RMweb Gold Popular Post Patriot87003 Posted September 12, 2018 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) Hi all. I've been a long-time admirer and follower of many excellent layouts on RMweb - plenty of inspiration, tips and tricks ... and it's time for me to be brave and share some details and pictures of my layout. A brief background: Born in South London in Southern DC land near Selhurst Depot, as a youngster I always found trips to Euston and beyond really interesting .. the smell of warm oil, the buzz and roar and power of the AC Electrics, the variety of loco's and rolling stock and destinations, with my favourite loco's being the Class 87's. As a youngster, I had a 'train-set' in the loft with plenty of Lima and Hornby loco's and a crude attempt at OHLE using Hornby's 1980's variety. Move forward 20 or so years ... I've moved to the Midlands, have a family, work in the industry, a decent sized garden ... and about 10 years ago, an 8m by 4.5m breeze-block 'shed' appeared in the garden (with full support from the wife and family!). I've made progress building a layout, so much more to-do ... key features are as follows: - WCML based somewhere north of Crewe, 1980's to 2000s, - 4 Track 'roundy-roundy' with through station with loop lines (loosely based upon Stafford) - 6 platform faces - Double junction with two tracks leading up and over to a terminal station - 4 platform faces - to operate terminating services, loco-changes with variety of operation - Two x 8 Track fiddle yards (upper and lower) - to allow change-over for era's and storage. Eg 1980s only era, or 2000s Virgin Trains era, or a mix! - Traction Maintenance Depot - Representation of OHLE (Non-working but fitted with wires - Mix of NBrass gantries and Dapol masts fitted with Peco Catenary wires) - Colour light signalling (working and automated using Heathcote modules) - DC with cab-control, many isolating sections to allow flexibility, easy to use control panel - ability to operate up-to 8 trains simultaneously. Option to switch to DCC in the future. - As the layout will never leave the home - emphasis on fun and enjoyment and reliability ... over rivet-counting and accuracy ... (and I'm rubbish at art!) A few pictures below of the empty shed back in approx. 2007, baseboards installed during that year, track to the terminal being laid during 2009 and control panel in place. A track plan and more recent pictures to follow. Edited January 1, 2023 by Patriot87003 Pics reloaded 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan product fan Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 nice work mate like the station area keep you photos coming pal now following Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
87023Velocity Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Now that is a shed! Look forward to seeing some more picture appearing. Cheers Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AdeMoore Posted September 12, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2018 Another vote for a great shed. Looking forward to more. Cheers Ade Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
owentherail Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Looking great Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 12, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) A schematic track plan below ... (wonderfully produced by Andy Y as part of the BRM article) Edited January 1, 2023 by Patriot87003 Pic reloaded 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Patriot87003 Posted September 12, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) To bring you up to date, a few pictures from this evening and plenty of speed boards on my workbench ready for planting ... Edited January 1, 2023 by Patriot87003 Pics reloaded 29 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Very impressive. As someone whose interest is the WCML, this layout ticks all the boxes for me. Looking forward to further posts. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted September 12, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2018 Corrr, looks great. Look forward to seeing more of that! Lovely space to have too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
87023Velocity Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Excellent looking layout you have there, is that the new 87? Cheers Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Very Impressive, What a great space to have, and a great layout within, look forward to see more and more of this. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 12, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 12, 2018 Excellent looking layout you have there, is that the new 87? Cheers Simon Many thanks for the comments. Yes ... I’ve bought one of each of the new Hornby Class 87s in BR Blue and IC Swallow livery. Really impressed with them both - very smooth runners and I’ve increased my pre-order of the Virgin liveried version due next year. I hope that Hornby announce a few additional liveries at some stage so I can retire the Limby versions to the display shelf. I already have too many Class 87s already! When the shed was in the planning stages, I got a bit carried away with EBay purchases and painting/detailing the Lima/Limby versions ... watch out for pics of both 87023 and 87029 soon ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
