Tomsontour

So could In theory lose the cross over all together? Yeah the platforms need to be shortened they were just placed to give an idea of how it would look with a station present. Timber yard could be interesting to consider Many thanks again Matt

Surrey Hills plan 1 track with station minus fiddle yard BACKUP by Matt Toms, on Flickr Afternoon All, Now added a head shunt for the sidings, with the cross over would it be better the other way around? and a bit more greenery. Taken away the fiddle yard for now, but what do we think? As to the baseboard sizes, I could add another 4 by 2 board on each side to increase the length to 16 by 4, but I don't want to run before I can walk, but I cant see why this cannot be added at a later date. the reason I have gone for the larger radius curves, simply as I wish to add the steps and details to the locos and I love the idea of having flowing curves, something id never be able to do in OO. Looking at Dorking Town it looks a very modellable (is that even a word?) station, will certainly do some more research into this one Thanks again all Matt

Surrey Hills plan 1 track with station by Matt Toms, on Flickr Firstly gents thank you very much for your replies Okay taking on board a few of the comments I have now added a station in, being the surrey hills the average passenger services were around 4-5 coaches so the station its self doesn't need to be huge. I haven't done this to scale yet just added to get a feel on how it will be added into the layout. Scene one. A little bit of background, although there is no actual viaducts on the Reading to Redhill line, my uncle who was also planning a N gauge layout, who sadly lost his battle to cancer a few months back, he always wanted a standout viaduct scene on his layout, and as he left all his model railway stuff to me I want to include this somewhere on my layout. Again very much rule one, but just be a nice touch to the layout he never got round to building. The idea here is to have a viaduct on the curve with a river running underneath, with maybe a pub or something on the banks called Malcolm's Inn or something like that, just a heavy nod to the man that got me interested in railways and had a huge part to play in my life. But should allow some nice scenery around this area Station area I've included two sidings with a cross over for stuff to be able to get from the up line across. A small good shed or local sidings could possibly go in here? a level crossing has been added at the far end. You'll see the road carries across the whole scene linking the two scenic breaks, with various buildings, possibly a farm with stables somewhere in the scene, keeping the rural surrey hills theme going on. I think the key for me is having a train running through the scenery, which is very much achievable with N gauge. Scenery is my main interest with model railways and something I really want to go to town with with this layout The fiddle yard, this will no doubt change, but with four roads on the up and down I should be able to hold some good sixed rakes in there. Once again thank you gents for the feedback Best wishes Matt

Hi imt, Yes the layout will mainly be put back down when not in use, sadly I don't have the space to keep it up at all times. This is the idea behind taking out on the road one day. And it's a first draft in scarm, there is room for stock to move between them, have had it full scale on the laptop and placed a few items on there

Many thanks for replying mate, Dimentions of the layout are 12 feet by four feet, on 4 feet by 2 feet boards The layout will have to go away when not in use, as to what i want from the layout, mainly to run trains and get a feel of what the Reading to Redhill was like out in the Surrey Hills, so mainly focused on the scenery for this one, its a model railway and running some sort of timetable i guess could be interesting, but on the whole its to have somewhere to showcase just what you can achieve in N gauge, and give the locos a good run out on the sort of stock seen in the Surrey Hills (although already have a king on order from DJM, and have a Farish Merchant Navy, rule one ) All the best Matt

Evening all Okay so i'm planning a new layout, an N gauge look into the Surrey Hills, from the 50's through to the 60's. The Graham Farish N class was the first toe in the water and completely blew me away on just how far N gauge has come in recent years, now the collection has grown considerably this year, more of this when i start a layout topic. But as you will see from the layout it is a very basic loop, the idea to hopefully one day take it on the road. Anyways please see below for a first draft plan on the layout. Surrey Hills plan 1 track by Matt Toms, on Flickr Now im hoping the curves will be kind enough to run the locos with all the detail parts on the locos? the fiddle yard maybe a tad extreme but as mentioned I hope to take this on the road at somepoint. I'm unsure if to add maybe a station on the middle board, what do you reckon? Any feedback would be awesome All the best Matt

