Iron Horse

Nice to see some pics of one of my favorite layouts on RMweb. They look ace behind that 70.......I haven't taken mine out of the box yet

Nice to see you the other day, Merry Christmas to you, thanks for sharing all your pictures

It looks like it ran Jim, pics are appearing on Facebook now

So waste not want not.......... The first model railway I built in the corner of my daughters bedroom had a 3x2ish storage board which had been a useful storage/workbench in the shed And then I realised it was the perfect width for bolting on and extending the station area Then do a bit of planning And get some track down

Nice thoughts Rob, like it. I'm going to have a bit of a winter clean over the next few weeks and I'll take a few more uncluttered photos trying to leave bits that I definitely am intending on doing and leaving bits that I have no idea about. A footbridge hadn't even crossed my mind so thanks for the input

Thanks Rob, I don't have too many good ideas but I am quite pleased with that one

Thanks Phil for taking the time to comment and the simple answer is yes it could have been double track and it is a mixture of laziness and a little bit of reasoning that it isn't! When I moved everything into the shed I was out of work and decided rather than start again which was the original plan I should just develop what I already had and the exit from the original tunnel was already single track. On top of that I also wanted to run a 7 coach HST which as you know puts limitations on fiddle yard sizes. As a result the layout is really a U shaped to maximise the siding lengths in the fiddle yard, The sidings towards the outside of the shed at at the Exeter end and the internal sidings are at the Penzance end. What I have done is allowed one centre track to run all the way through the fiddle yard just for running in purposes, testing and if I just want to leave a train running whilst I do other things. I'll try and add some more pictures of the fiddle yard in the near future. Fundamentally though you are right and probably laziness and scared to dig even more up prevented me from going down the double track route although the fiddle yard issues would still have remained.

So then I needed a lift out section.........never done one of those before!!!!! Painted some rail sides with sleeper grime...... Then............what to do with this end?

So as the summer progressed so too did the track work and this little post concentrates on the mainline going South of the station. The single track mainline is still a remnant of the initial railway way back when I started but with various sections of single track in Cornwall it's something that I am quite happy with. In my head at the moment the removed line is that of a branch to a disused clay works swinging off to the front of the layout. That said it has also been suggested it was originally a double mainline that had to be realigned going south through what will be the scenic break so any thoughts or comments welcome So the first couple of photo's show a bit of planning Any thoughts on this scenic break would be welcome, I'm liking the branch but not quite feeling the landscape around the main Then we have some track pinned down And now the motorail moves Southwards

Oh Trevor thanks for popping by, the modelling skills aren't in your league but I have fun all the same. The Olympian sheds are amazing aren't they? Like yourself it's a bigger area than I ever imagined I'd have for a railway and I'm probably under utlilising it but I'm happy with the content and looking forward to some serious running sessions in the not too distant future.......best update this thread a bit more I reckon. I'm sure I could have done a lot more with the model railway but I think it's just about at the limit of my current capabilities. I do also have the added bonus of the garden backing onto the local railway line, I hear a train and it just makes me smile

Your layout here is amazing and I've been lurking around ever since I noticed your shed which inspired me to get mine. My modelling is really just playing at it compared to where you are but I do feel your pain with regards to a backscene. I've watch Andy paint one on Bute Road.......well I'll never be able to do that, my first attempt with ID backscenes was creased to hell and that's before we get into whether the actual scene looks anything like the West Country

I agree, it looks amazing, do you mind me asking what your method is please?

It gets worse Andy, the adverts are getting annoying on RTT as well now, to the extent on Firefox you can't even interact with the popup to close it on some platforms!!!!!!!! Layout looking fab though I struggle massively with what era to run, I love the 80's when I was out bashing but I love the modern scene as well. So to that end I'm trying to model the 1980's but every so often it'll be a compromise of dumping the modern stuff on and effectively run a train set

Those pictures are really lovely, you should be really pleased with that. I recently bought a TTS sound decoder for my 31102 but upgraded the speaker to a Road and Rails 20x30x6mm Bass Enhanced speaker. Maybe you have done that already but I'm so pleased with the improvement so if you haven't it is definitely worth considering. Regardless keep the pictures coming

Really nice that, Ian......wish I was going to Tolworth!

More pictures as promised. The fiddle yard and the rough shape of the trackwork The a bit of a look into the affect of the incline Followed by track down and even local trip freight could go up it......

So a slight teaser of an update, earlier in the year I joined the original 2 boards together And then had an idea to use the small space above where the bin is in the corner by the door, so I did a bit of digging up on the current board And built an inclined branch line fiddle yard board. perfect for a couple of DMU's. I felt this was great use of space that I probably wasn't going to use and will give me a little more operational interest........more pics to follow

Wonderful video Andy.......you make it all look so easy!!!!! When I actually get round to more scenic's on my railway I hope I can follow your more relaxed approach, I over think things before I even start which puts me off even more. Keep them coming Andy and thanks for sharing your knowledge

Here's the Coleham based set on it's way to north Wales doing their HST impression

Andy, if you like different wagons the Burngullow sand flow is the gift that keeps giving if you're modelling the South West......or should I say empties your wallet faster than SWMBO

Here's an example if the link works, 3rd picture down http://www.dawlishtrains.com/august.html

Well there used to be loads of pictures on the Totnes Trains website but that looks like it's been shutdown so one alternative is to perhaps go through the archives on the Dawlish Trains website. I'm also not a wagon expert, that said Freightliner definitely used HIA's and there own box wagons but I'm not too good with the codes for those. DB have used their small MEA wagons on a few occasions, their MBA Mega-boxes and have used there own newer box wagons more recently. That said I've never seen pictures of red MMA's in Cornwall but I think a blue rake was used quite a bit. Any proper experts please correct me

There always the Burngullow sand flow that has been in the hands of both Freightliner and DB.....loads of different wagons have been on that one......that's if you are looking for more reasons to buy more wagons

Andy, this one is really getting on my nerves........I know how you feel!!!!!!!!

Penzance today, Kingswear next weekend