...

 

As many followers will be aware, LR is now in its second version, having undergone major surgery, moving from a twelve-road fiddleyard to an upgraded version which gives us eighteen roads now, as well as the scenic side boards. Without Pete, Mark, Martin and Mike, it would never have been possible to do this as seamlessly as it was.

 

Over the years, we have had a very generous level of input (usually helpful) from other club members, not just the core Loftus Road group; past (and sadly, late) members Alan and Rex at the beginning, Gordon Forrester and all the others who have been willing to teach us techniques and theory of electronics - all these have helped to make LR what it is.

 

Therefore, the comments from SouthernBlue80s, pantrogla, Wibble and njee20 are very much appreciated: they help us to want to continue with the layout. After all, we're just ordinary railway modellers who enjoy LR and from a personal perspective, I think that as long as we continue to do so, then running and improving LR in small ways will be what we are about.

 

Looking forward to Southampton in a few weeks time - come and say hello and feel free to ask us any questions!

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Great to see the layout today, didn’t manage a chat as we were heading off and everyone looked pretty busy! Got schooled by a very enthusiastic 9-year old who pointed out very abruptly the Turbostar wasn’t a 170, but a 171! Definitely an enthusiast of the future!

 

Seemed a decent crowd despite it being a bit tucked away.

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If anyone has any doubts about the ability of model railways to make people smile, here is a link to some footage we shot at Southampton's Show on Sunday (27th January) before the public came in. Ian Bishop (Legomanbiffo of this parish) loaned us his HST set, fitted with sound and Earthmover speakers.

 

The sheer joy on James Makin's face was like a small child getting everything they ever wanted for Christmas - forever.

 

The video doesn't do Ian's work justice. Suffice it to say that we are seriously looking at learning how to mill out our chassis on our stock to fit suitable speakers as the sound was simply awesome!

Edited by Harry Lime
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