SHerr

Roof has now been painted, and loose fitted up on the layout for assessment. Not quite sitting right on the station building yet but not far away. In response to the superb photo on Llanbourne thread a couple of days ago - 25912 sits next to 40122/D200 in the CCE yard. First in the rake next to D200 my recently completed Cambrian Sturgeon. The locos are nowhere near the quality of Peters as haven't been weathered yet - poor iPhone photo not helping either. I actually had my first stab at Airbrush weathering a few weeks ago, Bachmann SSA, Liquid Chlorine tank and Bachmann class 25 279 - one of the very early releases but still a nice runner. Will need a bit more practice on the banger blues before tackling the celebs! Sat adjacent in the CCE depot also recently completed Kibri Dynamic Track Stabiliser, doesn't look too small for HO kit. I have wanted one of these for years and found it at Doncaster show earlier this year. Much better than the Bachmann tamper - I wish within the glut of recent retailer commissions somebody had been brave enough to do an 07 series tamper - lots of timespan and reasonable number of liveries.

Some more progress on the roof after getting distracted with some rolling stock which will be posted shortly. Roof covering is made of 40 tho' plasticard, covered with Corrugated Slater's sheets - I debated quite a bit as whether to go for tiles or corrugated and decided I couldn't bring myself to cut tile strips for 3 bays of a roof! I was working out how to construct the roof light maintenance walkways when I came across the Knightwing walkways, obviously legs are cut down but they do the job pretty well. Next for painting and weathering - then 2 more roof sections! The top (raised) roof light section will definitely be left open, and I am pretty sure I am also going to leave the lower glazed area open. Will give a better view inside the train shed area but also by the mid 80's a lot of these structures were totally neglected by BR as finances just were not available, especially as strengthening became necessary it was cheaper just to remove dead weight and reduce wind/snow loading impacts - Llandudno, Huddersfield to name a few

I've managed to make more progress over the last month, particularily with the second half of the station building, which bar some doors and glazing for windows is almost complete, also the rear wall is almost complete. Today I undertook the first 'loose' fit up of the whole station (buildings, walls, roof sections and some columns). All seemed to go pretty well once I managed a steady hand. The end bay will be tiled roof for the full hight sitting over the gable end of the station building, the roof lights will definately be left open/unglazed and I am thinking of doing the same with half of the height of the main roof with only the bottom half tiled to represent a typical 80's neglected by BR station. This will also hopefully allow more chance to see within the station area as well.

I spoke to a chap on the Footplate Models stand at Doncaster show, he said something along the lines of ‘maybe late this year’ but he seemed a little downbeat in his response so not sure if there are problems with the project? Hopefully they are still coming, I will certainly buy 2 or 3.

Sorry only just seen your question. First the whole brick area was painted with slightly thinned Railmatch ‘concrete’ by brush. Then when dry I applied a few coatings of humbrol ‘red brick’ using a mederately dry brush - load up and then remove most on a sheet of kitchen roll, then apply keeping the brush on a slight angle. The mortar joints are not massively deep (although scale depth) so you do tend to fill some of it with brick colour. Work in a downward motion where possible and differences in shades from more or less paint give a bit of a weathered effect. The technique works better on Wills sheets which are slightly over scale but still a reasonable effort on here.

Great to see the layout in the flesh today, a lot of layouts When you see them for real don’t look as good as in the photos, but this is the opposite- thought it was great in the photos but even better in the flesh. My son also spotted the Biggest Little Railway scene although he was more nervous that the swing bridge would wipe out the canoeists! The swing bridge is sublime and the realistic working locking bar is an absolute gem. The only criticism is that it engaged first time and the trains didn’t have to wait 2 hours for a maintenance crew to come and encourage it in by hand - very un-prototypical!!

Thanks for the replies. I couldn’t think why you wouldn’t be able to, but thought best to check before cutting the socket off one!

Not sure if this is a simple question or not, can you hardwire a DCC sound decoder in the same way as a non sound? I’m thinking of adding a TTS unit to a Lima 31 so no lights or other functions just straight forward loco.

Great news, I was wondering last week whether there would be any more 33s anytime soon. Looks like Burma Star will be on its way. I notice that there’s only Hattons advertising them - are they limited Ed’s or are they just quicker off the mark. Also of note (but no use to me) is Hattons listing 2 ‘Fawley Train Packs’ Class 33 with some class B tanks. Good to see someone do a pack that’s a realistic combo rather than the usual random mix of loco and coaches/wagons that seem to come out from elsewhere.

Has anyone experienced using these replacements from Diesel-Trains? They look straightforward and I’m tempted to have a try. It would be to fit a Lima 31 on a decent sized layout so would need to haul 5/6 Bachmann mk1’s. Also it’s a DCC layout so I presume I would need to hardwired the decoder - again anyone used them on DCC?

