Bearwood West Yard - Modern Image Dorset, 1990's - present

[Bearwood West Yard]

Mid-September Update

 

On the Layout, I've completed all track laying and corking. To save time as well as resources, only the scenic areas and the return loop of the main line have been corked. This might be seen as cutting a corner but with the vast expanse of the storage yard and the carriage sidings, it would have taken another week to lay. Being almost at the end of my 1x1.5m roll of cork, I didn't fancy having an excessive amount of cork laying around. I also changed the layout of the hidden yard as well. The outer most siding is a very long run round loop, whilst both the middle and inner yard lines now split into 5 lines each. I've begun testing the layout from a pair of powered fishplates from my command station and all seems to be well with the super elevation. Even my Cambrian Salmons haven't derailed at a moderate speed so that's a good sign, though I am yet to test any of the welded rail train wagons. In terms of layout operation, I have expanded from the DCS-51 command station with a DT-602 Super Throttle. Easy to use and no more switching between addresses. Once I've wired the layout, I'll be installing the UR90 Infrared Receiver, to enable wire free line of sight operation. 

 

The Carriage sidings consist of 5 sidings, two long enough to take a Class 220 or my 159 and 158. The remaining three are suitable for my pair of Class 450's. Either way, I now have a siding for each of my passenger conveying units. I am hunting for a third Class 450, to which I can then begin drawing up the plans to have a Class 450 in each livery worn by them. Speaking of units, I was informed last night that Bachmann are releasing a Class 159 in the current South Western Railway revised livery as a Kernow exclusive... that meddles with my respray plans for the NSE 159 I acquired the other month!

 

In terms of Workbench progress, I've made a few leaps of progress. The OCA's have been returned to traffic having completed their respray, weathering, decals and varnishing. The MXA's are also in the same position though the top coat of matt varnish to seal the decals came out awful with creases all over the place. The OCA's suffered from this as well though the heavy weathering was able to hide the creases. Sadly the same cannot be said the bright red boxes. Once the PLPR coaches have all been stripped, I'll be taking the boxes and chassis back to square one. I'll be using railmatch enamel varnishes next time through the airbrush.

 

New Additions:

- 9x Bachmann HHA Bulk Coal Hoppers. Separate Ebay purchases, some requiring work before selling as a job lot due to being wildly out of area. Keeping for the time being.

- 6x Accurascale CDA wagons in EWS Maroon (Packs 1 and 2). Fine additions to my existing Hornby ECC blue trio. A permanent rake on my layout.

- 4x Hornby Seacow and 2x Sealion Ballast hoppers in BR Dutch. A bulk Ebay buy at a reasonable price, adding to the home fleet to make a pre-2005 autoballaster working.

 

[Bearwood West Yard]

Mid-November Update

 

As always I've been keeping busy. I've started wiring up the layout, starting with the yard on the scenic section. I've decided to go for the 'wire every piece of track' approach this time to prevent having dead spots as experienced in the old track plan. So instead of having a big junction box, a DIN rail bus and only 16 connections, I've planned to have 5 small boxes dotted around the side of the layout, each with their own set of pre-made 12-way bus bars. Power going through to the wires from the bus by means of fork crimp connectors secured by mechanical lock. I bought the crimps, wire and bus bars off Amazon for a reasonable price. 

 

BoM includes:

- ABS Plastic Electrical Junction Box Enclosure IP65 size 160x90x60mm £5.99 each (5 bought)

- 50m Red/Black 2 x 0.50mm Speaker Cable £10.99

- 5 Sets Terminal Block 12Position 600V 15A Dual Row Screw Terminal Strip with 400V 15A Red and Black Insulated Terminal Jumper Strips £14.99 (2 bought)

- 100Pcs of Red #8 Insulated Fork Crimp Connector £6.99

In terms of fixings, I standardised for both fixing the box to the baseboard side and fixing the bus bars to the box, using M4x40 csk machine screws, M4 flat washers and nylock nuts sourced from Screwfix. The Nylock's may be a bit overkill, but they will ensure nothing comes loose over time given the baseboards will vibrate with train movements and even more so with DCC Sound. 

 

Wiring the layout:

When it comes to wiring up the track, I've been using regular solder for tinning the rail ends of my wires and experimenting with Solder Paste on the rails. I have to say, solder paste works brilliantly, making operations that little bit easier and more efficient. When it comes to soldering to the rails now, the wire can be pressed into the paste and as the Iron heats the wire, the flux burns off and the paste melts into the wire. I've had no issues of excess solder trying to run down the web of the rail, with all connections surviving the critical tug test!

I still have the main lines, carriage sidings and hidden yard yet to wire, though I will most likely add jumpers from one rail to another in the yards to minimise expenditure on materials as prices have gone up and personal circumstances have changed a bit. 

