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@MarshLane Thanks for the advice! Yes, I think DCC to start this will be best. Probably as you say, no sound at least for now though to keep costs down. Ill have a look into Mech Models. Not somewhere I’m familiar with. Ref the postage. That sounds like a good idea, and someone else actually mentioned similar via a PM so it sounds like plenty of people do it. Might be worth it in the long run, particularly as I can get my models and car parts etc over here that way!

I’ve been having a look around on Flickr and youtube today, just for some ideas and inspiration. Found this video on YouTube, Must be watched with volume up! They sound fantastic, especially for old video! Yeah, ok. I’m never going to fit trains like that into my space am I!? But, it definitely confirms to me Norfolk and Western is the way to go. They seemed to particularly known for coal traffic, aswell as pretty much all the usual freight, so I’m thinking about having a layout based around a coal loading scene/buildings. Walthers Cornerstone do a few very suitable kits for these as luck has it. With maybe something else nearby to allow for box cars on the layout. Of course it’ll never be able to handle big long trains, but it should be passable for a switching style layout, bringing in short rakes of hoppers, splitting them down and passing them through the coal loaders before reforming them for hauling back ‘off scene’. A bit of variety could be added with something to suit some box cars. Does this sound passable? Also, anyone able to advise about suitable hopper wagons? There seem to be a few different types and lengths. I’m guessing for a 60’s era layout older shorter ones would be most numerous?

Thanks. That was something else I didn’t know! Now I do! If I do opt to run two locomotives together, how were they ‘supposed’ to run? Would both locos be the same way round - both long hoods facing forwards or both short hoods facing forwards? Or would they be positioned so the two long hoods faced away from each other? Indeed, did it matter? I must admit, one of the reasons I wanted to stick to the earlier diesel era was because of the two tall hoods on many early diesels. I don’t think they look as good with the cut down short hoods. This might be a stupid question, but what actually was inside the short hoods?

Thanks for the track plans, they do look about what I’ve got in mind. Same for some of those on the links on the first page of this thread. Ive had a quick look in my railway shed/man cave, and I’ve got two potential places to build my little corner of the USA. Both are currently being used as storage shelves for my OO stock. 1: measures just under 14’, this is the place mentioned in my first post. It’s a simple straight 2’ x just under 14’ plank. 2: measures about 12’ x 10’ but is an L shape. Obviously this could mean a bigger available space for scenic area and off scene storage roads. I think this space ‘might’ be quite a bit more flexible. Of course both options mean finding somewhere else to store everything that’s currently on them! Shouldn’t be too much of a problem though. One downside to both is that because they’re currently shelves, they do both have a couple of timber support legs part way along which support the OO layout above them. I don’t think it’s a big deal however, certainly no worse than some loft layouts have with the roof support timbers in the way. It should be easily ignored and worked around, put it that way. I think my next move should be to clear the spaces off and see how they look and what might fit. One major positive with both locations though is that I built them in exactly the same way I build my layout baseboards, so they should both already be good enough to take track straight away. Ive also spotted something on eBay which I love the look of, so I might possibly have accidentally treated myself to one… A Rapido Alco RS11 in Norfolk & Western colours! Lovely looking model, not cheap, but definitely a nice looker!

So in theory then, there’s nothing wrong with me having a collection of Santa Fe locomotives, and using a mixture of other companies cargo cars behind them? That would be completely normal? Id guess though that in a normal train the majority of freight cars would also be Santa Fe cars, since it’s Santa Fe’s network? Just seems a bit odd coming from British Rail where everything was owned by one company and went pretty much anywhere without changing into other companies networks.

This did cross my mind actually. I’ve never used DCC for my U.K. models, mainly because I’ve got absolutely loads of it and equipping it all with DCC would be eye wateringly expensive. Plus the layout is already wired for DC. Starting this project however means I should probably join the modern age and just design it and build it with DCC in mind from the beginning? Plus, it’s probable that I’ll be having significantly fewer US locomotives to fit DCC decoders into. At least for some time! I guess fitting decoders to most US models is a simple plug & play job similar to U.K. locomotives from the last few decades? Its interesting you mention Bachmann US. I was actually looking at a few of their new locomotives and, though they did look nice, there was something a bit ‘off’ with them. Details seemed a bit basic and lacking and the underframe on their RS2 looked very flat and basic. Are Walthers locomotives good then? The ones I’ve seen so far look superb… Generally, when it comes to rolling stock and locomotives I’m keen to go with the high(er) end of the spectrum. I’ll take quality over quantity I think!

