philiprporter Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Apologies for the poor quality of the photos and the feint look of the backscene in these shots (its right opposite a window so the morning light reflects on the coating and burns it out a touch in pictures), but I've been planting some foliage and also wanted to show the 'ugly' end of the layout where the trains pass through the backscene. I ummmed and urred a lot about how best to do this, but having seen Graham Hedges use a variation of the 'hole in the backscene' technique on his seminal Stoney Lane Depot, I figured that if it was good enough for Graham, it was good enough for me! A few bits and bobs of detailing left to do and then its time to build the fascia and lighting rig and then learn something about wagons and how they fit together in trains and what goes with what so I can run realistic freight trains - I haven't got a clue, but I have got a box full of them! 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bri.s Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Great photos ,really nice modelling and it looks so much bigger than it is . What's the overall layout dimensions please ,sorry if you have said before I couldn't find it Thanks Brian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Great photos ,really nice modelling and it looks so much bigger than it is . What's the overall layout dimensions please ,sorry if you have said before I couldn't find it Thanks Brian Hi Brian thanks for the kind words. The size was mentioned in an earlier post, but it was fairly well buried!! Here is the relevant section of the post: "... its 180x103 cm overall, and the scenic section is 158x64 cm. From the top of the hill where the road is to the end of the 'steps' on the overflow structure, all is built to scale from maps. Some lengthwise compression has taken place to enable me to get the bridge over the canal in..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bri.s Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 (edited) Hi Brian thanks for the kind words. The size was mentioned in an earlier post, but it was fairly well buried!! Here is the relevant section of the post: "... its 180x103 cm overall, and the scenic section is 158x64 cm. From the top of the hill where the road is to the end of the 'steps' on the overflow structure, all is built to scale from maps. Some lengthwise compression has taken place to enable me to get the bridge over the canal in..." Thankyou for that Wow you've such a well modelled prototype in 6x3 feet that's quite something ,I got up to marsden once or twice and remember staring into the abyss of the canal tunnel lol ,in fact think once was a school trip where we got some card kit bardges from a shop somewhere around there Brian Edited April 19, 2016 by bri.s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Thankyou for that Wow you've such a well modelled prototype in 6x3 feet that's quite something ,I got up to marsden once or twice and remember staring into the abbis of the canal tunnel lol ,in fact think once was a school trip where we got some card kit bardges from a shop somewhere around there Brian Thanks very much Brian. Yep thats the beauty of n-gauge!! I wouldn't have touched n-gauge when I first dabbled in model railways and I can't recall which Dapol or Graham Farish release made me think again, but the quality of n-gauge models now is quite superb and my only regret is that my interest in n-gauge has coincided with my eyesight starting to fail! Not cause and effect I hasten to add! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60091 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Some superb n gauge modelling here. The blending in of the backscene with the rest of the layout is really well done which made it a real suprise to discover that the scenic area is only 6' x 2'. I particularly liked the photos of Peak on a Liverpool-Newcastle. That's how I like to remember the line via Standedge. Regards Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 Been building the lighting rig/fascia this weekend. Quite pleased with the way its turned out-its a piece of white guttering, a couple of Halolite strip lights (intended for use beneath kitchen cabinets) and some thin ply supported by strip wood, faced with spray painted plastic sheet. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) Very smart facia! As someone who also had to work out marshalling etc, I would recommend both "Train shunting and marshalling for the modeller" and "Railway operation for the modeller" by Bob Essery, best bought from EBay as Amazon is very pricy for them by comparison. Both cover common freight and general practices right into the diesel era. Edited May 3, 2016 by devondynosoar118 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d600 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Hi excellent layout your building there could you tell me the dimension's of the layout. cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Hi excellent layout your building there could you tell me the dimension's of the layout. cheers Thanks D600 - the scenic section is 158x64 cm. Overall footprint including fiddle yard is 180x103 cm (see above and page 4). Cheers, Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 A few pics of the lighting rig/fascia temporarily in place - sides need adding and the backscene is partially removed behind the tunnel to allow this test fit. View from front, tunnel end and from the back of the layout. May lower it a tad so that the base of the facia is at the same level as the top of the backscene - but this does lose some of the 'open' feeling of the layout which is quite important given the location - hmmmm decisions... 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Quite simply superb! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AireValley1962 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Seeing the layout all in one shot really emphasises the terrific work you've put into this. It looks amazing. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devil Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Excellent, I drive over Standedge pretty much every day, to say you've captured it really doesn't do it justice....fantastic and just the right atmosphere. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 Thanks so much for the very kind words everyone. It does finally feel like the layout is nearing completion and hopefully I can get it more or less finished in the next few weeks. Then I hope I can fulfil a lifetime ambition and exhibit it somewhere! It will need some longer legs and I need to detail stock and learn about train formations first though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bri.s Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 The layout looks superb the back scene really adds depth and you've done a great job with the pelmit I'll look forward to seeing it at a show ,will you be doing any in Yorkshire ? Brian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 The layout looks superb the back scene really adds depth and you've done a great job with the pelmit I'll look forward to seeing it at a show ,will you be doing any in Yorkshire ? Brian Thanks so much Brain thats very kind. Yes I would certainly bring it to Yorkshire - one thing I am going to try and do is have it running at the Standedge Tunnel Visitors Centre one weekend if they will allow it - I haven't asked them yet, but the Huddersfield Canal Society were very helpful and interested in the layout when I was in the early days of construction, so hopefully they may support this idea. However, I have no idea how to get invited to formal exhibitions having never done one? I will add it to the exhibition layout database here when its completed, but is it a case of contacting model railway clubs directly to ask if they would consider it at their show? Thanks, Phil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
£1.38 Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 I really like the way you have integrated the backscene into the layout. The whole thing looks really impressive! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post philiprporter Posted May 16, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 16, 2016 Apologies for the poor photos (once again!) - but I thought rather than just a blank expanse of black wood hiding the entry to the fiddle yard, it would be nice to have a small display to add interest. Sincere thanks to David Hey for allowing me to use his superb photos of the real location. 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AireValley1962 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 That's a terrific idea! I like it a lot. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post philiprporter Posted June 9, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 9, 2016 Been trying to improve my photography skills to get some decent pictures of the layout - this is my first go at photo stacking - its a bit blurry round the loco roof, but I can see this is going to get addictive as its really exciting waiting for the software to do its thing and produce the result! 27 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Been trying to improve my photography skills to get some decent pictures of the layout - this is my first go at photo stacking - its a bit blurry round the loco roof, but I can see this is going to get addictive as its really exciting waiting for the software to do its thing and produce the result! 2016-06-09 20-37-40 (B,Radius8,Smoothing4).jpg Superb! Is this the model or the real location? Best regards, Jeremy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Superb! Is this the model or the real location? Best regards, Jeremy Thanks Jeremy! The photo stacking really makes a difference to the realism giving that extra depth of field - I'm going to try a few more this weekend Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 A brilliant layout with attention to detail plus you have captured the feel of the place and the presentation is superb look forward to seeing it someday at a show. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philiprporter Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 A brilliant layout with attention to detail plus you have captured the feel of the place and the presentation is superb look forward to seeing it someday at a show. Thanks so much for these very kind words. It's taken me so long to get this layout to near-completion, that now I look at the parts that I built at the start and they jar somewhat, as my modelling skills have developed and improved during this 6 year n-gauge journey. The track in particular isn't great - partly because I have no real experience of track laying but mainly because I used foam board (which was hard to keep flat) and because I had to cant the track - however, I couldn't really cant the Peco point, with the result that the track isn't as flat as it should be and the track over the baseboard joint isn't especially smooth either and some locos really 'clunk' and wobble as they pass over - ballast that swelled when wetted also didn't help! Anyway, replacing the track isn't an option, but I may replace the Liddle End canal boat that is emerging from the tunnel - it looks very basic, its badly painted and jars badly to my eye, but 6 years ago I had a philosophy of trying to use as much kit/'ready to plonk' material as possible having no experience of n-gauge modelling and only limited experience of any layout building. The canal tunnel mouth also needs some improvement. Hey ho, its been a great learning experience and once all the last detailing bits are put in place in the next few weeks I can start putting all the buffer beam detailing on the locos and thinking about how to weather the stock-have a go myself or pay someone else to do it!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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