 

In terms of where I wanted to be, I'm far behind my target of having the whole scenic section wired by Mid-November. I have taken a break from the model world to recharge my modelling batteries, as you need to every now and again. I spent a nice week down in Cornwall on the clifftops of St Just. I did unleash the inner modeller, travelling by HST to Par for the Goonbarrow Clay. Just my luck it didn't run, as I wanted some first-hand weathering pictures for my Accurascale CDA's. I did walk around the outside of St Blazey Depot Perimeter, capturing many of the stored CDA's in various states of corrosion through the fences and trees. An unlocked gate was my best vantage point. Anyway, this was followed by a trip to Kernow Model Railway Centre in Camborne on the way back to Penzance. Other than my Cornwall trip I've been gallivanting around the South Western. 

Speaking of CDA's, I bought another EWS and a DB pack, taking my Acc CDA consist to 12. These ended up in my basket whilst getting a pack of the new MHA's.

 

New Additions:

-2nd EWS CDA pack 2 (Acc)

- DB CDA pack (Acc)

- EWS MHA pack (Acc)

- 2x Clay Tigers in NACCO (EFE)

- BR Dutch MTA (Bac)

- BR Dutch 'Turbot' (Ker) 

 

I was selling my Bachmann new tool NSE Class 159 upon hearing a few months ago of Kernow and Bachmann releasing models in SWR livery, as I'd bought it for respray in that exact livery. However, with the eye watering price, I'm sticking with the repaint at some time in the future! I have a few reference pictures from my time working in BM, and Rainbow Railways now sell the paint. 

 

Anyway that's all from me for now.

 

 

[Graham108]

On 23/11/2022 at 13:19, Bearwood West Yard said:

 

 

You just have to love  that sign!

Edited December 5, 2022 by Graham108

[Bearwood West Yard]

34 minutes ago, Graham108 said:

You just have to love  that sign!

I did think it was ironic when I saw it 😆

[Bearwood West Yard]

Pre-Christmas 2022 Layout Update:

 

Quite a big update this month! For me personally, 2022 has had its ups and downs just like any other year, but for certain it has opened my eyes a lot with how I manage Bearwood West Yard and how sadly in its current form it is just not possible to continue with. To understand the challenges of the last 18 months or so layout wise, I've written a backstory so things can be seen from my perspective as I have grown up, from age 14 to now 22.

 

 

Teenage and Twenties' years' modelling, a backstory (2014 - 2022:

The layout has always been based in my bedroom at a close relatives house. Growing up I never had space at home (rented 2-bed house) for a layout so I had four 4x2' boards of 9mm MDF (unbraced) from the age of around 14 until i was 17 (I am now 22 at time of writing). These were arranged in the same places and 'L' configuration as the current scenic area, utilising some of the non-scenic return loop boards that I recently updated and replaced. I was spending most weekends and several after school evenings per week there. Roughly 12 - 18 hours per week spent running trains or doing layout work.

 

I made the current 12mm Plywood boards in 2017 during my one year of Sixth form. Those boards being 4x2' sections using 12mm Hardwood tops and 6" wide 12mm Ply strips to form the bracing. A heavy board when fully constructed. The layout again having to be low to the ground to ensure trains on the return loop would fit under the bed frame - one could say the bed frame was my loading gauge! Not long after this, we terminated the rent and moved in with my family to save money for home ownership. I got an apprenticeship in 2018 and left Sixth form. We wouldn't move out until August 2021. While living with family, if I wasn't working shifts, studying or out and about, I would be doing something layout orientated. 

However, this all changed in August 2021 when we moved out for our own place. 

I struggled for about six months as I adjusted to living in the new place, as well as various medical things going on. Bearwood West Yard stayed put with family as it was never built to be transported, I would have had to take a dremel and a saw to it to even make individual boards moveable. That's without taking into account how I wired it and the shear weight of the boards with nothing on them! I was now travelling home from work in the opposite direction to my family's home, so weekly time spent on the layout dropped and went down to about 4 hours per week if I was lucky and able to do a bit of work on a Sunday. I did manage to get a foldable desk so I could still continue rolling stock projects from scratchbuilds to resprays living at the new place. It kept some form of a lifeline between myself and not giving up the hobby.

 

Modelling age 21 onwards:

In June 2022 I'd had enough of the various fully avoidable stresses and being messed around in my work life, quitting my apprenticeship. Quickly got recruited into Bournemouth Depot for SWR's Desiro Repaint. Working patterns of 5on/5off were lovely and I was fortunate to be spending full days at a time working on the layout. My passion for the hobby took off again and as such, I undertook redoing the underbed boards. That was something I'd wanted to do for a while as the space under the bed was very under-utilised with so much potential - as i turned it into! However, this would be short lived. Trying to wire the layout so low to the ground was a nightmare. especially as I was adding so many feeder wires to counteract the dead spots the previous track had. And with another change in job and working patterns, I had to make a decision on the layout's future. 

