stivesnick

There are not so many cement terminals left in the country. There is one at Dewsbury - link to google maps: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.6761597,-1.6241371,201m/data=!3m1!1e3 In N gauge - Walthers make a cement terminal that would be a good basis for a model https://www.nscaleamericantrains.co.uk/en/plastic-kits/31355-medusa-cement-company.html Regards Nick

Hi The sidings you have look a decent length so use as a stone terminal would be realistic. There are a number of short term flows of stone around the country when any available sidings are used, you just need a hard standing and open wagons are unloaded by a excavator. The train could be split in two to suit the siding length. The planned engine shed, might be better as a site for track plant and other maintenance wagons. Unless there is a major source of traffic nearby, small local depot would be difficult to justify. Having said that it's your layout so Rule 1 can apply. Regards Nick

I like the idea behind this layout. Normally city terminal model layouts are compact affairs so go to see a longer version, but still with single car DMUs. I am looking forward to updates. Regards Nick

Yes there should be lighting around the harbour promenade. The boats will come and go at all hours, often depending on the tide so lighting is needed to allow people to access their boats. Some low level bollards, say 1m high, would work although you will need more of them as each light will not cover a large area. Alternative would be some wall mounted fittings, either bulkhead lights or more traditional lanterns . The spacing would typically be 2-3 time the height from the walkway. I am not an expert on this, but the bridge may need navigation lights, either to indicate the height of the bridge or if there is a oneway system for the boats. Finally, worth having a look to see what Andrew P has done on his latest GWR layout to stop the light bleed from houses, especially onto the backscene. Regards Nick

Network Rail have just issued a document giving their response to East -West Rail. Some of their key recommendations to make the best use of the route, which by the way, they refer to as the East-West Mainline are: Electrification Extend passenger services beyond the core Oxford to Cambridge section to Bristol/Cardiff/ Southampton in the west and Ipswich/Norwich/Peterborough in the east. (new west/north curve onto the ECML) Milton Keynes to Old Oak Common service New east-north curve at Bletchley and more track between Bletchley and Milton Keynes for both passenger and freight connections. Freight potential for flows between Daventry and Southampton and Felixstowe and Felixstowe to South Wales. These elements can be done in stages but need to get key decisions right now on issues such as track around Cambridge, Bedford and Bletchley/MK to allow things to happen in the future. A lot will depend on how much capacity on the WCML is freed up by HS2. Regards Nick

Rather than try to reload all the pictures that have been lost as a result of the problems with this site, I have included a selection of the recent photos over the last 6 months to give a taste of the layout progress starting with an overall view. Most photos were on here before, but may be cropped in a different way. There are also a couple on new ones. Regards Nick

Totally agree. The legacy of Mrs Thatcher saying the people who use buses are failures many years ago still applies. Local Councillors and media reporters tend not to use buses so a low priority in the media. The benefit of having some big infrastructure is that it gets coverage during construction, for example "new bridge put in place" and you can have an opening which provides useful publicity. A new bus service tends to get little coverage and the bus companies do not appear to promote their services. The Government has its new bus fund available this year and will be interesting to see how this is used. Assuming you can get the drivers, a 30 minute frequency of direct buses between market town across the country and linking to railway stations should work. To bring the subject back on topic - does anyone know what bus links are planned between Buckingham and the new Winslow Station? Nick

Some photos taken yesterday on a visit to the route. A very deserted Bletchley Station - only Bedford services were running and at the site of the new Winslow Station. Nick

It has been a few months since I posted anything. A few extra details have been added, I will try to take some general photos later. I have been trying to weather the rolling stock, some attempts better than others - may need to weather the weathering to tone it down a bit. Photos of stock enclosed. Nick

As mentioned above, the railway industry has become very risk adverse. A railway station has a similar risk profile to say a shopping centre or a sports stadium. In reality the amount of paper work that is required on the railway to get something approved is many time greater. Nick

Here is the link to the new document setting basic railway safety principles: https://www.orr.gov.uk/sites/default/files/om/principles-for-health-and-safety-on-the-railway.pdf No obvious mention of gradients. A straight platform is also part of the risk assessment which is proving more of a problem for people wanting to reopen their local station which is on a curve. Regards Nick

