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Sorted. And inadvertently corrected a misalignment that I didn't know I had! In other news, an NCE Powerpro is now on order. Time to man up and order some track...

Now I was sure I had accounted for that and have been managing in quiet contentment. However, now I look at the board I wonder if I have confused 'accounted for' and 'don't forget to account for'. I am also a little concerned that the words 'parliament hinges' appear to be unticked on the parts list. I think you may have saved me some later grief! Thanks.

Was the best shot of the peak really the one with the brick wall flying through the background? The beer and the scenery shots did at least distract me from the terrifyingly large number at the bottom of the spreadsheet calculating the cost of the trackwork. I have managed to make a small saving to that number by some re-adjustment of the track at the Crewe end of the station; I had previously removed a trailing crossover from the Chester end of the station, which allows the through platforms to commence some 600mm further right (which is to say North West), but I hadn't taken that into account at the other end of the platforms. The extra space means I have a less compact electric stabling point and can save on one, maybe even two, three way points.

I considered Scarborough as a possibe model when thinking about my own layout, but decided there were too many compromises to do it justice in 00 (plus Bachmann's class 85 would have been hard to justify). A really interestinhg place and lots of operational diversity with some great locos to choose from. I really like your attention to detail - where did you get the working timetables from? I'd love to pour over the ones for Chester and the North Wales Coast in the 1980's. I think the research element of the hobby is one of the most interesting parts and it's always great to find out that there's some great rolling stock opportunity you didn't previously know about. Looking forward to see this one develop. Andy

I really like this layout and the more I see it the more I like it. Along with Llanbourne it's been one of my inspirations for starting a layout of my own. I'm quite interested in the fiddle yards, particularly the reverse loops. What radius curves are you using and do you have any issues with stock? I know most ready to run stuff will comfortably negotiate down to R2 (440mm?), but wonder how that works in reality once stock is detailed, particularly to your standard. I want to stay at over 900mm on the visible sections and had 600mm in mind for the fiddle yards. I also have a thing about reverse loops ending up with first class coaches ending up at the wrong end of the train, although I guess at Waverley rakes turned up frequently in both directions due to the number of options to reverse between Kings Cross and Edinburgh. Alternatively I could have therapy for my OCD... Andy

Loving the latest pictures Pete, particularly the trans-pennine service. I remember just such a swap as I waited at York for a Scarborough - Bangor service, thrilled to see a 45/1 on the front, only to find it replaced by a 47. Not that I ever minded a 47, but in '86 I knew there wouldn't be many more chances. I've got a few photos of peaks on provincial liveried coaches, but don't think I ever saw the combination myself. I do recall a lot of odd liveried BGs on the front or back though. Is your 25 a Bachmann? Looking at mine the front windows look smaller than yours, but that could just be the camera, computer, angle or weathering! Andy

More progress to report and I'm pleased to say that all the scenic section baseboards, numbers 1 through 7, are now assembled. Below is board 6, which is where the lines from Chester and Warrington come in over the viaduct and where the diesel depot will be in the corner. The left side of this board also has some uprights for where the road will pass underneath. Most of the viaduct will be filled in - either with a retaining wall or used as small business lets - which allows for support under the 6mm ply board top and gives plenty of space for point machines. Careful planning was required to ensure that the road has a clear run underneath the railway avoiding any point motors. The next photo gives a better view of the road; the first recess to the left of the board is for point motors and the road gies through the next 'portal'. You can see another portal for a road to the right of the board at the start of board 7. I've allowed space for a Faller car system circle, just in case. The uprights are all vertical, despite the illusion of wonkiness in the photo! This view shows the station throat and the whole of the open plan baseboard section, I hope to be able to keep a nice smooth flow to the tracks coming in and splitting into the platforms. This shot is from above the tunnel portals, the double junction (Christleton North Junction) will be in the foreground, where the Chester and Warrington lines split. I've had to do some rearranging of the track layout here to avoid the hinged section splitting any points or crossings in two; I also wanted to avoid any point motors in the hinged section. There is space for a now redundant signal box on the left and possibly the remnants of a former engineer's yard. Fairly common during the electrification and resignalling programme on the West Coast was to leave former signal boxes in use as a ground frame, and I may use this here, although I want to avoid doing too much in too little space Finally, a view with the hinged section raised. It's a satisfyling snug fit, albeit relying on wooden interlocks. With 4 tracks across each join, I'll be looking for some form of metal guides and electrical interlocking to minimse derailment opportunities. The next steps will be to fit the metal alignment dowels and toggles to each of the boards. That will be followed by a final check of the track layout on the board tops before placing the order for the pointwork. It is also time to create some space for the fiddle yard, which means getting rid of the test layout - for a brief period at least, I'll have to organise a replacement bus service.

