Oncomin5torm

I put this job off for the last 2 weeks, as I was unsure how to do it and I was concerned about doing it wrong, so it taxed my modelling mojo. I got a prod this morning from my girlfriend and another friend, this was the outcome. Not a sight you'll see often after this point. The underside of the platforms on Hill's Cross. Peco concrete edging, mount board from the range and I have the platforms built Using pieces of mount board leftover I have made supports to keep the platform level. I am not installing it permanently until I have the buildings on the platform itself, this way wiring any lighting up will be a lot easier. I'm back to enjoying this build, I'm still taking it slow and steady, march is a busy month so it'll be stealing a few hours every few days on the build until mid April.

Looking good Luke. The stone colour adds a different look than the standard black, nice job.

No updates on the layout as I have taken a week or 2 off from any major modelling. Buuuuut a little bit of new stock has arrived for the layout. Bachmann Thomson BG Full break in BR blue. Bachmann CCT in BR blue with TOPS code NOV The Thomson BG is weathered, but not enough for me, so that's another project for the future. The CCT is the first bit of new stock i've bought in a long time, it was on offer at kernow.

I'm the same, withdrawn in 1990 so I'm stretching the truth a little and saying they were refurbed and had asbestos removed and came back into service, just too good not to use.

As someone who is also building a parcels related depot set in the 90s I look forward to seeing this progress. If you can stretch to it a class 128 unit would not go amiss on a layout this size.

A busy morning spent under the layout. I have wired up the track after the tag strip board arrived in the post. Its neater than my last few micros wiring, it may not be to everyone's standards but I am happy with what I have produced. The keen eyed of you will notice the point motors have been removed, this is because I was discussing with a friend the option of going DCC with the point motors too, and to do that with the MP1 type I was using I would need to spend about £50 on another component which I do not really want to do, as that unit will control up to 8 single point motors, so a bit of a waste for a layout with 2 points. My friend promptly offered me 2 of his DCC Concepts Cobalt Digital motors at a mates rates price, I snapped those suckers up. They work off the dcc bus, and require no extra components to be assigned a dcc address for controlling them. I guess the next step is to get started with the buildings, or maybe install the bridge, time will tell.

I think it'll get angled now. Not loads but enough to give it less of a flat feel. I totally love 128s, I'd have another if I could.

I've been busy again. Not much time to do much modelling coming up over the weekend due to my 2 weeks off coming to an end and i'm working again on sunday. So whilst I was waiting for the tag strips to arrive, which they didnt, I made a start on the platform edging. Using the Peco concrete platform edging I used previously on Windle Hill Ive built the basic framework of the edging. The plan is to scratch build the warehouses directly onto the platform itself, to hopefully stop the dreaded unsightly gap from appearing under the buildings. Each of the shorter platforms are able to hold a single mk1 or 2 CCT or short parcels vans if needed. The longer platform can comfortably house 2 mk1 but can also accommodate a 3rd, but it blocks the points slightly, so if a 3 coach train is on the platform the rest of the bays cannot be used. Class 128 DPU in fetching royal mail livery sitting in the bay. Got to say this is the 2nd Class 128 i've owned and I have never had an issue with them, flawless runners and superb units all round, previously had a BR Blue unit which went onto a different home when I moved my operating era.

Still waiting on the tag strip to crack on with the wiring, so I have instead continued with building the fiddle yard exit over bridge. They took a bit of fettling, as the pieces are not just for use on the bridge kits. I used super glue to build the kit, other glues are available for resin but this also makes it a touch quicker to go together. I've used vallejo acrylic paints to do the base tones, Mahogany for the brick, and the blue is Grey Blue, I will do a mortar wash when its all totally dry, and then weather it all down using enamel washes and then some drybrushing once all that is dry also. At the moment its flush with the end board, give me your opinion, should I step it out slightly and create a small bridge scene, be it rail or other, or just leave it as it is flush with the end?

Thanks. Sometimes I set myself stupid timetables for getting a layout finished, this has none of that so I'm just enjoying it.

Small progress but normally I'd have less time in a day so I'm not rushing this build. I've added and painted the backscene. Just my usual roll of wallpaper I've been using for a year or so now to great effect. I used a tester pot from the range in a blue sky type colour. I've not gone all the way to the base of the wallpaper, as the entire backscene will be covered by buildings eventually.

thank you vey much

Superb Luke. It doesnt need to be fancy if it works, it looks like it does the job. I find too many people (myself included) try to over complicate fiddle yards and want it to fit the biggest thing ever, and then it doesnt work all that well.

