LDM34046

Having visited Loch Tay about 6 years ago and booked a holiday to visit again next year I'm excited to see this layout develop! Even with modern traction, watching the railway snaking through the valleys and along side the streams and hills was always impressive and a sight I've always wanted to model!

Spending the last few days enjoying operating layout however today was a productive modelling day. The area looking most incomplete was the scenic break however after a bit of research I settled on the Goodwood Scenics sleeper wall kit. Originally I was going to go for a small tunnel mouth however that would have looked a bit cramped so in the end I chose the cutting option instead. The kit was a bit fiddly but lovely to work with and I'm super impressed with the finished result. A vast improvement compared to the empty space and a better way of disguising the scenic break. A shot of the Peckett along side for good measure! The permanent way gang admire the finished job over a well deserved tea break. In the coming days I will tidy up the surrounding area with ballast and static grass.

The door comes in at 26.5mm so slightly towards the larger end of the scale. I'll take a few more photos with figures and locos around it and see if I can live with it, worse case I'll look for another shed with finer measurements. It's bizarre as the hut looks well proportioned to the rolling stock and and the figures look correct in the cabs however the figures and hut don't seem to match.

A productive afternoon with the competition of painting all the Modelu figures and I'm impressed with how they've come out! Far from perfect but they do the job of adding life to the layout. My only bug bare is although they looked perfectly scaled to the locomotives and track they look strangely small compared to the yard shed? What is meant to be a small hut seems to be almost two storeys tall! The height of the figures standing next to it barely reach the window sill? I may look into an alternative hut as a smaller hut make suit the area better and tie into the cameos around it.

A few more shots which I promised to upload yesterday. The B2 Peckett sits waiting by the yard hut after a busy afternoon. This is turning into one of my favourite little areas of the layout so I'm excited to start adding some details such as cab crew, oil drums and a bit of foliage around the hut. Hornby have produced a cracking model with the Peckett! The largest loco of the fleet arrives with a rake of 7-plank coal wagons. A lot of work still needs to be done on this loco to get it running properly but it's nice to have it running on the layout. Little & Large. Peeking over the hill. A distant shot of the Peckett shunting. The idea of the hill at the front of the layout was to add a bit of scenic interest and provide a visual obstruction for viewing the locos. Hopefully this will be improved with the addition of a few trees at the front of the boards.

Photos from yesterday's shoot with the DSLR came out really well and super happy with them so I thought I'd show a few from an early morning shunting sequence. The yard hut looking rather lonely in black and white. Modelling has stalled slightly at the moment however I'll eventually add more details and foliage around the hut. The B2 Peckett arrives from the main depot up the line, ready for a day's work at Lancaster Lane. One of my favourite shots down the yard as the Peckett driver heads into the headhunt for a cup of tea at the yard shed. An hour or so passes and the first working arrives from the coast. 5775 pulls into Lancaster Lane with a mixed goods serving the local town. The Peckett gets to work on the latest arrival and moves the brake van into the headhunt ready for the return journey before moving the cattle van and coal wagon into the adjacent sidings for unloading. With the pannier relieved of it's duties the crew head into the hut for a bacon sarnie before preparing the locomotive for the return trip to the city! With the goods train unloaded 5775 moves out of the way into the siding ready for the Peckett crew to start assembling the return train. With 5775 clear, the B2 moves the brake van out of the headhunt ready for the return trip. With the goods unloaded and ready to be moved, the wagons are shunted back into the main siding with the brake van now at the rear of the train. 41726 arrives light engine from the main line and stables in the merchant's siding ready for another movement later that day. With outward bound train assembled and a short blast of the whistle, the crew of 5775 crank open the regulator and send the pannier on its way back up the line. My favourite shot from yesterday as 5775 steams past 41726 sitting in the merchant sidings. I hope everyone enjoyed the DSLR photos! It was nice to be able to shoot with a proper camera instead of iPhone shots. I'll post a few more this afternoon however I thought I'd show the operating sequence for one of the more common movements on the layout.

