bootneckbob

Moving towards the station now.

A few more now before anyone loses interest as this looks nothing like ESD! These show my homage to the viaduct and the iron bridge. Both, like the tunnel portal are epic scratchbuilds which I'll gloss over for now as they were well covered at the time elsewhere.

Didn't take any photos of the boards and framework going in so it's a bit of a jump to track laid and starting the first bit of scenery. I started in the top right of the layout. I thought I'd start there as it's the furthest point away from the door which is where the wife views it from when she's delivering cups of tea. I figured any mistakes wouldn't be seen immediately by my worst critic! To be honest, I'd not done any form of scenery before so everything I did was going to be new to me. I started off by forming the landscape for the incline to the tunnel to Exeter Central. This includes the viaduct over Bonhay road. The first go at this had me trying to incorporate the road under the bridge. There was too much in that area and it just wasn't right. I decided to alter the course of the river and send the line south through a lower tunnel portal which of course is my worst sin (I hope) on the recreation of the layout. So here's a couple of photos of that area as it was forming.

You will never see the shed like this again, nor will I hopefully.

Hello, I have documented my progress from day one on another forum, but after using this one more I thought I'd make a jump and start a thread on here. I started planning my layout to recreate Exeter St Davids (ESD) back in 2008. This after seeing some footage of DCC sound locos on Youtube. I'd not really seen much of the hobby since I was a teenager back in the 80s and I was astounded how the hobby had progressed. In my youth I never got further than laying the track and starting to ballast before the next thing came along and I lost interest. So I guess doing ESD now is either part of a mid life crisis or trying to finish something I started in my childhood. Of course, the model railway is never complete is it as there will always be something to do on it whether it's changing something we're not happy with or just maintaining it. My greatest memories of ESD as a child was taking the train to Manchester a few times with my mum to visit family which would have been 75-81 ish and very definitely BR blue era. I decided that I would model post 85 for the variety of stock with the mix of colour schemes, and also the track plan (pointwork) being easier to replicate after the re signalling and renewed track work that was done in 1985. To recap the 12 years or so the layout was first designed using Anyrail software to fit in my loft. The intent was to get the station and TMD in and after some research I settled on post 85 with the re signalling and simplified track set up. Again, as with my childhood, not long after getting the track layout complete we decided to move house. The next version I decided to avoid the loft space if I could so I had the builder make a bespoke shed during the house renovation. The layout was reconfigured to fit into a 10m x 1.1m shed. This was basically the side of the house and a 6x4 shed. It was like the TARDIS as only appeared to be a 6x4 shed with the rest of it hidden. Anyway, got as far as laying the track and just starting to get some points working before, yes you guessed it, another house sale was on the cards. The second layout was better in that it was easier to get to and I could work in there in the summer in comfort with the door open and my wife just outside on the patio, but it was constrained by the size, (aren't they always?) I used two helix to take the track down to the fiddle yard below the main scenic section which worked but wasn't without problems. The final house move (please let this be the last) had my wish list only concerned with enough space in the garden to build a 11m x 3m shed. Planning permissions actually reduced that in the end slightly. But I'll start this story off in the layouts final track plan. The layout is actually 10m x 2.3m. I'm now further into a layout than I ever have been in my life and today as I type this the layout is well up and running with all the points on the scenic section working and post Xmas 2020 I've just about got some landscaping on the whole layout. There was a huge delay between me building the shed and getting going fully with the layout as we had another major house renovation and the shed was used as storage for everything while we lived in a tent alongside it. I ended up building the shed this time; well, you know what they say, if you want something doing properly....do it yourself. 3 years since I built it and never seen a leak. The layout broadly covers the approach to ESD from the south from the tunnel from Exeter Central and the iron lattice bridge over the River Exe (top right-hand side of the track plan) right through the station including the TMD/Stabling point (Olds view). It then extends beyond the station and covers the approach from Cowley bridge which is the center on the bottom of the track plan. I was able to include New North Yard sidings but Riverside Yard was/is just far too large to include. Instead I included the entrance to Riverside from Exeter and Cowley bridge. These lines are big enough to hold a large freight train and then have it reconfigured in a self contained shunting layout effectively. The fiddle yard can hold everything I have stock wise with a touch of spare capacity should the need arise! The track floating below the layout is the upper level fiddleyard. This is accessed via the incline up to Exeter Central (top right) and also by a hidden incline beyond Cowley bridge. The trains then need to be reversed in if going that way. Normal running to prototypical movements doesn't require that to happen at all. Those that know the location well will have noticed the river appears to be running a new course taking it under the viaduct which actually goes over Bonhay road. You're right, modelling licence I'm afraid and my biggest concession to the layout. That whole section with the incline to Exeter Central and the diverging lines to Plymouth/Penzance just couldn't be done in a prototypical way without loosing the TMD and seeing the whole station from a different viewpoint. There's a guy called Tim (I think) who's modelling ESD too. His is on FB and Youtube and may well be on here. His layout is is seen from that alternate viewpoint; and well worth a look if you haven't seen it; search for Exeter and Laira. So my approach from the south is sadly freelance but it's a model railway at the end of the day. ESD and the operation of the trains there is my inspiration and it's working at that level. I've also tweaked the landscape slightly from Cowley bridge too as it's a tad flat on one side. Right that will do for now. Photos will follow!

Don't know how I've missed your layout over the years but I have to say just found it and it's stunning. It should serve as motivation to get on with mine, but I fear it will never be anywhere near as good as what you've achieved. Time to lower my expectations. I even made my suffering wife watch a couple of videos of your layout! That'll bite me in the arse cause she'll tell me yours is better when mine's a little more complete.

Thank you Steve; excellent pictures.

I would have guessed it would be fuel or oil but it's nice to have a bit more detail behind it. Thanks Rich!

Hello, I'm modelling Exeter St Davids in the 80s and I've seen this wagon (?) with the chevrons in the Traction depot but have no idea what it is. Can anyone shed some light for me please?