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Thanks Jamie, very kind. I did indeed use a couple of the Wills arches for the station building. They aren't quite perfectly representative but the compromise was needed as there is no way I could have made these look plausible from scratch. Hope to be able to provide more of interest soon. Iain

Thanks Simon. There hasn't been a lot of progress in the last month - a mixture of work and filling up free time with helping our older son revise for his IB exams, plus a bit of golf thrown in. I have built the first two turnouts for the scenic side, including wiring and painting them. But errrr..... that's it. Hope the backscene artist will have completed his stuff in the next couple of weeks as I can't really finish the station and goods yard boards until he has. I need to pick up a couple of LNWR type 4 signal boxes from London Road Models at Expo EM as well. Iain

Thanks Chris very much indeed. Very helpful advice that I will certainly use. What would you advise for the yellow/brown base brick colour of a lot of London brickwork, like the goods depot wall? From Gerald T Robinson's Flickr stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/64215236@N03/6469181541/lightbox/ Iain

Thanks Stanley, that's a really good picture. I think we could incorporate that onto the side of a type 5 box Jol, that is definitely a "lay down the gauntlet" challenge to some exceptional modellers on here! And a few steps too far for me! Have almost completed the goods depot roof: Corrugated roof and then made the skylights out of 60thou plasticard with a mix of 80x15, 20x10 and 20 square strip for the framing. Then cut out all the supports for the walkways - this now needs painting before I can add the walkways and handrails. I also have to finish a job I've been putting off - all the inlaid brickwork on the walls. I've done 6 bays and have 19 to go. You can see the difference here, I hope: Iain

Thanks Jol. P66 in the Jack Nelson book? Simon (bescotbeast) has found some really useful drawings and photos as well. I think I have a very clear idea now of the LMS type 13 Camden no1 box at the top of the bank by the goods depot building. I might need to get some windows etched though: it will take me ages to make them from plastic strip, and they need to look perfectly square too. I'm sure the best way to do the LNWR type 5 box at the entrance to the goods yard is to take two LRM kits and go from there. Terry - thanks. There are some better pictures of 46256 in my motive power thread as well. Basically I did it by gradually filing down the frame extensions until there was just enough clearance for the trailing truck wheels. It might have been as easy to make them from black plasticard? Iain

Thanks Philip. As you can see I agree about DoG and am actually looking forward to doing whatever alterations might be needed. I did begin a Crownline Caprotti standard 5 before doing this and may return to it sometime. I'd certainly recommend the Bachmann one as a starting point if you do go down that route. There are a couple more on here somewhere. The Ivatt Duchess modification kit from Comet is superb in my opinion. Jol - I know you'd like me to backdate it a few (50) years! There will be at least one of London Road's offerings on here eventually, though slightly obviously the 3F tank. Unless I'm much mistaken, none of those on the link are viable for 1960 are they?!? Iain

Thanks Simon, that's really helpful. From various photos, including this one courtesy of dubdee on Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/8755708@N07/7281726976/lightbox/ I'm thinking that the front windows (reduced height ones) would be 2 or is it 3 panes deep, and 3 wide? The other boxes would appear to be 3 wide? End windows of Camden no. 1 seem to be 3 wide and 4 deep like the other examples? If you know of any other type 13 boxes with a similar extension, let me know. Many thanks, Iain

Thanks very much indeed Simon, and welcome to the thread. As you can see already I am indebted to many who have helped so far, and I appreciate your help. That view of the LMS type 13 box is very helpful as I have only so far got some sketchy part shots of no. 1 box. Both the flickr links are to Wigan Wallgate. Would this be an example of standard height windows all the way round at Wellingborough Junction? http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingythewingy/4517874047/ And the windows at Wellingborough look to be the original pattern? Thanks again, Iain

Further info on the Hornby DoG is enough for me to think that it will provide the basis for a much better model. I'm not bothered about the design clever bit - the boiler, firebox, smokebox and cab seem to be the right size and shape, the chassis will run superbly given it is the same as a Brit and the Caprotti gear looks excellent. I would replace the pipework, deflectors and handrails anyway, and I'll need to sort out a BR1J tender. On to another, completed as far as it is now nearly two years ago. 73139 Caprotti Standard 5 This was converted from the Bachmann model. I numbered it before I decided to model a prototype location in Camden. So ideally I would now renumber it to represent one of the Caprotti 5's that may have occasionally ventured down the WCML with a train from Manchester (many were shedded at Patricroft) or from North Wales. 73139 was shedded at Rowsley in the time period I'm modelling so it might as well have been on the island of Sodor..... The caprotti gear was scratchbuilt from various diameters of brass tube and rod, as well as a few scraps of white metal castings filed patiently to size and profile. The lubricators were resited to the rear half of the running plate (underneath) and a lubricator drive scratchbuilt out of brass fret waste. I've used a copy of the Tony Wright loco-tender coupling out of 0.45 nickel silver wire, and the cab doors are Brassmasters, fixed prototypically to the tender. The steam pipes are a fraction narrow, and I will at some point redo them, but otherwise I am quite happy with this one. Oh, and I carefully and somewhat fancifully lagged the rhs injector pipe with fine masking tape, which looks quite good once weathered, and is a feature of many standard 5's, but wasn't correct for 73139. Or any Caprotti 5 I've seen since. I have also got hold of an etched and painted smokebox numberplate, though haven't added it because of the renumbering. So a couple of things to rectify, but overall reasonably complete. Iain