A while since I have updated progress. The station buildings are coming on well, although were delayed by a lack of Wills sheets for the second part of the station building. I have now re-started this building and completed all the roof frame sections. I have also now purchased the Langleys models columns, both sizes are perfect as some go down to track level and others stop at platform level - I had always intended to use these so sized the roof height accordingly. I have also been distracted by some rolling stock projects - some planned and others unexpected finds all at the Doncaster show. I am near to completing a Kibri Dynamic Track Stabiliser, and a chance find of a Dublo tank which looks perfect for the Octel Anti-knock tanks - more of those to follow. I have also purchased an L-Cut large signal box which looks a good representation of the box at Holyhead amongst others. Anyway, a photo session today and I managed to find my tripod so go the DSLR upstairs for some much improved shots over the iPhone. General View of station frontage 45133 arrives with a Trans-Pennine service from Scarborough, then draws forwards to run round. The L-Cut signal box so far The CCE Yard/Depot - general sidings and then storage/loading area accessed from headshunt. The buildings are a Walthers Cornerstone lumber yard, originally bought years ago for a China Clay facility but look good as general depot facilities. Finally the Speedlink Yard by the station area, I have added an extra turnback into a cement siding, partially to add some more shunting facilities but also I have the Skaledale loader that hasn't seen use for a few years and thought it would be a good addition (similar to Bangor).

Really looking forward to seeing this at York, great atmosphere.

I’m part way through building the LCut large Signal Box that I purchased at the Doncaster show. So far so good, goes together nicely, good detail and very sturdy. There’s not much in the way of instructions but to be honest you don’t really need them if you built anything before. A couple of piccies if the work so far.

Many Thanks for photo - wow that’s miles out, worse than the older Bachmann stuff by my reckoning. Unless you want a dedicated rake hauled by an older 40 or 45! Sadly that’s 3 or 4 that I won’t be buying. I will wait for the Dapol one and see if they can do better than decide between that and some Cambrian ones - I have one already but find painting the yellow is a pig to get the line straight with all the bracing, stiffeners and doors.

Am I correct in my thoughts that the NEM pockets are at the wrong height? - the couplings seem to have a very large crank from the photo. Can anyone confirm as I use Kadee's.

Having had layouts in both loft and garage at both of my houses some thoughts from me - it very much depends on your type of garage and how much you want to spend fitting out, this needs to be considered against how big a layout you want. Others before have mentioned extreme's of temperature, my current garage that I have just moved the layout away from is quite large and external. this means its quite difficult to insulate well as was also in use as a functioning garage, also being external it was single skin brick and needed to be accessed by going outside. I found this space nice in summer (when you probably don't do as much modelling) as garages seem to keep out extreme heat, but really not very pleasant in winter (when you probably do more modelling). In the end I found this too much of a put off and particularly entering a cold, slightly damp area you don't feel like spending much time in there. That said, if it were a dedicated/sealed off room it would probably be fine but uses a big space that most people probably have a better use for. My previous house had an integral garage, much easier to keep warmer and with access from inside the house, but much smaller. My current layout is being moved into the loft - I have not fully finished insulating and whilst I'm not doing a full spec conversion I have spend a good few hundred quid using the foil bubble lining and Celetex boards to box out towards the eaves. This gives plenty of storage beneath and keeps the draughts out. As I said, only one side fully insulated, but even on evenings with temperatures around freezing outside I have been comfortable for a good few hours in there with a small fan heater - remember heat rises so after an hour you get some warmth from below. I suggest the extremes are the opposite to garages - less good in extreme heat but more manageable in the cold. I've not yet experienced a full summer but before I built the layout it didn't seem too hot and I am likely to get a Velux window fitted. You mentioned you were unsure about getting pre-built sections up there. -I have just built my layout inset - if you want something to be fully dismantled a lofts probably not the best option. My current preference is the loft - 24ft x 9ft with storage beneath, but its a good sized house. It all really depends on your own space/areas available. Sorry not a great help but I'm not really sure its a black and white decision.

