Amlwch Station

[CazRail]

Another 2 boards have had their fronts painted today, one more to go plus the staging boards.

 

This photo shows the difference between the painted and unpainted woodwork...

 

I also dedicated a foam tray to hold the two 2mt tanks and the push-pull coaches. Ive ordered two 11litre 'Very Useful Boxes' to hold these trays. Each one will/should hold two trays, so one box will fit two DMUs and the push-pull. Ideal. 

 

I then decided to pose the push-pull train on the layout. 

 

 

Apologies for the poor quality photos. 

[CazRail]

Having today been stood down from work due to Corona, im now in a position where I have atleast 3 weeks of free time to fill. 

 

Whilst I dont have the materials to build board 1, im giving consideration into modifying a staging board into a standard board and then doing that. I will definitely however be improving what I already have and hopefully some rolling stock projects. 

 

A small little job done today, fitting the Derby Lightweight and class 108 DMUs with Bangor and Amlwch destinations to make them suitable for the layout. 

 

These are simply waterslide transfers from Railtec, and are very good. They're also really quick in despatch and have superb customer service. Highly recommended. 

[CazRail]

So it's almost 3 years since the last post on this thread, which was near enough the start of the Covid pandemic.

 

Before the world stood still, the layout was due, that March, to feature in it's second exhibition, being the Anglesey Model and Collections show in Llangefni. Alas, the lockdown put paid to that, and with it, work on the layout ceased.

 

This year, the layout has again received an invite, so there will be some work now to tidy up the layout and get it back up to standard!

I will share updates as I go.

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by CazRail

[Merfyn Jones]

13 hours ago, CazRail said:

So it's almost 3 years since the last post on this thread, which was near enough the start of the Covid pandemic.

 

Before the world stood still, the layout was due, that March, to feature in it's second exhibition, being the Anglesey Model and Collections show in Llangefni. Alas, the lockdown put paid to that, and with it, work on the layout ceased.

 

This year, the layout has again received an invite, so there will be some work now to tidy up the layout and get it back up to standard!

I will share updates as I go.

 

 

[Merfyn Jones]

Se you there Caz.

[CazRail]

46 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said:

Se you there Caz.

Looking forwards. Will you have a layout there?

[Merfyn Jones]

12 hours ago, CazRail said:

Looking forwards. Will you have a layout there?

Not sure yet what to bring.

[CazRail]

On 11/01/2023 at 00:59, Merfyn Jones said:

Not sure yet what to bring.

 

Whatever you bring I look forward to see it!

 

 

So tonight I completed one project ready for March's show, which was to replace the blown decoder in my Ivatt 2mt tank.

I used a LaisDCC 6-pin socket, wired to the loco using the harness, then popped in a Zimo MS500 chip loaded with Paul Chetter's 2mt sound project, supported by a stay alive capacitor(stowed away in the coal bunker) and a Rail Exclusive Baby Boomer speaker.

Very happy to have this loco back in action, it'll hopefully add some extra interest on the day, along with my DCC Sound Vitrains RfD 47.

[CazRail]

The layout improvement work started in earnest today, starting with ripping out the old water from the lake. This was made from toilet paper glued down with PVA, crumpled up to represent ripples, painted shades of blue, and painted over with artist's gloss medium. It'll be replaced by AK Interactive's clear water effects applied over different shades of grey.

 

 

 

I then proceeded to strip most of the scenics from the land, mainly the bushes, and added more sculptamold to tidy up what the bushes was hiding.

 

This will be mostly replaced by long grasses of pale greens and yellows to replicate what's at the actual location. 

[CazRail]

Done a little more scenery work this evening...

 

 

Getting in a nice mix of colour, the new water will help tone down the overall look.

What Welsh layout would be complete without daffodils, eh?!

Static grass is WWS, buddleiah/bramble/daffodils by Tasima.

[Enfys_Rainbow]

Nice to see this back Caz!

 

Still a favourite prototype, and I always enjoy looking at the line from the Dingle/path.

[CazRail]

10 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Nice to see this back Caz!

 

Still a favourite prototype, and I always enjoy looking at the line from the Dingle/path.

Thanks! Got a bit of work to do to get it back to a good standard. 

[CazRail]

"Go home, TPE, you're drunk..."

