JDW

Looking at the plans, my question is "where do trains go?" If a helix is the desired solution, I'd be looking at moving the main lines to the back of the board - starting from where the curved red line is on the plan above, I'd have them cut across to the very rear and pass behid the EMU shed, descending alongside it down to the start of a helix. Alternatively, move the EMU shed to the front and have a couple of hidden sidings behind the EMU shed (accessible from the open end and over a low backscene immediately behind the shed if needed) I'd be tempted to keep the stub at the bottom and use that area for the loco depot, coming off the outside of the curve via a trailing crossover so a loco could run from the station, in to a headhunt roughly where the "C" of Car Park is, then reverse down into the shed on the bottom stub board. That would mean the main line curves could move further towards the right, giving a slightly longer run and also make the depot more viewable rather than hidden at the back.

Seems an excellent idea to me. A 'train set plus'. As much as we might want to see it from a modeller's point of view and ask where the brake coach is or whether the eras match, it's something that will light up many people's faces in lockdown or at Christmas and give much more fun and entertainment than the traditional standard train set. You might guess from my avatar that LNER steam isn't my thing at all, steam in general isn't, but for a 'classic' train set, I think steam will always have more appeal. If I were buying or building one for someone new(ish) to the hobby, it's what I'd go for. Steam has appeal, is quaint and more 'human' than a plain boxy diesel or DMU, as much as I'd prefer those things for myself. Plus, a big modern diesel and long wagins will always look wrong on tight curves, short, tender locos and 4-wheel wagons are much better, and you can fit more of them in the same space - important for play value.

Last time I looked (last week some time), he was back on ebay after his house-move

Erm, that's clearly not going to work, everyone knows that when things get hot they expand. It would come out 7mm scale...

That's certainly big! Good that you've go some of your enthusiasm back, and quite a nice fleet you have yourself there! I find I struggle for enthusiasm sometimes because I don't know what to do, or have a plan but can't see the next step, so with a blank canvas that big it must be a daunting project! Just looking at your last pic though, you might need to tweak the track at the bottom otherwise it looks like anything on the empty track will hit the 27 parked at the front. (An earlier pic shows you have (from right to left) point - short curve - short curve - short straight - short curve, swapping the two underlined should sort it. You might well have already realised but better to say now before you fix it down than an "I saw that coming" later!

Hi @Derekstuart, thanks for the positive comments. The 3d-printed 156 parts are from a very nice chap called Daryl over on the DEMU forum, you have to be a member there to see the forum. I fortuitously just got around to joining this year as he happened to be posting about the parts he was designing. Not overly expensive either (I won't post here lest he wants to change the price, I don't want complaints!) and very easy to do especially if you have a Dremel and cutting disc to remove that part of the underframe. As for the 142, it was of course designed at a time when the only liveries were Provincial, GMPTE and 'skipper', so the yellow end was right for those (even if an awful shade!), and then once Regional Railways came in, Hornby either didn't have the ability or didn't want to have to paint the sides of those parts to match. Thankfully that's changed with the later releases, I'd guess coinciding with production shifting to China. It does make a huge difference though, along with correcting the doors and painting in the stripes around the door wells. I've never measured but I suspect the body height isn't too far off but the wheels make it too high. It's one of those jobs I ought to do but it's not just a quick wheel swap so I've never got around to it. Plus as it is, it sits at the same height as my DCKits 144 so they look 'right' together. But both look wrong next to a Realtrack 144. I think with some detailing the Hornby 156 (or Lima with Hornby motor) is a perfectly adequate model. The Realtrack one is fantastic but both too expensive to replace all of mine and would make the rest of my stock look dated. Consistency is as important as perfection I think.

Reminds me of one of our regular nuisance passengers complaining at me that I'd gone down a road (which all buses were being diverted down due to roadworks) that I wasn't supposed to go down and that I'd gone past a weight limit sign. I just nodded and agreed how disgraceful it was, I couldn't be bothered explaining the difference between a red circle with black lettering on a plain white background saying "7.5t" and a red circle with a black silouhette of a lorry on a white background and white lettering in the lorry silouhette saying "7.5t". He'd still have argued that I was wrong.

That's a nice pic Ian, I'm not old enough to remember them like that though! Interesting to see, do feel free to post any others you have! It's the 1990s/2000s era blue and yellow scheme I'm going for, which works for things from Sprinter and Regional Railways stuff and is still current in many places now to fit alongside early privatisation and Northern stock, as well as buses in liveries like Yorkshire Traction's white with blue and red lower stripes and FirstGroup's original willow leaf, up to more modern stuff.