This is the crossroads I now type from.

 

Where to now?

Ultimately, I faced two choices:

- Continue with a layout that is not future proofed and will take at least 6 months to complete the wiring of alone OR

- Mothball the current layout while the track is still loosely pinned in place, in favour of building a new and portable layout.

 

Ultimately, I chose the latter. The decision was easy in some respects, difficult in others. The old baseboards are too heavy to keep so will be dismantled in my room and dumped. That will be the hardest part, destroying 3-year old scenery and 5 year old baseboards.

However, I think future me will look back on now as a moment of realisation and thank me in the long term for opening up new possibilities for Bearwood West Yard. I needed to go back to basics, more so than I have the last few months to properly iron out all the difficulties a layout shouldn't have. I served me well, but now it is time to go back to the drawing board.

 

About what has been planned for Bearwood West Yard... 2!

- First things first, the layout name is not changing for love nor money!

- In terms of layout design, I am going for a traditional Exhibition style design with a front scenic area and a fiddle yard on the return loop. Baseboards being traditional 4'x2' sections with 9mm Hardwood Ply tops and Metric 2x1" timbers for bracing. Should make for an overall much lighter baseboard section than those I am replacing. Mounted on Stanley plastic woodworking trestles or tables should a venue have some to set up on.

- Scenic section will somewhat vary, however the minimum I plan for is 12' to enable setting up in the living room when mum is away for a weekend, I particularly like the idea of having extension boards, similar to New Junctions' Garage mode and Exhibition mode, to enable running of my full length trains. 

- Being portable, I will always have a baseboard or two to bring home and work on remotely from the rest of the layout. Even if i cannot manage a full setup or running session due to restricted space. I can also take it to local exhibitions on a weekend when they arise, which is a bonus!

- Layout hardware will remain DCC for train operation, 12v DC for signalling and lighting. However, for the first time I will now be able to venture into motorising points! One of the things I am most excited about is the potential of the operating systems.

 

I've created a BoM for the first four baseboards, which I'll buy the materials for and get them cut next week, ready for making over the Christmas bank holidays. Trestles are cheapest about £30 a pair at Screwfix, so will buy a few at a time over the coming months. I'm in no rush to get track down, but I will be back with a baseboard update in the New Year. Merry Christmas and happy modelling!

[Melangoose]

With me being a Dorset resident I have followed your thread with much interest.  It’s a shame that your layout is to be dismantled, but I do appreciate your reasons why and look forward to the 2nd variant.  I note by your recent purchases and pictures that the Cornish Rail scene is creeping into your life (I am a big fan of that too). 
 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Melangoose

[Bearwood West Yard]

10 hours ago, Melangoose said:

I note by your recent purchases and pictures that the Cornish Rail scene is creeping into your life (I am a big fan of that too). 
 

I quite liked the track plan and scenery I had with the now mothballed layout, so I intend to keep these the same with the new layout though just straightening the yard out a bit instead of being in the ‘L’ shape. Everything that can be kept from the old layout will be. I have been tempted for a modern take on Broadstone but with an expanded yard as I was a Corfe Hills student.
 

Indeed the Cornish rail scene has started growing on me. Including the 3x ECC blue Hornby CDA’s, I have 15 CDA’s, as well as two clay tigers which I bought from KMRC having walked around St Blazey depot perimeter. I’ve always holidayed with family in Cornwall so the CDA’s are an icon of my holidays, though ironically I’ve not seen any of their wheels turning. Nonetheless, it makes for a great modellers licenced consist on a what if Imerys expanded Furzebrook operations and took the clay out by rail. 

[EWS60065]

Sorry to hear you're not able to continue with the layout but it sounds like a sensible decision. I have enjoyed following your progress with particular interest in the yard and engineering trains side of things. Looking foward to seeing what you can do with version 2!

Edited December 27, 2022 by EWS60065

[Bearwood West Yard]

February update!

After a very productive and expensive January its fair to say that I'm making tracks...  badum 'tiss 😅

 

I spent a few weekday evenings and a weekend manufacturing the first 8 baseboards. Annoyingly, the long timbers for the first four baseboards were cut wrong at 1200mm instead of 1220mm and I didn't realise until it was time for assembly! I had planned to manufacture in batches of four boards at a time but with that error, I bought material for batch 2 whilst obtaining some 22x50mm timber to hospital job the ends of batch 1 boards. I'll be using these as fiddle yard boards as they haven't quite pulled together as well as they should have, but i have 8 nice baseboards ready to receive legs once I make them.

 

As demolition of Bearwood West Yard slowly moves forward, I've moved my OS home along with an oval of setrack. I hadn't been that excited to have a loop of setrack since I got my Hornby starter set Christmas 2006... Some of the track ageing back to then! I set that up on the newly constructed boards and ran some of the new stock. 

