Popular Post Andrew F Posted July 16, 2011 Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2011 Hello there, take your seat 'cos standing only wears out feet. Here is a fictitious layout based in Leith near Edinburgh. It was started in the late 90's and the choice of track was code 100; mainly because that was what was left over from a trainset that my brother built in the 80's. The original idea when the track was laid was to build a West Highland layout but I succumbed to the city lights! Since a child I was somehow driven crazy by a layout in RM sept'78 (already a smelly yellow manuscript)....John Roxburgh's layout of North Leith (Citadel); built without plastic intrusion in the early 60's?...and dominated by buildings instead of the railway. Sheltering from the rain waiting for my passport back from the Ruskies, under what was left of that canopy..that's where I found myself one day down the docks and the need to build something ornate and miserable was important. Here's some pictures for now; work in progress in many ways with some historical twisting of facts and downright lies to follow in the next update. I'm not sure how easily this relates to a plan....I still have difficulty following it myself. Basically it's a two continuous around the edge of the loft with a junction for the terminus. There's also a dock branch that runs on a low level and a reduced junction on the top that represents something like an NB branch....loosely!....everything loosely !. I've built many structures from the diagrams in Oakwood press books and from digital photo's from many places in the Lothians and Borders but I've a lot to learn and I'm thinking now to a definate location. I'll finish this layout so I can learn skills to apply to a finescale layout when I'm older. I love the NBL's and Claytons and Gloucester DMU's and they feature strongly on the layout....necessary or not! Projects in the pipeline: A3 for suburban freight; thanks Dave (Maxy Stafford) for detail parts; A decent B1 and 2-8-0 Austerity. Anyway, more pics: Clayton still working. Thanks for looking in Andy 41 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
artizen Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Glad this is on here at last! I followed this layout for ages on NRM website. It always looked the part (never mind the historical accuracy etc). The overall mood captures the area really well and your techniques and build quality creates a real feeling for a time and place lost. Post more photos please! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Glad this is on here at last! I followed this layout for ages on NRM website. It always looked the part (never mind the historical accuracy etc). The overall mood captures the area really well and your techniques and build quality creates a real feeling for a time and place lost. Post more photos please! I'll second all of that! I don't often visit the NRM website, but when I do, I always look at your layout topic. Glad you've decided to show it to a larger audience on here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulzer27jd Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Wonderfully atmospheric, especially the station scenes. The other pics seem to me a bit rural for the setting, perhaps the backscene could show more of the city. All in all though a very nice layout. I'll be watching to see more pics. J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted July 16, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2011 Another Scots layout that oozes atmosphere, in this case rather brooding! Simply gorgeous. It must be something in the porage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 All that stalking and cajoling finally paid off Andy. No generic "Scotland" here, this screams time and place, second to none. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 This layout deserves to be celebrated as one of the 'Greats', Andy. There's no mistaking the architecture and even the backdrops convey a definite sense of place. What really nails it for me is the uniformity of tone. Every single element blends perfectly with its companions in a way that suggests they have been together since you waved your wand and created the scene! There's no doubt I'll be calling on your reserves of knowledge and technique when the process of creating Ruberslaw gets underway. Thanks for sharing your creation with us! Thanks for the nameplates too - Flamingo already with us! Dave. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Andy, Leith Baltic Street is captivating, brooding, exuding a sense of place that transports me straight back to long-forgotten closes in the less salubrious quarters of Edin's burgh untrodden since childhood. It makes me want to pick up a Rebus novel, and that's praise indeed from this slacker. I remember vividly the 1978 layout that you mention, in the RM, and this immerses me in precisely the same sensations, but amplified. I don't feel the need to study the trackplan and relate it to the photos, I'm just comforted that it's there as a trusted backstory to the palpable sense of mystery and discovery that always pervaded the furtive backstreets and middens of the capital. This is right up there for me, it sweats Edinburgh's seediness in counterpoint to its grandeur as the sixties lose their swing, and I commend you for it. Gorgeous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Wonderfully well observed. I was just browsing "layouts" looking for my favorite threads when I was well and truly ambushed by this. I for one would very much appreciate more photos. Andrew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 About time you posted a thread on your layout! Looks superb! