stivesnick

Thanks I spent a lot of time looking at various photos trying to get the idea of a city terminal, so glad it reminds you of something. Nick

Hi The layout was due to attend the Spalding Model Railway Exhibition this weekend. The Club has put on a Virtual Exhibition - I have contributed some pictures of the layout plus a description of how the layout was built. Link is here: https://www.spaldingmodelrailwayclub.org.uk/virtual-exhib-2020/ There are 3 other American layouts featured. Do virtual exhibitions work for you? I found the short video clips without any explaination a bit limiting. Regards Nick

Thanks Gordon Good point, will gave that some thought. Nick

3 weeks since the last update. The wiring has been completed, and after the usual swoping a few wires over, it all works! The Dapol magnets (10 of them) for the automatic uncoupling have been fitted. I have knuckle couplers, both the Dapol and the Microtrains versions on layouts before, so I know they can work extremely well. However this has been with American or UK modern stock. Not tried using the magnets with 10 foot wheelbase stock before. I was thinking of using the wagons in groups of 2 or 3. Given there are only two sidings for freght traffic, so should not be too much of a limitation. What do people think? Scenery wise, the parcels dock has gone in and the retaining walls and cliff faces at the town end have been embeded in. At present it looks like a sow storm has hit the town, so very much work in progress. Not 100% convinced by the interface between the cliff and the stone wall in the last photo, so any comments welcome. Progress photos below. Nick

My experience of Wimbledon Staff Halt from many years ago, was that any train could stop there to drop off/pick up staff. Staff would contact the signal box and then wait on the platform at Wimbledon for the next stopping train which would then get diverted onto the fast line to stop at the halt. Would it have been used by train crew working the Wimbledon - West Croydon service, before it was converted to tram operation to get to/from the depot? Nick

Hi I would be tempted to put the additional siding on the other side of the passing loop so you avoid the diamond crossing. A continous run is useful sometimes, for running in as you say or just sitting back a watching the trains go by. Assuming that model railway exhibitions return, were you intending to exhibit the layout? If so the continious run might come in handy to keep something moving whilst you sort out some stock in the staging yard. Nick

Model Junction have a range of kits - but hurry the shop may close at the end of the month. https://www.modeljunction.info/42-kits-plastic Nick

Hi Steve The new buildings look great, and are part of an impressive set of modern buildings. Have you got any ideas for how to model that mechanical ventilation and cooling plant that would be on the roof of these buildings? On the final grey building, perhaps the top floor that you have clad in brick would be the plant space - so areas of louvres would be suitable.

Thanks Nick Now that you mention it, the use of lower case letters at that time make sense. The Local Town Council has demanded the sign be changed and the sign writers have been contacted, Nick

Work has started on two more buildings. The first building are the homes part way up the cliff - its a standard Gaugemaster / Kestrel house kit - the old change to the kits is to replace the rainwater down pipe with a thinner unit. Looking at the photo, there is a bit of paint touching up to be done. The second kit is a Petite Properties Harpers Yard card kit. Green Scene textured paint finish and a Redutex sheet roof. Rainwater goods to be added. Not sure about the sign, looks a bit too modern. What do people think? Nick

The same approach would apply to the back of the layout. Lots of layouts have a row of shop fronts. The rear of shops and offices would be more common, with storage, parking and delivery areas. Nick

David Looks an interesting layout. I would be tempted to move the crossover to the end of the platform. At present the signal to protect the crossover would be under the station building and part of the platform unusable . A relocated crossover would allow for a train to be in the platform on the top through line, whilst another train passed around it using the crossover. Regards Nick

The round round tracks are very short and not really suitable for modern wagons. The plan on your 18 September post looks the most realistic and would provide a good amount of shunting. I woudl suggest that you try adopting this to suit the reduced width, by shorterning the diagonal tracks or turn it into a flatter design by having the loop parallel to the board edge. It would be worth looking at the lengths of typcial wagons that you might use against the standard lengths of track to see what will work. I suspect you may be limited to 4 wheel wagons rather than say modern bogie tank cars or container wagons. Hope this helps Nick

