TechnicArrow

Cheers @luke the train spotter, now I'm back at my desk I can be more specific - it's AMMO "tracks wash", described as "the prefect tone for rusty or dark tracks and other dark rust effects." I was recommended by the fellow in Antics, and it is indeed very easy to apply and get decent results from! Given the results on The Extension, I think I need to clean off the muddy acrylic on the main layout and apply the wash. Some more fettling this evening, to get the point mechanisms in order again. It seemed the tiebar was catching on the underside of the rail, but only in the string-pulled direction; the spring return was fine. Reviewing the mechanism revealed the length of the pin meant that pulling the sting tended to tilt the pin using the tiebar as a pivot, rather than slide it over. The solution was to attach the string higher up the pin. I removed the wooden block, and cut a new notch in the pin to secure the string to. Reattached everything, and just like that, much less moment action, and much better sliding action! I left the spring as it was, since if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The result is much more reliable switching, the blades always make contact, with far fewer derails and shorts. In fact it was so much better, that I repeated the same for the far point. Small steps, but they make a big difference!

Those shots are fantastic - the sense of space and depth in your scene is great! The half-relief station, and especially the trees along the backscene, all work really well. The 20 is looking right at home, with plenty of space to run without being cramped. Top work!

You'd never believe it but there has in fact been progress... just quite slowly! Following the decision that my ballast wasn't up to scratch, I've been experimenting, using The Extension as a testbed - that's what it's for, after all! I obtained some Woodland Scenics medium grey ballast, and tried various blends with the Brown, the ash, and other materials. I settled on a mix that is predominantly grey, with only small amounts of added brown and ash. This was glued to the track with dilute PVA as usual, but then I tried something new - a brown "tank track" enamel wash was brushed along the rails, allowed to bleed over the ballast too. This mix has finally given me a track look that I'm happy with, at least for this section of running line. Of course, adding the backscene helps - it was only posed there, I should get it set up properly. Since the main layout represents a station and yard, and uses Code 75 rather than 100, I've bought some Fine grade ballast rather than the Medium used on The Extension, so we'll see how that looks. This means the next thing was to remove that Brown ballast I laid back in February. In the process I noticed the yard point wasn't sitting level anymore, probably some loose ballast made it's way under it, so I pulled the fishplates back and lifted the whole thing (with a little help from the Permanent Way crew!). I peeled off the top layer of card, leaving a clean fresh base, and relaid it - magic! Unfortunately, the mechanism doesn't quite fully throw the blades in one direction, it's catching on something, so needs more fettling. Whilst I was removing the ballast I also flattened out some of the yard ash, and applied the tank track wash to the siding rails. It's getting there, but looking at other layouts for late GWR period, I think I need to make this paler and add more grass. Still, it looks good for a spot of shunting. Finally, I've been fettling the signals, with proper translucent paints rather than the cheap permanent marker which faded quite quickly. The calling-on disc is a bit dodgy, but the main arm and ground signal work beautifully, and with the WiFi controller running all the lighting I can dim them quite easily. I need to get some lights on the signal box though! Progress always feels slow, but looking back in this thread always reminds me how far I've come, and there's plenty more to do. Should probably get on with it then...

That greenery is superb - it really has brought the place to life! The treeline masks the low-relief station incredibly well, definitely something I will have to try for Watchford. Can I ask where you got the sea foam, and any other tips for making trees? I've never made any before, but I think it's hight time I do!

Looks fantastic! The groundwork and greenery is all very tidy, and the whole layout has a nice consistent, blended-together feel. The little details are truly bringing it together. How are you finding the operation of the trackplan? It looks like your headshunt is quite short!

Looking lovely in the sunshine! The first and second shots are especially atmospheric, and your modelling really shows what can be done with simple ingredients and a bit of care. I'm looking forward to what the next layout will be!