Good progress Scott! Will you need to compete the scenic work at the back near the walls before completing the trackwork closer to the centre? It's what I'm having to do at the moment, the board width being enough not to be able to reach across. Iain

Hi Jason, Enjoying the last few updates very much - only had chance to click a few likes but no replies till now, sorry. The fittings on the smoke box doors are slightly different to be fair to Duncan - 44871 has its top lamp iron moved lower I think for safety under the wires, and 45393 has an extra catch on the lhs looking from the front....... But the doors themselves are the same. More importantly, love the Comet bogies. Did you build them with bearings or use wire to keep the axles in the etched slot? Any extra weight? How did you mount them? I've had the devil's own job getting the one on 46256 to run smoothly.....which is probably an easily surmountable problem. Tim suggested the tender frame mods and the under-smokebox clear out to me too, when I did a hrp Caprotti 44687. I'd got so far down the road with it that I couldn't really do the smokebox, and ended up doing a complete Comet part welded tender rather than hack about the riveted one. But I'll do the mods on future versions. I've got a LRP Caprotti in the "halfway through" pile, and a handful of "normal" ones. I like the job you've done of both of them. Iain

Sorry not to have found this earlier! This is tremendous - would love to compare notes sometime. Iain

I have painted the flat roof sections with a mix of talcum powder and enamel paint to try to get the bitumen look. Time will tell, once I've added a bit of colour variation and weathering. Once done, I noticed the main building and the rest were not aligned vertically.....a rogue lump of ballast to blame. I am adding a few similar photos as an experiment to see how they come out. They've been taken with 3 different cameras and various settings. The floodlights are supposed to be installed this week.......I'll believe it when I see it given the electrician's previous broken promises! I need to practise a lot with photography 46256 heading the up Royal Scot (well, it might be.....needs lamps and headboard! And to renumber the mk1 brake as an M) Iain

Polly - thanks and yes, probably. Once painted it's hardly noticeable so it's staying as it is, but for future buildings I think I'll only put in loose or missing slates sparingly. Duncan - thanks, very kind. The experience has helped me to decide that for difficult and prominent windows like the signal boxes and the shed windows, I'll use etched windows from somewhere like Ambis, Brassmasters or Geoff Taylor, and design the building around them. They are too fiddly and too slow do do in Evergreen strip. Jol - thanks again. Yes, plasticard and Evergreen strip, working from photos and trying to condense it a little to match the station and the scene. If I'm honest, and this is not self deprecation here, the footbridge staircase is a bit of a shambles (and it is not the first time!). It is basically a scenic break and largely hidden by the buildings on the mainline side. It is bisected diagonally by the backscene. So its construction had to provide all the strength on one side. I decided to make a basic former from 60 thou and then attach the rest of the staircase to the front of that. Then of course I found that adding the glazing and associated frames was about 10 times harder that way. But continued...... I painted the upper half of the former weathered black to enable there to look like there was a void behind the glazing. Added some steps at the bottom end out of more evergreen strip. Slaters planking added vertically for the sides and then a mix of 20 thou x 20 thou and slightly bigger (can't actually remember what) for the two thicknesses of framework. Thanks everyone for the encouragement and help. Iain

I've done a fair bit but it feels as if I've done very little..... Lots of jobs that take time and I'm probably very slow at them too, and then there is the drying time between coats of paint etc. I've also got to remember that these are the first buildings I've ever made so there is inevitably a good deal of head scratching when I haven't made provision for something, or I am simply trying to work out a "how to". So anyway, the station buildings have progressed a bit: Slate roof added: Maybe overdid the slipped slate cliché? There is only one on the whole roof Windows added...getting beyond the limits of my skill here. The overall appearance with most of the guttering added plus the new staircase down to the central platform: An odd view but one that might well work well once it's finished: Cabling to the retaining wall behind the turntable: And the cabling continues to the bridge and beyond: It should be visible in the background that I have completed the backscene boards ready for the scene itself to be painted. I should have a few more pics today as I completed the gutters and down pipes after taking these yesterday, plus there is more progress on the goods shed too. Iain

Here is another view of the signal box (no. 3 on Stanley's list) that I've been working from: http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/archive/photos/jjs/b03/3-60-1.htm Copyright Bluebell Railway From all the research so far.... It looks as if the locking room has 3 bays, the right hand of which has the windows bricked up. What is the projection on the mainline side of the box? About halfway along..... Like the roof to a porch but it's in mid air. No toilet at the top of the stairs?

