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I have been making some small cosmetic changes to the Bakewell project recently including the construction of the Midland style signal box . I have used the excellent laser cut kit made by L Cut creative. The kit has excellent details for both the exteriors and interiors to make a generic model at a brilliant price of £8.99 for the exterior- I purchased mine at the Warley Show in November and have nearly completed the model. It was painted in LMS buildings cream and Midland maroon then suitably weathered in weathering powder to create a steam age feel. Glazing was acrylic sheet from York Model making. The interior kit is also supplied by L Cut creative and is remarkably detailed. Once competed I will be adding interior lighting and a signalman. The signal box is a generic copy of the one at Bakewell although on this version it is NOT as tall. The Bakewell cabin was some 6 planks taller and requires extensive modifications which need a degree of kit bashing. Still, I think that the L Cut creative is a superior kit to the Ratio one which I have built before Here are some progress pictures.

Happy 2019! I had a great Christmas. You know what's better than getting a Lego train for Christmas? Getting two! Thanks to my wife and my brother getting some Black Friday deals, I was a very lucky boy. The set comes in multiple bags, as per usual. You also get a loop of track with only 4 straight pieces. It's practically a circle. l What's new about this is the Powered Up system, which operates on bluetooth instead of infra-red. The main functionality is contained in the battery box, which has a built in bluetooth receiver rather than using a separate IR receiver. Everything runs off AAA batteries as well, making it lighter than the Power Functions system my other trains use. I learned all this building the first part of the train - the powered loco. I like the styling of this train and it feels much better designed than the white passenger train. The cab is much easier to access. The battery box is built into the design and is also very easy to access compared to other trains. The two coaches are a buffet car and a passenger car. The buffet car has a small serving area complete with coffee maker. As it's a passenger train, it comes with a passenger. She's packed Lego for her trip. And her case fits into a neat little luggage rack between the set of seats. It's a good thing she's the only passenger with luggage. The set also comes with a massively underwhelming platform. Maybe I should have put the sticker on the panel, but I don't think it would have made it look any better. I left it off because I might use the panel elsewhere. Also in that bag was a traffic signal. It's not the most exciting thing, but hey, better than nothing. I have got some video and overall pictures of the train - I will sort those for another post. Having two sets means I could create a six car train, rather than a 3 car train. But the 3 car train whips along. Overall verdict Pros A very nice-looking train set. Much better design than some of the previous ones. No holes in the floor, easy access to the batteries and to the cab, it honestly feels like Lego have taken some real care over this set. Buffet car interior is fun. Loved the coffee machine detail. Passenger luggage complete with Lego set made me laugh. Powered Up is a much nicer system and worked with absolutely no glitches. The battery box is nicer than the Power Functions one that it replaced. Not having to make room for an IR receiver is helpful, as that always had to 'poke out' of the top of a train using Power Functions. The motor is, if anything, overpowered for the contents of the box. it pulls a six car train with no bother to a scale speed of at least 100 mph. Cons The passenger station is just a token gesture. Limited seats - 4 in the carriage. This is not mass transit at all. No working doors anywhere. You can take the roof off to place people inside. And they can't get out once you put the roof back on, bwahahahaha. Stickers. The front of the cab and the rear of the power car have large stickers. They're not too annoying to place. I just have a thing about sets with an RRP over £100 coming with stickers.

It's been a long time since I posted, the layout has progressed, but is still some way from completion. The track was laid, not without issues and the learning curve has been steep at times. Peco solenoids are controlled from a control panel and NCE powercab. I finally understand how electrofrog points work, the back scene was painted a couple of weeks back and have been placing the hard standings for the buildings. The warehouse has been dropped at the moment and the factory became a practice piece, it's not fixed yet as things change as more is added. The last electrics will probably be a bus for tapping off for leds, not much really but if I don't allow for it now I'll probably regret it in a while. Tomorrow the paving will be finished, I'll extend the led feed along the back scene, and drop the baseboard back down onto the bench, at the moment it's precariously balanced on 2 boxes to allow access underneath and at long last I can attack the rest of the buildings. I might almost know what I'm doing by the time it's finished... Thanks for looking.