Thanks for everything so far guys! Some great advice and links for some bedtime reading! Just a few things in regards to the above: The total size available is 14’ so the hidden storage area must be incorporated into that. I’m thinking of having a hidden storage area in the rear section of the baseboard, with a scenic feature/freight yard or whatever in front of it to hide it. Perhaps some tall trees/rocky area/big buildings etc used to hide the access road into/out of the storage area. I do like the idea of making the layout a bit generic. From what I gather so far most companies had their own track and routes so different companies using the same track seems less plausible on a small space branch line?? (I might be well off with this of course!). At least going for a more generic look would allow, eventually, a few different companies stock to be used depending on what I fancy running. The Triang diesel… I’m not actually going to use that on this project. Being OO scale it’s not going to look right with HO, plus the couplings are not compatible and I’m not altering the Triang Alco! It’s in lovely condition and still boxed so that more for my collection than to be used. When I said Alco, I’ve actually bought a second one! This is HO Walthers Proto 1000. The GP7 is Proto 2000. Ive got no idea what the difference is? I’m guessing more/less details and extras? On the ‘sourcing items’ front. Ive actually already noticed that US outline stuff isn’t particularly well catered for here. There’s some stuff available but certainly not a comprehensive range like you get with OO. The HO Alco I got was already in the U.K., but the GP7 is actually coming over from Illinois! To be honest, getting stuff from the US isn’t a problem for me. I know it takes a while to get here and the postage can add up but it is what it is. Ive actually got an American car, which I bought in the US and shipped over here so I’m already familiar with getting parts etc etc from the US and so far had no problems. While I think about what exactly I’m going to do, a couple more questions if I may!? I assume HO couplings are all the same and compatible with different manufacturers, in a similar way U.K. outline OO gauge ones do? Track. I’ve seen some specific US style track from various companies and Peco’s normal track should work too, but what’s considered best?

Evening all. I’m brand new to North American railroading so basically I’m looking for advice, ideas and inspiration for a new project, aswell as a bit of info regarding prototype US operation. Ive been into trains forever, but always stuck religiously to U.K. stuff, so I know that pretty well… but North American ‘ways’ seem to be quite different to what goes on here. I recently got myself a lovely Triang OO Alco road switcher, mainly because when I was younger a mate had one that actually originally belonged to his dad. I always remember it because it was such a great looking locomotive with its lights! Anyway, I bought one myself and that made me think about trying out my first US outline layout! Ive probably already gone about things the wrong way to be honest, but having had a read of a few things I decided to buy myself something to start with, then build up from that. So I decided scale-wise it’s going to be HO. And my first US locomotive to use as a starting point? Well, I decided to stick to the good old Alco, so an RS2 in Santa Fe blue & yellow has become my first HO loco. Then I got carried away and decided to get myself a GP7 in the original black and silver ATSF colours. As you do! So, that is my starting point. Santa Fe in HO. But I don’t really know what to do from here! Ive identified a roughly 14’ x 2’ ‘shelf’ in my model shed at home which I can clear off and use as a baseboard. This is actually below one half of my U.K. outline layout. There’s plenty of space, access and light to it though. Obviously that size makes it an end to end type layout and that must include a hidden storage area. My thoughts so far are, because of the size, freight only line with some sort or sorts of rail served industrial site(s). Also because of the size I think shorter trains are the best way to go here. So no long multi locomotive trains! Possibly best sticking to smaller locomotives like the Alco, GP7/9 and switchers? Because of the locomotives I’ve just bought I think I’d be right in saying time period of early to mid 60’s? Rough location, I want to say possibly the Chicago area? Again though, I’m not 100% positive! Where did the two locomotives and Santa Fe operate at this time period. Can I run locomotives from any other companies along side these? What wagons would be suitable? Of course this will depend on specifics about the layout itself! I know there’s potentially an awful lot to go through here! But I’m just after prototype info, general operating info, rolling stock info & suggestions, and some ideas and inspiration for the layout itself. Like I said in the thread title, I’ve got very little knowledge of US railroads so this will be like learning from scratch here! Thanks in advance!

I think (might be wrong?) the D27 32-679DS model was released around 2011/12ish, so it’s getting on for 10 years old now. I wonder if there’s any other sound fitted models from the Bachmann range, at that time that have the same issue?

Thanks everyone for the help and assistance with this. Good to know the decoder does actually work and it’s not a fault. Must admit, it threw me when I tried it and nothing happened. At least now I know for the future!