Having had layouts in both loft and garage at both of my houses some thoughts from me - it very much depends on your type of garage and how much you want to spend fitting out, this needs to be considered against how big a layout you want. Others before have mentioned extreme's of temperature, my current garage that I have just moved the layout away from is quite large and external. this means its quite difficult to insulate well as was also in use as a functioning garage, also being external it was single skin brick and needed to be accessed by going outside. I found this space nice in summer (when you probably don't do as much modelling) as garages seem to keep out extreme heat, but really not very pleasant in winter (when you probably do more modelling). In the end I found this too much of a put off and particularly entering a cold, slightly damp area you don't feel like spending much time in there. That said, if it were a dedicated/sealed off room it would probably be fine but uses a big space that most people probably have a better use for. My previous house had an integral garage, much easier to keep warmer and with access from inside the house, but much smaller. My current layout is being moved into the loft - I have not fully finished insulating and whilst I'm not doing a full spec conversion I have spend a good few hundred quid using the foil bubble lining and Celetex boards to box out towards the eaves. This gives plenty of storage beneath and keeps the draughts out. As I said, only one side fully insulated, but even on evenings with temperatures around freezing outside I have been comfortable for a good few hours in there with a small fan heater - remember heat rises so after an hour you get some warmth from below. I suggest the extremes are the opposite to garages - less good in extreme heat but more manageable in the cold. I've not yet experienced a full summer but before I built the layout it didn't seem too hot and I am likely to get a Velux window fitted. You mentioned you were unsure about getting pre-built sections up there. -I have just built my layout inset - if you want something to be fully dismantled a lofts probably not the best option. My current preference is the loft - 24ft x 9ft with storage beneath, but its a good sized house. It all really depends on your own space/areas available. Sorry not a great help but I'm not really sure its a black and white decision.

Wonderful evocative layout that just keeps getting better. I absolutely love the swing bridge details, particulariliy the rodding/end bolts etc. I have to say I wouldn't worry about the bridge jerking, catching or not aligning. Having tried to fix a few real ones I can assure you its nothing but prototypical!

More good progress with the station building, working out better than I could have imagined. Also I've got the proper camera out so so better photos than the usual iPhone rubbish I've been putting up. Building is now painted, windows fitted and most doors completed. I have also tonight taken the big step of attempting to assemble the first part of the roof - nervous affair but has gone together really well and easier to get square and level than I had dreamed (or dreaded!) I've also started the second building but have now run out of Wills sheets, but also built the truss canopy section between the 2 buildings. I can't really tell from photos whether this was open/exposed in the mid 80's or covered, certainly later on it was open - any knowledge or even photos would be greatly appreciated.

I've realised that in posting photos of the station building progress that I am making a very large presumption that everybody knows what Landudno station looks like as the basis for the station. I've dug out a couple of pictures off the web, the shot from inside the train shed roof is the modern post refurb station where as the external shot is the right time frame being 1985. As per the real location there will be a second half of an almost mirror image and a canopy over the main entrance between the buildings. As I have said its 'inspired by' rather than a copy.

As promised, pictures of the station building nearing completion after more time spent on detail brickwork etc. The building has now been painted concrete colour and will then receive brick red and weathering.

A couple of notable occasions over the last 10 days, firstly the final main station board was installed. This was followed fairly quickly with completing the last bit of loose/rough laid track to allow the first test run around the full length. Also I’ve started on the first part of the station building, loosely fitted up to check it and canopy sizes against track spacing. The station areas inspiration is Llandudno, roof sections are made up of Dapol canopy kits. I wanted something that was fairly robust but also to make sure I could get a repetitive shape/size, I will try to reduce some of the internal parts of the truss to look more realistic. The building is making good progress and I will post a few more pictures over next few days as almost finished the main shell.

Thanks for the comments, yes there will be DMU sidings, 3 where the 101 is and off the branch where the 150 is there will be at least 1 siding and a loop. I've currently got 2x 2 car 101's (1 a dummy), a 3 car 120 (DC Kits), a 150/1 and a 142. I'm also going to add a 108. Some services will be 2 car but also looking to run some 4 and 6 car sets as was often found in North Wales - particularly in the summer, hence the dummy set.

I've been looking at Kernows website as was wondering about ordering a couple of these. Is it me or does the NEM coupler socket appear to be the wrong height? the coupling appears to have a large crank. It doesn't appear to have been discussed on these pages.

I did look at a 2 track approach to the fiddle yard, but 95% of the time the layout will be operated by just me so limited chance of simultaneous moves at the fiddle yard. The arrangement I've some up with keeps a reasonable number of decent length sidings and keeps space down/maximises viewing area. I must admit to being a little underwhelmed by the big 2's announcements over the last 2 days, the new Bachmann 25 will no doubt find its way onto the layout and the 2 class 40's are looking forwards to their TTS sound decoders, but other than that not much. I still can't see how Bachmann continue not to listen to the regular cries for a sealed beam 45, or how it can be that difficult to produce when they already have 3/4 different nose arrangements in the tooling. Likewise I'm always baffled by Hornby never producing a Blue 31/4 or an original Railfreight 31 over their production period - both were always popular in the Lima range.