Steady progress at sticking stuff together, weighting it down and waiting for it to dry, both ends and one side assembled. I decided to change the windows to blue, which fits the blue shelters, footbridge and other furniture in SYPTE colours. I carefully ran over the printed white windows with a blue marker. A brick finish might have been better than grey stone considering the supposed area but I prefer the stone. The windows look a bit bright under the harsh light on my desk but once the roof is on and it is installed it should look ok. I hope so anyway as that's the darkers blue marker pen I have!

Looks excellent, I've always wanted to do something similar but it'll never happen! I've all on to build the one I've got now. That said, a couple more cheap Hornby/Lima ARC "PTA"s arrived the other day to add to my rake - not the most realistic but they look the part behind a 59 with a bit of detailing and weathering at least, and secondhand ones are often to be found reasonably cheap! I look forward to seeing more of the layout as it grows, and the stock.

After some slicing of parts, the plan seems to be coming together and I think I like it. It fills what would otherwise be a fairly flat space. I think it will give a nice 'end' to the layout. Very handy that the platform lines up with the bottom of the windows, made cutting easy. I think I will fit windows to the end, not sure about the side yet.

It's been a while since I posted, the 465 parts have gone onto my 'I'll get to it one day' pile and some layout bits have arrived so I've started building the new station. The platforms have to fit around part of the loft woodwork which has made for a few awkward angles but the hard bit is done, they just need to grow in length now. Nothing is stuck down as yet, the bus station might end up slightly higher with a ramp to the platforms. A station building might go in at the back somewhere around the centre of the Strathclyde 156, I don't know yet. I had the idea of a brick overall roof structure, such as at Malton (athough I know that's a through station) or as seen years ago on a layout that inspired me but I can't remember the name of right now! So I ordered a Metcalfe engine shed wondering if it could be made into something suitable. My plan was to place it at the centre of the platforms as if it had at one time been a through station. Unfortunately it isn't wide enough to span both tracks and platforms. So now I'm wondering about having it to the end of the front platform, as if it might once have been a goods shed but has been repurposed as was done at one station (Mansfield?) on the Robin Hood line. Not sure about it though yet: The windows on the far side could be opened up as archways, those on the front possibly left unglazed to give a good view inside. Seems a little more interesting than just a row of buffer stops and doesn't obstruct too much the view of trains as only the front half coach would be inside/behind (the 156 is pretty much right up to the buffers inside it)

What is that old saying, something about never let the facts get in the way...?

Its got a whole Western chassis under one coach by the look of it. No doubt runs as good as it looks (... so 4 out of 5!)

Have we had this "DMU" yet...? If not, it's probably because no one could find the right words to describe it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OO-Gauge-Lima-Class-52-Hybrid/114468967793?hash=item1aa6e1d571:g:HLcAAOSwbq5fi3Vb

Remember, not all auto boxes work like that anyway these days. Take Jaguar's rotary knob for example, it emerges from the dashboard when you switch on the ignition, you just turn it through P-R-N-D to whichever you wish to do.

The Hornby 142 is a bit 'chunkier' than other stock. I haven't measured but I think a big part of the problem is that it rides too high on wheels which are a bit on the big side. Certainly nect to something like the Realtrack 144 it's much higher, even accounting for the difference in the squarer roof profile.

It shouldn't be hard to shorten the huge 'tongue' on the 153 bogies to reduce the gap to something much better. I'd just cut a slice out, then use another piece of plastic glued on top to strengthen the join.

I do so hope one day I'll look in on this thread and find something about GT3

Interesting, didn't know that. Seems a backward step but no doubt there was the usual half the [modelling] population moaning it didn't have enough power and now the other half will moan it has traction tyres! I've never found it to be lacking for a two car unit without tyres, I doubt it would handle a long train but that's not what it was designed for. Definitely for a small railcar no tyres and maximum pick ups needed!

If it were me I'd be looking at fitting full depth buffer beams and pipework - for my 66s and 59s I used the Lima/Hornby parts, sliced off the part of the buffer beam that attached it to the bogie and attached it to the chassis, and removed the couling mout from the bogie too. Lights are probably available as a kit, though it should be simple enough to produce something home made using LEDs and resistors.

Just thinking out loud as I read this, are there many more modern locomotives left to illustrate? Some of the more recent ones seemed to be clutching at straws somewhat, whereas earlier ones (despite a few errors) were generally very good and informative.

Are you sure it was the right one? I have three 153s and two 156s (all Hornby) in front of me right now and none of them has tyres. Maybe there are different versions?

Its the same model with an updated motor

Yes, I agree with the above. I wouldn't hesitate to use something like a class 153/156 motor bogie in a small railcar, they are smooth and achieve good slow running.