I have seen similar "mini hills" alongside other recent infrastructure projects as well. I believe they are part of the biodiversity improvements by providing a suitable place for small animals to burrow into whilst keeping them above any flooding that might occur. Nick

Generally, each trip serves a single customer as they are on different routes, although the Middlewich trip also calls into Sandbach on the return to Warrington. So if there were different customers on a single branch line, they would be served by the same service. Nick

The North London Line was run using two car EPB units when they replaced the Class 501 stock. If you model the section from Stratford to North Woolwich you could also run some short trip freight trains from Stratford to the factories on the north bank of the Thames - there was some scrap and chemical traffic - usually Class 31 hauled. Nick

The best source of information on Enterprise freight services are the Freightmaster series of books published by Mark Rawlinson. The book was updated several times a year and provided details on most freight trains than ran in the country. I have most of the books, so if there is a particular question, I can take a look. The book lists the feeder services, so there was a regular timetable slot for them. In reality they may have run at different times or not at all depending on the traffic. Warrington was the main hub of the network and there were a number of scheduled feeder services each day to: Middlewitch, Sandbach, Runcorn, Ellesmere Port, Dallam, St Helens and Westhoughton. Nick

One possible route for these vehicles is the re-opened March to Wisbech line as an initial shuttle service until the Ely area upgrade scheme is done, which would allow through trains to Cambridge. Nick

The Class 117 and the signals look great - looking forward to seeing more updates. Nick

A group of rail industry companies has got together to build a prototype very light rail vehicle. Some initial funding has come from the Government. The aim is to cut costs to enable new railway lines to open. From the photos it is certainly not a new Parry People Mover nor a new Pacer! The vehicle which can seat 56 people is currently on a short test track at Ironbridge but could be moved to the Great Central Railway to allow for more extensive testing. Its not clear what impact strength it has so if it would be able to run on the mainline. My initial thought was that the capacity is not much more than a single deck bus so unless it could offer a much better journey time you would be better off with a bus - although a two car version would be possible. Link to company web-site: https://revolutionvlr.com/about/ There is a useful product brochure that is too large a file to load onto this site. Regards Nick

Andy I like the slight changes in colour and texture that you have achieved - it looks like summer dried vegetation. I would be tempted to remove some of the top finish to create some paths through the area - I would use a small screwdriver to do this an an unofficial track may only be a foot wide. Another point to consider is the contrast between the dried/dead vegetation by the river and the green hills behind it - I am trying to recall if I have ever seen such a contrast before. Regards Nick

If your looking for N gauge wagons, Hattons has a good selection of secondhand American wagons, nearly 200 on their web-site, although not so many are modern cars, but worth a look. Regards Nick

Hi Andy Looking at the two photos, I think the scene would be better without the platform. However if you do decide to keep the platform, it would look better as an extension to the goods shed, with perhaps the platform extending around the side to link up with the existing wooden platform. You would have to remove/change the doors on the goods shed to achieve this; a single large door on the non-platform side. As for the rest of the scene - as that area is close to the sea, a sand dune and beach huts or fishing sheds might be suitable. Nick

Hi Kevin If you have not seen it, the Ian Allan book "Railway Stations from the Air" includes a photo of Andover taken in 1924, part of the Aero Films collection. If you can't find the book, you might be able to find a copy on the Britain from above web-site. Regards Nick

Hi Andy The crane looks great. I have one to build for my layout, any other top tips welcome. Nick

Hi Andy Might be worth looking at pictures of Wimbledon station. The main building is at right angles to the tracks as your last photo. Although the area in front of the building is now a pedestrian area, it was once used as taxi drop off in the past. The main road is also at right angles to the tracks. Surrounding the station entrance are a number of other offices and shops ( it has changed over the years) which would create a view block on the sides of the half-relief station building. There are also a line of shops on the other side of the road. Nick

Here is the plan drawn up in N gauge but keeping the original sized boards. I have used small radius code 55 Peco points. The loop is over 2 feet long so you should get a decent 6 car freight train or say a 4 freight cars and a combine if you want to run a mixed train that was typical on many branch lines. There appears to be space for 4 industries (shown in blue) , a depot building (red) and another siding to act as a team rack. Hope this helps Nick Fairweather branch.pdf