Thanks chaps! Knew I’d get an answer on here! Thats a new one on me then if they sent them out with DC off. Mind you, I’m far from an expert! As I say, normally I just stick the DCC sound ones on the track and off they go, sound and everything even on DC only. I was a bit concerned when this one didn’t!

Thanks Steve! Thats a bit of a bummer if I can’t change it myself anyhow, I didn’t even know you could turn off the ‘work on DC’ option! Its the first time I’ve encountered this tbh, normally when I try they go ok straight away. The last one was a Hornby 31 which I got in similar circumstances and it was fine. This one was a bit disappointing! This is one of the threads I was reading: It doesn’t mean a huge amount to me though. Anyway, PM replied to!

I recently managed to get hold of a really nice condition Bachmann class 45 second hand, it’s not boxed and has no paperwork whatsoever but the model itself is lovely. The reason I bought it was both because it was cheap and it was in the livery I wanted... But. It’s a factory DCC sound fitted version, I don’t use DCC! So my plan was to buy it regardless and then do what I usually do with these sound fitted models and simply test it works via DC, then strip out the decoder & speaker and sell them on separately. Trouble is, this time I plonked the peak onto my layout to test it and it was absolutely stone dead! No sound, no lights, no movement even. Normally on DC when I’m doing this I get everything, just with limited sound functions. So, I’ve done a bit of reading on the interweb and it turns out the model I bought cheap is actually Bachmann 32-679DS class 45 D27. So question 1: There seems to be a bit of an issue with these from new where the sound files aren’t quite right and therefore they will not work on DC. Is this right? Question 2: Will this affect it on DCC use? Could I sell it on for someone else to use? Question 3: Is there any way I can test it? Bearing in mind I have no DCC control whatsoever to test with. I don’t know anyone with DCC either. From checking the model over after finding it wouldn’t work at all, I can’t find anything at all wrong with any part of it, in fact it would appear to have either never been used or very very little use (it’s spotless inside, wheels etc) so I decided to whip out the sound decoder and stick a spare blanking plug into it instead. Hey presto, it’s now working perfectly via DC! So the problem is clearly the DCC sound decoder. However, I’d love to know for definite if the decoder is dead/damaged or if it’s simply because I was trying to use it on DC and there’s a bit of a cock-up and back story with this particular models decoder. What I really don’t want to do is assume it’s ok, sell it anyway and then upset someone because it turns out the decoder is actually damaged! Obviously if it is sellable it’s going to make this model much cheaper than it was already!! Any thoughts or advice? Here’s a few pics just to make the thread a bit more interesting! Thanks in advance. Dan.

Cheers! The plan for that back corner, is to add some scatter & static grass, and build it up with trees to hide the joint to the wall/what will be backscene, running up along the edge to the bridges. Where the corrugated iron fence is, I plan to do similar but with greenery coming up from behind the fence as if there’s an overgrown yard or something behind, again, to hide the end of the layout a bit. Its actually turned out to be an interesting little area this corner, adding a little bit more operating interest and some more interesting scenery than just a hill! The 31’s... Yeah, I’ve got a few!! By no means all of them have been in this thread yet either. I’ll dig them all out and get some pics. Some are standard models but there’s quite a few modified/repainted ones too. And a good few duplicates I’ve stocked up on for renumbering etc. Funnily enough, I’ve just discovered(!) another red stripe railfreight sound fitted one I’d forgotten I even had. I normally take the sound gubbins out and sell it as I don’t use DCC, I was surprised to get this one running up and down and finding it’s still got sound fitted!! There’s two or three spare bodies laying around somewhere too. Told you I had a thing for them!

Here’s the edge of the metal casting getting chopped! It’s only a very thin slice that’s needed. And with a bit of filing down of the cowlings and chassis the cowlings can be made to fit. The cowlings are held onto the chassis with superglue applied to the sides where they were cut. They seem solid enough so should be ok without their original screws. The next obvious thing is refitting the buffer, and painting them and the buffer beam black. Test runs show it runs very well (it’s brand new underneath so it should!) and all the lights are working too. So, proof that I can do some actual modelling not just buying ready to run! No idea why this was so far up my priority list but there we go! This now gives me back the model I lost ages ago, but with the latest chassis. Ill freely admit I’ve got a thing for 31’s, I’ve got lots more, some of which will be in for work and paint in due course!

