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Scenic work continues. A very light touch round with some very thin matt black paint to tone the very new looking ballast. The holding pins mentioned above are more evident here. The coffee and sand mix looks ok here. I’ll use this where I want the vegetation to be thinner. Round at Chester Junction some grass has been added. This is the first pass, with some static grass to follow. The canal towpath has Miliput edging stones (the real ones are staggeringly big - must have been some effort to move). The towpath is sand and coffee, awaiting a lot of weeds either side of a lightly used towpath (it’s 1986). There’s a little grass added in the vee of the junction too. The station pilot runs past the new undergrowth with an oil wagon. There’s a hint of a model railway here! I need to build some kind of structure to reduce the light in the fiddle yard.

In a game of ‘how long can I ignore that for’, I crashed out spectacularly after about 6 hours… Before: After: The kink was pretty small, but quite noticeable in low angle photos. Two nails are temporarily holding the track in place in the lower photo.

I considered either derailers or wide to gauge traps. I couldn’t think of a prototype for derailers, they tend to be in obscure places! Having spent a lifetime inadvertently annoying operators, I will list to reason and allow locos to stable on the shed that’s 50 yards away.

The layout has had quite a bit of viewing and operation over the last few days, with the Severn Valley’s massive diesel gala on over the weekend, quite a few friends have been over to see it. I’m pleased to say that both layout and rolling stock were all well behaved. The timetable is holding up well too; so far no express trains have been sent hurtling into occupied fiddle yard roads. I’ve also managed to grab an hour or so to progress the scenery. Tonight I filled in various areas lacking ballast, mainly around the new cutting and bridge, but also around the station platforms where they were altered. The first picture shows the 07.46 7P23 (I think) Tue Brook to Penmaenmawr ballast empties. The 25 has just run round ready for departure. This is an odd move in the middle of a lot of DMU work. All 3 platform ends have new (and not yet dry) ballast work. Further down and a view from the holding road. The ballast has been extended out to the bridge parapet on the right. On the left the cess is a bit wider, so that will be vegetation. You can’t really see this view when operating, but you can see quite clearly into White Lane sidings and the roads curving round to the Holyhead yard. The tracks are all level, it’s just a photographic effect that makes the GUVs look to be on a slope. Finally, the curves round to the Warrington exit. The ballast has been replaced widened, particularly on the right. On the left is an experimental area of ‘soil’, a mix of dry sand and dry coffee grounds. On the near left you can just see that a slight slope has been added from the track up to the retaining wall. Oddly the matt brown has dried matt on the left, but not the right! The ballast dirtying train is due out soon. Finally, for those with too much time on their hands, I did forget to take the adjustable spanner, being used as a gluing weight, out of the shot in one of the photos.

I don’t even know which function key that is!

The plaster has started to be painted matt brown and I’ve also done the first coats on the bridge’s woodwork. I’ve touched up a couple of areas of the plaster with polyfilla, which will need painting when it’s dry. Next step is to finish off the ballasting, there are numerous gaps to fill and it needs to go a little wider. I’ll then turn my attention to the grass. Meanwhile, who doesn’t love a 40?

The plasterwork seems to be drying agreeably - a lot more so than if it was on a living room wall! With the brickwork given a thin coat of brick red to remove the harshness of the Slater’s orange, it’s beginning to look the part. Tucking down to ground level makes me believe I might be able to get a half decent shot or two from here. The inner track has an annoying kink in it, but otherwise it’s very pleasing, especially the meandering troughing route.

The plaster is on at the North West end cutting and embankment. A lot fiddlier than coating a wall, but the finish isn’t so critical. The plaster is still wet in these shots, so it will be interesting to see how it dries. I’m expecting a few cracks, but it should be ok. I was going to run a slight bank up to the retaining wall, but the mix was getting a bit unworkable, so that can wait. I’d like a gentle slope up from the ballast to remove the right angle. The embankment curves nicely down to meet the brick arches, and I’ve finally filled the triangle between the Chester and Warrington lines. It shouldn’t be too long before we can get back to talking about tow paths! Whilst various bits have been drying at the West end, I’ve made a start on the platform faces. These suffered minor damage just over a year ago when I split the boards to sort the backscene out. I knew they’d need some work as the previous tops were far too flimsy. With the platforms now solid, I can start the faces and coping stones. Many stations in the North West have platforms of differing styles, which I want to represent here. It’s also amazing how much stuff is attached to the faces, so I’ll be adding random clutter. Whilst searching for something else entirely, I also found this picture from just about 4 years ago. Nice to remind yourself not only how much there is to do, but also how much you’ve done! These two pictures are pretty much the same place, just different angles. The track layout changed quite a bit too!