There has been goods shed progress! Firstly, following a trip down to Antics last weekend, I have obtained some Slaters 4mm stonework plasticard. This was primarily for the station platform wall, but I quickly realised I have plenty, and it would do excellent for the shed interior walls. I cut out and fixed some to the inside of the rear wall (which doesn't have external stonework!), with openings for two windows; these are leftover ScaleModelScenery lasercut offerings I bought for a warehouse on Alexandra Wharf. Then they were liberally whitewashed with acrylic. With this complete, I could finally assemble all four walls into a singular structure, which I did. I also affixed some Quoins to the corners - simply a thin card piece with regular 4mmx6mm cutouts, and painted a brown earth colour to match the stonework, although this won't be the final colour. Then I had an idea. Since the structure is a 2/3rds relief model, looking through the open door you just see the end board not a big shed. I have employed several tricks to conceal this, with a half-shut door, and a stack of crates against the "false" wall. But to conceal the lack of a continuing rail, I needeed something else. So I dug out an old Airfix/Dapol kit-built cattle van, and the junior hacksaw... It's brutal, but I never run this wagon anyway! The remaining wagon still has both axles, so it can sit sticking out from under a bridge or a shed on my other dioramas. Once I'd done the same to the roof, I could fix the stub end to the false wall, and I think the effect is very convincing, especially in the gloom of the shed. It will have internal lighting one day, but probably not soon! Finally, a few other touch-ups, and we have a complete-looking shed! I've cut the roof from two sheets of Wills slates (which are what defined the maximum length of the shed). I could then add bargeboards, before a touch of cream paint to all the woodwork. That's where we are for now. Whilst the warm Cotswold-stone colour is quite pleasing, it's not the final goal, it's just what colour the Wills stonework happens to be! I'll need to mix up a suitable Watchet yellow-grey, which could be interesting. I'll probably procrastinate by building something else first!

That looks like a fantastic track plan, with plenty of options for interesting passenger runs and freight shunting. Maybe if you made an opening on the spur track you could run longer engines, or maybe even connect another fiddle yard and have trains passing eachother.... I may have to take note of this one!

Nice work on the backscene! The groundcover is looking good too. Personally, I think the larger building works, but could it perhaps be slid further to the right - maybe even slightly behind the goods shed? It would help imply the platform and station is larger than the layout actually is. Alternatively, if you do go with the smaller building, perhaps you could add an ancillary storeroom, shelter, shed etc? I'm not familiar enough with the prototype to know what sort of building layouts were common. Whichever you do I'll be following with interest, since I'll have to do similar at some point for Watchford!

Fantastic work all around, I do love a bit of re-use! The shunter is fantastic, and the side valances fit really well - but I think the windscreen wipers are the smallest thing that make the biggest difference. The layout more generally is fantastic, simple but very well detailed. The trackwork is especially well done. Top work!

I'm a bit late back,but cheers @john new, card is still my default medium! I mentioned in Luke's thread about my ballast, but realised I'd never posted it here, so time for a bit of an update. A few weeks ago, I fancied an evening task that didn't need me to use either a screen or a brain, so I started the ballasting. A while ago I bought some Woodland Scenics brown, and I have a collection of old fire ash, soil and sand. I'd done some dry-tests mixing the ash into the ballast to tone down the colour, so I thought I'd go ahead and glue some down. I started in front of the signal box, working forwards up to the loop line; for the yard sidings I switched to just ash, with some other materials pushed into the surface to represent spot repairs. Unfortunately, I have once again been fooled by my poor perception of colour. Whilst I didn't want my ballast to be bright fresh grey, this is very bright brown instead! The ash basically washed out and achieved nothing. To the left is unglued ballast, and the middle and right is glued - nothing here is really the right colour. The yard surface has come out nicely, especially with the blend from ballasted track. But looking at other layouts, and especially inspired by @luke the train spotter's painting, I think I need to take up the ballast, give it a repaint, and try again with something more grey. Luckily, the glue was too dilute, so that will be quite easy! But in the best tradition of not making decisions, I've been doing something completely different instead. Namely, the goods shed. Using Wills stone sheets backed onto thick card, I have built up the gable-end and road-facing walls, based on the sheds at Watchet and Dunster respectively. I've used scored card to represent planning over the rail doorway. Then I built up the loading platform, completely guessing at dimensions - using photos from @DRoe96's goods shed, the road vehicles I have, and some rounding to the nearest centimetre! The right-hand door will be modelled mostly closed anyway, to hide the fact I'm only modelling two-thirds of the length. You can also see my stone carving efforts on the doorway, to blend the texture around the sharp edges of the plasticard. I'll need to come back and add quoins and archway to this anyway, likely with some thin card. This is about the extents of the model - I'll represent the interior of the rear walls, but the exterior can never be seen so I'm not planning to bother! Still, it's looking good viewed from both ends of the layout. I need to polish up some edges, then glue it all together; a flat card base and the platform keeps the whole structure rigid without the roof. And then, one day, I'm going to have to ruin the whole model by painting it ... As I think I've proven, I'm a typical engineer - good at structures and mechanisms, but terrible at colour!

