grid56104 Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Hi, joined RM Web on 27 June but just getting around to putting something in writing tonight. My name is Max Fowler and I am aware that some of you will know me from other groups and as Secretary of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Model Railway Club. I was always a keen modeller in my youth but never got around to completing any layouts and had a gap of around 25 years where my stock etc sat in boxes in a loft and my membership of the above club fell away . A second marriage gave me the opportunity to resurrect my interest in the modelling side (I have been photographing the real thing for years) and my first ever layout on my return to modelling - St Ann's Depot - was the first I have ever completed and I have been fortunate to have it used at some exhibitions and it will be representing our club at Model Rail Scotland 2011. The layout is only 7 and a half feet by 2 feet (size was determined by space in our spare room/study) - it therefore relies heavily on Y points - and is set in 1983 toward the end of the full Rail Blue livery and the start of the Large Logo livery. I hope I have managed to attached a couple of photographs of same at end of this introduction to give you a flavour of the layout. My love of class 20s and 56s have partly determined that while I live in Ayr, the layout has been set in middle eastern England as the class 56s were not a regular feature in Scotland until around 1989/1990 when they operated Anglo-Scottish coal traffic. the shed is meant to be an old steam shed that is soon to be demolished as it has lost its roof and has numerous smashed windows. The old turntable pit has been filled in but the retaining wall that forms part of same can still be seen forming the outline of the circle. The start of the ramp to what would have been the old coaling stage can also be seen but that has gone and has been replaced by a modern diesel fuelling points. Throughout all my years of interest in railways (started in 1968 - so I unfortunately missed steam) I have been fascinated by coal traffic and in the mid 80s through to the present day I have always tried to record the Scottish Coal Scene from loading locations, trackside on main lines and branch lines through to where the coal is destined ie power stations, harbours etc. My memebership name gives a clue at my favourite locomotive class and the number 56104 is the class 56 locomotive I photographed the most north off the border. This particular interest will feature in my next layout - at present likley to be called 'the Maxwell Colliery Loading Point' - and will be a rapid loading tower arrangement such as that at Renstrie (or Ravenstruther) and formerly at Knockshinnoch and Blindwells. The intention is to have the tower built in such a way (close to the backscene) that as the locomotive pulls empty wagons throught the tower they can be filled up and come out the other side full. In addition to the above, I want to model some single track branch line to/from the tower similar to that on the former Bilston Glen branch and currently seen on the line to Chalmerston and Killoch. The setting of the layout will allow Rail Blue, Large Logo, Trainload Coal, Transrail and Loadhaul locos to be used with Haa's and off course EWS/DBS and Freightliner to run with the latest wagons. It is my intention to use boards only 18 inches wide and use open frame construction to allow much more realistic scenery. At present only the fiddle yard boards are built and I will set up a layout feature in the appropriate part of RM Web as soon as time permits. Have already found some ideas from other layouts featured and will hopefully be able to use same as I work up my proposals. Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D802 FORMIDABLE Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Welcome aboard mate Cheers Anthony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Hilton Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Have you any more photos of your depot to share, it looks like a good example of using Y points for space saving, without looking contrived! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grid56104 Posted July 24, 2010 Author Share Posted July 24, 2010 Have you any more photos of your depot to share, it looks like a good example of using Y points for space saving, without looking contrived! I will post some under layout topics as I will form a small St Ann's Depot section. Probably in a few days. Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grid56104 Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 more photos of St Ann's Depot now under that title in Layout Topics. Max Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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