 

With situations improving, I managed to get in on buying up some of the last Revolution Trains IPA car carriers. With the Southampton-Halewood Jaguar empties (6M48) being a regular working of my spotting days at Eastleigh in the mid 2010's, it would have been rude not to! Over a few weeks I've obtained a trio of the Covered quad packs, and a pair of both covered and uncovered IPA's, giving a comfortable train length of 16 wagons.

I also managed to jump in early and place a last minute pre-order for Revolution Trains FWA Ecofrets, snapping up three in VTG Green and one example in DB red. Lovely models but that'll do for my current rolling stock fleet. Only thing left on Pre-order is Accurascale 37409 in Large Logo blue with sound. 

 

I have spent some much needed time on the workbench giving some of my existing stock and projects some tlc. In-between filling and sanding the test train coach windows, I've been weathering my Dapol FEA-B's into mid-2010's condition. I've now done the three sets all by hand, and have now moved onto the Realtrack FLA Lowliners. The next big thing on the workbench is getting the MXA boxes stripped ready for when the weather improves. The BDA bases have been stripped but the boxes still need their treatment. Having seen Bachmann's MXA announcement of these, for £60 a pop they can keep them 😅

 

Overall I'm where I wanted to be in terms of baseboard construction. For now though, everything will be on hold while we get the windows done over the next few weekends. 

 

That's all for now

 

[EWS60065]

Following this project with interest. Glad to see it's going well. Nice weathering on the FEAs, they look suitably brown! I had a look at your YouTube video explaining the new layout and had a question about the track plan - in the old Bearwood the engineering trains ran through the station in order to access the yard but the yard seems to bypass the station in the new plan. Was wondering whether you planned to have any freights run through the station itself? 

[Bearwood West Yard]

36 minutes ago, EWS60065 said:

In the old Bearwood the engineering trains ran through the station in order to access the yard but the yard seems to bypass the station in the new plan. Was wondering whether you planned to have any freights run through the station itself? 

Yes in the old layout the inner loop had nothing connected to it, pre-relay, and no fiddle yard so everything had to go via the station to ‘set back’ into the yard with one of the reception roads being on a disused platform.

The new layout will still have freight running through the station main lines as per the old layout. Both layouts were inspired by Eastleigh/Westbury but taking more of an Eastleigh feel with the track plan, station location and train workings.

That said, most of the up Freightliners will call for driver change or signal check, whether that’s intermodal or Heavy Haul. Anything DB will be mostly routed via the reception sidings on the up, running fast on the down. Anything outside of that such as engineering workings will be yard based unless alike the LWRT it won’t fit when in ‘home mode’, in which it’ll be relegated to the fiddle yard. The headshunt for the yard will be part of the fiddle yard anyway. One way of quietly changing stock around and making space via a casual shunt.

I’ve tried to put a bit of thought behind the operating potentials and found this to be the best of both worlds. Where I can operate it myself at home but also with an additional body if the layout gets on the exhibition circuit.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Bearwood West Yard

[EWS60065]

17 minutes ago, Bearwood West Yard said:

Yes in the old layout the inner loop had nothing connected to it, pre-relay, and no fiddle yard so everything had to go via the station to ‘set back’ into the yard with one of the reception roads being on a disused platform.

The new layout will still have freight running through the station main lines as per the old layout. Both layouts were inspired by Eastleigh/Westbury but taking more of an Eastleigh feel with the track plan, station location and train workings.

That said, most of the up Freightliners will call for driver change or signal check, whether that’s intermodal or Heavy Haul. Anything DB will be mostly routed via the reception sidings on the up, running fast on the down. Anything outside of that such as engineering workings will be yard based unless alike the LWRT it won’t fit when in ‘home mode’, in which it’ll be relegated to the fiddle yard. The headshunt for the yard will be part of the fiddle yard anyway. One way of quietly changing stock around and making space via a casual shunt.

I’ve tried to put a bit of thought behind the operating potentials and found this to be the best of both worlds. Where I can operate it myself at home but also with an additional body if the layout gets on the exhibition circuit.

Thanks for clarifying, sounds a good plan. I've been to Eastleigh once and I liked the vibe with the fast 450s and engineering trains crawling around the yard. 

[Bearwood West Yard]

I spent my spotting days in my early to mid teens at Eastleigh circa 2014-16. A decent amount of freight, though nothing like Barnetby back in the day. Some days were quieter than others, with virtually no yard activity other than the incoming and outgoing Westbury / Hinksey departmentals. Other days you’d have a resident Gronk doing the rounds or a DB 66 / Colas 70 on super shunting duties.

