Hound Dog Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 (edited) As I have progressed over several years with my first ever layout build ("Montgreenan" set in the Scottish lowlands in the BR Blue 80's), I have developed more than a passing attraction to Green and Maroon Diesels and in particular the Diesel Hydraulics of the Western Region in the 1960's. As my layout is still only some 60% complete, I decided that I could probably make some subtle changes at this stage in order to enable me to switch between the two era's and thus satisfy both itches.........of course this gave me plenty of excuses for buying more trains, but then who needs excuses. So, I have started to take my BR Blue 1980's layout back to the early / mid 60's as "Portencross", a medium sized town in mid Devon at a time when Steam was being replaced by Diesels, and specifically for the Western region by Diesel Hydraulics. To get things started it was pretty obvious that my existing traction maintenance depot would need to be altered to represent an old dirty Steam shed that is now having the accommodate delicate diesels.........the shed choice was easy as Metcalfe do a lovely dual road shed that is fun to build and which i tried to make a dirty and oily as possible, including using soot from my wood burner to darken down the brick work and the pristine slate roof.......I am pretty pleased with how it worked out, although the scalpel was needed to trim the shed to make it fit, so the rear side won’t win any prizes. I also covered up my modern black and yellow hazard door with a home-made replacement wooden door......beyond that I think the depot only needs oil drums, stillages and perhaps a few rusty wheels and a crane to finish it off. Other changes at the adjacent junction involved replacing the concrete signal box and the modern concrete footbridge........I am really pleased with the later which is a cut down Dapol kit, which I initially planned to do GWR Chocolate and Cream but then I thought that would be overkill for a railway workers bridge and went for a simpler wooden affair.......sprayed it with Railmatch sleeper grime which brings a lovely flat and old wooden colour to a basic plastic kit. I am pretty comfortable that I can switch the shed and junction back to the 1980's without too much hassle, and only the weathering on the background buildings is irreversible, but then again they were way too clean for a railway environment anyway.......... I think just about everything that is permanent on the layout can generally fit both time periods, with the help of subtle dressing of accessories etc. I am attaching a before and after picture, plus an after-dark picture of St Meddans Junction and Locoshed.........It is quite a shame how old D601 Ark Royal has already been downgraded to hauling coal wagons as the shiny new Warship, Hymek and Western loiter in pristine condition at the grimy old shed - bet they don't stay that way for long........ Any feedback welcomed as I am still learning as I go with this hobby - cheers Richard Edited February 19, 2021 by Hound Dog Spelling 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Two Unique liveried locomotives Western Champion and Western Pioneer rostered on Passenger services today at Portencross. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) Slight change from Diesel Hydraulics, as a Class 101 DMU departs Platform 1 at Portencross on a local service which completes a full circuit of the yet unfinished layout before taking the branch line. Edited January 17, 2022 by Hound Dog file attachment 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 Finally completed the new Goods Yard on my Portencross layout.......still a few things to add, eg ground signals and yard lights etc but really pleased how the whole thing has come together. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 A few more images....... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hound Dog Posted December 29, 2022 Author Share Posted December 29, 2022 Hi Folks, It has been a long time since I posted any update on my layout, but I can now finally claim to have completed the major build of my layout around the full 360 degrees.......for sure lots of small aspects to finish and improve, and plenty of detail still to be added, including signals and lights etc, but the major construction which was started with the first wooden frame in July 2017 is most definitely over ! To celebrate I have packed my Blue BR diesels and my Montrgreenan theme layout away for a few months, and turned the clock back to enjoy Portencross in the early 60's and the introduction of Diesel traction, and Diesel Hydraulics in particular To best show the completed layout, I have made a new video where the environment is overtaken by the sound of the two Napier engines in Deltic 9020 "Nimbus" as it hauls a holiday special, whilst Western Diesel Hydraulic D1000 "Western Enterprise" heads an express service, although it is almost completely overwhelmed by the more powerful (and infinitely more noisy) Deltic. Hope you enjoy the video and as always any comments or feedback welcomed........Happy New Year to all. Cheer Richard 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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