Southwich

That is absolutely excellent! Haven’t come across that site before - thanks for sharing :) Kind regards, Will

My plan is to have a few TransRail locos Rob - a tractor and a grid me thinks! Mainly will be EWS though given the phasing out of locos 2003/4 ish. Kind regards, Will

Looking excellent Will! Love the cutaway warehouse. Looking forward to seeing the traverser wiring and further updates! Kind regards, Will

That’s exactly my thinking! Although the mid 2000s is my era so I can easily justify the Enterprise services. @Nick-L very kindly scanned the articles for me - some great photos of Pensnett! Kind regards, Will

Very nice Rich! Now following the thread - looking forward to more Will

Hi Sam, It’s a small town in the Midlands - see link to Google maps below: Pensnett Trading Estate https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q5qNej7XyxWMNkqF8?g_st=ic Kind regards, Will

Thanks Caz! Hoping to have some trains running soon Thanks for your comment Paul - that’s what I was thinking! Glad to see I’m not going completely mad! Need to have a look at local place names/road names Nearly there with sleeper laying now - time to get some rails glued down! Kind regards, Will

Pensnett - P4 Mid 2000s: Having had a change in circumstances over the past few months at the moment my Temple Mills planned layout is taking a backseat for a while as I’m not sure how much space I’m going to have going forward. So following the sale of Motts Lane last year I’ve been wanting to get another layout built that I can operate at home and will allow me to run my mid 2000s stock. To that end I’ve come up with the following objectives for the proposed layout: - P4 with 5+ points to show I can reliably build points/stock that work, - not over 10ft long as I want to complete the project relatively quickly, - Allow me enough operational interest that I don’t get bored and it could be exhibited if the opportunity arises. - Based on a real location - Allows me to model prototypical trains The prototype: Based on the above points my chosen prototype is Pensnett - as a “what if” it survived into the Mid 2000s under EWS Enterprise. I have included some fantastic photos linked through to Flickr below: The location is also neutral enough that I could easily run it in an 80s/90s era if appropriate stock from others is done. The model - progress so far: Based on Tim’s fantastic 5ft x 2ft boards the first step I’ve taken (which I usually fall foul of!) is to complete the boards first. The boards were assembled, levelled and then sealed first with primer and then satin black so then I could see exactly where the spots that weren’t covered were. The next stage which @Rammstein2609 and I have debated for a while was lighting. I wanted to get this in place before I start to ensure whilst I work on the layout it’s properly lit. My main objective was to avoid shadows unnecessarily and to ensure the layout was evenly lit. I’ve ended up going with Screwfix industrial lighting panels and I’m really impressed! Three photos of the installed panels below: Track: I have prebuilt 6 of the 9 scenic points and have another 3 to build. A big thanks to Martin @Rammstein2609 for his help etching the Templot into the ply track base - this has worked exceptionally well! A few photos of the track base below with 37422 for size: And this is the latest update: 3 points have been glued down to the base and the majority of the sleepers have now been laid. Over the weekend I’m hoping to make some headway into the rail laying on the plain sections/sidings. Droppers will be soldered on using the excellent palatine models etched droppers as I go along and wired up using components from RK electronics (https://www.rkeducation.co.uk/electronics-for-model-railways-112-c.asp) I’m still unsure on the name of the layout as to keep it as Pensnett or to change it to something else given it’s a “what if” layout. Any suggestions on this would be much appreciated. Any overall suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated - hopefully more progress to come shortly. Kind regards, Will

Another +1 for Mr Finishing Surfacer! Excellent stuff - love the 1500 Black. Thanks to @Nick-L for the recommendation! Kind regards, Will

You’ve done a nice job on them but IMO the VITrains 37 doesn’t need Brian’s etches - just LaserGlaze. Here was my first attempt using a VITrains tractor with LaserGaze: Back on topic - a quick desk pic of the two new ones - this area is much nicer on the new one I think (although probably would benefit from some new glazing): Looking forward to converting these to P4 and weathering them! Kind regards, Will

