richscylla

The search functionality is loads better. Before it was a nightmare! Good job!

Would be really interesting to do a raised Railway over Arches, each with a workshop or something in them, would be an interesting scene whilst simple on the railway front which I think is fairly important on small layouts.

I popped up to Derails yesterday and it's a really nice shop. Great to have a good chat with Dan too, a really nice guy - I picked up a few decoders and I'll certainly be trying out the mail order service soon!

I have done a full Meet the Fleet video which I have put up on YouTube:

Yep!

After starting this thread I actually saw my first Flask train in the flesh yesterday!

I totally agree with this. I'm starting to lose my patience with Northfields. A few time I've been in there now and it's just too disorganised. Witek seems a lovely guy and I understand that he's not really doing it to make as much money as possible but there are two or three times lately when I've gone in there, a little short on time (as it's 10 mins on the tube from my occasional London office and I only get an hour for lunch) and with money to spend and I've left with nothing each time. Either because he is either talking with other customers (which is obviously good customer service and not something to knock) - however in Northfields the only way to find anything is to ask Witek so I leave empty handed. The last time I was there though I think I reached my limit. I was in there and as usual had to wait about 10 minutes to be seen (which I'm happy to wait for). I saw a wagon in the small cabinet at the front which I quite wanted, and then saw a VDA loose amongst the bits and pieces everywhere. I eventually was served and was a little shocked to find that they were new wagons which would be sold boxed, not second hand but I asked a price anyway. I was told £19 per wagon, which isn't bad for new Bachmann wagons, but the way I found them I was expecting them to big second hand so was hoping for a little less of a hit. However, I liked them and for new it was a good price so I said go for it. He then said he had to find the boxes, and he had no idea where they were and could I pop by in a few days for them! I only work in London maybe once a month and I can't always make the trip so it's just not realistic. So right there he lost £38 because the place is disorganised. I'm sure he could find someone, somewhere to go through it all, catalogue it and set up an online store and he'd making a killing and could get his shop back to something that is managable and somewhere where the average customer could have a good experience. Again, I'm not trying to have a dig at Witek, he seems like a great guy and his heart is 100% in the right place, it's just for me there is no point shopping there if I can never leave with anything.

Hi Dan, Thanks for the honest message! I will pop up - I'm having a bit of railway day on Saturday, so I probably will pop in! Even if it's a small store there are a few things I'm after at the moment that are new so it's worth dropping by for me! Rich

OK - I'm on the other side of the bridge any way so it's not totally out of my way. Is there any second hand stuff?

Awesome - thanks so much for that info! Exactly what I was after!

I'm thinking of driving up to the shop from Bristol at the weekend. Can anyone tell me any more about the shop itself? Frankly is it worth a visit?

A simple question - how long have DRS been on the flasks and who was running them before? Thanks in advance. Rich

I have a nice little video of these trains running on my YouTube channel!

Hi Richard, I picked mine up from www.modelrailwaysdirect.com I think it was this one: https://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk/signals/berko-b362-2-light-signal-red-green-short-post-t-junction-square-head/ Rich

I have recently posted a Layout Tour on YouTube, so you can see a little bit more of the progress I have been making on there. Certainly a few new views of the layout. Excuse the very average presenting, this is my first ever video and I'm no Dermot O'Leary (Insert name of a presenter you think is good here).

As with many of you I'm sure - I've spent the summer taking a little break from the modelling on the whole, due to the heat, some holidays and generally being busy. But I'm back on it. I have installed the buffer stops properly including the lights that are waiting to be wired up. Generally I have also spent a lot of time finishing up the scenery and adding some details including railings, pallets, some old rails lying around generally trying to add a little bit of run down-ness if that's a word, which it probably isn't! Here are some pictures showing off what I've been up to. Next up I'm going to do some work on the electrics. I want to get the buffer stops wired up and I also have some streetlights that I need to install. Alongside this I will add details to station, with station name boards, platform numbers, benches, signage etc. I'm also considering doing some videos of the layout for YouTube (I already have a channel for real life railways - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw2dLVP1S0AQDGX1nGNGh8g)although the idea of presenting/talking on camera isn't something I'm used to!

Thanks for the advice - I'll certainly give it a go when I get a spare hour

I spend last night working a little on the layout. Getting some more greenery around the yard, starting to take shape now. Will start adding some more detailing over the next few weeks or so, I'm looking to add a pavement next to the barrier's where the brown paint can be seen, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do that at this stage though. I'm also looking to make some sort of statue or monument to go into the station area.

Managed to pick up this little beauty for the layout earlier in the week. Needs the detailing fitted and some light weathering, but already looks great! Will need to pick up a couple of GUVs and a couple of BGs in RES livery at some point too!

I have started work on the station walls. I need to add some detailing and some other bits but I'm happy with this as a start. I took the picture before the glue dried so that's what the white is! Really hoping to get the track weathered on Sunday. Fingers crossed.

I can't take credit for that - it's how the kit comes. I just chose not to put an ad over it!

Progress is a little slow at the moment, I'm waiting to get a proper amount of time to weather the track, but tonight I worked on a billboard that I'm quite happy with. It was a paper & card kit from Scale Scenics. It was my first time making a kit like this, and it needs a little tidying and touching up, but I'm generally pretty pleased with how it's gone together and how it looks on the layout. My next job is to build some walls to start making the station a little more substantial. I'm also going to start detailing the road behind the station, with some road makings, more of a concrete texture and maybe a little pavement too. And of course the track weathering.

Hi Muddy Water. The transfers for the tankers are: http://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1046 And for the second strip of the platform... I'm not sure if you mean the second texture or the first texture and are including the edging strip. Both are here: https://slatersplastikard.com/assets/pdfs/EmbossedFlyer.pdf 0446 is the first chequer plate. 0431 is the other one. Hope that helps. Rich

Here is the container in place - with a little more detailing added. As well as that, I've had my first proper go at weathering and detailing. I have re-sprayed, detailed and weathered some Hornby TTA wagons, and I think the effect is pretty good. I need to add the walkways and ladders back on, but for a fist try I'm pleased with the results. As well as this, I've taken an old Lima Class 47 and updated it a little. I have added some detailing (from a Bachmann 47) to the number 1 end, re-sprayed the white on the body (from the incorrect beige that was originally in place). I re-numbered and named her and added a light weathering too. Again, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Had some time this morning - so distressed and weathered a shipping container for the area behind the station. I took a mini sander to the whole thing to remove the decals from some of the raised sections, and then gave some of the corners and edges special attention as if they'd been damaged during loading. Then I hit it with some weathering powders to make it all look a bit darker, before going at it with a mix of matt cote, thinners and powders to get some rusting effects. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!