[Graham T]

Only just found this thread.  A beautifully simple layout, and cracking scenery!  Looking forward to seeing how the water develops.

 

 

[CazRail]

Work is still happening on the layout! It's slow progress, but it's getting there. 

 

The whole layout might not appear at the show due to possible space constraints at the venue, but I'm hoping it will. 

 

 

[CazRail]

Some more progress on the layout, I've continued the scenics. 

I also started the process of adding long grass along the lake shore.

 

I'm hoping this week Ill hopefully get a chance to get some timber to complete the legs so the entire layout, including the staging boards, can be put together as one.

[CazRail]

I've now decided to pull the layout from the show later this month, as I'm just not happy with it, and have no desire to work on it anymore. Unfortunately the work I've done on it up to now has been for nothing, and as far as I can see for now this layout will be scrapped. 

 

Thanks for following, hopefully I'll have something else to show soon.

[Graham T]

That's a shame.

 

[big jim]

Does seem a shame to scrap it, given how much work has gone into it, im sure someone would take it on as a project? 
 

if not, why not just sit on it for a while if you feel your mojo has gone awol, revisit it with a clearer frame of mind

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by big jim

[CazRail]

On 07/03/2023 at 20:19, big jim said:

Does seem a shame to scrap it, given how much work has gone into it, im sure someone would take it on as a project? 
 

if not, why not just sit on it for a while if you feel your mojo has gone awol, revisit it with a clearer frame of mind

 

 

Thanks for the kind words Jim.

 

There definitely are parts of the layout I'm proud of, the concrete and lattice bridges being two, and this view...

...which I think captures some of the line's character. 

 

But looking at the bigger picture, it's not ideal. Whilst I like the idea of such a simple layout, being single line and no stations, signal box, points or signalling, it puts a lot of the attention on the scenics as the train runs through it(which is the idea). Ive tried to include as much interest as possible(such as two different bridges, a user worked crossing, signage, culvert etc) without putting too much in. My scenic skills aren't what they could be, and it felt rushed in a lot of areas.

I might well look to pass the layout on, which would leave me with a blank canvas to work on a new and fresh project sometime in the future.

 

As you said, now is the time to sit on it, and revisit when the time is right, then decide.

 

Many thanks 

Caz

 

[CovDriver]

I can only echo Jim's kind words, It would be such a shame to see this layout scrapped as I was going through my dvd collection the other day I came across a railfreight today (1980/90's)  dvd covering North Wales in particular the Amlwch branch.

I would be tempted to do something similar to your project perhaps in the future. 

 

Cheers 

Colin 

[Enfys_Rainbow]

29 minutes ago, CovDriver said:

I can only echo Jim's kind words, It would be such a shame to see this layout scrapped as I was going through my dvd collection the other day I came across a railfreight today (1980/90's)  dvd covering North Wales in particular the Amlwch branch.

I would be tempted to do something similar to your project perhaps in the future. 

 

Cheers 

Colin 

Hi Colin,

 

Without taking the thread off course (sorry Caz) which dvd would that be? I'm local to this line so any footage of operations are of great interest to me.

 

Matt

[CovDriver]

Apologies for taking up this thread but this boxset of DVD's I bought from Amazon a few years ago are absolutely fantastic for a bit of nostalgia.

[The Cable Guy]

So sad to read that you are abandoning your project😪

[CazRail]

A little bit of speculative layout planning this afternoon, whilst I get over another dose of Covid, has led me to re-visit the idea of an Amlwch branch based layout. Looking through the book 'Anglesey Branch Lines' by W. G. Rear, and a DVD that I recently bought has inspired me to look at Amlwch station.

 

A little session on AnyRail resulted in this track plan...

 

I've worked out, that for a decent representation, I'd need a total board area of 4.5m x 0.5m minus fiddle yard, which isn't so bad. The fiddle yard board would only need to be about a meter, as the layout would only handle small trains regardless. I'd be looking at using laser-cut baseboards for this.

 

I'd be basing the layout from 1960 to 1964, so would have a mix of Ivatt tanks on push-pull and freight and various DMU types. And of course, Rule 1 will also apply, so an EWS 37 might just appear.

 

Modelling it nearer it's closure means I can model it a little bit run down, things like track bacoming overgrown, near-desserted goods yard etc.