Chaos at Christleton South… Regular readers, particularly those that prefer their interlocking vertical and mechanical, will recall the 85 being stabled on the middle road. After much discussion it was agreed that this was still staffed, awaiting the 07:16 to Euston. Unfortunately before the Euston came in, a 45/0 pitched up on a freightliner to Lawley Street. Luckily the Up Down Through is permissive, so it edged up close to the waiting roarer. When the 47 rolled in from Holyhead on the intercity, the 85 went out first and both locos shared the Up section to switch tracks. The 47 will then shuffle across further into platform 2 and wait behind the soon to depart 101 on a Wolverhampton via Shrewsbury turn, allowing the ‘liner to continue south (although it has a 35 minute lay over, presumably for bacon and coffee). Over in the bays, 3 units await trips to Man Vic, Helsby and Bangor. The 128 is substituting for a unit which we don’t yet have in capital stock! There is much fun in running to timetable, but it does nothing for the nerves.

In my case it’s Henrying. I wouldn’t touch a Dyson for the same reason I don’t go in Wetherspoons, but such subjects are best avoided! Polystyrene is the ideal material, and if you have Henry on hand, the mess is negligible. Ultimately it’s just a model railway, the building inspector is probably unlikely to pay a visit*, so use whatever is to hand. *my local building inspector has been round and he likes trains!

Probably the messiest part of any model railway is building embankments with polystyrene! I never feel qualified to pass on modelling advice, but I can say that having the vacuum cleaner to hand and sucking up everything as you go is a solid idea. Vacuuming each piece as it’s cut will save you a whole world of pain later on. I carved the polystyrene with a fine saw (11 tpi) and glued it into place with a builder’s solvent free adhesive (no more nails type). This glues well and can be used to fill gaps to make it even. The banking starts as a cutting as the railway curves in from Warrington and slowly reduces to be an embankment, eventually ending under the viaduct. Railway bankings are usually very uniform, being mad made, but then randomly altered as the years pass. Undergrowth in the 80’s will be much less than today’s jungles, I’ll try to represent brambles and some small bushes. I’ve got some stretchy fabric to put over the top before a thin layer of plaster. I think I have some long out of date undercoat plaster that will be just the job.

Having done the backscene, I guess we have to call this the frontscene? I realised that I would need something at the front of the layout for the banking to end against, otherwise I’d be doing grasswork for infinity. I curved a piece of hardboard round and cut the profile to match how I envisage the banking will go. I painted it in blackboard paint as it was quite a varied set of colours. I was so happy with how the black makes the baseboard disappear that I carried on all the way round. It makes quite a difference, probably more so in real life than in the photos. Once the banking is done, the station is the next bit of scenery on my list. (Note my programming track diagonally in the air whilst the paint dries!)

It’s definitely a hobby where you need to keep some variety to prevent losing interest. And losing interest is ultimately frustrating because you really do want the end product. I still love running trains and probably every other session is to run trains. I have quite a few friends that pop round too, presumably they enjoy operating under pressure!

A little more progress and a very minor milestone - there’s now some kind of scenery on the outside of the whole layout. That’s about 9m of mainly brickwork. I have gone a little crazy in the last 50cm and introduced a small outbreak of stone work. I do like working with the Wills sheets. They take a bit more time but they do have a nice depth. I’ll be using more of it eventually, the first couple of passes of scenery are just to get rid of the bare board look. The next job (probably), is to build the embankment along the front. The 108 is sitting where a signal will be, although only short trains will ever stop here; anything longer than 4 coaches will hang back over the station. Eventually the signal will indicate to drivers that they have a road set into the fiddle yard.

That’s really beginning to look the part! Are you running trains too, or just going slowly insane?

There’s some thought gone into that! I take it that you’ll need a lot more than 5 levers? The thing that caught me out on my temporary panel is the volume of wires. 20 levers would be 60 wires to run and that needs some space. Our railways might be 76 times smaller than the real thing, but the panel wires are about the same size!

It’s a good point. The 85 arrived on 6.50 steel service from Mossend. The next electric loco is booked as an 86 to pick up the 7.17 Holyhead to Euston, so it’s less than 30 minutes until a stabling road becomes free. This is the first full run through of the timetable with sufficient electric locos, so I’m not sure how much of an issue third loco stabling is going to be. I recall seeing locos stabled on the middle road at New Street, but they probably have traps (I will be able to check a scheme plan if I try hard enough). I’m still a little way off overhead wires, an embankment and a station at least, but potentially two of the shed roads could be wired.