The camera I use is a Canon 5D Mk4 which is massively overkill for photographing the layout however as a photographer by trade it’s what I use at work. The lens I’ve used is a 50mm shot on a wide aperture on a tripod. The lighting isn’t anything special, just some warm white LED’s spots which are the bedroom lights. The layout itself doesn’t have its own lighting rig. In this shot the layout is facing the window however in my previous shots the layout sits next to the window. I find iPhone shots work perfectly fine and that’s what I’ve been using up until today. Sometimes if the sunlight is good, the layout is naturally lit and that’s produced some of my favourite photos. The iPhone provide a decent level of clarity and depth of field and then I edit them on my laptop in Adobe Lightroom. I’ll post some of the DSLR shots tomorrow as they came out really well! Hope this answers your questions!

This morning’s mission was to move the layout to the other side of the bedroom where there’s room to set up my camera tripod and get some proper photos of the layout. It’ll be interesting to compare how iPhone photos differ from DSLR photos when it comes to miniature!

Thank you! I was limited by size however I feel like the track plan I’ve created offers enough modelling and operating potential. The small size appealed to me as I wanted something that I could ‘finish’ and was achievable.

Sunset at Lancaster Lane.

I made a start on them yesterday, trimmed up the 3D printed supports and primed them. So far all I've completed is the base coat of the faces and a few jackets in dark grey. I think slow and steady is the way forward and not getting frustrated with them. The current state of affairs. I think I may attempt another round of painting tomorrow. My plan of action is to get all the base colours down and then do a light dry brush and wash over each figure to bring out the details.

All quiet on the western front... Despite not being on here recently I have been enjoying the layout, and uploading my modelling to instagram. I thought I'd share a few photos of the latest addition to the layout, the lovely Hornby B2 Peckett. A cracking locomotive full of detail and a lovely smooth runner although it does highlight the importance of clean track! It's just such a photogenic locomotive... And to avoid it stealing the limelight, here's a few other shots of this mornings operations. 41726 arrives with a lone 7-plank wagon from the local repair works... ...before departing Lancaster Lane and heading back down the line. The Peckett sits alone in the merchant siding. 5775 arrives at Lancaster Lane with a short coal train from up north. With the Peckett now stationed permanently at the sidings, shunting work is a lot easier freeing up the larger locos.

A productive start to the weekend. Having had little luck with the Humbrol Enamel paints last week an order was placed for Vallejo paints. A fresh coat of ‘Refractive Green’ and the shed looks excellent. A bit of dry brushing to bring out a few details and add some glazing into the window and the shed will be complete. A very speedy service from Modelu and a box of goodies turned up this morning. Very impressed with the level of detail on 1:72 although I’m baffled how I’m going to paint them! Excited to get stuck in to them and add some life to the layout.

Last weekend's project for a rainy day was to finally sort out the yard shed on the layout. A coat of white primer was used and then the bricks were painted with layers of citadel paints and washes. I'm incredibly pleased with how the stone effect has turned out and the tones match the rest of the layout nicely. The roof is a different story. I've had nothing but issues with Humbrol Enamel paints despite the recommendations from an old Railway Modeller magazine. I tried to paint the roof green however the paint is very watery despite mixing it multiple times. An order of Vallejo acrylic paints should fix the issue and complete the shed. A new locomotive is ready to go on the layout however I'm still waiting on the elusive decoder to arrive in the post as well as rather large order from Modelu to add some life to the layout although it's unfortunately on back order for a week or so. So for the time being it's a case of staying in and playing trains! It's not all bad I suppose!

And there's me carelessly plonking down a shed in my yard! Loving the level of planning and detail. Excited to see these materialise on the layout!

A real life representation of today’s weather. Dark and gloomy skies overhead at Lancaster Lane.

An unexpected day off today meant I could spend the morning on the layout. Having not been run in a few days the track needed cleaning however in no time at all trains were being run and photos were being taken! 5775 shunts an GWR Brake Van and 7-Plank wagon into the headshunt Lancaster Lane 5775 shunts a stray cattle wagon while 41726 arrives on a light engine movement from the local goods yard One of my favourite shots from this morning. 3MT '82030' arrives light engine into Lancaster Lane. Later today it'll collect a brake van and head coast bound where a freight allocation awaits. Later that day, 5775 departs Lancaster Lane under full steam with a short rake of LMS Fruit Vans. While operating the layout this morning I was trying to work out why Lancaster Lane still felt limited as a layout and I came to the verdict that the fiddle yard is the issue. It's too short which makes it awkward trying to run interesting lengths of trains as well as shunting wagons in and out. At best the fiddle yard can only hold 1 locomotive and 2 wagons at a stretch while the layout is long enough to hold rakes 3-4 wagons long. Also the fiddle yard offers no space for rolling stock to be stored easily and safely out of harms way to changing locos and wagons in the fiddle yard is a chore at the best of times. So with that said tonights plan is to redesign and plan a new fiddle yard. Longer to accommodate better rakes and wider to offer a safe place to store trains. I'm hoping with a new fiddle yard that's easier to use the layout will be more enjoyable to run.