Nice work! Your signals may be static but your eye for colour is far better than mine! Your trackwork is looking excellent with that point rodding, it really adds a lot to the a layout and reminds me I need to buy some for Watchford. You're also making me think I should take up the ballast I've laid so far, and try repainting the trackwork before it gets too far... Similarly, I agree with @Kevin Johnson about the platform stonework. What have you used for it? I really need to sort mine out, but the stonework I've got at the moment is a bit too overscale.

Some fascinating photos, and a promising layout! Very neat work on recessing the plugs into the SMS boards; I've been pondering how to get power in and out without impeding the ability to place the layout in a RUB (not that I own the correct size of RUB mind you); I've ended up with some plugs hanging loose beneath the board, but it does the trick. I like the cutting and footbridge secne. The signal box looks neat too, will therebe signals for it to control?

They were one of the items I bought from Wizard Models (no connection, hadn't even heard of them until last week!). https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/?s=GWR+buffer+stop+&post_type=product&title=1&excerpt=1&content=1&categories=1&attributes=1&tags=1&sku=1&orderby=date-DESC&ixwps=1 They do both whitemetal and brass versions, I went for the cheaper! Just needs a bit of tidying up and a few holes drilling you're good to go. From previous experiences of whitemetal I was concerned it might not have much stopping power, but it's survived a few trains being accidentally rolled into it so it's probably fine! I'm looking forward to it already 😉

Wonderful! I don't often see Modern Image Micro, but for a truly minimalistic layout, the setting works really well. This is practically what the Class 153 was built for! And for such a small space it's very recognisable, it instantly reminded me of a weekend I spent exploring the area back in Summer 2017. I think the only thing it would benefit from is a little brick hut, with an orange-clad signalman ready to operate the gates! And possibly an upper-quadrant semaphore to reinforce the area and era, but that could be overkill. Out of interest, what fiddleyard arrangement are you using?

