Midnight-Freight

Not much progress on the layout of late apart from a bit of greenery added here and there and some initial planning of the office building. I have purchased a new loco however. It's another Bachmann 66 this time in the striking Aggregate Industries livery which is currently on offer with a few suppliers along with a DCC Concepts Zen black decoder with it's 'one step set up' feature.

Yeah definitely, but only on the odd occasion when the 08 doesn't stutter or derail on a set of points it's never had a problem with as it did in filming!

A short running session at Chesterton Road:

New video uploaded where I add a bit more interest to the virtual quarry scene with some office container buildings from Scale Model Scenery. Still a bit more to do but makes it a bit more interesting.

I like the look of this so far. Your baseboards remind me of mine in shape and size, although I have three slight smaller ones, they are also resting on what appears to be the same Ikea furniture! Will follow now.

Very nice. Can I ask how you made the bushes in these pics?

A short video showing how I added lighting to the signal box.

Layout tour:

I've done something I never thought I would and created a YouTube channel... I doubt it will go anywhere but at least it's a good way of recording progress on the layout. My first video can be found here:

Look forward to a seeing some more progress.

Looking promising, now following.

With being stuck at home most of the time it has at least allowed me to spend some time on the layout. I opted for the Scale Model Scenery hardstanding kit for the depot area which had to be cut and shaped to fit the track layout. It was quite an easy kit to work with and could be cut and sanded without too much effort. It's not perfect but a bit of detailing here and there will hide the couple of joins which aren't quite right. I've added a few other bits of detail such as containers (also from Scale Model Scenery) and a few other bits of junk which is slowly starting to bring the scene together. I've also made a basic interior for the depot office. I've done a bit more work at the other end, starting to improve the appearance of the road bridge as well as using some left over from the hardstanding kit which will be the base on which the office building will sit. I'm not sure whether to scratch build this or just use the Bachmann offering which after checking measurements would sit on the available space perfectly.

Hi, Great looking tmd layout you have there. Some nice little details you've added. Will follow and look forward to seeing more progress. Joe

Really nice looking layout. The hardstanding kit looks excellent and is next on my list to try and achieve a satisfactory appearance after several other attempts.

Love this. My pristine EWS 08 looks out of place amongst everything else.

I've had a huge loss of modelling mojo for the last few months. I kept looking at the layout but couldn't inspire myself to do anything and couldn't work out why. I was looking at the hardstanding area where the shed is and wasn't completely happy with it. It didn't look too bad but wasn't perfectly flat and locos kept stalling on it. Before I knew it I had started ripping it up and within half an hour or so it was gone and cleaned up and I suddenly felt a sense of relief. I managed to only cause minor damage to the surrounding security fencing. I'm using 2mm card to build the area up to be completely flat and then will probably use the scale model scenery mdf kit which I'll have to chop around a bit but hopefully it can be sanded to get a perfect fit. As can be seen in the other pic I've added a bit of straw colour static grass as I start to build up the areas which will be overgrown and unkempt. Feeling a bit more positive now so hopefully things will start to move in the right direction again.

I've done a bit more work on the small parking area for the yet to be built office building. It started off as a piece of shed roofing felt which was painted with a black wash. I've added some ground scatter to blend it in with the surrounding area and installed a rail crossing, which still needs some work. The pics show the barrier I am adding around the car park which is a piece off 00 rail with short lengths of solid copper wire soldered on to make the 'legs'. It's been primed and is awaiting a final colouring.

I've been working on the third board some more. The ballast piles have been shaped and covered with ballast as well as the surrounding area. This is almost complete but may benefit from a touch of weathering, weeds etc. The tarmac area is what will be the car-park for a small office building. This was made from shed roofing felt I had laying around which has been given a black wash. Still work to be done to blend it in but I think it looks ok. I've also knocked up a different road bridge to act as a scenic break. This was meant to just be a trial to see how it would look and has been constructed using 1mm card but it's pretty sturdy and I may well keep it. I've since filled and sanded the gaps and primed it. Next to try and achieve the concrete finish I'm looking for.

Thanks for the tip. Do you allow it to dry for a period of time or wipe it straight off?

I also own a few pristine wagons along with an EWS livery Class 08 which although lovely don't look very authentic. Now I've never attempted any weathering before so no way was I going to start on the locomotive but a second hand Hornby MHA wagon I wasn't quite so concerned about. So with no real idea what I was doing I set about trying to fade the paintwork a bit with a white wash and dry brushing hybrid technique. It sort of worked and sort of didn't so I then tried making it look a bit more grubby by just dry brushing burnt umber over the body and chassis. I then painted the inside using burnt umber and then before it dried brushed on some dark rust pigment. To my surprise it actually doesn't look too bad for a first attempt. Still more to do but I think it's passable.

I've moved to the other end of the layout to try and bring everything up to a similar point. This meant making a start on the virtual quarry area and trying to model large ballast heaps. After a bit of research I've opted for using expanding foam as it's fairly easy to work with, and light. As in the pics I've started roughly cutting and shaping it and it's beginning to look the right shape. Still a long way to go and presumably it will néed filling and final sanding but it's looking promising so far.

A couple more pics with current progress. I've finished the low relief office building which forms the backdrop of the first board. I've also almost finished the shipping container site office kit from Scale model scenery. It's been painted and I've cobbled together a few items of furniture and added lighting which I'll add pics of when complete. Other than that the only other thing I've been doing is making a few bushes to add some more greenery to the layout.

A few more pics...