Board 5 is now constructed - something of a delay as I was on holiday on the footplate of a 45 (albeit the coal fired variety 45xx). It's starting to look a little bit like a model railway might appear now! Board 6 is up next, which needs the top either reprofiling or recutting as the curve isn't smooth enough, then it's the really tricky hinged board 7.

I really like that idea, and it's something I'd already given a little bit of thought to. The diesel shed is on the site of the old steam shed (I have wondered about a turntable or a former one, but space is too limited), which is predominantly for trains reversing in the terminal platform or yard. So I have landed myself a pleasingly believable problem that changing traction on through trains wouldn't have happened in steam days and now there are no facilities to do it. The answer is probably to go look at places where that really happened. I am going to sketch out the steam shed though, as that may help with my nagging doubt that it will look too conveniently like five sidings in the corner. You already have me musing an old steam shed with a low budget 70's diesel facility tacked on. Leeds Holbeck maybe?

More progress on the boards to report, with boards 3 and 4 now assembled. Board 4 has the first open plan section, which wasn't as challenging as I'd thought. It's the next one along that really opens out the scenery though. I did have some issues with the size of the board tops being slightly too big - it turns out the Victorian cellar wasn't built uniformly to tolerances of less than 1mm, so raising the board by 100mm meant it no longer fitted. I'll check the original warranty on the house, but you can guarantee I'll get no comeback from the builder! I have in my head how the boards are going to be fixed together, but I'm keen to hear any views. There are a couple of issues in that I have no access to the board undersides or farsides - and indeed board 3 is entirely landlocked. My intention is to use metal locating dowels on the board ends and to have some form of clasp on the board tops which will be hidden under buildings etc. Also, the camera is a great friend in keeping quiet about some issues with levels; board 2 has a distinct touch of the Lickeys that will need addressing! Tracklaying is another step closer though...

A bit more research over the weekend shows that this could have some interesting moves - and causes another headache in terms of insufficient electric loco stabling. I'm wondering if a centre road in the terminal platforms may be a solution.

Thanks Beast. Were the Stanlow tanks 4 wheelers or bogie vehicles?

I'd like to have a train running by Christmas, but it depends mainly on work and two small boys as to how much I can make progress. I already have the Larry Goddard book, which really helped cement all my ideas into place. I'll look out for the freight only book too, it's easy to forget just how varied the freight was as recently as the 80's. Large locos pulling a couple of vans about seems like it should have stopped 50 years earlier!

Thanks. The period took a lot of choosing - I wanted peaks and 40's, plus the new sectorisation liveries. I have an odd sense of prototypical - I don't mind a fictional location, but I want all the trains to be 'real' - without stretching the timelines too far.

A spare hour this evening has seen board 2 assembled. One of the simpler boards in theory, although the curved front proved to be trickier than I'd assumed - 9mm ply may wobble like a jelly when you carry it across the B&Q car park, but it's like an RSJ when you try to curve it along the front of the layout. Still, I'm happy with how it looks and it is nice and solid next to board 1. There's a bit of neatening up to do with the plane and sander before it's finished. Board 4 is the adjacent curved board, which will have to marry up to it and I'll need to see how that looks before making a final judgement. 2 down, 5 to go. This week I also got a copy of the excellent book 'Diesels in Mid and North Wales', which shows a Mossend to Dee Marsh steel train as well as a Warringtion to Dee Marsh speedlink service. This adds a new freight flow that I hadn't previously considered which involves both a reversal and a change in traction. I need to get the layout plan out again to see how this will work, as I hadn't planned on wiring the sidings. It also means I probably need to increase my electric loco stabling.