OK, another long ol' post incoming! It's been a week of dark, cold evenings - which of course means lots of modelling... We started this week with a purchase from Wizard Models. This was initiated by the need for some replacement Roof Vents for the old Airfix B-Set. In the best of traditions, things were added... more on those in later. First, making a mess! I removed the remnants of the moulded vents with scalpel and sandpaper (and tried to remove some of the more offensive paint streaks). Then I added the new vents. They come in a pack of 24, which seemed like a lot given I only needed 9 per coach. I discovered why as soon as I cut one off the sprue - they are very good at pinging off the bench, and are tiny enough to never be seen again! The second coach received the similar treatment, but with a lot less work since the roof is still the original white. I am intending to keep the roofs different colours for a bit of variety, but will probably need to do some form of weathering. And sneaking into this photo is one of the additional purchases - some etched signs, being painted. The other item in the basket was a whitemetal GWR bufferstop. The Peco Bullhead one I've been using up until now was a little bit too modern and overkill for a rural station, this one fits a lot better. It is simply two cast-metal sideframes, with some wire for tie-rods, and a wooden beam. The sideframes include the rail in the moulding, to match Code 75; they do need some sleepers to clip into, but I seem to have hoards of them anyway. One advantage is that by butting up to the track, instead of clipping onto it, I effectively gain two inches of siding - very useful! This was a pleasant evening's work - gluing down the siding and sleepers, then fixing in the frames, adding the tie-rods and beam, and giving everything a coat of black paint. The base rail and chairs were painted in the same reddish-brown I've used for the rest of the trackwork to blend it in, and a blob of extra paint hides the gap necessary to ensure the cast-metal frames don't cause a short! Some spare rails stored beneath it complete the look. I still haven't painted the face of the beam, but I might just leave it bare for now. The next item I added showed up during a tidy-up of my modelling draw (aka the dumping drawer), and I thought I should add it before I lose it again! It's a point lever for the front siding, since it wouldn't be controlled from the signal box. I cut some extra sleepers to "extend" out from the point, then added the lever and some wooden footboards to either side. It's been placed far away enough that even the Autocoach won't hit it when passing into the siding, not that it should ever need to! Painted up, and with a shunter posed nearby, it adds a lovely focal point to the scene, viewed from the Yard Gate. And oh look, there's one of those signs too... And finally (I did warn you it's a long post) - the bridge. No, I still haven't painted it properly, I've been building some more structure instead. Once again, it all starts by making a mess! The goal here was for the bridge to look (and be) solid, especially with the wing walls - but since the lever frame has expanded to 8 levers, it takes quite a chunk out from where I would usually put formers. It also means the fascia and "Inner fascia" around the lever frame don't really have much to secure to. Nevertheless, here it all is! I've topped it off with a card road deck, and a strip of paper for the embankment; I'll come back and papier-mache that once I've sorted the rear wingwall too. But there's a trick up my sleeve - so that I can still get to the levers and/or trackwork to fix any problems that may arise, the entire structure is removable. Achieveing this meant even more cutting and gluing was involved, to keep it solid without gluing to the baseboard! There are a pair of low wooden strips glued to the board which locate the bridge in position, but everything else is held together with corrugated card formers, UHU, and hope. It's honestly surpringly solid! Now I just need to paint it... So finally, can I get this week's work in one photo? Not quite, sorry bufferstop! , I've just spotted I've got some black paint on the backscene... that's joing to be a right pain to hide. Oh well, you can't win them all!

We have a structure now! This is truly a multidimensional cardboard sandwich. The deck is two layers of corrugated card, laid with the corrugations perpendicular to eachother, and topped with cereal box card. The supports are corrugated card with a layer of cereal box card on both faces, cut into strips with the corrugations running vertically, and laid out in a truss pattern. A further single layer of corrugated card forms the base. The whole thing is held together with PVA throughout. Resulting in, as usual, a lightweight and strong box. At some point I'll give it a fascia piece to tidy it up. Now, the shape. It was built as an asymmetric wedge, to mimic the angle of the front siding. This gives a viewing through the gateway on the left: And a nice open yard space in front of the siding, with the front edge neatly matching the photography angle back towards the bridge at the end. Now that I've built it, part of me wants to flip it 180, so the main photo view is from the gate! I probably won't - the structure would be upside down, there would be more space outside the railway gates than within, and as much as I like the gate sightline from the Operating end, I need some good views from the Desk end too. Who knows, I might even use the yard space for a crane...

I walked past the Ladywash chimney when I was briefly in the area last summer, having very little clues what it was. Fascinating to read all that you're digging up about it! Your model is looking equally fascinating, good work!

Cheers Luke, sorry I missed this just now! Even the small area a lot to the scene; more road space is important for a rural setting, since land would have been cheaper allowing more generous yards. The wedge-shape also helps to draw the eye back into the scene at each end, since it's too late to extend the backscene further forwards. I'm working on building it up using my usual carboard sandwhich method, so it should appear again soon!

