TechnicArrow

Cheers @luke the train spotter, now I'm back at my desk I can be more specific - it's AMMO "tracks wash", described as "the prefect tone for rusty or dark tracks and other dark rust effects." I was recommended by the fellow in Antics, and it is indeed very easy to apply and get decent results from! Given the results on The Extension, I think I need to clean off the muddy acrylic on the main layout and apply the wash. Some more fettling this evening, to get the point mechanisms in order again. It seemed the tiebar was catching on the underside of the rail, but only in the string-pulled direction; the spring return was fine. Reviewing the mechanism revealed the length of the pin meant that pulling the sting tended to tilt the pin using the tiebar as a pivot, rather than slide it over. The solution was to attach the string higher up the pin. I removed the wooden block, and cut a new notch in the pin to secure the string to. Reattached everything, and just like that, much less moment action, and much better sliding action! I left the spring as it was, since if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The result is much more reliable switching, the blades always make contact, with far fewer derails and shorts. In fact it was so much better, that I repeated the same for the far point. Small steps, but they make a big difference!

Those shots are fantastic - the sense of space and depth in your scene is great! The half-relief station, and especially the trees along the backscene, all work really well. The 20 is looking right at home, with plenty of space to run without being cramped. Top work!

You'd never believe it but there has in fact been progress... just quite slowly! Following the decision that my ballast wasn't up to scratch, I've been experimenting, using The Extension as a testbed - that's what it's for, after all! I obtained some Woodland Scenics medium grey ballast, and tried various blends with the Brown, the ash, and other materials. I settled on a mix that is predominantly grey, with only small amounts of added brown and ash. This was glued to the track with dilute PVA as usual, but then I tried something new - a brown "tank track" enamel wash was brushed along the rails, allowed to bleed over the ballast too. This mix has finally given me a track look that I'm happy with, at least for this section of running line. Of course, adding the backscene helps - it was only posed there, I should get it set up properly. Since the main layout represents a station and yard, and uses Code 75 rather than 100, I've bought some Fine grade ballast rather than the Medium used on The Extension, so we'll see how that looks. This means the next thing was to remove that Brown ballast I laid back in February. In the process I noticed the yard point wasn't sitting level anymore, probably some loose ballast made it's way under it, so I pulled the fishplates back and lifted the whole thing (with a little help from the Permanent Way crew!). I peeled off the top layer of card, leaving a clean fresh base, and relaid it - magic! Unfortunately, the mechanism doesn't quite fully throw the blades in one direction, it's catching on something, so needs more fettling. Whilst I was removing the ballast I also flattened out some of the yard ash, and applied the tank track wash to the siding rails. It's getting there, but looking at other layouts for late GWR period, I think I need to make this paler and add more grass. Still, it looks good for a spot of shunting. Finally, I've been fettling the signals, with proper translucent paints rather than the cheap permanent marker which faded quite quickly. The calling-on disc is a bit dodgy, but the main arm and ground signal work beautifully, and with the WiFi controller running all the lighting I can dim them quite easily. I need to get some lights on the signal box though! Progress always feels slow, but looking back in this thread always reminds me how far I've come, and there's plenty more to do. Should probably get on with it then...

That greenery is superb - it really has brought the place to life! The treeline masks the low-relief station incredibly well, definitely something I will have to try for Watchford. Can I ask where you got the sea foam, and any other tips for making trees? I've never made any before, but I think it's hight time I do!

Looks fantastic! The groundwork and greenery is all very tidy, and the whole layout has a nice consistent, blended-together feel. The little details are truly bringing it together. How are you finding the operation of the trackplan? It looks like your headshunt is quite short!

Looking lovely in the sunshine! The first and second shots are especially atmospheric, and your modelling really shows what can be done with simple ingredients and a bit of care. I'm looking forward to what the next layout will be!

There has been goods shed progress! Firstly, following a trip down to Antics last weekend, I have obtained some Slaters 4mm stonework plasticard. This was primarily for the station platform wall, but I quickly realised I have plenty, and it would do excellent for the shed interior walls. I cut out and fixed some to the inside of the rear wall (which doesn't have external stonework!), with openings for two windows; these are leftover ScaleModelScenery lasercut offerings I bought for a warehouse on Alexandra Wharf. Then they were liberally whitewashed with acrylic. With this complete, I could finally assemble all four walls into a singular structure, which I did. I also affixed some Quoins to the corners - simply a thin card piece with regular 4mmx6mm cutouts, and painted a brown earth colour to match the stonework, although this won't be the final colour. Then I had an idea. Since the structure is a 2/3rds relief model, looking through the open door you just see the end board not a big shed. I have employed several tricks to conceal this, with a half-shut door, and a stack of crates against the "false" wall. But to conceal the lack of a continuing rail, I needeed something else. So I dug out an old Airfix/Dapol kit-built cattle van, and the junior hacksaw... It's brutal, but I never run this wagon anyway! The remaining wagon still has both axles, so it can sit sticking out from under a bridge or a shed on my other dioramas. Once I'd done the same to the roof, I could fix the stub end to the false wall, and I think the effect is very convincing, especially in the gloom of the shed. It will have internal lighting one day, but probably not soon! Finally, a few other touch-ups, and we have a complete-looking shed! I've cut the roof from two sheets of Wills slates (which are what defined the maximum length of the shed). I could then add bargeboards, before a touch of cream paint to all the woodwork. That's where we are for now. Whilst the warm Cotswold-stone colour is quite pleasing, it's not the final goal, it's just what colour the Wills stonework happens to be! I'll need to mix up a suitable Watchet yellow-grey, which could be interesting. I'll probably procrastinate by building something else first!