 

In terms of freight, the mornings were spaced out with a DB trip working to the docks into Southampton, FL liner outbound for Liverpool, DB liner in on the fast, empty Jaguar cars out and Westbury departmental in, between about 8:30 and 12. Then lunchtime saw the DB trip working return from the docks, Fareham stone empties heading back to Whatley, Mini’s for export from Oxford on the down fast, along with a DB liner from Birch Coppice that’d been in the yard reception lines for an hour or so. Then from about 1 until 4 would be 3 FL liner’s from Crewe, Leeds and Cardiff Wentloog all in quick succession. Sometimes half an hour apart, other times the Leeds and Cardiff liners would surround the island platform with containers as a double crew changeover occurred before it all went quiet for 45 minutes or so until an outbound FL liner to Crewe went through at speed on the slow line around 3. Then it was an outbound Westbury and GBRf containerised Gypsum around 4pm. 
So a bit of a theme may be spotted when seeing my theme of rolling stock and operational interests. Acquired a third class 450 late last year so will be able to run 12 car trains. Though I’ll need a very discreet way of separating the train. 
 

Won’t forget the day when we had 3 liners in 3 minutes, all caught on film by a friend. The Crewe having gone out early, Leeds coming in on Plat 3 for crew change and a 4 hour late rescued Class 70 with liner rattling through at line speed on the fast.

[Bearwood West Yard]

Workbench Update: February 23

 

As per mention in the previous update, I did go on a slight spend spree last month. 16 Revolution Trains IPA’s added to the fleet.
 

Although not a bus person, I also managed to pick up an Original Omnibus Co. Optare Solo in original Wilts and Dorset livery. If any bus livery speaks 1998-2007 this is it. Purchased on EBay for £25, rather pleased given they go for double that easily.

I can just about remember this livery when I was around 6 years old, getting the bus into Poole. Solo’s have served the Damory Route 11, Poole to Bearwood (and Kinson Sundays only) from the early 2000’s right through until 2018/19 when the Morebus Eclipse’s took over having been phased out of the M1/M2 routes for new Enviro-200 MMC buses. Occasionally they now work the route X6 Poole - Ringwood via Verwood, having been on one for the last bus home! A welcome addition, and one which can be swapped out with a Northcord ‘X3’ routed bus on the X6 route when I get hold of one, to set in stone the time period of layout operation depending on what year I want to run the trains in. 
 

I’ve also weathered up my three remaining Dapol FEA-B twin spine intermodals into various conditions. All brush painted, first with a layer of frame dirt and then once dry caking the wagons in sleeper grime. With a bit of IPA on a cotton bud, cleaning up the FL logo’s, TOPS panel and the container foot spikes and warnings. On the bogies, I’ve used Humbrol 30 on the bearing caps while painting the white T’s above the bearings with a fine paintbrush, paint from a paint pen. 
One twin has been modelled as post maintenance, having had the bogies, air tanks and pumps changed (painted Humbrol 85 as per overhauled wheelsets from my time at BM) as well as the on top weathering having been IPA’d off as if the fitters had to look busy for an afternoon and have cleaned one half up but just started on the other. Pictures taken before I did the tanks. I have also detailed one end to be the end of the train. Next up, Realtrack FLA’s to go through the weathering works!

 

Network Rail PLPR Test Train Coaches are currently having the windows filled and sanded prior to respray. Spending quite a while trying to just get this right as this is one of the few workbench jobs I’ve not yet had experience with. 

[Bearwood West Yard]

Mid February Update:

 

Sticking with the weathering bug, I've been at the Realtrack FLA's this time. For some reason, 2 of my 3 wagons have been distorted since I bought them, with the buffer ends being bent skywards about 3 degrees or so from the bogie pivot. Enough of a bend to notice the buffers were off-square! So a little bending the other way and they've been okay, albeit with tendencies to bend back. Anyway, that aside I've been them with Frame dirt, brushed on and sponged dabbed off. Come on rather nice and subtle, two coats of that method. Buffers painted Humbrol 85 Black.

 

Layout wise I spent an afternoon dismantling the old layout. One baseboard and the step-over has been removed with a full rubbish bag of polystyrene from the hillside. So progress made on that side of things. With the mess from the polystyrene and taking into account that our local tip classes any non-natural woods (MDF, Chipboard, Ply etc) as general waste due to the resin contents, I may just tip the boards together as they are separated for ease of disposal. The under-bed boards however I'll keep as spare material should I need it, though it is 12mm and I'm building the new layout with 9. 

 

In other news, i visited this years Bournemouth Model Railway Exhibition and was very pleasantly surprised at the variation of layouts in attendance and lots of new layouts on the exhibition circuit. I was half expecting the same line up of layouts I saw in both pre-covid years, so was hesitant in the lead up at £8 entry! Mostly N gauge with very few OO layouts on show. However, it was enjoyable and my wallet came home £300 lighter with four brand new JJA Autoballaster Non-Generator wagons! So that s two full autoballaster sets for the layout now. All due for the workbench for livery modifications soon! As one of the liveries I wish to model is the current Collectors Club release, I think I will have to make some Decals as I'm not paying silly money for a full set. Anyway, thats all for now

 

[WCML100]

Been following your stuff on YouTube for a while - only just found your page on RMweb. Sorry to see the old layout is no more. I went through something similar and as hard as a it is sometimes the move is best all round.