Another little job I’ve been doing between waiting for paint and glue to go off... Years ago I had two of the first release versions of the Hornby 31. One was 31110 in Dutch livery, this suffered from the chassis rot issue of the first three versions. Luckily I caught it early, got the body off before it did much damage and got a new chassis from Hornby under warranty. The other was 31270 in blue. This one I did not catch early! When I eventually did check it, the chassis was in a bad way, but the body was destroyed! Hornby had also stopped Sending out new chassis or vouchers by then so it went on eBay for spares and that was that. Ive wanted another though, and given this problem, the early release models must be getting rarer now, so I bagged a really good 31270 body off eBay and a set of buffer beam cowlings to suit. Then kept an eye out for a good chassis or a complete 31 I could take the chassis from. In the end I got a discounted complete brand new 31 in the DCR green livery. This became the chassis donor. Basic fit seems fine, as you’d expect. But, unbeknown to me (until now!) it seems Hornby have changed the 31’s chassis lately! The lighting is now different to early versions being a seperate Lighting unit instead of part of the cab interior unit. The fan is no longer powered either (which I don’t really care about!), and I’d expected the buffer beam cowlings to be a simple screw on part - they’re not! I could have bought the 31102 model (Which already has cowlings) in blue to use as a chassis donor but couldn’t find one cheap enough so had to make do. First job was to carefully remove the lighting unit. Mine came out of the green donor shell easily. 31270 doesn’t have a high intensity headlight so the plastic light lense for that was simply removed. Then the unit was carefully fitted to the old 31270 body, held in with a couple of dabs of superglue. Next task is to offer up the buffer beam cowlings. These very clearly won’t fit! The new chassis is from a refurbished 31 so has the chassis framework. This gets in the way of the plastic cowlings and there’s no screw holes in this chassis version either. So to get them to fit, Ive chopped off the two screw hole lugs on the cowlings, then carefully used a razor saw and files to cut away the outer edges of the chassis buffer beam frames.

Update time! Slowly creeping along, although in my defence I’ve been doing other things! And I got a bit fed up of building scenics so I’ve simply been running trains. I think sometimes it’s easy To keep building, doing scenery, messing about with rolling stock etc etc, sometimes you end up doing all that and never actually using it! Since last time, I’ve smoothed out all the polystyrene blocks that made up the hills at the scenic break end, then got a coat of plaster on them, smoothed out, then once dry given a coat of radioactive green paint! There’s only a few little areas now where I need to use the plaster and green paint to cover the scenic contours, then I’ll be into static grass-ing and laying scatters etc etc. I also need to Finish a few small areas of ballasting then weather The ballast a bit. Ive also painted the big industrial warehouse building. A coat of Halfords primer, then various paints to finish. It’s also had a bit of weathering, paint thinning and rusting added to look a bit more realistic. It’s also had a few other bits added around it to finish that little areas buildings off, and a corrugated iron fence added along where the back scene will eventually go. Some concrete hard standing areas have been added too, these are just card cut, glued and painted and will become the sites car park and loading area for a few vans etc.

Yep, I’ve got a couple of 31’s, a 56 and a 60 that do this to varying degrees. I think your right, it’s the old white grease drying out and clogged things, but also might be the gears running dry. Ive actually just bought a can of GT-85 spray, it’s got ptfe in it and I heard someone on another forum had success with it on squeaky Hornby loco’s so I’ll give it a try.

Couple more pics of the warehouse etc. Last job I did today was adding two short sidings into a spare bit of space in the hidden storage area. Just about big enough for a loco or unit, but every little helps!