This is where I’ve really struggled, but happier with this than anytime previously. I’ve built the crane housing by adding windows to a Wills lamp hut, inverted the walkway along the crane and removed the original crane platform. Looking in Monk Bar models this afternoon made me dig out a Metcalfe brewery warehouse, and it might be combined with a workshop. I think I’ll remove the rear two columns of windows and replace with brick to allow for a clean join between the two. The brick section join could be covered by a down pipe. Some greenery between the bridge and the warehouse will hide the backscene a bit more, and I’ll put in a gateway somewhere behind the crane to give entrance to the area and also to the large factory by going under the bridge. I’d like it to look like it could work. I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of the whole thing recently, so here it is... Got a good 2’ to go at now, which will be nice to work on when it’s not so good outside. That bridge might get finished at last, it’s been like that for too long now. Then just the section to the small factory to develop. The front concrete apron is more than likely going to be a covered platform of some type, but that will wait to the end. Thanks again for looking.

Approaching Watford from the south. On the DC Side. A 1959 Tube set departs from Watford, as a Metropolitan A60 arrives on a service from Baker Street via the Croxley Link. Alongside the Grand Union canal at Linslade. Northbound Freight. A Derby Lightweight Single Car DMU waits to leave platform 7 at Harrow & Wealdstone for Stanmore Village. To the south of Harrow. Motorail versus Coal. Passing through Harrow. 47 passes 47 at Watford. Busy period at Harrow. Out at Linslade. South of Harrow. Euston bound. An 87 hauled Express powers through Linslade. Northbound Express overtakes northbound Freight at Harrow. To the north of Harrow. North end at Harrow & Wealdstone. Green 47 to the rescue. A late running 1A04 0110 off Holyhead thunders south through Harrow. The Southbound Bullion Special passes through Watford Junction. A 1959 Tube set arrives in platform three at The Junction. Southbound Manchester Pullman passes the northbound Liverpool Pullman at Linslade. The overhead wiring train heading north at Linslade. Research Department Special heading north at Linslade.

Tiles done via scalescenes, lacking some lead work, capping stones for edges in progress, extra roof support needed and then its the extras. Thanks for looking.

Couple of hours in on this, same modifications as the warehouse so far, new window sills, space made for a potential office if I open the door later, scalescenes concrete platform texture used on roof gutters, new corner edging and windows lightly weathered with powders before a matt spray. Seems a good time to add led lighting, so that will be next. This is a well thought out kit. Should have this finished by Wednesday all being well in between other jobs around the house. Thanks for visiting.

Still on with this, wasn't happy with how it was going so combined the two and put on a new roof. Looking to use it to disguise entry to the fiddleyard down the left side. Baseboards going into the garage tomorrow, may lay some track and begin wiring. Weathering not complete and some details... Looks like a little extra glue may be needed...

Work got in the way for a while there. Began to convert the second half of the warehouse to provide a (possible) entry/exit point. Removed the pitched roof and reorganised the remaining walls, resized the floors and added a couple of loading bays. Roof took some working out, but I knew those Technical Drawing lessons on true length would come in useful one day.Still some capping and details to go to match the rest. The circuit for lights and sound control has been designed, simulated and tested. It appears to work, at least virtually. Push buttons will begin a series of instructions to control a sequence of lights or the sound. The mask isn't too big. Hoping to get this made this week for soldering over half term. Going to build a small amplifier to provide the 2 speakers from the MP3, will probably buy a kit given the low cost, and the time it would take me isn't worth it. Thanks for visiting. Charlie

Yesterday morning I had a while to sit and get closer to finishing this. Mustn't get too excited, that makes 2 complete kits in 20 years, but I think that all the reading in between has paid off. Dug out some rod and stared at it for a bit before deciding what to do. Forming the supports was a bit touch and go at times. Still got a few tidying up jobs to do with touching in and weathering, a couple of raw edges, some glue spots and a couple of windows to re-glaze. Learnt a lot doing this, made plenty of mistakes. Still looks a little flat on the front (the windows?), but it might work up with some powders. The cross ties keep dropping off, but I think I'll get them sorted eventually. Got to decide on signage as well, but that's for another day! I'm aiming to finish this one tonight, then starting on the other half and bridge. Far more ledges on the twin, got to improve the cutting/folding jig a bit. Thanks to everyone that has visited and responded, it really helped push me on. Second one should be a piece of cake...I wish.

Used some scalescenes sheets for changing the roof details, Added some details based on the previous photos. 5 minutes with plastic strip. Front section looked like it was bowing in so I cut a piece of plastic to fill top and bottom. Cross ties added and a bit of weathering. Had to stop for poor light. Drainpipes tomorrow, will experiment with making some signs, weathering then better start thinking about what to do with the rest of the kit. Thanks for looking.