 

Also loving your weathering on the FL intermodal wagons. I have got a few to do myself, what make of paints did you use and how exactly did you apply it? thanks

[Bearwood West Yard]

3 hours ago, WCML100 said:

Also loving your weathering on the FL intermodal wagons. I have got a few to do myself, what make of paints did you use and how exactly did you apply it? thanks

Thank you very much for your compliments! I did the FEA’s and FLA’s slightly differently. I’ve only replicated frame dirt once on an old FEA around four years ago so has taken some time to find a technique that works. 
 

For the Dapol FEA’s, I split the bogies and drawbars from the wagon. I had to do multiple coats as the first layer of paint had difficulty sticking the factory lacquer. I used a thick paintbrush and Railmatch frame dirt neat, on the wagon body, all tops sides and ends, every nook and cranny. But also moderating with the brush so it’s not too thick and can spread. Let that go off, then did the same with Railmatch sleeper grime. Essentially the frame dirt has primed the sleeper grime, giving good paint adhesion. And any spots that are a bit thin in sleeper grime doesn’t look too noticeable. Various detailing such as tops panel, container spigot bandings etc all wiped clean with IPA and a cotton bud to photos of the real things. The brown does look a bit too brown, but i do think weather is a determining factor of shade. With the darker browns coming out when the wagons and dirt get wet.
 

For the bogies I do exactly the same technique. Apart from one set which are modelled as fresh from overhaul and are painted Humbrol 85. All bogies have the white ‘T’ above the axle bearing, painted on with a very fine brush with the white from a paint pen. Bearing covers painted using good ol’ Humbrol 30 (Spitfire/Hurricane camo green) as it was the closest matching green to hand. Looks quite like FL green but faded a bit.

 

To finish things off, I gave the buffers and coupling hook a one off fine brush of Humbrol 85 black and once set, a small press with a black paint pen to represent buffer grease. 
 

For the FLA’s, only the drawbar removed. I straight up used Railmatch frame dirt, applied thick with a paintbrush about 1/3 of a wagon at a time and dabbed off with a cheap washing up sponge. Personal preference and photos dictated how much dirt I wanted to leave on. Repeated this across all of the FLA’s except the inside recesses which are just brushed on and nothing else - as it’ll be the most heavily weathered part of the wagon. And again, cotton bud and IPA for the numbers and details on the sides as per what’s info had been cleaned up on the real thing. Buffers and coupling hooks done the same as the FEA. 

 

I favoured the FLA’s finish as opposed to the FEA and it’s very easy to do. My brushes are an Amazon brand, with the sponges being the cheapest pack Tesco had to offer. They last a while as well, as I tear them up into small pieces about the size of a thumbnail for better dab control. Hopefully my waffle will be of some use to your weathering! I look forward to hearing and seeing your results! 

[WCML100]

Thanks - a great insight - I will try the same with my FEA's 😁

[Bearwood West Yard]

Its been a busy week this week! 

Visited Model Railway Solutions in Upper Parkstone last weekend to see if they still had another set of Autoballasters. At £75 a wagon, I'd rather have paid that than the £95p/w for the Bachmann Collecters club offering, plus the £40 membership! However, it wasn't to be. But I did learn that the stock I bought at the exhibition was actually stock from closed down Bournemouth Model Railway Centre, which closed for good in Feb 2019. Sadly, the gentleman that owned the shop passed away not too long ago, and MRS have been helping his widow shift the vast amounts of stock from the shop's collection that went unsold. 

 

I made a few purchases even if they weren't the desired JJA's. I picked up a Bachmann MPV in Railtrack, a piece of on-track-plant that surprisingly I didn't already own! Picked up for a bargain £100, it was hard to say no. Given that the new layout will have some form of maintenance siding or stabling point, obtaining an MPV had been on my mind loosely as the MPV's based out of Totton rule the RHTT on the Weymouth mainline. I need to do a little bit of work on these, adding Network Rail decals to the cabsides. With Bachmann releasing Eastleigh/Totton based MPV's in NR/SWT at £200+, it was now or never price wise.

 

In addition, I've added 3x JIA Tiger's from the EFE range for the consist of Tigers I started on back in October. Unlike then when I bought two in heavily weathered condition, I've bought these ones in pristine condition. Over time I've become less accustomed to the factory weathered versions, preferring to weather them myself given the recent confidence boost with the intermodals.

