AlexRaybould Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 (edited) Hi, About time to begin a thread on my layout so here we go! Westbridge is my first exhibition layout constructed and exhibited by me last year at the age of 15. It is fictitious but is based in the western region during the time of BR blue diesels in the 1970s. The layout measures 7ft by 1.6ft with a 4ft long scenic section and a 3ft long fiddle yard. The baseboard and all of the woodwork is constructed by Elite Baseboards which features foldable legs for ease of set up. Elite Baseboards also taught me about track laying and wiring of track and point motors. They also gave me advice and guidance throughout my layout build. The scenic section includes a terminus station, sidings and a three road traction maintenance depot. This was my first proper attempt at scenery which included ballasting and using static grass. One important job I will need to do is weathering the track work and buildings which will hopefully tone everything down and give it a grimy appearance. This was also my first attempt of scratch building some buildings which feature on the layout. I have used a mixture of kits, pre made and scratch built buildings on the layout of which the TMD shed, platforms, road bridge and bund around the oil tanks are scratch built by myself. Track is Peco code 75 and control is DCC via an NCE Powercab with 6 Cobalt slow action point motors controlled by DC off a simple control panel. Locomotives are a mixture of Bachmann and Heljan and the rolling stock is a mixture of Bachmann and Hornby. I currently have 3 DCC sound locos and I plan to create a post which includes the current fleet of locos I run. The construction of Westbridge started after the Cheltenham Exhibition in April 2014 when I asked the exhibition organiser Mike Walker if I could exhibit. I was surprised as he said I could exhibit at the October show the same year which gave me 7 months to start and complete the layout. Luckily I was able to complete the layout by the deadline of the show and it made its debut at the Cheltenham Model Railway Exhibition last October. Westbridge also attended 2 other local exhibitions which included the Cotswold Model Railway Show (November 2014) and the Bishops Cleeve Model Railway Exhibition (December 2014). While at these exhibitions I was able to get two more invites for Ross on Wye Model Railway Exhibition (August 2015) and Gloucester model railway show (June 2016). I am currently in the planning stages of a 3ft extension for the layout which will incorporate two run round loops for the station and the sidings. This will improve the operational interest of the layout vastly which I will look forward to when I exhibit the layout. I will carry out the laying and wiring of track and point motors myself after being taught last year. I plan on taking the full layout with the 3ft extension to Gloucester model railway show next year. I will update the thread when I can as I’m currently very busy revising for my GCSE’s but once the summer holidays are here I will post regular updates once the building of the extension commences. Thanks for looking at the thread so far. Here are some pictures of the layout Alex After set up at the first exhibition Edited April 3, 2017 by AlexRaybould 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Excellent start Alex, Well done, its great to see such a young and competent modeller using all the best of materials i.e. Cobolts, Code 75, Elite Baseboards, etc. I'm looking forward to seeing the extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 21, 2015 Cracking layout Alex - well done! Cant beat DCC sound in 1970s diesels. Look forwards to seeing it out again. Kind regards Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 That looks excellent Alex. Nice choice with the 70s era too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted April 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 21, 2015 Good to see Westbridge on here Alex, I spent some time admiring it at Bishop's Cleeve last autumn. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) Hi Alex, It was good to meet you at Cheltenham and nice to see the layout on here, it looks even better than the photos you showed me at the show. Good luck with the extension, I will follow with interest, always great to see more blue diesels on here. Edited April 21, 2015 by 37114 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted April 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 21, 2015 Very good Alex. Good to see that you have finally posted photos here! Looking forward to seeing the extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Beautiful little layout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AireValley1962 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Great little model! I look forward to seeing the building of the extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi, Thanks for all of your replies so far. I highly appreciate your comments and its great to see what other modellers think of my layout! Here are a few photos of the track plan of Westbridge Here is the track plan of the layout as it is now (7ft) A close up of the scenic section of Westbridge (4ft) The extended track plan Here is the track plan of the current 4ft scenic section with the proposed 3ft extension added on. Some modifications will be made to the current scenic section once the extension is added such as moving the signal box, making the platform slightly shorter and moving the low relief pub and corner shop. Adding the two run round loops for the station and goods sidings (at the top) will improve the operational interest which will make operating at exhibitions even better! I will be posting later on this evening with photos of the fleet of locos which run on Westbridge! Thanks Alex 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi Alex, It looks a good plan and agree that it will make the plan much more interesting and the extra platform length will add to the the feel of the station. I also like the way you have curved the track by the cross over. I would be tempted not to add the second cross over at the top of the plan and