Paystow – An adventure into 7mm...

[Jonnie]

I have another thread on here for my OO gauge exhibition layout 'Paybury' which I built during the various lockdowns of 2020. It appeared in the Summer edition of Model Rail last year and then at the Spa Valley Railway's Model Railway Weekend in September 2021.

 

Around the same time I made a bit of an accidental purchase on eBay, seeing a Class 08 shunter with DCC sound for £150 I thought I'll go for it based on the price of decoders and the model alone it was to me quite a steal. Anyway, I won the auction and subsequently the parcel arrived... a lot bigger than I'd expected with 'O gauge' stamped firmly on the box I thought ah, that was a bit of a mistake. Part of me had always wanted an O gauge layout but venturing into the unknown with 7mm scale is something I'd been rather wary of but armed with my newfound 08 I thought I'll give it a go and just scale up the sort of things I'd done before. I'm blessed with the space to build something quite nice so a 12ft by 2ft set of boards were duly purchased from Tim Horn, arrived, assembled and some track plonked down.

 

To cut a long story short the layout was started last September and was finished last month just in time to appear at the Spa Valley's Model Railway Weekend and it certainly went down a treat. The photos attached are of the finished product but if anyone is interested in seeing how it was built I'd be more than happy to upload those photos and show progress but working backwards!

 

The layout is GWR themed as there is plenty of stuff available in O gauge to run on it, buildings are all kit or scratch built other than the signal box, the track is Peco, the point motors are DCC Concepts Cobolt Digital IP (soon to be worked off a DCC Concepts S Lever Frame), controlled by NCE PowerCab. It is a DCC sound layout, all the signals work. Any questions by all means please feel free to ask! If you follow me on Instagram @payburymodelrailway you will find plenty of reels and photos of the layout, including quite a running session this evening at home. 

 

I hope you enjoy these pics :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jonnie]

I've recently added some more bits to Paystow ahead of a photoshoot in the near future. I thought you might like to see these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[5BarVT]

An awful lot of good modelling there.  You’ve kept it very quiet. Thanks for showing us.

Paul.

[RobinofLoxley]

Really good stuff. I find it funny that the camera perspective removes the scale, you have no idea anywhere between Z and G!

[Happy Hippo]

Always nice to see another 7 mm railway. 

 

Of course I do have to know what the overall dimensions are and what your fiddle yard arrangement is?

 

Is it worth moving this thread into the 7 mm specific section?

 

 

[Jonnie]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Always nice to see another 7 mm railway. 

 

Of course I do have to know what the overall dimensions are and what your fiddle yard arrangement is?

 

Is it worth moving this thread into the 7 mm specific section?

 

 

The layout scenic is 12ft by 2ft, the fiddle yard varies depending on whether it is at an exhibition or not. It is set up as a 'U' shape in the shed and then as an 'L' shape at exhibition. The fiddle yard I've not many photos of but it is three roads and a head shunt, see attached. It was build in quite a rush before the layout was exhibited at Spa Valley and then modified whilst there to get it to fit in the slot we'd been allocated. In the shed this is still the fiddle yard but there is a 3ft by 9ft section that connects it to the main layout via some 2nd radius curves and a short straight in the middle.

 

I was going to rebuild it but then thought this actually works so will leave it as it is albeit might extend it and add another road in the future. 

If an admin can move it to the 7mm section I'd have no objections. 

 

 

[Jonnie]

Paystow Track Plan.pdf

 

Track layout of the main layout is attached. 

[Jonnie]

Paystow is due to appear in the next issue of Model Rail Magazine. 

 

Some images taken not that long ago of the layout feature here. There is an extension to Paystow coming, 2ft by 8ft GWR halt with a couple of sidings is the theme, the boards are built and the track plonked down loosely, just need the weather to warm up so I can get in the shed and crack on with it!

[Jonnie]

Progress of any extension to Paystow stalled, the boards etc all still exist but are not set up (yet) to make it longer. I am intending to extend the layout for later in 2024 so it can appear again at exhibition. New signal box and goods shed are to be added.

 

The layout did appear at the Spa Valley's model railway show in September after feeling a bit defeated by the whole thing after several months of not being used it was nice to see so many people appreciating it despite appearing the year before. 

 

I am planning to extend the layout two ways, at the back and and the end to make it into a longer scenic section:

• 8ft by 2ft depicting a GWR halt and siding will be the added scenic section, part of the idea is in the last photo on the last post I made. 
• Adding 1ft to the whole 12ft length at the back of the board to add in a bay platform and a separate way onto and off the board.
• Engine shed to the siding at the front of the layout.

 

Attached is the idea for the 1ft to the back of the board, the new track is in blue, the current track is in black, nothing really exciting track layout wise but mostly will be scenery I suspect. What do people think?

Edited November 22, 2023 by Jonnie

[GWR57xx]

Looking forward to seeing progress on both these layouts.

What’s the plan for the new bay platform line? Does it lead off to some sort of industry or a branch line? Or is it double track coming into the station from Croftview?