 

Since having works on the house complete, I've got back to it on the workbench. Currently in a push to get the first 3 Test Train coaches off the bench and ready for primer. The coaches currently on are 6261, 1256 and 977969. I was at the window filling stages with these using Plasticard and Vallejo plastic putty. However, the plastic putty once cured was far too soft and pliable, so sanding was a nightmare. I put the coaches back into IPA for 24hrs for the alcohol to work at the putty and plastic weld. The putty came up with ease, the plastic sheet needing a bit of force. 

I bought a Milliput kit off Amazon to try it out - what a godsend that stuff is and only now do I understand why modellers swear by it! So I've now managed to fill and very neatly sand the relevant windows and door mouldings flush. 1256's windows are curing as I type. But for now, its onto the louvre vents on 6261. Its a lot of work when Bachmann have made a generator coach, but at £45 its not worth it when the windows are boarded up and not filled. alike the real coaches. 

 

Finally, I passed the point of no return earlier today and said goodbye to the old layout. As my first proper layout, throwing the baseboards into the skip was difficult. I'd be lying if I said I didn't show some emotion when leaving the tip. The layout served me well over the years - from learning DCC and entertaining friends/exes to making furlough and lockdowns more a holiday - lots of happy memories and a good test bed for the skills I have learned, refined and plan to put to use on the new layout.

Its not all doom and gloom... a Hattons 66 Axlebox did make an appearance when taking the old baseboards down into the garage!

 

I'll be back soon, but for now its a workbench push to get the test train coaches and Lobsters ready for primer when the weather warms up. 

[RPNaylor0301]

Brave choice but I'd echo the others in saying that I think it's the right choice. 

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next - thought they were an excellent effort so with a few years of modelling experience under your belt I'm sure #2 will be a must follow!

[Bearwood West Yard]

19 hours ago, RPNaylor0301 said:

Brave choice but I'd echo the others in saying that I think it's the right choice. 

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next - thought they were an excellent effort so with a few years of modelling experience under your belt I'm sure #2 will be a must follow!

Thank you. Mk1 was born out of a lot of inexperience, trial and error but somehow I managed to get it sort of okay in the end. I’ve got the four scenic boards for mk2 now back at home, just a case of sorting the legs out on them. So hopefully not too long until I can get things properly under-way with the new layout! 
Unlike the original layout where I built the yard to fit around the main lines, I’ll be building the yard first and making any baseboard extensions as necessary to accommodate the main line. I’m ever more inclined to increase the width from 2’ to 2’10” to not cram everything in. As 4 sidings and 2 main lines on Mk1 was a squeeze with minimal scenery. More on that when I get the track and way gauges over to do some calculated measurements!

[Bearwood West Yard]

A bit more progress made over the last two weeks on the workbench and layout. I've also reached a first milestone with Mk2 which I'll share in a few days time as to not cram this update. 

In the wake of BWY Mk1 having been disposed of, I moved the four fiddle yard boards into my room where the old layout once stood. I laid some Hornby Setrack straights from the former under-bed loco pullout on the topmost board, out of curiosity as to how many roads I can squeeze into the fiddle yard? Using a pair of Peco points for a way gauge, I managed to get 12 lines in total. I'm rather pleased with that, especially as they will be each between 10-12ft long. One of the sidings at least will be the yard headshunt. 

 

I have also added a pair of Bachmann VGA's to the rolling stock fleet, the first seen in the 12-road picture. Both are EBay purchases for about £25 each. Livery wise, both are in Railfreight Silver with Yellow ends, with one having Railfreight Distribution decals and another with Transrail decals just for that bit of variation. Both will run together as part of an MoD dry stores train, also formed of a pair of EWS FCA / FYA intermodals. I won two Dapol FEA-B twins earlier in the week on Ebay, which will be donors for the FCA's when the LWRT is off the bench.

 

The first pair of Silverline 125kg rated Sawhorse Trestles arrived last week for testing. Happy with them so have bought some more. These will save me a lot of space being totally collapsable and time when setting up. I got the first scenic board on, loosely placed some track in reasonable positions and added some stock to gauge how my track plan looks in reality. Rather happy, however for full potential will be adding a 200mm / 8" extension to the width of the baseboard so I still have scenic value and am not cramming track. As I found with Mk1 that I had crammed track and sacrificed scenic value due to the size constraints to meet operational requirements. With the trestles being 1m wide, it allows for the extension without modification - which the same cannot be said for wooden legs. So this places me a bit ahead of where I had planned to currently be. 

The weathering on the FLA is seen quite well in the light, rather pleased with how everything is slowly coming together.

 

On the workbench, I spent a few hours on Saturday working to finish off the modification to Test Train Generator coach 6261. All milliput works had been sanded back and the big job was the pair of louvres on each side. These being located luckily in the place of former windows. Having counted the number of louvres on the vents (18 per vent), I had to buy in some Evergreen 8104 Styrene strip for the job, as it was the closest 'cut to length' strip styrene available, at 0.28 x 1.09mm in thickness and width! It has been perfect for the louvres and also for some replacement window surround lips (trimmed the width) which come as moulded detail. Just a general clean up now on 6261 and also 1256 before primer!