Pete, Superb 47s, which just reaffirm my love for your layout. The 3rd picture summarises perfectly what it is that I love - it's such a brilliant recreation of the real thing and yet you've done it with ready to run stock on Peco track. Achievable brilliance and therefore genuinely inspirational. Which manufacturer(s) do you use for your 47s (other than Brush)? They are the one loco class that I really can't make my mind up on which way to go. I think the Vi-trains version really captures the front end of a 47, but is hard to get hold of in the liveries I want, the Bachmann seems to have many issues (not least the window rivets) and even the old Lima model can be made to look good, although I guess its performance isn't up to modern standards. I've pretty much ruled out the old Hornby version! Also, when did the TPOs start to go into Royal Mail red? I'm also intrigued by your blue / grey TPO in the final shot, as I'd not realy considered them an option for my own 1986 timeframe, but I guess they must have been about. Once again though, great pictures. I'm looking forward to the next class! Andy

Today has seen the construction of board 1, which feels fairly momentous! The board is straightforward, being the only scenic board with 4 right angles. It's 6mm ply on top and 9mm ply round the edges framed with 18 x 34mm planed timber. At the moment there is no bracing, and some fairly rudimentary manual flexing of the board suggests that none will be required, although it may get some mid board support as those 16 wheeled Sulzers have a realistic weight about them. The first two pictures show the basics of the construction. Normally when I'm doing any kind of woodwork I like to glue and screw everything, but the forces involved in model railways don't seem to justify it, so it is all just screwed. I'll be interested to know what others think. The absence of glue does make future alteration more practical. The final photo shows the board in its intended location, complete with point templates and a class 37 in the electric loco stabling sidings - these will probably extend off the board slightly onto the first fiddle yard board, with a diagonal road bridge across the top. Just another 6 boards to go and then I can start to think about track laying. Or at least all the things I need to do before track laying, like cork, securing the boards together and wiring runs. Board 7 will require some though yet, as I've decided it definitely needs to be hinged. Luckily right in the middle of a double junction.... I'm hoping that if I drink enough ale during the construction of the next 5 boards, a moment of inspiration will provide an easy solution.

Good bit of gen that Peter. I often think the research is the most fun part of it all, although that's probably just because I'm staring down the barrel of a million screws to make the baseboards. 25s will certainly be on stand by, particularly to work a train forward to the coast. My station pilot will be an 08 most of time, with a 03 in the yard. Chester was the last place allocated an 03 I think, although it was just a paper based allocation by 1986 I suspect. I'm sure I've seen a picture of one at Chester in 86, but the lack of coupling rods is probably a bit more than cutting back on maintenance! I thought long and hard about overhead line as I considered semaphores too, but have a slight preference to capture the big power boxes built in the 70's with a large geographical relay interlocking. Most of the resignalling schemes on the LM left the old boxes as ground frames or similar - in fact I remember that all the Pendolinos when new where maintained in depots controlled by a mechinical box.

Peter, Thanks for your comments - you've doubtless spotted a few similarities to Llanbourne, which is definitely one of the biggest influences on not only my layout but also my rekindled interest in the hobby. Having devoured the hundreds of pages of Llanbourne, I've developed something similar and hopefully picked up on a few of your self confessed lessons or wishes if you could start again. All that said, progress would definitely be quicker if I stopped spending so much time reading about your layout and put some effort into mine! The 37/4 will definitely stay, I've become a real fan of it in the last few months. It will probably work a few trains as ex-works on a Crewe-Holyhead service. Having created and electrified a Crewe-Warrington loop on the WCML, I've also switched the point at which traction changes from electric to diesel, so I'm not sure if Crewe works will have to send the 37 up light engine (would they risk it?) or if it will take over at Crewe. I dare say the timetabling department will be sending me a memo on it, as they won't want to be building in allowances at two stations en route. I haven't yet found a picture of a 25 on passenger in 1986, by which time everything seemed to be a 47 except for the 33s and 45s. I have a couple of them on parcels though. Between us we have made the route an operators headache though, with two reversals in 40 miles. Although 3 different peaks between Manchester and Bangor would certainly be popular with haulage fans!