87023Velocity Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) You cannot have too many 87's, go for all 36! Although I only have Virgin liveried 87's on Dallam, I may repaint and detail a few up to run a few late 80's Intercity rakes or double headed steel coils like you have. Cheers Simon Edited September 12, 2018 by 87023Velocity 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRDBLUE17 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Very nice layout and great space to have for it. Glad you started a thread after that photo you posted on The BBA topic. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the WCML modelled which I get from growing up watching Boldon Junction develop over the years. I will look out for more updates All the best Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 13, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2018 You cannot have too many 87's, go for all 36! Although I only have Virgin liveried 87's on Dallam, I may repaint and detail a few up to run a few late 80's Intercity rakes or double headed steel coils like you have. Cheers Simon I agree! Can never have too many Can’s ... and I confess, I reached 36 x 87s ... and continued! I now have a total of 51 following the arrival of the new releases! As a youngster, layouts such as New Annington (seen at IMREX shows in London during the late 80s) inspired me to get 3 or 4 of the Lima pancake version. Following a hiatus from modelling and without a layout, I bought a few more reasonably priced Lima versions at various shops and shows and detailed and repainted to try and capture one of each type of livery. I then continued to buy a few more to capture some of the interesting names that they carried ... then I only needed a few more to complete having one of each number to have 36 in total. Then I realised some individual 87s carried multiple unique liveries (such as 2, 12, 101 etc), and Hornby releases the Limby style upgraded chassis and motor, so the collection grew! I think I have 17 x 87s with the Limby chassis and the motors and extra pickups give decent performance and reliability, but the new releases are so much better. I’ll take a few pics of the line up of 87s later ... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 13, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2018 Very nice layout and great space to have for it. Glad you started a thread after that photo you posted on The BBA topic. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the WCML modelled which I get from growing up watching Boldon Junction develop over the years. I will look out for more updates All the best Mark Many thanks Mark. I remember seeing Boldon Junction as well, also saw Coppell last year at one show with its procession of WCML traffic and gigantic fiddle yard! I’ve always enjoyed the seeing the WCML modelled as well, some amazing layouts out there and on RMWeb and in development and it’s great to see Hornby, Bachmann and other manufacturers providing us with quality models like the 87s, Class 90 next year and BBAs at some stage. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 You have created a magnificent layout and I shall be following your posts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Brady Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Great to see a WCML layout with OHLE, like other I am looking forward to seeing more of this layout and maybe a Class 90 or two stretching it's legs. Benjamin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan product fan Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 To bring you up to date, a few pictures from this evening and plenty of speed boards on my workbench ready for planting ... looks ace pal any plans for some 90s ? form Bachmann Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 13, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2018 (edited) On 13/09/2018 at 08:59, Benjamin Brady said: Great to see a WCML layout with OHLE, like other I am looking forward to seeing more of this layout and maybe a Class 90 or two stretching it's legs. Benjamin On 13/09/2018 at 09:29, vulcan product fan said: looks ace pal any plans for some 90s ? form Bachmann Many thanks. I do like the Class 90s as well and have 5 of the Hornby version. Two of these have had the old Ringfield chassis replaced with the newer and better performing can-style chassis although the Virgin liveries version has recently failed with an overheating motor! I do have the IC Swallow and RFD liveried versions of the Bachmann Class 90 pre-ordered due next year and looking forward to them being released. Edited January 1, 2023 by Patriot87003 Pic reloaded 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan product fan Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 had the Hornby 90s years ago and thought they looked good but the roof detail and big switch let them down . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Patriot87003 Posted September 13, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2018 (edited) A few more pictures attached to show the storage areas on the layout. The first shows the 8-road upper fiddle yard in the middle of the shed, with the terminal station running parallel above it. The yard is fully ballasted! The line to the left of it leads down to the lower fiddle yard on a falling gradient. The next picture shows the Virgin era stock currently stored in the lower fiddle yard directly below the upper fiddle yard - it’s also 8-road but I’m definitely not ballasting this one! Tucked away in one corner is a compact maintenance depot to allow plenty of loco-changes via the terminal station. Edited January 1, 2023 by Patriot87003 Pics reloaded 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanks522 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Very interesting! Look forward to more photos. Graham. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phixer64 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 I like the look of this, love the WCML theme, again I echo the comments from the rest. Look forward in seeing more photos. Excellent work. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d winpenny Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Superb looking layout David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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