A quick little update, maybe I'll get better at these in 2024? Probably not, knowing me! Nevertheless, I have been spending recent evenings painting things. Firstly, the Airfix B-Set. I've made a start on "upgrading" these coaches, by deciding to se if I can manage painting the droplights on one. First up was dismantling it - this proved a challenge, since there are no screws involved, only clips. It is in fact the glazing that is clipped onto the seats; the seats are screwed to the chassis from within, and the press-fit of the glazing into the bodyshell is what keeps it in place. Prising open the bodysides therefore isn't enough to release the clips, it's the glazing that needs to be pulled outwards too. Nevertheless, once it was dismantled, out came the paint! 1. Interior - Benches a coat of orange-brown, and floors dark grey. 2. Sides - Droplights on each door, the same dark red I used on the autocoach. A black wash bled into the doorframes, to highlight the surprinng amount of moulded detail. 3. Roof - Old thick black paint sanded off, and grey brushed on. Upper chocolate stripe tidied up (luckily, as a raised detail, this was easy to keep straight). 4. Bogies - A spot of blue to the axleboxes. I hope the results speak for themselves! Since I have only painted one coach so far, we can have a little before-and-after: The biggest improvement is undoubtedly the droplights and weathering, which pick out the doors and show just how much detail these old models have. They benefit from having flush glazing, even if it is somewhat thick. For the second coach, I will try to be a bit more careful with the weathering, I may have to return to this first one and touch it up as a less-clean coach. I also need to source some replacement air vents (there are precisely two out of the 18 I should have), some metal wheels in place of the clunky plastic ones, and possibly a close-coupling between them. Other than that, I'm very happy with where these are headed, and far cheaper than buying new coaches! Secondly, the ground signal now has coloured lenses! The original plan for these was to borrow some translucent paint, but I keep forgetting to pick it up. However, whilst I was buying stationery today, I realised a pack of coloured permanent markers would probably do the trick just fine. So I tried them out. the red is red and the green is green; what more do you need? A phone camera on 3x zoom is of course incredibly cruel, and also not great at picking up the light the same way the eye does, but I should probably try to tidy the white paintwork a bit. Not photographed, I did also applied some green to the main starter's lens, since I thought the stock one from the kit was always quite washed-out. It turned out very well. To finish this evening then, a quick video - featuing 4527, the repainted B-Set, and the coloured signals. Enjoy! It's definitely getting there... but I should *really* start building that platform properly sometime soon!

Well, it's another new year, and therefore one year since I started this project. I've returned to my lodgings after a christmas with the family, so it's a good time to take a fresh look at where I am with this layout - and set some goals for the coming year! Review FIrst step, is to give it a shakedown. I took everything loose off, to see the layout in true bare-bones form. Not as much is fixed down as I'd like! But it is good to confirm we do do have functional trackwork, points and signals, and of course the backscene and lighting rig. Then I could do a premature spring-clean - these layouts are excellent dust-traps, aren't they? I gave the rails a good clean, and propped up the layout to brush off all the loose debris - rubbings, wood dust, and loose ballast all make a lovely mix. Laid flat again, I re-stocked with buildings in their various states. That's a bit better! The signal box is the most complete, followed by the overbridge, then the goods shed and station which are still placeholder shells. Also at the front is a new idea - the yard area was feeling cramped, so I plan to build a road-only "add-on" to the front of the layout, not extending any further forwards than the lighting rig, just to give a bit more road area. It can also provide somewhere to put a front fence and gateway for photography. Just for fun, here's a shot from January last year. Plenty has changed, but it's still definitely the same layout! Rolling Stock The eagle-eyed may have noticed what's pulling into Watchford in the Overview shot above. My first new loco purchase for over 2 years, I now own a Rapido WR 15xx! I've been contemplating one of these beasts for a long time, then a certain someone pointed out Hattons were selling them cheap... I bought it myself, but put it under the tree for Christmas morning anyway! It is a maginficent beast, with complex valvegear topped off with unmistakeable GWR flavour. I have 1506, in plain BR black; I may add BR decals to the tanks, I'm undecided. As a Newport freight engine, it's a little bit out of place on this branch passenger set, but I call Rule 1 :-p The passenger stock is also new, being a Hornby Collet 57' coach in BR crimson. This was another unmissable Hattons offer, and ideal for this branchline setting. Finally, I have retrieved some more stock from home, to run on Watchford - a Bachmann GWR 45xx Prairie, and a pair of Airfix B-Set coaches. Finally, some proper GWR branchline power! The 45xx runs reasonably well, but has excessively high start-up torque which I will investigate. I also plan to upgrade the Airfix B-set, given the success I had with the Autocoach. They may well be exchanged for more Hornby 57' Bow-Ends in the future, but for now I can at least tidy them up a bit. Coming Up So, what's up for this layout in 2024? This is mostly for my own reference, I find organising is easiest with lists. But there does need to be some semblence of prioty - there are many jobs which I want to do, but are held up by previous ones I don't! Watchford: 1. Build the platform structure 2. Paint the overbridge and platform 3. Finish the signal box staircase 4. Ballast and ground cover 5. Goods Shed 6. Station Building The Extension: 1. Build extra cassettes 2. Solidify run-round board structure 3. Install point control 4. Paint bridges 5. Ballast 6. Vegetation - I intend to use this to test use of static grass 7. Possibly add signals to run-round loop There are many more ideas floating around, and even more will crop up I'm sure. And many of my weekends are already being filled up... so I guess I should get on with it!