You don’t do an update for ages, and then two come along at once! A little more progress on the bridge, including a pipe running along the front. You see loads of these but I’m never sure what’s in them. Gas, water or sewage seem the obvious candidates. A class 47 runs the first transpennine service from Manchester Vic towards Bangor. This should be a 45/1, so there are doubtless a few disgruntled window hangers. At least at Christleton there’s a chance of improvement when the loco swaps to change direction. As far as possible I like to go buy my supplies from model shops, but I don’t like the nearest one, so I’ve resorted to an online order for the stone walling.

A very long overdue progress update, of which there is definitely some! At the North East end, the bridge to hide the fiddle yard entrance on the Warrington lines is beginning to take shape. Quite a tricky structure given the curve, narrow baseboard and backscene angle. My other two bridges are brick and girder, this will be slightly different using a concrete beam (the bridge being rebuilt for electrification) with a wooden superstructure. This is loosely based on a bridge between Leeds and Neville Hill. There will be a short stone section of retaining wall before a set of maintenance access steps in the gap. There’s not much stone in this area of the world, but a few sections certainly add variety. On the inside of the curve will be a grass embankment slowly sloping down to the viaduct. This section has to be slim as I need to be able to reach over to the 7 fiddleyard roads behind. At the south end, the platforms have been smoothed and repainted. They need some detail adding to the fronts before I add the coping stones. I’m running through the revised timetable again too. The south end shot is taken of an 85 stabled on the middle road, the two electric stabling points being full. A slowly growing loco fleet means a lot more traction can be stabled. I’m not yet sure if this will interfere with a freight service! The morning peak is just starting, with 3 units ticking over in the bays. Another two units will join them shortly.

Got the navvies out and widen the canal by 3’. It makes an appreciable difference. It definitely allows a bit more swing room for the novice bargee!

You’ve sown the seed now though! A good contractor can smell a change request from a mile away.

Paul, It’s a good question, and such comments are always appreciated - particularly before I’ve glued anything down! Here’s a photo with my 275mm x 31 mm Lego canal boat - 68’ x 7’9”. It can just manoeuvre through without touching the sides, but only just. The canal through the bridge is 68mm, which is 17’. I thought this is probably wide enough, but it could be 100mm (25’) without any issue. In my experience canal width varies massively, but I take your point that they wouldn’t have narrowed it unnecessarily. I’ll see about widening it, which shouldn’t be too much work, and still much less than that curved arch!

Some progress with the canal bridge to report. This is probably the wrong way around, as almost certainly the canal came first! Building the arch was a pig of a job, and there’s a couple of fillets of plastikard brickwork to make everything meet up. I’m fairly sure they’ll be invisible once painted and weathered. The towpath is roughly painted but will be covered with various scenics, so it’s just a base-coat for now. The first bridge takes the canal under the Warrington lines, before diving under the Chester lines and White Lane carriage sidings towards the warehouse. I also tried to fix the lighting on the 101, which only works in one direction on the trailer car. I’d previously tracked this down to a faulty PCB card and finally found a replacement. Sadly it’s a poor diagnosis as the new card has the same issue, so it must be the output from the master card in the power unit not switching the polarity correctly. It did at least give me an opportunity for a line up of bog carts. And then a pair of 20’s helped me shunt some assorted empty coaching stock out of the way. 20’s on parcels seem to have been very rare!

Your progress is just relentless and really very impressive. I must have missed the photo of what the cricut looks like - I can’t visualise how you’re turning what I assume are your own drawings into essentially card kits. Apologies if you’ve already shown everyone this…

As ever I’ve given myself a massive list of jobs to get done, but find myself away from home for several of the next few weeks. I’ve decided to put together a build list for the 304 and then to start sourcing the best parts. For most components the best source is reasonably clear, although availability may be an issue. Replica Railways seem to do most of the frames, bodyside, windows and roofs, whilst Wizard do some good looking Gresley bogies. There doesn’t look like too much to go underneath, some battery boxes and some air reservoirs. Cab glazing looks like a PITA, but I think patience and effort will solve that. There are a couple of bits I could do with help on: What sort of pantograph did they have? All the shots of them are front view, so the pan is at least two cars back. It looks like it might be a Stone Faiveley, which DC kits still do (hopefully). I could also do with a photo between coaches. The details I have show them to be non-gangwayed with a fixed bar coupling. Presumably they had at least two air pipes, ETH and some form of TDM cables on an otherwise standard mk1 suburban coach end? Any help much appreciated.