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 60027Merlin Posted July 16, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 16, 2011 Excellent work Andy. The characteristics of the buildings in that area are well captured and convey the sense of the hemmed in atmosphere prevailent there. Indeed on many visits down there I was always struck by how little sunshine managed to reach some parts of certain streets because of the height of the tenements and warehouses and the narrowness of some of the streets. You have fairly captured that typical "look" there. When viewing it I automatically imagined the sights of ex-NBR locos working in the Leith docks area a decade or so earlier before the advent of the diesels in your photos. Looking forward to more updates of sunny Leith. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted July 16, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2011 Hi Andy, Such a wonderfully atmospheric layout, I can't wait to see more photos! Regards, Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Alder Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Wonderful- and about time it appeared here as well. As said, a classic, and I am sure it will be referred to and looked at with the same regard as the likes of Buckingham and other milestones of model railway layouts. Modelling like this is not seen every day, and deserves a wider audience than it has up to now. Keep posting images- I know there's more Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold McRuss Posted July 16, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2011 Andrew, great looking layout. More pictures please. Markus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 What a great layout, and another request for more pictures please Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 That station canopy and the grey, brooding sky in photo 4 just ooze atmosphere - beatifully done! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold A Murphy Posted July 16, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2011 Well that's gone straight to the list of favourites. Outstanding - the glimpse of the lower level to the right of the station is great. I would love to see more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Wonderful work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Hey up, where's the oxblood LGW cottages then? Polite request to see a rake down below by the warehouse, ideal for such beasts, please Just been re-looking at these and the other pics that have surfaced before, and to say they are inspirational is an understatement Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clecklewyke Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Glad this is on here at last! I followed this layout for ages on NRM website. Any chance of a url for these photos on the NRM web site, please? I spent many of my formative years in the 1970s exploring old Edinburgh Railways but I never came upon Leith Baltic St but there were many like it - Leith North, North Leith, South Leith, lots of other Leiths, all full of this atmosphere which you have caught so well. There were lots of tiny goods yards, tucked away in cuttings and behind high stone walls - almost like one of Mr Freezer's "rabbit warren" layouts with lines poking out of hill sides everywhere. Discovering this layout is a little like my first view of Dubbieside at a Kirkcaldy exhibition in the 70s - another example of a prototype unknown to English eyes, but done so well. There I could smell the sea: on Baltic Street, I bet you can smell the brewery? Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Ahh Mr Fothergill, so good of you to bring your excellent layout to a wider audience, after teasing with pics in earlier posts. Its probably jumped straight into the top 10 of layouts on here and there is argubly the best british built layouts on the web here. I hope the pics and updates are going to be more regular. Excellent buildings Andy. Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Any chance of a url for these photos on the NRM web site, please? Ian Start here - http://www.newrailwa...pic.php?t=13639 - there's 36 pages of it, with lots of pictures! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckymucklebackit Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 One word - superb! It really "ups the bar" once again, I would really like to see more photograph of this beauty. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernboy Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Andy, great to see you posting on RMW. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have had the honour and privilege of seeing this layout, and I can honestly say the real thing will strike you dumb! I could wax lyrical about my visit and Andy's work - but think it best for Andy, and his pictures, to speak for themselves. 'Watch Topic' clicked Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Discovering this layout is a little like my first view of Dubbieside at a Kirkcaldy exhibition in the 70s - another example of a prototype unknown to English eyes, but done so well. That's an apt analogy I think Any chance of a url for these photos on the NRM web site, please? Start here - http://www.newrailwa...pic.php?t=13639 - there's 36 pages of it, with lots of pictures! Recommended - I spent a good while perusing that when I first became aware of Andrew's work B) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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