9C85

Another slightly surreptitious reason for making these videos is that, for me, the jury's still out regarding the Pullman coaches. They look lovely and run excellently but their raison d'etre for being on the layout is highly contrived and tenuous to say the least. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I am approaching capacity in terms of rolling stock and there are still some gaping omissions in the stock I want to have... a rake of Mk2 aircons being the prime example. If I were to decide to sell the Pullmans, I think I would offer them as a rake of four, rather than sell them individually - and I could point potential buyers to the videos to show how nice they look together. I know Rule 1 has already been invoked with the Pullmans but I have seen some videos recently of pre-privatisation era layouts and some of the liveries are nice. Intercity and Scotrail 47s are probably my favourite looking locos. I did most of my rail travelling between 1986 and 1992 - perhaps I should pay homage to that era a bit more?

Interesting idea, so which bits are used from each model? (Please excuse my ignorance)

Bachmann. And funnily enough, I was thinking how smooth it was running yesterday. I did notice that it was stalling a bit on the frogs on the weekend. The frogs are not yet powered and the 08 is not yet fitted with a stay-alive , but most of the time there are no problems. I really need to clean my track properly, but most of the time I just use a track rubber when problems arise. I did use "track magic" on the 08 yesterday, applied with a cotton bud. I don't have a rolling road so I just gave it half a wheel turn on the track to get to the other half. One thing I did do which I hadn't before was to clean the wheel backs. I am guessing that this is the area that makes contact with the wiper pickups? Whatever I did, it worked.

Nice to see Rule 2 being invoked

I commented recently on a thread about Working Timetables for layouts. I stated that I don't have a timetable ( I don't have enough stock) but I do try to make things look prototypical in that an ECS train that's been dragged by the station pilot into the yard will shortly afterwards be followed in by the light engine that was detached in the station. I have tried to put a couple of videos together showing such a sequence, but you will have to excuse the awful camerawork and the overruns by the loco... I had one hand on the camera and one on the controller... you should get the idea of the way the layout works though. At busy times, I sometimes get parallel running with trains being shunted in the yard and those traversing between the arrival/departure road and the yard reception siding.

Thanks for the encouragement, and please hi-jack away! ...I have had to rein it in on a North Wales Wales based layout today after rambling about 33s on the Pompey service. Due to circumstances totally beyond my control, I found myself with lots of free time this weekend and have had a couple of sessions on the layout - this evening's was most enjoyable. It is a double-edged sword having access to this forum and YouTube etc. On the one hand you get extremely useful information and friendly advice and support, but on the other you see layouts way beyond your skillset or budget and feel like 'what's the point of me trying?'. However, my main experience of Rmweb is one of being able to get enough information to at least try something new and I have usually been pleasantly surprised with the results. I think I have got my enthusiasm back enough to try and progress the layout further. I have decided that my final loco purchase for the layout will be a Heljan 33 (lots of memories for me), and then I will either upgrade or 'trade in' my non-sound fitted locos, and replace/upgrade rolling stock on a long term plan, whilst making more of an attempt with the scenic side of things.

I purposely try to avoid stations in every plan I have dreamt up so far. The static people and non-opening doors just reinforces the 'toy ' concept for me. I like layouts which suggest a station, with perhaps just the ends of a platform showing from beneath an overbridge. If I ever do another layout, it will be based on a station approach where trains are dragged from off-scene (say 'stage left') by the station pilot and either taken to the off-scene (stage right) carriage sidings or set back stage left into another platform, with the corresponding light engine moves to complete the illusion. For a terminus set up, loco hauled trains would arrive from stage right, and depart from stage left. The layout could even be a continuous run to allow freight traffic, but the off-scene station would be a through station which also had terminating services... think Bristol TM, Cardiff, Sheffield etc.

31s were displaced by the 33s IIRC. I have a vague recollection of having a 37 on the Cardiff-Bristol leg one evening. Possibly my only ever haulage by the Class, which is ironic when you think that they were swarming around where I lived as a kid. I cabbed a few 37s at Porth station though, while they were waiting to come off the branch from Maerdy colliery down to Radyr.