Let There Be Light! This weekend I vowed to complete the signalling, if nothing else to clear them off my workbench. Last time I posted, the main arm and the ground signal were mechanically complete. Over the past few evenings I have been fettling the Calling On disc into some semblence of operation. It's still got a sticking point somewhere so it doesn't always return to Danger properly, but it does move. So onto the lights! I decided the best power supply would be the same unit that drives the main lighting rig - this being a 12v supply intended for "RGB" LED tape, but since I'm using White/Warm White tape, it has a "spare" outlet. Using this unit means one less thing to find mains for, one controller can manage both daytime and nighttime lighting on the layout, and the bonus that I can connect it to the rest of my smarthome stuff! To give the LEDs a safe voltage and current, after some consultation with the resident electronics engineer (dad), I settled on a series circuit of three LEDs and a single 1k Ohm resistor. This means from the 12v supply each LED gets about 3v, which is about right, although does restrict me to needing to add any other LEDs in circuits of three at a time. The LEDs themselves are "SMD" surface-mount types, that are incredibly tiny, but bought online with pre-soldered wires. I secured three inside some ModelU signal lamps. The lamps serve two purposes - they're scenic items, and have a fairly small lens hole to channel the light to exactly where I want it. The LEDs were fixed inside and the bases sealed with glue, followed by a coat of black paint, to cut out any stray light. Then it was a case of mounting the lamps in the right places behind the lenses. The main arm was simple enough, since the spectacle plates are quite large, and the new working lamps are the same size as the kit's original moulded ones (which were cut off). The discs were trickier - the lamps were a little too large, meaning the light didn't align with the spectacles. Both the lamps and the mounting brackets needed to be careflly reduced to bring the lenses in line, as well as being carefully glued as close to the back of the disc as possible. The ground signal worked quite well, the calling-on arm not so much, especially since it still wasn't quite working mechanically, so the lamp was left loose for the time being. Then it was soldering time. So much chaos for such little things! I threaded the wires, hooked everything up and dry-tested - all working. Then I soldered up each joint, turned the power on again, and... the main arm lamp was off. But the other two weren't, so it wasn't a broken circuit - the damned LED had failed! An LED that was glued inside a lamp, on the side of a signal post... it all had to be dismantled, the lamp removed, the LED dug out. This time I soldered up a new LED before I glued it in place, just to be sure, but luckily we got all three lamps lit. Then I could re-glue the LED into the lamp, and the lamp onto the post. Fiddly work that I really didn't want to redo, since it was never quite as good as it was the first time around! But once it was all sorted, I linked up the strings and levers again, and turned off the main lights, and the whole thing is suddenly worth it. It's tricky to get decent photos of lit signals after dark at this size, but I tried anyway... I'm really pleased with how little light spill there is, especially from that ground signal - the most light you can see is through the lens (which isn't coloured yet, hence it's just white). The CO arm lamp is obviously loose, but the main arm lamp light is all red - it's just unfortunate it spills onto the backscene, but there's not much can be done. I might have to fix a tiny shade on the arm or something. By daylight, the ground signal is definitely the star of the show - I'm really pleased with this little chap, it's the smoothest and neatest of the trio. I can't wait to get some ballast down and it all bedded in. So, I almost completed my challenge. I have got the signals off my workbench, although only two of the three actually work, and the discs still need coloured lenses. Still, I can now move onto something else, and enjoy the little pinpricks of light glowing in these dark evenings.