My focus has recently been on designing the baseboard frames, which is as straightforward as calculating the length by the width in some cases, but gets a little trickier in the open plan sections. I realised quite quickly that the height of the viaduct was key to setting the frame heights. My original intention was to make the frames with 100mm x 9mm ply, in part because it would be high enough for any point motors but mainly because I'm the sort of person that finds whole numbers reliably satisfying. My intention is that the raised section will look something like the viaducts between Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road. I wondered if 100mm might be on the low side for such an impressive structure, so tried guessing how high the viaducts might actually be. Guess work being engineering for the foolish, I thought it may be more practical to look at the Metcalfe viaduct kit, as there's a reasonable chance that that will be used by the main contractor. That kit is 132mm high, which is 33 feet, or just over 10m; that sounded quite high, particularly when I worked out that's even higher than a 3 storey house. With all this chance calculation, there was no course of action left but to actually measure the real thing. Fortunately the nice people at Google make such things easy these days, and street view soon provided enough images with items of a known height in the picture to work out the bridge deck is about 6.25m off the floor. Which is 82mm. By coincidence, I was planning the lower frames to be made out of 18 x 34 mm timber, meaning the main board frames will need to be 100mm high. The outcome is the same, but it now feels like a gratifyingly engineered number, and even more satisfying. Anyway, to make sure the thing will look about right, because there's no point being correct but looking horrible, I cut some 82mm blocks and placed one of the boards on them to get a feel for it. The first shot shows a new 25 (in need of some love in the handrail department), with a Metcalfe terrace of shops just shown for context. The shops are actually where the road will be, so if they do end up there we can expect some form of heated debate between client and contractor. I can never resist lining up a few more bits of stock,just to see what things will look like. The 37 and 45 are on shed, which almost certainly won't be the Metcalfe one. Another shot, in which you can see the curve, although only loosely in place, isn't really all that smooth. There's sort of a kink in the board caused by curved point geometry. I will have a play with the flexi track and templates, but I think this board may get re-cut.

Wednesday evenings, or Model Railway Wednesdays as they are correctly known, tend to see the best progress of the week. Tonight I cut out the last 3 scenic baseboard tops. The first picture shows the Crewe end of the layout, which is the main station area. I've managed to resist the temptation to undermine the 3 storey chimney breast and the baseboard narrows a little here. To the left are the first of the point templates which show where the scenic section will start with a simple divergence into 4 roads, with a couple of sidings for electric loco stabling. The second photo shows the raised section, which will be on viaduct / retaining wall, with the diesel shed in the background. To the right is the entrance to the Warrington and North Wales fiddle yards. I've only had the board loosely in place for 30 minutes and I've already decided I don't like bending down to go underneath it! Next job is to get the templates back on the baseboard tops and start drawing out the baseboard frames, trying to avoid point machines whilst still giving some much need strength to the tops.

It's been a little while since I posted any progress, but that's not to say there hasn't been any. The volume of empty ale bottles in the recycling bin gives only a hint of the amount of talking that has been done! The fundamental track layout has remained unchanged, although the station throat has undergone several iterations trying to get it right. I've also sketched out the fiddle yard, which was a lot more complicated than I'd anticipated - essentially I want 3 terminal fiddle yards, with sidings so locos can get on the other end of the train without the need for any manual handling, but I also want a number of roads with a through connection, to allow trains to go endlessly round. The first photo shows the revised layout, including the placement of locos and coaches to check that the platforms are long enough. The lining paper shows where the trackbed will be raised above the adjacent areas With the paper tinkering phase over, the first 4 baseboard tops have been cut, which feels like quite a momentous step. They are cut from 6mm ply using lining paper as templates. I cut each one and then fiddle with the adjacent templates to get a good fit. Once I've done the 7 which will form the scenic side, the framing will be built up. This will be fairly complicated, as having kitchen units under the baseboards rather than conventional legs means access for wiring etc. will be limited, combined with 4 of the boards being open plan. Once I have the front boards finished I will undertake a final check of the track layout and make the big order to Marcway for points - I think there are nearly 40 of them! The second shot shows the first 4 board tops; they'll eventually sit about 100mm above the sub-board, which should give clearance for whatever point motors I choose and allow the incoming lines to be raised on a viaduct, similar to Manchester Oxford Road. Away from the layout build, I've also been to see the nice folks at DCC supplies near Worcester and had a play with their comprehensive selection of DCC controllers on their test layout - the NCE power cab currently looks like a winner. The rolling stock fleet continues to grow too, another peak has found its way here and will shortly be joined by a 25/2 (doubling the fleet of locos without 16 wheels...).

