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TangmereTornado

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  1. TangmereTornado
    Well well well, give and you shall recieve...and I gave...and I wound up recieving a massive reason to push on with my layout and really get cracking on it in the new year. And they didn't come in the form of the three rather nice Dapol wagons I recieved from my dear nan, oh no. It came in the final present I opened from 'neath the tree...a stunning Hornby Class 50 locomotive, 50 048 'Dauntless' in early Network SouthEast livery.
     
    I filmed and posted a review of this gorgeous loco
    , have a watch yourselves if you have a spare moment.  
    It's a really lovely loco, full of detail and with a superb paint finish, although I have heard mutterings from some quarters about certain errors in the paintscheme (e.g. yellow ends too dark, red stripe too thin, etc), but to be honest, in my eyes, the paintscheme is spot on. It looks fantastic, and theyve captured one of my favourite diesel paintschemes (the all-time favourite being BR Large Logo) brilliantly. The finish of the numbering and nameplates are also good, although I will endevour to search for a set of etched brass nameplates from somewhere, and maybe rename the loco to one that is preserved, as this is the role it will fulfill on my layout, in all likelihood. If anyone could point me in the direction of a site for etched nameplates etc, please do so - I'd be grateful for any links.
     
    This has spurred me on to get moving on the layout. I have the dimensions of the baseboards down, the format of the layout - terminus to fiddleyard design with additional freightyard section - and rough trackplan down, now all that's needed is the actual building of the baseboards and laying of the track! Also, if I have some spare wedge kicking around, it might be time to give the 50, as well as my pre-owned Bachmann Class 25, some company in my burgeoning fleet...I'm thinking something steam-powered this time, perhaps a Bulleid Pacific or Merchant Navy, two of my favourite locomotives of all time. But I'm aware that giving locos something to run on is the priority right now, so that's the focus for January onwards.
     
    I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I wish everyone a very happy New Year. Hope you are all well,
     
    Adam
  2. TangmereTornado

    Where to begin?

    By TangmereTornado,

    So I've been stuck in a state of limbo over the design and format of my layout since deciding I've dive headfirst back into it a few months back now. I know exactly the size I have to work with, what I need to get going...so what's really stopping me?
     
    Well, firstly it was a location and setting, that old chesnut, but now, it's merely a case of what I actually want mixing with what I can realistically run and work with. Essentially my restrictions are that the baseboards can be no wider than 20 inches, with maybe at a very extreme push being 2ft, and my backwall is around 12ft long, and I can run the layout along that length, and also run further boards around the adjoining walls for about 4-5ft for anything else I might require.
     
    So firstly I decided I'd have a continuous layout, with the end loops being on each adjoining wall on removable boards for space and storage, but I swiftly decided that this would probably be too intrusive to normal workings in my room, and would require pretty zealous workings of the speed control to slow the speeding express down to take the tight loop curve. So a fiddle-yard to fiddle-yard concept, with a station in the middle, was what I plumped on and set down to....but now I'm pondering, is it worth having 2 fiddle yards at all? Why not just go the Dunmar/Minster route, and the same route I've seen done very effectively multiple times, and go terminus-to-fiddleyard?
     
    I'm aware this is probably old hat to many of you on here - the old compromise between your dream layout and what you actually have to work with. All of this would be fine if I wanted to run a decent small branch line...but typically, I don't. I fancy seeing Westerns, Class 50s, and even earlier, Bullied Pacifics and GWR 4-6-0s blasting through on expresses and cross-country trains.
     
    The one thing that isn't a problem for me is eras - I have that pretty much covered (For now). At the moment, whatever I run will be split between 3 periods - 50s/60s BR, 70s BR (corporate blue), and modern day with the layout in the hands of preservationists and run as a heritage line. The last one is basically a get-out clause for when I want to run anything that wouldn't fit with the other eras. Or regions, for that matter, as I'm fairly sure on what region I'm going for - Southern and Western, mixed together if at all possible.
     
    The main thing I keep coming back to right now is the actual format, toying between the aforementioned terminus-to-fiddleyard or 2 fiddleyards options. My thinking is - I want to see trains running through a station, but with the space I have, the trains I'll be able to run won't be that long or going that fast anyway in a relatively realistic scenario, and if I set them down in a terminus setting, that means I free up some space by not having a 2nd fiddleyard and also have the added attraction of almost having a diorama-type setting of the locos in the station. I also fancy adding a freight angle, and would really like to if possible add a section based on the old Inglenook Sidings shunting puzzle, for additional operating interest.
     
    Maybe I'm overthinking this too much, or maybe I just want to have my ol' cake and eat it!
     
    I'll keep this up to date when I decide on things and when progress is made
  3. TangmereTornado
    Hmmm. No baseboards or track down yet, and yet what do I spend the first money I actually get in ages on?
     
    Erm, a locomotive, a wagon, and a DCC chip.
     
    Okay, maybe the third one can be excused - there's no way the stunning Hornby Class 50 I got for Christmas will stay DC on my layout for long, not when it has working lights and fans - but the other two? Well, my excuse is that both of them are excellent prices that couldn't be ignored. The loco is a Bachmann Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0, no. 75024, and it looks a decent model, with good detail. This with a DCC chip fitted, for just £67 is too good to miss IMO. It would just be my luck to hold fire, then go to buy it, and the offer be over/the loco be sold out. Plus it fits in with my planned region (South West/South coast, Devon area), even though until I build my stock collection up, it will remain as a preservation era line, thus allowing my NSE 50 and the 4MT, as well as my BR Blue Class 25, to co-exist peacefully alongside each other
     
    The wagon, well I'm not sure you could technically call it a wagon, seeing as it's actually a lovely BR Mark 1 GUV. Again made by Bachmann, and again at a good price of just £18. May as well get something period for the 4MT to haul, right? It's in maroon, and looks nice - parcels will be a key part of the goods traffic on my layout, perhaps the only goods traffic, so if I can start building the collection now, then more power to me
     
    As for the baseboards and important stuff, I don't have a timescale on that just yet, so I don't see the point in stockpiling track which will sit around, potentially be kicked about and damaged, whilst it has nowhere to go. Granted, you could say that about the rolling stock, but at least they look good on display on the shelf in the meantime In all seriousness, I do have a plan down, and a vision for it - all that's needed now is for myself and my dad (Who may be joining us soon on RMWeb) to grab some wood and bloomin' well get on with it!
     
    Until next time...
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