Wow Jeff, you do love a bit of plaster, don't you?!?! The bombproof framework makes every sense now. Some of those fell contours could have been casts of the real thing. Really looking forward to seeing how spectacularly this will turn out. Iain

The footbridge will be the final scenic break so its position is partly fixed by that, but I think looking at all the evidence that this will be about right anyway. I think you're right, I'll miss out the wall-mounted cranes as they would look more bizarre included than omitted. Have been doing a load of finishing and detailing on the brickwork......fiddly and repetitive, I think Jason said! Iain

Hi Stanley, Many thanks indeed once again for all of your help and encouragement. I am hugely grateful. Where to start? The track plan I have used extensively to design my somewhat truncated version - indeed the entire BRILL article has some brilliant information and photos. I made the decision to simplify the main lines when I was much less confident about my track building ability. They had to be done first so it made sense at the time. Should I rip up and rebuild including the fast-slow crossovers and the scissors off the down fast? Not sure I can entertain the prospect to be honest....... Wall-mounted cranes.....of course. That is a proper 'doh' moment. How on earth could I have missed that?!? Problem now is that since my version is condensed, the up fast is adjacent to the goods shed and there isn't enough room to include the siding(s) that I know were there. No point having wall mounted cranes next to the up fast! Not sure what to do here yet. Any ideas? The signal boxes - the two that concern me are your numbers 1 and 3. From various pics I have quite a decent idea of what number 1 looked like, I think. A modern brickbuilt box. Your pics of number 3 included in your posts are exceptionally useful. Signage - I have some photos of the right era and although the writing is almost distinct I can only be 80% sure that it says CAMDEN GOODS DEPOT on a rectangular maroon standard BR(LMR) sign, flanked by a couple of British Railways signs. Jol, Grateful thanks to you too, very useful help for me there. I am thinking that a scratchbuild of this box may be the best way forward, using some etched windows. Geoff Taylor (no connection, just browsed his website....) appears to do some LNWR signal box windows including locking room and door. I would much appreciate Richard Foster's contact details, if you could PM them to me? Thanks again, Iain

Many thanks indeed Stanley, very kind and helpful. I've got a few of these but the shots of 45597, DP2 and 46205 are all new to me. I think that old view of the old iron framed signal box at the entrance to the goods yard is wonderful - was it replaced or converted to a brick base? I need to do more research probably. The 1960's signal box (which I think might be Camden Goods yard or no.2?) is visible in this shot from 53A models here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/2428949464/lightbox/ But that is the only view I can find so far. It may be some sort of generic design of box that I can copy. The more modern box (Camden no.1??) at the top of the bank by the S end of the goods depot building is also a bit elusive but I think I have enough to go on, just about. Mind you, more detail would always be helpful! I have a fair bit of detail to add to the depot side wall - there is that odd looking extra buttress halfway up the wall and a few grills, vents or small windows, plus some cabling and the two very prominent diagonal pipes. Then three signs top centre - Camden Goods Depot flanked by two British Railways signs. Thanks as ever for your help and please do feel free to add pictures or information at any time. Iain

Another hour sneaked in and the basis of the brickwork is complete. Put in place next to the backscene with a line of vans, it gives some idea of what I'm trying to achieve Just managed to snap the last couple of coaches of an up express as it begins the descent of the bank down to Euston The prototype is visible in a couple of pics from dubdee on Flickr: this pic of 46240 with the goods depot in the background http://www.flickr.com/photos/8755708@N07/7281727000/lightbox/ And this of the same subject at a different angle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8755708@N07/7281726976/lightbox/ I have 4-5 other views in purchased prints but I can't share them I'm trying to work out various details: What material is the roof? (Doesn't seem to be slate, would certainly make it easier to model if corrugated sheet! Is that likely?) Are there skylights? (Looks like most of the top half of the roof pitch is skylight: there probably ought to be some there, but I can't be certain) What are the two large diameter diagonal pipes (one only visible in the dubdee shot)? There are handrails up there - presumably for some kind of walkway? Any help as ever is much appreciated. Thanks, Iain

Just had a quick look at that, thanks for the tip - it's been upgraded recently hasn't it? I've got the bridge about as far as I can realistically now, only completing the road and painting to finish. But for the backscene and, in time, for the backs of the houses on Gloucester Road, the iMaps 3d will be very useful. Thanks. Iain

Another version of the Hovis advert: Brilliant detailing Jason, really rounds things off and brings the buildings out best. Iain

After seemingly hundreds of strips of 12 courses (stretcher at the bottom), 3 courses (2 headers and a stretcher) 5 courses (3h and 2s), 1 course of headers etc etc.... I'm getting closer. Here is where I got to at the end of yesterday evening: 21 done, 4 more bays to go, then the side is ready for a bit of filler to tidy it up. Iain

Persimmon - very evocative name for a golfer over the age of errrr well, a certain age, Gilbert.....! Once again, some wonderful pictures of a superb model. I hope my own depiction of a different bit of London - Scotland mainline will be a fraction as good. Thanks, Iain