This is looking fantastic! The square format gives a very real depth to the scene. That scratchbuilt gantry crane is an excellent bit of modelling, and creates a good focal point. And the foliage and weathering tones tie everything together wonderfully. Excellent work, looking forward to seeing what else you can do with this layout!

I've always enjoyed reading your thread - I appreciate your small space, frugalness, and above all, commitment! That back scene makes such a difference, I briefly thought it was a different layout! It really enhances the rural atmosphere. Personally I like the inclusion of the barn, it creates a bit more visual balance with the platform at the front of the layout, but of course it is your choice (and you have the advantage of being able to move around the layout, we can only see it through your camera lens!). Still, I'm looking forward to seeing the whole layout with the backscend fitted. I also like what you're doing with the warehouse windows. I might have missed it somewhere, but have you considered trying a mortar wash, to bring out the brickwork texture? It's a tricky job I've never quite mastered, but might help the lasercut brickwork pop. Still, I'm enjoying your updates, wherever they go next!

Why have one side-project, when you can have several? Firstly, a quick bodge I've been planning for a long while. I've been operating the layout with a standard Gaugemaster Combi, which I find has excellent form factor, but the twin cables - 16vAC power in, and two track power out - are somewhat annoying. I have noted they sell the Walkabout, which is effectively the Combi but with a long cable instead... so one piece of old telephone cable later, and we're sorted! Since the Combi has screw terminals for the outputs, two of which are effectively a pass-through from the 16vAC in, it is a very simple task to attach the wire without any warranty-voiding soldering needed. I did drill a small hole in the casing to keep it tidy, and a cabletie to prevent the cable being yanked out. At the other end, the cable passes through a neat hole in the baseboard, before the track feed wires are soldered to the the track (surprise suprise), and the 16vAC to a spare two-pin socket that the transformer can plug into safely. The overall effect being a walkabout controller! I wasn't intending on having the cable be this long, but it is quite useful... The other side-project of choice is rolling stock. Firstly, the easy way - buying it. A week and a half ago was, of course, Warley, the fruits of which can all be seen in the photos! We have my old standby 3705 hauling a fresh-out-the-box Fruit D (a Dapol model with more weight than I was expecting), as well as a Collett 63' corridor to double my GWR standard coaching stock. The station has also gained some GWR spearhead fencing, not that it even has a proper platform yet! Secondly, the not-so-easy way - painting. Spending the day recovering from a family-wide stomach bug, and inspired somewhat by @MAP66's work (but with nowhere near the time and dedication), I pulled the lid off my airfix Autocoach and made some improvements. I started with the seating and walls, using Revell "wood brown" colour; whilst not overly detailed, this is enough to make the features stand out from their default plastic colour, and I won't be fitting lighting so won't be overly noticeable. Then, with the windows removed, I used "Reddish Brown" to colour the droplights. I considered mixing a colour to be closer - but using one already in the pots was easier, and again it's close enough! A final touch of blue to the axleboxes, and a black wash to the doorframes and end details, and the results are pretty good! The paint job is far from perfect, but adding these little spashes of colour and weathering help make the model feel deeper than the default cream colour of the base model. Now I just need to build a proper station for it to call at... one day, once I've exhausted the list of things I can procrastinate with!