Completely agree with your observation on this - once laserglazed the VITrains one looked a lot better than the old Bachmann one. Saying that the new Bachmann one has nailed the windscreen area, and I’m certainly in the camp of paying extra to have this spot on. I think Laserglaze would help further improve this area, but I’d much rather have separate noses to have this area spot on and not need to cut the front off and apply Brian’s etches! Looking forward to more 37s over the coming months. Kind regards, Will

Having purchased 37422 from DEMU today I have to say I’m really impressed. Having spent hours upgrading the old model with Shawplan/3D printed parts I’m very much considering the future of these locos now - the new tooling has nailed the characteristic look of the cab front windows far better than any 37 previously. The subtlety of the cab windows and the associated join line is seriously impressive. Well done to Bachmann for nailing this - superb model! Kind regards, Will

A few photos of the 3D prints: Kind regards, Will

Hi Dave, Sorry completely missed this! Thanks for the kind words. I certainly hope so on the background but Sod’s law my calculations were a bit out so the track at the back of the layout is going to be a bit tighter than planned. Will have to come up with a solution to sort that I think. Thanks for the post Rob - nothing really unfortunately as a puppy and work has got in the way. I’ve obtained 3 of the original scale drawings/plans for the shed so I need to redraw the building and track plan before I can start building track. I’ve mainly been working on stock (perfecting my approach to 37s) so hopefully when I do make some progress the layout won’t look completely empty! Im hoping over the winter I can really crack on with the project. Thanks for your continued interest - there will be some progress soon hopefully! Kind regards, Will

Stunning as usual James! That 90 looks stunning. Look forward to catching up at the weekend at showcase? Will

I’ll also post general news and updates on this thread - yesterday’s update was as follows: Two types of Pickering Walkways for Bachmann TTAs have been restocked. Links to order can be found below: https://www.willsworkbench.com/shop/p/tta-pickering-walkway-tt088k-large-platform-4mm-sm42d https://www.willsworkbench.com/shop/p/tta-pickering-walkway-tt043-end-ladder-4mm-sm44d Kind regards, Will

Thanks Will very kind! Thanks Rich - looking forward to seeing the kits ordered being completed!

Hi all, Hope you are well. Just wanted to put a post on to say I’ve taken on both the Stenson Models and DRD transfer ranges. https://www.willsworkbench.com/shop The full Stenson range is available to order on the link above. The first range of DRD Transfers (sector/triple grey class 60s) is also available to order. More loco numbers will be added to the range in the coming months - so would appreciate any suggestions! Any questions please let me know! Will

A few bits progressing over the last few months, but in the last week I’ve been focusing on units: First great eastern pairing of the 312 (southern pride kit) and the 321 (Bratchell Models kit). The 321 is nearly all assembled but just needs work finalising the bogies, there is a lot of moulded plastic to remove! The 312 needs a lot more fettling to get together so will be more of a slow burner. I’m trying to get projects to a painting stage so that later in the summer I can have a mass painting day. More to come on both projects over the next few weeks hopefully! Kind regards, Will

Thank you very much - well received. Don’t worry I’ll put an invoice in with the parcel for the extra amount when I send it 😝 Will

https://www.willsworkbench.com Site now live. Let me know if anything is broken/doesn’t work as I would thoroughly appreciate any feedback! There are a few items out of stock but on the whole the range is ready to be ordered now. Kind regards, Will

Yes absolutely - discount code will be PM’d to you and will add an extra 10% on at check out 😜 Only kidding - all being well the site should be up and running by the end of the weekend. I can only apologise it’s taken so long but I want to get it right first time and there’s been a lot of products to add! Kind regards, Will

New site will be up soon - it’s taken ages to get up and running but nearly there now. Hoping it’ll be up by the end of the bank holiday weekend. Hope that helps! Will

No worries Jerry - thanks very much! Will

90019 looks really nice Jerry - very nice job. What did you use for the OLEOs at the non-pan end? Also looking to change mine. thanks in advance, Will