Simon Looks an intresting idea - good luck with future progress Nick

Hi There are many examples of small layouts of the type you are looking for in this Forum. This can help select a track plan, and you can then change the industry to suit your wishes. If your looking for prototype examples - how about these, although you may need to imagine that the traffic lasted a few years longer to keep with your time frame: Workington docks - Used for local paper/board industry - tank cars of chemicals in, vans for finished product. Has also been used for coal, steel and perhaps nuclear products (although most went via Barrow docks) - its your railway. Waterloo Goods - Aberdeen or Raith Farm sidings just up the road in Dyce. China clay slurry but other general traffic as well. A good selection of photos from these sites on the internet. Nick

Would it be possible to support the "underground" section on a L shaped bracket that would allow you to lay the track on the trackbed and then slide it into position? There would still be the issue with the connection to the track on the ramp, but it would remove some of the problems. Nick

Been working on the cliffs and platforms this week. As mentioned in a previous post, the cliffs are formed from Chooch Enterprises rubber sheeting. I brought them at at exhibition some time ago, I can't remember which stand. They are easy to cut with a sharp blade. A bit of best Poundland interior ready mixed filler was used to hide the joint. Painted grey as a base colour then other colours added later. The platfroms are based around Peco stone platform edging. I assumed that the platform was extended by a coach length at some time to cater for the holiday traffic. The extension was assumed to have a sleeper front (2mm Slaters planking sheet) held together with sections of rail (plastic C section). The platform itself is 1mm card. Finishes to be added later. The road surface has been added, again from 1mm card and some filler used to start to blend everything in. Progress photos enclosed. The space for the signal box is looking a bit tight, was there a minimum distance the signal box should be from the running rail? I need to allow space for a Dapol signal between the platform end and the signal box.

How does the Class 17 loco run? Hopefully more realiable than the prototype! Nick

Go for option 1 Not all businesses had their own siding even in the 1930s. The lack of track, will enable you to create a more extensive yard outside the warehouse with sheds and more clutter etc. Regards Nick

Hi The goods shed looks great. Just one problem, how would users get the goods out? The back of the shed is very lose to the main line, so it appears little or no space for a delivery vehicle. In a way, it would be better to swop the goods shed and engine shed around to give more space around the later building. Nick

A productive afternoon with some sheets of polystyene, a saw and a hacksaw blade. With the most of the buildings underway, an opportunity to get a impression of the finished layout. There is room for another set of workers cottages to g behind the pub. The large white card block will be another hotel. Regards Nick

David That is a very impressive station building and I like the concept for the layout. Thinking about the baseboards, did you consider some additional bracing? The boards look quite large and so coul dbe subject to twisting in the long term. Regards Nick

Hi York Modelmaking produce stained glass windows for OO scale ( and other scales as well) £4.00 a sheet. They also do a range of church windows if you need them. https://yorkmodelrail.com/shop/00-scale-ho-scale/church-windows-00-scale-ho-scale/printed-acetate-stained-glass/ Regards Nick

Whilst waiting for Colbalt point motors to re-appear I have started work on the scenic side. First up is the high level road at the back of the town. The basic frame was created from off-cuts of wood. To add interest, the road is on a gradient, so additioal bits of MDF were added to create the bases for the buildings. Steps up to the houses are cut from the Kestrel / Gaugemaster footbridge kit. I have also added stone walls using Slaters embosed sheet. The original walls followed the line of the road but didn't look right, so were replaced by walls with the tops parallel to the houses - I think that looks much better. The walls need to be painted. The next part of the mock up is a cliff face using Chooch Enterprises rubber molded sheet. This also needs painting and will be cut toto smaller sections to allow for some ledges and gullies etc. Any recesses will be filled in with more stone work to create a more even surface for the road. Finally some views across the town to asses the overall effect. Nothing stuck down yet but happy with the progress so far.

Trying to set up youtube account.... Nick