Nothing new to report other than the occasional operating session. Work has been surprisingly busy which I can’t complain about. February’s edition of Model Rail arrived and featured a rather interesting compact track plan which prompted many evenings of contemplation however that’s a project for another day (or year!) I’m hoping to progress a bit more this weekend with the painting of the yard shed, hopefully the arrival a new locomotive tomorrow I’ll prompt a bit more motivation and modelling! I’ll post some of my recent photos tomorrow.

Another attempt this evening with the setting sun and trying to crack the settings for my DSLR camera. Although the iPhone takes some above average photos, there is something about a proper camera that adds a new level of realism to a layout, more perhaps the lighting. Another struggled attempt but here’s the best three from a bad bunch. My favourite out of the three. Shot from one end of the layout to the other. It’s this quality of lighting that I seek to achieve however I struggled with noise and grain on this photo. The aggressiveness of the depth of field is apparent. Shot on a 50mm at 4.2 f/stop I believe. A slightly closer shot and with a wider aperture. Still grainy but compensated in Adobe Lightroom. The third and final shot. Good depth of field but a tad on the blurry side, caused by the slow shutter speed. I think my downfall is the lack of a tripod. In using a tripod I should be able to do longer, steadier exposures and multiple exposures at different focal lengths however unfortunately where the layout is located doesn’t have the space for a tripod. Maybe at the weekend there might be an opportunity to relocate! It would be interesting to hear everyone else’s tips and tricks for modelling photography!

A few more photos from today's running session. 4126 arrives with a short engineers train. The train will be split here and the brake van will head back up the line. A busy yard this afternoon with the newly arrived 82030 stabled in the head shunt, 5775 in the background and 41726 having recently arrived with the engineers train. Now if only there was a yard hut for the drivers.... 82030 departs Lancaster Lane and heads up the line for its next assignment. A good splash of BR Green to the layout however lamps and buffer details still need to be added. 5775 takes the brake van off 41726 and shunts it into the headhunt for future use. The yard hut is still yet to be painted and detailed and a few more touch ups need to be sorted. A slight break from new develops due to funds however if I can sell some old stock some new changes can take place. In the meantime I'm enjoying shunting trains back and forth!

A productive evening complete. I've had this lovely Bachmann BR Standard 3MT since my first layout and since then it's been sitting in the loft gathering dust. Having worked my way around a troublesome decoder it was a case of sorting out the speed steps and running it for a good hour or so. It's far from perfect, the motor is quite noisy and although it's smooth running, it crabs at certain speeds and the speed isn't consistent. It's still coated in a nice layer of loft dust and could benefit from a few exterior details and crew but overall it's another solid addition the fleet.

A few moody monochrome photos to set the scene this morning. So pleased with how the grass and ballast has turned out. My next top is to turn my attention to the join between the board and backscene and add a few more scenic details. Tonight’s job is to dismantle another steam loco of mine and work out why the DCC Decoder is not being recognised by the system. Part of me thinks that it may not even have a decoder in it. It was DCC fitted 7 years ago on my old layout but a lot has happened since then! We shall see.

With last evening spent tiding up the track work so there was more consistent running tonight I decided to enjoy a bit of operating and photography! 5775 arrives at Lancaster Lane shunting a GWR Brake Van. It was pushed into the head shunt where it would await it's next job. With the brake van in the foreground, 41726 arrives with a couple of surplus wagons from the yard up the line. Once relieved of its rake it'll depart back up the line for further use. Enjoy! Plenty more to follow

With the pointwork niggles sorted and a thorough clean of the track it was time to finally get a train running. 5775 arrives light engine on a picturesque day at Lancaster Lane. Finishing this productive weekend on a high. More work to be done during the week.

Yeah I know the strapping you mean. I may try removing some of the paint away from the blades. The other points don’t have any issues interestingly considering they’ve got painted blades. Lesson learnt to mask the blades next time!