There's been quite a lot of theoretical work since Kevin's (Rivercider) post, with some rework to the track plan. I briefly experimented with Templot, but decided that's for people with a lot more free time, plus I'm never likely to make my own track! I struggled to work through a number of movements on the laptop screen before deciding that I much prefer to work at 1.76 scale. I've therefore run out some lining paper and using the Marcway templates and some lengths of Peco, I've started to build up what it will really look like. The Peco will eventually form part of the fiddle yard - I have a couple of lengths of Exactoscale fast track bought by a friend - there's no doubt it looks better (although I need words with him about the '30 seconds' to assemble) and should be a better match for the Marcway points. The revised track plan has a number of alterations to it: 1. I realised I couldn't terminate a train on the Up Main, to reverse when running Warrington to Holyhead. As the terminal platforms are of limited length, any summer excursion trains will need to run round in the through platforms. This means the crossover has moved from the platform area to the station approach. 2. I wasn't happy with the loco stabling. The original plan had locos reversing 4 or 5 times to get from stabling to train, plus the electric stabling was a facing point from the Up main, which didn't really look right. Moving all the stabling to the free corner will also allow me to have the track raised above the scenic area, with a curved retaining wall at the front of the layout. The loco stabling also offers the option of some half relief engine sheds; I like the idea of the diesels being in a run down former steam shed, but with some modern stabling for the electrics. 3. I have also added some more sidings. These still need some work as I would like a speedlink yard and possibly a couple of engineers' sidings. The first picture shows the track for the 4 through roads in the station. It's important to get this curve right as it really dictates where the rest of the station fits. As ever with model railways, it's a compromise between radius and available space. Also shown in the shot is Christleton's new arrival in platform 3 - a flush fronted peak, found by amazing chance on eBay (I must have searched just seconds after it went on and luckily 'buy it now' was available). The 45 is where the platform ends of the two main bay platforms will be (3 & 4). The next shot shows an overview of the station area - the buildings are just to give a feel for size, they won't form part of the final layout. The sidings at the back are all reachable, although probably not enough for 3 link couplings to be practical. The final photo gives an overview of the station throat; I still have some work to do to get the pointwork to flow in a realistic manner. There is still a little playing around to do before I'm brave enough to order the points and cut the baseboard tops. In the meantime I'm sat by the letterbox waiting for a Howes sound chip to arrive! Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Thanks, exactly the kind of questions I was hoping for. The version of the plan shown in the original post is about iteration 5, and crucially not all my intended moves have been run through theoretically on this version, so you've highlighted some issues.. Most of my iterations have been about getting the electric to diesel loco switch to work in each direction and how to get the trans-pennines to reverse without locking up the whole layout. The current version of the plan works well for passenger and parcels workings, but is less satisfactory for engineering and speedlink trains. One thing that laying the templates out has shown me is that there is more space at the front of the layout than I thought and also in the corner opposite the station, both are now possible siding spaces. The area currently marked as parcels is something of a modeller's trap, being 1600mm from front to back corner. Only Pratchet's librarian will be reaching that far on a regular basis. Currently you could walk on the sub-boards (there's a height restriction, not a weight one), but the main boards will probably be much lighter in construction,so the back corners need some thought. Linked to this is couplings; I am probably going to go down the kadee route, which makes remote coupling possible, but I don't really think they look right on freight stock. All terminal platforms will be awkward for access to uncouple locos due to station roofing and canopies, so some form of auto-uncoupling is essential. The next version of the plan will therefore have to think about some more sidings, and take into account how I'm going to uncouple stock. I'm reluctant to lose the space at the front of the layout as I would like the running lines to be higher than their surroundings. I'd love to justify a 56, but have only seen photos in about the '83 period you mention. I remember them on MGR workings crawling through stations and then making a great noise accelerating hard when they got the road, something that should be possible at Christleton. I dare say with sound, a pair of 20s will be an acceptable substitute! Having received a sound class 40 as a present, I invested in the Bachmann sound starter set (just so I could hear the 40!), which comes with an RETB fitted 37/4. This would be seemingly inappropriate for the layout, however I have a picture of a couple of the same class running along the coast in 1986 on the Crewe test train, but I think that's the only 'regular' working of 37s in that period. It's quite hard to believe as they seemed to be absolutely everywhere at the time. Empties to red bank would be interesting, as they should reverse at Christleton. The terminal platforms being too short means that they would have to do this on the through lines, possibly picking up a couple more empties from the yard (courtesy of an 03...).

I did, and isn't it? Me and a 2 year old very happy with them. He'd worked out it was trains even before opening the package. He's going to have to learn to keep his excitement levels quieter if we're not going to give the whole game away to Mrs 61656!