Blimey didnt see this one coming, fair play guys! i think this one might be a bit of a push down on the Surrey Hills haha, look forward to seeing the progress though on this one, and potential N gauge items that you might be doing in the future, good luck with it guys All the best Matt

60009 Union of South Africa Sunset by Matt Toms, on Flickr Sometimes it all just comes together 60009 in full flight, whatever happens to the old girl, thank you for the memories and thank you Mr Cameron for making them possible

A BR green model interest expressed looking forward to it sitting alongside a blue king Matt

Gentleman thank you so much for all your advice, I'm going to make a start tomorrow, seeing all your efforts and reading your posts have given me the confidence to give it a go, will take my time and see how I get on I'll report back tomorrow hopefully with some progress All the best Matt

Many thanks for the reply what size screws do you use as I thought screws might end up splitting the plywood?

Afternoon everyone Looking to start a fresh layout, N gauge based on a section of the Reading to Redhill line, dubbed the Surrey Hills. Anyways as we all know the baseboard is vital for a solid base and the foundations of a good start. I've been thinking though, the boards will be 3 foot by 2 foot, and a few of them! Doing some thinking, could I make the whole baseboard out of 9mm ply, would this be strong enough, as I know it would be very lightweight. I will be bracing around every foot, glued and nailed, as I'm not sure 9mm ply would take screws for the framework. So basically if anyone has done this before and is in a position up offer any advice this would be fantastic Many thanks in advance Matt

Another visit down this morning to Alton, came away with the Farish N class, what a lovely little model. Once again top service from Paul. Must admit I find him a lot more approachable then his old man used to be, but maybe that's just me. No doubt see you next month, once again a very happy customer All the best Matt

Many thanks Dave so fourth radius should be fine? Matt

Sorry Dave I may have missed this but radius are you expecting the front bogie without the coupling to run through? Sorry for the blonde question, c'mon ladies and gents let's get this project closer to the finishing line All the best Matt

Them birdcages look lovely! Look just the job on my reading to redhill planned layout, although maybe just one set at the price

6023 in blue ordered I highly doubt they ever got to on the reading redhill line, but hey rule one cannot wait to see this Dave, c'mon guys everyone needs a king All the best Matt

Now sadly out of ticket but we were lucky enough to get a bit of on-board footage on the SDR while 3205 was still running Part 1 Part 2 Hope you enjoy a spin along the dart with 3205 for company, hopefully more to come in the future All the best Matt

Popped in today after work, awesome service from Paul. Couldn't see what I was after in the cabinet, which by the way looks a lot tidier and easier to browse. Asked if he had any Dapol manors in stock in br green, few moments later he comes from the back with 7810, test ran the model for me, worked a treat. But superb service, I shall be down next month to raid the debit card again Top work Paul keep it up buddy Matt

Many thanks Phil time to do more then one then All the best Matt

Kevin this is simply stunning! Beautiful use of the space and a great few cameos from it, certainly raised the bar with this one sir All the best Matt

Hello all Thought I would throw my hat into the ring with this one, I'd very much class myself as a beginner but I do enjoy having a go. Will be using this as a good opportunity to learn some new skills, something I'm looking forward too. Looking at others on here and wow they are simply inspiring, keep up the stunning work guys! But you only realise once you have the diobase in front of you just how small the area is, so kudos to everyone for making their scenes look a lot bigger then they seem. I originally got the wills pub kit, yeah that'll fit I thought.... wrong! Haha. Base is made from foamboard, standard size from hobbycraft, the ratio occupation crossing will be used with possibly a grounded van in the background. Ignore the tilly van it's just to give me an idea if the scene works Can't seem to get the photos the right way round, apologies for the sore necks All the best Matt

Gents do we have a completion date for this yet? Just gone and got some foam board to knock up a small base for this got a few ideas doing the roads

Certainly will be an impressive model when all signed off, raise the bar gents

Does this help at all 60007 head on at Didcot:)