Powerhaul 70 Pey

Good evening everyone. I am not sure where to have the TMD I made. If anyone has any thoughts, opinions or preferencs to solve my dilemma they will be much appreciated. Please see photos below of where I am thinking it should be. It could go here right by the sidings in the yard. I was thinking of having a Network Rail materials recycling site here. Or it could stay here were I initially intended. If I did move it from here I could alter the trackwork and have a scrapyard or aggregate yard. A Colas Rail class 66 waits on the freight only line for a path through platform 6. A busy scene at "Springfield Junction". I suppose this name is beginning to stick after naming the TMD I made Springfield TMD! Thanks Peter

Those peco inspection pits will be a nice touch to the locomotive shed. Never seen those before. Track work looks very good to the shed too.

Thank you for visiting Marcus your kind comments are much appreciated. It's progress can be slow. I usually go in the garage at night for a few hours when the kids have gone to bed for construction purposes.

Not exactly a creative photograph but a creative way of putting 2016's photos to good use that would otherwise just end up stored on a memory stick. A christmas present off the missus and my two kids.

Hello Marcus. I always look at your updates but I don't think I have never commented before. This has got to be the best quarry based layout I have seen! Great scenery, rolling stock and buildings. The rock faces are amazing. Well done and I look forward to more updates.

Since last post I have had a go at making my own traction maintenance depot out of some 2mm card, some corrugated card and some spare parts from Metcalfe card kits that I had left and kept. For the purpose if this exercise I came up with "Springfield Traction Maintenance Depot" which is along the lines of Springs Branch depot in Wigan. Springfield took from Wigan Athletics old ground which was Springfield Par. I made signs for the depot, printed off some health and safety signs on the computer, cut them out and stuck them on the building. Add to that a Freightliner class 66 and 70 plus some TMD clutter around the place and here is the result. Not sure whether to make another one but this time take a bit more time over it or buy a card kit or plastic kit/ready built Scenecraft or Hornby one. I might add some interior detail to this one and see what it ends up like.

The 60 looks great with the mega boxes.

So after various track work modifications with wagons derailing at certain points on the layout I think I have finally cracked it. Had a running session last night and tried every loco with every type of wagon being hauled and only had problems with my sons Flying Scotsman. Here are a few photos of each loco at various points around the layout. 70006 has come off the bi-directional platform 6 line and heads towards the storage yard sidings. I can fit two more HHA Freightliner hoppers in the yard now so that will be a half decent sized train of 6 HAA's. Here is a freightliner 70 and 66 parked up in what will be the 3 lane TMD that will service all the freight operating companies locos. Here I have put some cloud wallpaper tester I got some time ago onto the plywood at the back of the layout. I know I have not matched it up but I just wanted to see wether it suffered from damp or not in the garage. Also with the plywood I followed the contours of the garage walls but not sure if I should have done flat sheets and lost a few inches at the back. I can get 1 extra KFA container wagon now I have longer sidings. So that will be a rake of 5 when I can find one to buy. Here a class 60 is also about to join the bi-directional line of platform 6 after travelling along the freight only line from the yard. Drs 37 in the mainline. Drs 37 in the yard Colas 66 on the main line Colas 66 rejoining the two track main line again after being looped through platform 6.. To the right is the junction for the freight only lines to the yard and TMD. Class 150 with the what will be a countryside setting in the back ground. Class 150 at the station with the town center in the back ground. Flying scotsman through the station. 70006 amongst the wagons in the yard The layout is intended to have play factor so my kids can enjoy coming into the garage with me and get involved. Here they are with my little lad at the controls of the class 70! Thanks so much for looking. Hopefully I can start to progress with some scenic, fixing the track down and ballasting. Might try out point motors and have a "signal box" where my son can set the points.

Great news Kevan.

Thanks for the video link Mick. Hopefully they will get delivered to Liverpool again.

Those DRS coaches look great! Hope you have had a good Christmas.

Those containers look ideal for a Daventry Coatbridge intermodal.

