Leaderboard

It feels like a bit of a waste to bury such nice trackwork under concrete! But nonetheless I look forward to seeing how you tackle it. The real thing was done in two pours - the first pour established a base slab onto which the track was bolted, the second pour brought the concrete surface level with the railhead. The second pour was shuttered on both sides of each rail, and so far I've yet to see anyone model this detail. The idea was that the track could be removed and replaced since the bolts were still accessible. I think you could probably do it with a first pour to fill the gaps between the sleepers, and then glue some styrene angle section either side of the rail up against the chairs to act as a form for the second pour. If you wanted to be super realistic, use some fine sand to partially fill the gaps. In less travelled bits plants and grasses would grow in the sand, another detail perhaps. Another detail I never see on model clay works is hose pipes for hosing down the concrete after loading. The loading edge wall would have spigots and coiled up hoses hanging on hooks. You can see what I mean in this photo on the right hand side just below Elaine.

Many thanks David - am really enjoying the big stuff at the moment!... Many thanks Mikkel - Yep I know what you mean re free days - I think I managed to balance the week with a few chores and some modelling. I also knew what I wanted to try and achieve which I think helps. The mirror gag works for the wagons but not so good when the 08 appears at the other end!... Thanks Scott - some interesting information there about the concrete. Interesting that you talk about pours as this time I think I will not use filler or DAS clay etc. I am going to use mounting* () board card and in fact had another good chat with Gordon Gravett yesterday (at the Nescot show) about how he did it on the superb Arun Quay. Am thinking of doing a length of track to test both ballast and inset track as both are key to getting this project right... *edited for typo...

Model: Hornby Peckett W4 Modifications: DCC fitted, RailTech NCB and number transfers & Kadee's Brought from: Lilleshall Stone Co.- 1925 Survived until: 1971 Worked on the Colliery doing: shunting, banking, exchange sidings, internal user traffic and its mainstay; working the Wagon Works yard Things to do: Weathering and Driver & Fireman *timeline may not match with real life*

There's plenty of colour photos online of the Didcot build.

Rgarding the butresses, You cannot fail to miss them and certainly if you were modelling Didcot, then you would expect to see them there. But this kit is of a generic GW coaling stage and not specific to any particular location.

I assume you meant "mounting" not "mountain"! Yes I've thought about going that route too. There's an art and framing store a short walk from where I live that could probably supply the material. The only thing you'd have to be careful of is the thickness. Using fine sand to partly fill the gaps between the card and the rail you could hide the sleepers while leaving enough room for the flangeway. Then For points where you won't be able to use the sand trick, I think I'd be tempted to use the card to fill the gaps between the sleepers. I think I might just have to pop up to the model store to get some cheapo code 100 points and track to test this out.

Off the motorways Travellodge have a serious problem in that they were paired with the lost little chefs. At one on the A17 there is now a Kentucky or Burger King, neither opening till 10:00 so what do you do for breakfast? My favourite services on the M6 was Tebay but it's some years since I spent a lot of time going up and down the M1, M6, M74.

This looks like a great kit, to have it positioned in a shed scene, will dominate everything. Henley doesn’t have such a large structure and I don’t think at this stage I will change it to do my take on Reading or Didcot! Great kit, thanks for sharing.