That looks like a fantastic track plan, with plenty of options for interesting passenger runs and freight shunting. Maybe if you made an opening on the spur track you could run longer engines, or maybe even connect another fiddle yard and have trains passing eachother.... I may have to take note of this one!

Nice work on the backscene! The groundcover is looking good too. Personally, I think the larger building works, but could it perhaps be slid further to the right - maybe even slightly behind the goods shed? It would help imply the platform and station is larger than the layout actually is. Alternatively, if you do go with the smaller building, perhaps you could add an ancillary storeroom, shelter, shed etc? I'm not familiar enough with the prototype to know what sort of building layouts were common. Whichever you do I'll be following with interest, since I'll have to do similar at some point for Watchford!

Fantastic work all around, I do love a bit of re-use! The shunter is fantastic, and the side valances fit really well - but I think the windscreen wipers are the smallest thing that make the biggest difference. The layout more generally is fantastic, simple but very well detailed. The trackwork is especially well done. Top work!

I'm a bit late back,but cheers @john new, card is still my default medium! I mentioned in Luke's thread about my ballast, but realised I'd never posted it here, so time for a bit of an update. A few weeks ago, I fancied an evening task that didn't need me to use either a screen or a brain, so I started the ballasting. A while ago I bought some Woodland Scenics brown, and I have a collection of old fire ash, soil and sand. I'd done some dry-tests mixing the ash into the ballast to tone down the colour, so I thought I'd go ahead and glue some down. I started in front of the signal box, working forwards up to the loop line; for the yard sidings I switched to just ash, with some other materials pushed into the surface to represent spot repairs. Unfortunately, I have once again been fooled by my poor perception of colour. Whilst I didn't want my ballast to be bright fresh grey, this is very bright brown instead! The ash basically washed out and achieved nothing. To the left is unglued ballast, and the middle and right is glued - nothing here is really the right colour. The yard surface has come out nicely, especially with the blend from ballasted track. But looking at other layouts, and especially inspired by @luke the train spotter's painting, I think I need to take up the ballast, give it a repaint, and try again with something more grey. Luckily, the glue was too dilute, so that will be quite easy! But in the best tradition of not making decisions, I've been doing something completely different instead. Namely, the goods shed. Using Wills stone sheets backed onto thick card, I have built up the gable-end and road-facing walls, based on the sheds at Watchet and Dunster respectively. I've used scored card to represent planning over the rail doorway. Then I built up the loading platform, completely guessing at dimensions - using photos from @DRoe96's goods shed, the road vehicles I have, and some rounding to the nearest centimetre! The right-hand door will be modelled mostly closed anyway, to hide the fact I'm only modelling two-thirds of the length. You can also see my stone carving efforts on the doorway, to blend the texture around the sharp edges of the plasticard. I'll need to come back and add quoins and archway to this anyway, likely with some thin card. This is about the extents of the model - I'll represent the interior of the rear walls, but the exterior can never be seen so I'm not planning to bother! Still, it's looking good viewed from both ends of the layout. I need to polish up some edges, then glue it all together; a flat card base and the platform keeps the whole structure rigid without the roof. And then, one day, I'm going to have to ruin the whole model by painting it ... As I think I've proven, I'm a typical engineer - good at structures and mechanisms, but terrible at colour!

Nice work! Your signals may be static but your eye for colour is far better than mine! Your trackwork is looking excellent with that point rodding, it really adds a lot to the a layout and reminds me I need to buy some for Watchford. You're also making me think I should take up the ballast I've laid so far, and try repainting the trackwork before it gets too far... Similarly, I agree with @Kevin Johnson about the platform stonework. What have you used for it? I really need to sort mine out, but the stonework I've got at the moment is a bit too overscale.

Some fascinating photos, and a promising layout! Very neat work on recessing the plugs into the SMS boards; I've been pondering how to get power in and out without impeding the ability to place the layout in a RUB (not that I own the correct size of RUB mind you); I've ended up with some plugs hanging loose beneath the board, but it does the trick. I like the cutting and footbridge secne. The signal box looks neat too, will therebe signals for it to control?

They were one of the items I bought from Wizard Models (no connection, hadn't even heard of them until last week!). https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/?s=GWR+buffer+stop+&post_type=product&title=1&excerpt=1&content=1&categories=1&attributes=1&tags=1&sku=1&orderby=date-DESC&ixwps=1 They do both whitemetal and brass versions, I went for the cheaper! Just needs a bit of tidying up and a few holes drilling you're good to go. From previous experiences of whitemetal I was concerned it might not have much stopping power, but it's survived a few trains being accidentally rolled into it so it's probably fine! I'm looking forward to it already 😉

Wonderful! I don't often see Modern Image Micro, but for a truly minimalistic layout, the setting works really well. This is practically what the Class 153 was built for! And for such a small space it's very recognisable, it instantly reminded me of a weekend I spent exploring the area back in Summer 2017. I think the only thing it would benefit from is a little brick hut, with an orange-clad signalman ready to operate the gates! And possibly an upper-quadrant semaphore to reinforce the area and era, but that could be overkill. Out of interest, what fiddleyard arrangement are you using?