Speaking of Primer, I have primed the 3x MXA boxes, 2x BDA bodies and the shell for 977969. I managed to spray the boxes and BDA bodies in top coat from a Halfords Ford Carnival Red rattle can last night - a great match for DB red. These cured okay however will need another light spray over as small patches of primer are still visible.  977969 still had the milliputted windows visible through the grey primer in a certain light, not sure if thats normal however did think I may have sanded to ever so sub-flush. So have stripped the primer back in IPA, quick five minute job. Plan is to add some plastic putty with a straight edge just so that any areas sub flush will be brought back to level. 

Finally, the Bachmann MPV I bought in the last update has now been chipped. Have had trouble getting hold of Zimo chips so have temporarily taken one from a Class 70 as they wont be running any time soon. The box was quite musty and appeared to have water damage. Model was unaffected, but the box was cleaned up with some lemon wipes. Smells more pleasant and lemony now. I can't be the only one hearing Hatton's heavy breathing over the box! 😅

 

I'll be back in a few days with the layout milestone 🙂

[WCML100]

Looking good mate. Ironically just got myself a weathered Bachmann vga with the mod diamond markings. One of Bachmann’s better factory weatherings for sure, will add some more myself too! I will be creating several MOD workings as there was plnrty routed the long way round from Bicester to Didcot via Greenford! I have attached some interesting ones below from youtube / flickr.

 

The fca build from the fea will be interesting, im needing a few myself so hoping a manufacturer will produce some soon as i need a tonne of them (some for mod workings like yourself, but majority for a Northolt / Brentford binliner rake!) 

 

Looking forward to seeing the progress on the new setup 😁

 

 

 

 

first train in this video

15:40 in this video and again at 17:00 for my fav and most unusual (ironically i saw this a few times in various forms: VGA/VKA, OCA or FAA, VGA/VKA, VGA/VKA) I managed to find a white metal kit FAA years ago on ebay so can run the working myself!

Slightly off topic but one i will be recreating (fca related!)

 

hope these provide some interest for ya! I know they did for me! And i will be trying my hardest to replicate them! 

[Bearwood West Yard]

20 hours ago, WCML100 said:

Looking good mate. Ironically just got myself a weathered Bachmann vga with the mod diamond markings. One of Bachmann’s better factory weatherings for sure, will add some more myself too! I will be creating several MOD workings as there was plnrty routed the long way round from Bicester to Didcot via Greenford! I have attached some interesting ones below from youtube / flickr.

 

The fca build from the fea will be interesting, im needing a few myself so hoping a manufacturer will produce some soon as i need a tonne of them (some for mod workings like yourself, but majority for a Northolt / Brentford binliner rake!) 

Thanks for the video links, I’ve checked them out and definitely a lot of inspiration for weathering and further decal work! I’ve seen on EBay the other night more VGA’s going for £24ish plus postage. Seems surreal given shop prices when new.

 

I’m hoping the FCA mods will be straightforward. The various wings on the wagon spine will need to be removed with scratchbuilt versions in their place. The circular deck above the bogie centres will be the most difficult bit. But either way, I wouldn’t judge anyone for just spraying the FEA’s straight up into EWS as it will be a big job. I’ve never seen an FAA irl nor in model so you’ve definitely got a rare kit there! 

[WCML100]

56 minutes ago, Bearwood West Yard said:

Thanks for the video links, I’ve checked them out and definitely a lot of inspiration for weathering and further decal work! I’ve seen on EBay the other night more VGA’s going for £24ish plus postage. Seems surreal given shop prices when new.

 

I’m hoping the FCA mods will be straightforward. The various wings on the wagon spine will need to be removed with scratchbuilt versions in their place. The circular deck above the bogie centres will be the most difficult bit. But either way, I wouldn’t judge anyone for just spraying the FEA’s straight up into EWS as it will be a big job. I’ve never seen an FAA irl nor in model so you’ve definitely got a rare kit there! 

 

Glad the links were of some use :) 

 

Yes I managed to get mine (I think the most recent release of the railfreight grey version) for around £24 including postage - especially happy as you say with todays prices and how good this example of factory weathering is on the model (rare in itself!)

 

I look forward to seeing your FCA project, in the mean time I am hoping I have persuaded Accurascale to get on and make some! I keep pestering them at every show I've seen them at this past year and have reasonably good response to it - great variety too with bin liners, mod containers, and regular container boxes too... a big missing link in the current market!

 

The FAA was deffo a lucky find - think ii paid £25 for around 8 years ago - fully painted and declared up with EWS logos too... Haven't a clue who made it as I have never seen one since... Perfect for those odd MOD workings though!