Sorry chaps, I’m not good at updates with this am I!? Things really do seem to be going at a snails pace, but it’s getting there! Most of the work I’ve been doing is on the building of the four bridges and surrounding scenery on this layout. The first, being the station end scenic break. This was ‘in hand’ in the last update but is now nearing completion. Being over the station and near what will become a more urban area I’ve gone for a multi-lane high street style roadway over the tracks. Most of the supporting brickwork is now about done, the road surface finished, complete with road markings and pavements, and I’ve even added a pedestrian crossing! The main thing left to do here is the actual walling along the bridge surface, which will be the Wills brick bridge/parapet stuff. Just needs paint and gluing in place. Next, bridge number 2. This one is a little further down the layout just before the curved section. This one is just a standard road bridge, a little less urban than the other. This ones had its brick supports and retaining walls built and added, then I’ve used Wills varigirder for the road deck support mid section. This has been made to look wider, as a heavier style bridge, with an extra section under the varigirder made from plastic sheet and other off cuts. In reality, this bit just hides the thick edges of the plywood bridge/road surface. Looking at it afterwards, the span looked a bit too long and unsupported for my liking. So I dug out some odd bits from the scraps box to see if I could cobble something together that looked better. Luckily, I had a pair of matching Hornby bridge supports - I’ve had these years! I remember being given them as a complete pack as a Xmas present as a kid, which was probably about 1988/9 sort of time! Good job I don’t throw things away isn’t it! These actually look pretty good as supporting columns, so I’ve used these mounted on a brick/concrete plinth as a centre support. I think it looks much better. Again, the road has been painted and decorated with road markings and a pavement. Just needs some finishing touches and brick pillars at each end now. And now for bridges 3 and 4! These two are actually side by side, forming the scenic break for the other end of the layout. A double bridge with wing walls, and a single without. The double over the mainline is a Wills kit, needs painting yet. The single over the branch is an old Triang/Hornby bridge, which I thought looked ok still, so used it! I’ll obviously paint it and add a bit of detail but it looks good to me for such an old model! These two bridges are much more unfinished at the moment as I’m still building up the surrounding ground contours etc, but they will be for a country lane once done. The scenic break itself is 5mm ply cut to size and glued into place, then the polystyrene blocks that form the hills glued in place around them and the bridges. Hopefully tomorrow will see these given a plaster surface ready for green paint, then scatters/static grass etc etc. The two bridges are actually both different heights so this should go well with the country lane look I’m going for as it’ll mean the cardboard road surface will be a bit less ‘flat’ and level than in other places. The next new thing can be seen in the last few pics! I wanted a big warehouse type structure for the rail served industry in the corner so set about knocking something up. This is just assorted bits and bobs and loads of Wills building sheets and plastic strip & sheet. It’s not 100% finished yet, but fills the corner to my liking so far and allows the surrounding scenic groundwork to carry on. I’m going to have the siding the class 31 is sitting on as an overgrown siding and the office building as a yard area, with a few cars and vans parked up out front. I want this area to resemble a half relief decent sized industrial site, but a bit down at heel as much of the country’s heavy industry seemed at the time! So, still lots to do but it’s getting there slowly! My aim is to get as much of the dirty work (making hills, structures etc) done first, then try to do the ‘green’ bits all together so it all matches better. Also, once the bridges, cable ducting etc etc is in place I can add in any extra ballasting I need to then start weathering the ballast and track - ideally before the green stuff starts going down.

Ill try to get an update up over the next few days... I promise!

I’ve done a few bits since last update. It’s not a huge amount, I seem to be struggling to get stuff done in comparison to some of the layouts on here! The road and car park surface have been given a coat of grey. I had to do this twice actually as for some inexplicable reason the first try I mixed up some black & white paint, painted it on and the next day after it’s dried it was streaked with white lines!? It looked fine when wet but the paint must have somehow not mixed properly. Second try I warmed the paint up and mixed it much more thoroughly and it seemed fine. Never had that before! The depot area has been given a first coat of concrete yellowish grey, more to do here though, but it’s all roughly the right sort of colour for now. Then I moved on to the scenic break bridge. I’ve been using Wills brick sheets and plastic card to build up the bridges walls, the tops of which have a plastic card (white bits in the pics) sections added which will form the concrete load bearing sections for the bridges deck. I’ve also made up some similar retaining walls and pillars for the area behind the station where the two low relief tower blocks will go. It’s more or less ready for painting now then can be glued in place. One other little job I've done in the shed is to get myself a couple of display cabinets. I got these off eBay, and for the price they’re not bad. I wanted them to display my growing collection of 1/43 model cars and military vehicles! I think they look pretty good. I’d been buying the models for some time but they were all just being left in their boxes dotted around the house not really being seen so with these at least I can have them somewhere I can see them! I’ve separated them into US/Europe cars - just cars I like and ones I’ve owned 1:1 scale versions of or do own now! The other cabinet is for Soviet Union cars I like and military trucks/vehicles I’ve got an interest in. Certainly takes the plain-ness off that back wall anyway! more soon...

