Orion

You can see the shadow of one on the road in the left foreground

Various alternatives for the now preserved Churnet Valley Railway were proposed originally, including the Alton Towers section of the original line and the Biddulph Valley line. TBH the whole line from Uttoxeter through Leek should probably have never closed. it would have been a wonderful line to ride. Too long for one preserved railway though.

I suspect the whole interior was very dirty, what with all the smoke. Have you ever seen the Burntisland 1883 P4 layout? That is based in 1883 and may give an idea of the colour palate available in early Scottish railway days. There are lots of photos of it online and I would imagine it was thoroughly researched. Lots of information about Victorian era paint colours generally are online too. Various shades of brown might be a reasonable bet for the overall colour scheme, in the absence of definitive proof.

I think I read somewhere that horses were used along the streets to the harbour rather than locos.

The Dundee & Newtyle would make an interesting project for you after this one - either the south entrance to Law Tunnel with its winding house and incline, or the Dundee terminus. You would have the excuse to model 'Earl of Airlie' then.

I did think about a model once in 2mm scale, hence my interest in your great project. The main problem for me was the overall site, which lacks visual appeal - and the problem of dealing with trains under that roof.

That's starting to look pretty good. Just a few comments to polish things off...? I would lower the platforms. They would be quite low in early days. If you look closely at the interior shots, there appears to be a step down at all the doorways from the then current platform height - typical of early stations that have have their platforms raised. When the station was first built there would likely have been level access. Also, looking at the interior view after the track was lifted, the girders appear to protrude from the station walls a bit lower than you have drawn and still be visible right down to platform level, as if the stone side walls were built between the girders, not covering them entirely, All doors and windows along the side should have flat tops not rounded. Sorry for being picky!

It takes a lot of imagination, but I suspect from the aerial photos that the high glazed area at the apex of the roof didn't extend all the way from the end screens and the very ends of the roof, behind the end screens were a bit lower. Also, the east end screen profile looks lower than the west end. This image shows the way the west end sticks up above the roof best. Not sure what the dark patch in the middle of the roof is though - maybe a repair works of some kind. This is absent from the other aerial images. This photo also appears to show a distinct 'crease' where the roof changes angle. Another thing to be aware of, this early photo shows taller ornaments - maybe lamps? on the end towers - and a flag pole - and the ground level part of the facade looks different to later photos too. Notice the doorways are arched and there are 3 windows set in a solid (stone?) screen. This station is a real can of worms!

Britain From Above has a few distant images of the station, but the resolution is very poor. One suggests a strong shadow behind the facade, but not much else SPW019936 SCOTLAND (1927). Dundee, general view, showing King William IV Dock and Tidal Harbour. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north. | Britain From Above SPW019937 SCOTLAND (1927). Dundee, general view, showing Earl Grey Dock, King William IV Dock and Tidal Harbour. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north. | Britain From Above SPW019939 SCOTLAND (1927). Dundee, general view, showing Earl Grey Dock, King William IV Dock and Tidal Harbour. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north. | Britain From Above SPW042541 SCOTLAND (1933). Dundee, general view, showing Victoria and Camperdown Docks and Dundee Law. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north-west. | Britain From Above

and this

have you seen these?

Just a thought, but does the post-ww2 front screen follow more closely the overall roof profile? Comparing old and new photos earlier in this topic suggest the new screen is lower than the old one.

Have you looked at maps on the National Library of Scotland site. I think the have high resolution plans with interior detail in the town maps series.

The Midland borrowed M&GN tank loco(s) for a while, operating the Wirksworth branch IIRC - not sure if they ever got to Derby on a regular basis. I think the furthest west that proper M&GN trains got on a regular basis was Nottingham. I think some S&DJR locos were built at Derby, so would be seen there - if only briefly.

Not if the 40-odd pages on the Rails Terrier and the ones on the Hornby Terrier topics are anything to go by

The obsession with getting things absolutely right is very unhealthy IMHO. Much safer to model a line for which you can become the only real expert. The Hull & Barnsley is probably getting close - Lancashire Derbyshire & East Coast or some other obscure line that almost no one has even heard of might be even safer. Or some obscure Siberian line in the 1950s when anyone taking photos or information might not live to tell the tale, even if they could ever get that close?

Thanks, that makes the photos much easier to understand.

Could you publish a track diagram or scale plan of the layout please?

Bute Road/Cardiff Bay is another one - been continuously in a derelict state for many years

Liverpool Central was being demolished around the last train services

2 different bridge designs might be interesting and appropriate. The siding could be an original, rickety wooden or iron bridge and the main line upgraded at some point to steel girders.

Her's an interesting bit of pointwork from Sweden. I thought single blade turnouts went out with the Ark, but this one was in existence between the wars. No exact date though.

The Nucast kit is available again from South East Finecast and Branchlines. Might be a better bet.