A morning of wiring, today. Nothing too fancy as I have done a lash up job temporarily so I can test stock out on the layout. I will be using solder tag strips on this build as I quite liked them on a previous layout I did, and I wanted to keep the wiring neat, in the final positions. The solder tags are on order and will arrive when they arrive, which is why I have done a lash up for now. On test duties today is 08 485. She ran perfectly over the points and all track is powered correctly. I had to install the point motors or the frogs of the points would have been dead, so the points are fixed in one direction currently but they work. I am really happy to have gotten to this stage, considering the entire build is about a week old and that's it, having 2 weeks holiday is always useful for railway builds. I think the next step is to get the backscene installed before I get the tag strips in the post.

What have you done for a fiddle yard luke?

A day of drying times today. I soldered the track ends to the copper clad sleepers to keep them fixed down whilst I glue the rest of the track, just using copydex. Most of the track coming off the points is straight, which is why I again opted for the right hand rather than a Y point coming off the lefthand point. The only one I had to put a bit more effort into and let other bits of track dry first was the front siding, which is one long piece of track from the fiddle yard and is mostly for holding stock and the occasional dmu that visits. This had to be held in place with push pins whilst the copydex went off, but also using the peco PW gauge tool, nothing fancy but it keeps it lined up with the rest of the track to keep the setup in the correct proportions. When all that was drying I decided to make a start on the bridge that will be the scenic break. Its a resin kit by Skytrex, I used one on my first layout Oakford Lane, superb kits. I had to do a fair bit of fettling though as its a resin poured not 3D printed kit. It has gone together well so far, the far side of the tracks will have a shorter piece, so more cutting, and the front end will have 1 full piece and a smaller one on the end.

Its those V shaped platforms that really captured my imagination to be honest. The initial photos I have from the area dont show how big it actually was, and the motorail area was tiny in comparison, it looks like its a lot more boxed in, which it wasnt.

Thank you. I wasn't familiar with those threads, but I'll scour them for information. Do you know based on the modern layout of King's Cross, where was it on the map? I've looked but cannot find out where it was, my information comes from those 2 photos I have on the first post.

Today I've been wiring up the sets of points for the layout. I am running dcc so have modified the points appropriately, I will power the frog and control the points using MTB MP1 point motors. On the prototype there is a Y point coming off the other point, but to keep the track geometry right I have opted to use a medium right point over the long Y I had. It is an homage to King's Cross so I can adjust some aspects to suit.

I've added backscene and end boards to Hill's Cross today. I've used 9mm ply I had leftover from other projects, so it's not the best bits of ply going but with a wrap round backscene on it I'm sure it'll be great.

Thanks. I've been looking forward to this build for a while. I'm also looking forward to your build now too.

Almost a year a go I got covid, it destroyed what love I had for the 8x2 layout I was building. Over the following 9 or so months I have build many a micro layout and some have worked out, others have been scrapped. I am now building a micro representation of the King Cross Motorail Depot, but repurposed to be a Mail, Parcels, Papers depot but based in the North West of England, as that is where I base all my layouts. After seeing these images someone captured I was hooked. Kings cross had a motorail sidings, this has never interested me, but changing it to be a mail or parcels depot really did spark my interest. The track plan is pretty simple but it lends itself to a small shunting layout. With that in mind over the last few months I have worked out a plan with a friend of mine for using this as a mail depot set in the early 90s which would be served by GUV, TPO, Parcels Vans, CCV, and the (slightly) out of era Class 128 Parcels Unit, the stock would be BR Blue, Blue Grey, Royal Mail and RES, so it allows for a lot of variation in shock on the scene at once as a lot of this era stock wouldnt have been updated very quickly. Using a DCC Concepts 4x2 board I had in the loft from an old layout I lost interest with (See above about covid) I set about removing old track, ballast and making it good for a new plan to be put upon the single board. I managed to save the threeway point and a right hand medium point from the old layout, everything else had to be scrapped saddly. The scenic area will be 4x2 foot, I originally envisioned the layout as 6x20" but found I wasn't happy with the length and splitting into a pair of 3x20" boards wasn't suitable, so I adapted the plan down to a single 4x2 board with a fiddle yard. (Testing of positions and points with a pair of mk1 and a CCT) The track plan will follow as close as possible the actual layout of the original kings cross motorail area but within the confines of 4x2, I couldn't come up with a name until a friend of mine suggested a homage to kings cross and as my surname is Hill he went for Hill's Cross.

Thank you for the information. I may have to get one for a micro at some point.

Loving this build on here and Instagram. Your an inspiration my good man Luke. Where did you pickup the loco shed from? Your initial post said something about laser cut but I dont remember where you said it was from.

These are dead easy to build. I have one and its a case of do one side to the base and then the centre supports and the other long side slots onto them, then the ends. I used wood glue, and occasionally super glue and activator to get an instant bond. Use clamps or weights and it'll come together as a nice board.