Got a little bit more done this weekend. Saturday was minimal as it was freezing out in the shed, I’ve had a cold recently and just didn’t fancy more than doing a few little bits and bobs! Today was better though so I’ve got a bit more of the basic ‘construction’ work done. As I said in a previous post, I want to get as much of the basic structural work done for the scenic area first before starting to put any greenery down, so I’ve moved up to the station area end of the layout. First job was to raise the very end of the station area up a tad. I wanted this area next to the platforms to be the station building and car park site and I think it looks better level (or near enough) with the platform height. Easily done using an off cut of 9mm ply cut to shape and glued and screwed down on top of the existing baseboard. This was then faced with thick mounting card to get a nice surface for the car park. Just needs painting and a bit more work for the base/foundation of the building. I've ordered some fencing for the platform/car park edge, and some suitable street lights for the car park. And a set of self adhesive vinyl road and car park markings to make those a little neater than trying to hand paint them. Similar treatment for the loco fuel & stabling point, though this is staying at the lower baseboard height without being raised. Once the glue holding the mounting card down is fully cured I’ll score it to look like the big cast concrete panels of many yards, then paint and weather it to suit. The bare ply edge where the car park is will be hidden by a little retaining wall and security fencing on top. I might reposition the fuel tanks and building yet, I’m not sure. Finally, some more woodwork! To create the scenic break at this end I’ve opted for another road bridge over the tracks and platforms but with a retaining wall across the end of the car park area. This is another off cut of 9mm ply for the bridge top/road bed and some off cuts of 2x1 softwood for supports. It’ll eventually be faced with some 5mm ply on the scenic side so there’s something to glue the brick sheets etc to, and the top road surface covered with mounting card again. On the island platform I’ll build a dummy support column from Wills brick sheets, as the span is a bit long for my liking without, plus, it’ll help obscure the scenic to non scenic divide! Heres how it looks at the moment, with a few cars and the obligatory bus dotted around for effect! And a couple of Wills brick sheets etc loosely placed. Starting to come along now!

Nothing worse than numb toes!!

I’ve been busy with work the last few months so progress has been leisurely again! Some more scenic work carried out though. First things first though. Given the weather and time of year I decided it was about time to do something to the floor in the shed. Last winter when I was in there it could get pretty chilly! All it was was the basic wooden shed flooring, not particularly warm at all but because I’ve raised the whole shed up off the ground on blocks & wood framing it also means there’s quite a draft coming up through the floor boards at times. Good for keeping everything dry and rot free but less good for keeping my poor feet warm! So I’ve cleaned everything out of the shed off the floor, hoovered it out and then laid some 7mm fibre board underlay sheeting over the entire floor. That should keep the draft down and the warmth in, plus it’s levelled out the floor. Then on top I’ve fitted some hard wearing short pile carpet tiles. I got these off eBay quite cheaply and they fitted really well and went down quick. It looks 100% better now but has also significantly improved comfort and noise levels in the shed now. With that sorted it was back to trimming the polystyrene contours for the hills etc. After I was happy with that I mixed up some polyfiller with a bit of pva added and applied it to the hills etc, then smoothed it out with a soft paint brush and water. Finally, once that had dried (which takes ages this time of year!) I splashed some old green poster paint on. It looks a bit ‘radioactive’ green but it’s only a base colour to get rid of the bright white colour of the plaster. The plan after this is to apply layers of flocks, scatters and static grass to build up the ground cover. I will probably be investing in a new static grass tool this time too if anyone has any recommendations? Ive also stuck down more polystyrene sections along the strip under the windows, then made up some shorter brick retaining walls and pillars. These are just Wills sheets cut to size, then a coat of Railmatch cement added/wiped off leaving it in the recesses. The pillars are just made up from the off cuts. These walls are slightly angled backwards too just to look a bit more realistic and match the cast plaster larger walls further along. At the far end corner, up on the raised section I’ve added a few bits of thin polystyrene, plaster and paint to get rid of the flatness of the area, and used some mounting card to create a roadway and forecourt for the petrol station. I’ll add some Metcalfe. Self adhesive paving later here to finish it off. The area where the Hornby ‘modern house’ kits will go has also been very slightly raised. This was to give a better effect than just a dead flat area with everything at the same level! It looked a bit lazy without doing it, so now the row of three houses sit slightly above the road level with driveways sloping slightly down to the road. Again, the ground has been skimmed with filler to level it off, painted green and awaits the scatter & static grass treatment. The houses themselves have had the brickwork painted, cement courses added and windows etc painted. Just need to finish these off. I’ve added a few interior walls on the sides that will be seen and will ‘decorate’ these out before final positioning! I quite like these kits, despite being pretty old now and a little basic! They go together well and look the part once painted. My plan, I think, is to continue doing as much of the ‘dirty’ work as I can around the entire scenic section just to get everything done to the same stage and standard. Then I’ll gradually work my way around the layout adding the actual scenic materials, static grass etc etc as I go. I think it’ll be easier that way and get all of the actual building of the basic ground contours etc done in one hit. Its coming on. Slowly but surely!