instead have a couple of sidings. It is unusual to have 2 run round loops in such a small space and also would be unusual to leave wagons/carriages parked on a cross over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi Alex, It looks a good plan and agree that it will make the plan much more interesting and the extra platform length will add to the the feel of the station. I also like the way you have curved the track by the cross over. I would be tempted not to add the second cross over at the top of the plan and instead have a couple of sidings. It is unusual to have 2 run round loops in such a small space and also would be unusual to leave wagons/carriages parked on a cross over. Thanks for your advice Rob, I like the idea of removing the run round loop as it would make the sidings like a tuning fork, with the two lines going into the one fiddle yard line. This could provide some interesting shunting when trying to free the locomotive hauling goods once it has arrived in one siding with a shunter moving the goods into the other. Removing the run round loop would also mean i would only have to buy two cobalt motors and minimize the wiring on the extension! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted April 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 21, 2015 Interestingly, when I saw this photo this morning before I knew about the proposed extension, I thought "doesn't that look like it should continue, with a few lines of vacuum braked goods wagons where the brake van is". That photo really leads me in to the picture, almost putting the extension there in my mind's eye where nothing currently exists. I'll certainly be interested to watch the extension develop. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi, As promised here is the fleet of locomotives which run on Westbridge. These locos are not yet weathered which is a project which will have to be done at a later date so are all currently pristine. Bachmann 03 045 Bachmann 08 021 Bachmann 24 077 Bachmann 25 276 with Bachmann factory fitted sound Heljan D7070 Bachmann 37 049 with Bachmann factory fitted sound Bachmann 37 238 Bachmann D827 'Kelly' Bachmann 44 008 Bachmann D1764 with Howes sound Bachmann 47 148 Heljan Western Renamed and Renumbered D1057 'Western Chieftain' Bachmann 101 Heljan 128 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 21, 2015 Nice collection Alex Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Great collection Alex and a nice extension plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Bartlett Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Nice to see Westbridge finally on here Alex. Really admire your layout and is a fine example of a BR Blue layout at its best- really well modelled with excellent ballast, locomotives and I like the scratch built shed. Can't wait for the next update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Very clean layout with great stock.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AireValley1962 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Oooh, love the 37's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Hi, After I posted the track plans for the extension, 37114 mentioned that it would be unusual to have 2 run round loops in such a small space. After thinking about his comment i have spent some time this evening on Anyrail to see what i could do if i removed the run round loop on the extension for the goods sidings at the top of the plan. I have come up with a plan taking these thoughts into consideration to see what i could do without a run round loop for the goods sidings. The plan which i have created seems to have more potential with shunting instead of the loco running around its goods train. Here are some photos of the original extension plan and the modified one which i have created this evening. Any thoughts or ideas of what you think of the modified plan are more than welcome and i am always open to advice! Tomorrow I will post some pictures of the movements and services normally seen on Westbridge! Thanks Alex Original extension plan Here is the original extension plan on its own zoomed in Modified plan Here is the modified plan with the run round points for the sidings at the top removed. Feedback or ideas will be appreciated! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Much better, very nice changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Plans look great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Hi, As promised here is part 1 of pictures of the movements and services on Westbridge. A Hymek D7070 runs under the road bridge with a passenger service Shortly afterwards the Hymek arrives at the platform Then the 03 shunter moves from the sidings onto the end of the mk1's The 03 then takes the mk1's into the sidings freeing the Hymek to also move into a siding The 03 then shunts the empty mk1s back into the platform And then moves to where the Hymek is stabled 25 276 then arrives into the sidings with a mixed freight 47 148 then pulls out of the Traction Maintenance Depot ready to depart with the mk1s Hope you enjoyed part 1 of movements, part 2 to follow tomorrow! Alex 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coalman Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Superb layout and very inspirational for all newcomers to the hobby as well as good for the likes of me returning to the hobby. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRaybould Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 (edited) Hi Here is part 2 of pictures of the movements and services on Westbridge. Enjoy! 47 148 runs off scene ready to couple to the mk1s The 47 pulls up to the mk1's sat at platform one The 47 then departs Westbridge with the passenger service The 03 then couples onto the freight and shunts it into the siding to collect the toad brake van The 03 then shunts the 20t standard brake van into the platform D7070 moves from its siding and couples to the freight Finally the Hymek departs from the sidings with its mixed freight train Thanks Alex Edited April 24, 2015 by AlexRaybould 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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