That Model Railway Guy

Having a bit of a diesel day at Pickwick Yard. The Ruston is doing most of the work (and coping incredibly well with the dodgy secondhand insulfrog points if I might add!) while the Sentinel lurks in the background. It's amazing how running these small locos makes the layout feel so much bigger! Hope everyone had a nice Easter and is keeping well

As promised here's the first of the videos I've been working on recently. Earlier in the thread I briefly explained how I made the fences that sit at the back of the layout from a roll of sandwich bag ties. I actually filmed myself constructing these ages ago and (now that I have more time on my hands) I've finally gotten round editing it into a video should anyone else want to give it a go. It's good little project for beginners - after all, if it's simple enough for me to handle then anyone can do it!

While we're in lockdown the layout has seen a considerable increase in traffic! Today I finally remembered to take some photos while I had a few engines pottering about the yard: First up, the B2 is seen ready to depart with some coal wagons (I really must get some NCB wagons in the future!) While the smaller W4 waits at the other end of the yard. ...And another one, right as the B2 is leaving in the background! The yard isn't quiet for long as a J94 turns up with some box vans. At which point the remaining Peckett swiftly disappears off under the bridge to another part of the yard. All these photos are unedited and were taken quickly on my phone without any special lights so they may not be perfect but hopefully they'll provide a bit of enjoyment. Now that I have more time on my hands I'm working on a few videos too, seeing as the previous ones have gone down well, so I'll be posting those as soon as I can. Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Sorry, I've only just seen your post! Thanks, that's definitely what I've tried to go for with this layout. As much as I enjoy the building/creating stage, a lot of the fun for me comes from being able to run trains so the sooner I can get to that the better!

I noticed that too but only afterwards when I was editing the close-up (hence why I didn't mention it during the video). Interestingly it doesn't do it down on the track, only on the rolling road.

For those who enjoy watching videos, here's a close up view of the loco and a bit of footage of it running on Pickwick Yard towards the end!

Thanks Terry, glad you like it

Hi all, Pickwick Yard has been fairly quiet recently aside from the odd running session here and there. That said, there has been a new arrival recently in the form of Bachmann's new E1/J72 which I'm thoroughly enjoying having on the layout at the moment!

Here's my own video of the model that I just made. Posting here in case it's of interest to anyone who wants to see some close ups and a bit of running too

Something interesting that I’ve run across: when the current series started I had a few friends and a relative tell me (knowing that I have an interest in model railways) they had watched the first episode and were planning on watching the rest. Sadly as the series has progressed they’ve all dropped off and stopped watching. When I asked why, a few of them said the reason they’d stopped was because the show didn’t seem to be so much about the trains/railway and so they lost interest. Obviously this isn’t a large sampling of the general public (and it also wasn’t the only reason they’d stopped watching either) but I did find it an interesting reaction from those who are outside the hobby. (For my part, I think the show is alright. Yes there's things I'd change but overall it's a bit of harmless fun and is fairly entertaining )

It really is a fantastic little loco... and absolutely perfect for micro layouts too! Thanks, really glad you like the layout, I'm certainly very pleased with how it's turned out .

I'm really pleased Pickwick Yard has inspired you! Wishing you the best of luck with your own layout, I look forward to seeing it develop

Great stuff, I'm glad you've found this thread useful! I'll check out your project now

The scenic section is 4’ 5” x 1’ 1” which is a bit random but was entirely determined by the wood I had available at the time. (The main baseboard is reused from a shelf that was going spare) The fiddle yard, which was added later to give a bit more operation potential, is 2’ 6” x 8” which makes the whole layout 6’ 11” x 1’ 1” in total.

Thanks, it's always nice to know someone's watching

Managed to get the video done! Nice and simple, just a couple of engines moving about the yard.

Pickwick Yard has been a bit quiet over the past week but I have slowly been editing a new video of trains running on the layout. Annoyingly I filmed it just before the Ruston and B2 Peckett showed up. Anyway the video should be ready sometime within the next few days but in the meantime (or for those that prefer pictures ) here's some stills from the video.

Fantastic, I was just thinking the other day it wouldn't be long before someone did something like this! They price is pretty good too but knowing the amount I'll end up getting it's probably a good thing I've got over a year to save up Nice one Hattons!

Mine is fine running without the wagon. It makes it over the old secondhand set track points I have on my layout without any problems, although it does stutter slightly if I take it really slowly. That said, it had absolutely no trouble on more modern insulfrog points which have a smaller dead zone. Hope that helps.

For anyone interested I've put together a quick video showing some close ups of the Ruston along with a bit of running on my layout:

As promised (although a little later than anticipated) here's a video showing off the Ruston in all it's glory, including a few shots of it running on the layout.

Couldn't agree more, it really is very nice and runs really well too. I was torn between Sherwood and the NCB Blue version but glad I held out as it really is stunning.

There's been a couple of new arrivals at Pickwick Yard today! Hoping to put together a little video of the Ruston to share later on tonight

Have to say I enjoyed this episode a lot more. Not that I didn’t enjoy the previous two but it was nice this time that the focus seemed to be less on the animations and more on the actual railway. The animations themselves also seemed more subtle and better integrated into the rest of the layouts too, which in my opinion actually made them much more effective. A big well done to all involved so far and I look forward to tuning in next week for more excitement!

Very impressive, looking forward to mine arriving next week now!