Merry Christmas everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates but it has been a bit hectic recently. Here are two shots of the layout so far. The left side will be a countryside theme with maybe a non rail served quarry squeezed into the top left corner. This photo shows what will be an industrial theme with a "fiddle yard" in view. In the top right corner where the heater is I plan to have a two track depot with a 3rd track on the outside for refueling locos. I need to buy some more track to complete the yard sidings. One siding may be used for unloading material from engineers trains where it can be re-processed. With the layout being slightly bigger now I can increase the lengths of my trains slightly. I plan to get one more container wagon and I have ordered two new Tarmac JGA hoppers so that is now a rake of 6 when they arrive. This is a view of the station. Track work wise it will be a bit more like Wigan North Western with two bay platforms for local services/light engines to terminate. I need to buy extra track for this too. The town center and industrial buildings on the outskirts of town are roughly positioned. Here is a new Christmas addition to my collection, two FNA flask wagons for my DRS class 37 to haul. Sorry but it will not be top and tailed or double headed until I get a DRS class 68. I quite like this photo of the flask train in the sidings in the yard with the station and town center in the distance. Hopefully I can get a bit done over the Xmas holidays. Thanks for looking!

Don't give up hope on this working just yet. I was at Hanson Ashton In Makerfield on Friday 16th december and the track from the sidings back to the triangle had been cleared of foliage. The last time i went (probably a month or two ago) the foliage was wildly out of control. I was told Hanson are hoping to bring in material by rail again.

How do the inclines perform on your layout? I am considering some but I am worried that they will be troublesome.

Great photos of the DRS 37 and I like the load haul 56 receiving some attention.

Hello it really is a new start in the garage. Yes the roof rafters were very hard to negotiate in the attic so it is nice to not have them in the way anymore. It is a crawl to get to the center but to be honest that is just for access for modelling so I can reach the back of the layout. I will control locos from the outside the boards. This photo is from a few days ago and may look a bit large and empty on these photos but believe me I am struggling for space already! A 4/5 track yard soon eats away at space. I will try and post some more pics soon.

So as I said the house move is complete and the base boards are done. The layout is 8ft by 14ft. The station area is slightly different now with with the two bay platforms like Wigan North Western that will be long enough for my class 150 DMU or light engines to stable. Again I have decided to do the relief of the layout by raising and lowering the boards rather than doing inclines on the track work itself. Here is a photo of the station area were the boards will be cut to the shape of the track at the rear of the photo to create a "Red Bank" kind of area. Red Bank is a popular photographic spot on the WCML in Newton Le Willows in Warrington. Here is another photo of the general layout boards. On my old layout I had a two track quarry siding, a coal siding and a container siding. On this layout I was going to have a visible yard, say 4 or 5 tracks to stable wagons and trains and a 2/3 road service depot if I have room. Then I will see what room I have left to do a quarry siding or aggregate terminal. I have used all my track that I had off my old layout so need to buy what extra I need to complete the track.

Hello everyone. If there is anyone still following this thread the house move is finally complete and I have one half of a double garage. The layout boards are nearely complete and it is 8ft by 14 foot. It's 2ft bigger each way than my old attic layout which means probably more track and longer trains ££££££££. I will try and post some photos soon. Thanks Peter

Just got back from the exhibition at wigan. This is a fantastic modern image layout which I enjoyed seeing in operation. Well done to everyone involved.

Just got back from the exhibition at wigan. This is a great layout and loved watching it in operation. The photos on your thread are top notch but seeing it for real in action is something else! Nice one.

Your layout looks brilliant so far. I am not too sure what to do yet until i see exactly what space I have. May well be based on wigan again with some other places of interest that I have seen/visited. Who knows! As soon as we move and work starts I will start a new thread or just continue with this one. Thanks for looking.

Hello Jim. I am going to start a new layout when we move house and I was considering inclines on my new layout but after reading about the problems you are having I might do what I did on my old layout and that's just lower the base boards which created an above ground level station. It's A shame you are having running problems as your layout is really good.

Thanks for the information. That's a fair chunk of the Freightliner class 70 fleet out of action.

Any idea why there are 7 70's there at the moment?