I'd forgotten about the sheep

My layout has only three storage roads, plus I could use the kickback/ headshunt as another temporary road so long as nothing leaves the layout. After my running session yesterday, I noted that the three storage sidings were full, plus two of my four 'real world ' sidings were occupied, so I guess I am nearing capacity stock-wise? I should see it as a welcome excuse to stop buying coaching stock and divert my limited funds into layout infrastructure ...or even food maybe? I do need just one more loco though, and at the moment, a 33 is top of the target list.

Due to the Cardiff-Pompey service being reversed at Bristol TM, there would usually be another loco in the bay at the northern end of the station, waiting to take the train back out, but occasionally, the original loco would run around and continue the journey. You could get a bit of variety on the Cardiff to Bristol leg of the journey... by variety, I of course mean a Class 47 instead of the Crompton, but on one notable Sunday evening in 1986 I did get a rare taste of Class 50 haulage. The Pompey-Cardiff leg was almost exclusively Class 33 haulage, but I did come to realise that the 14:00-ish from the harbour was diagrammed for a 47, plus for some reason it didn't stop at Westbury, so if I bunked off my last lecture at college, I could be home for opening time. I like the 33 - I am looking to get one for my layout. Your layout looks excellent.

So far on my layout build, the only scenery is what I suppose is classed as 'hard landscaping' - with the majority of it being proprietary items such as retaining walls and girder bridges. I have made a 'freelance' access road ramp and a bridge abutment (for said girder bridges), but the thought of adding any vegetation fills me with trepidation. I see some layouts with allotments in minuscule detail and I think there's no way I could get to that level. I should add some foliage to my retaining wall and possibly some static grass at the end of the sidings, but that's a long way off. Enjoy the build.

Funnily enough, I was also viewing your layout thread earlier today.

Am I correct in thinking you have all that hidden multi level track serving a scenic area running down one side of the room? Your video has convinced me that my next layout should be multi level... not that I have a lot of stock, it's just that I really enjoy building baseboards. Great work. Enjoy!

A layout I started but never finished in the 1990s (and was sold 6 months after I started it) was based on the premise of being a 'Platform 9' type thing i.e. a small bay platform on the edge of a large terminus station. I was into Southern Electrics at the time and the bay could squeeze in a 4 car EMU or 3 parcels vans and a loco (my preferred option). There was also a offshoot track which lead to the headshunt to some carriage sidings, and a kickback off the final siding which lead to a diesel fuelling point ( so not too dissimilar to my current layout). IIRC I built a traverser on drawer runners which fed the visible section and 2 storage sidings. The storage sidings would be in effect Platforms 7 and 8 of the main station. They would be mostly obscured by the backscene, which was the wall of the main station with a low relief canopy roof. I would have been able to get glimpses of the stock in the storage sidings as if they were trains arriving and departing the main station, which I thought was a nice touch. At the end of the carriage sidings I was either going to have a girder bridge obscuring the end of the tracks or have the first few centimetres of a carriage shed, with one door half rolled down and the other with the cab of an EMU poking out. Each option would give an impression of distance beyond the end of the layout. I got as far as laying the track, and building a Southern Pride 2-EPB which was motorised, and a scratch built NSE liveried 4-BEP which wasn't motorised. All of these went on Ebay. I think I enjoy planning and building more than operating.

Just spout some random carp like I do occasionally. You'll be in double figures soon. I mentioned to my better half that I had something like 28k views, and she pointed out that 27.5k were probably me.

I have just been guided to your layout. Excellent work. Following.

I remember spending hours looking at the plan and trying to work out why there was no 'clockwise' exit. You're correct about the crossover. I would have it as a scissors crossover above the right hand entrance to the hidden sidings, and extend the headshunt further down the layout. I would also have it as an 'ex-hump' yard - I know you can get wagons to uncouple wherever you need them but I don't think you can get a realistic speed from loose shunted wagons, especially OO scale.

My current layout alludes to there being tracks continuing on beyond the bridges at either end, and it's just the fact that it's a backwater yard in the early 80s that means that only 5 coach trains are the norm. I have tried to concentrate on the 'interesting bit' ...but then obscured it with girder bridges

And here is the plan in question... Copyright Peco Publications and Publicity Ltd. 1994 The 'room' (at 20ft x 14 ft) is bigger than I remember and is too big for my garage - if indeed I felt the urge to start a new project. There's always the option of switching to N Gauge but looking at the prices of stock in 1994 compared to now (Farish Class 08 for £24.95), I think that train has well and truly gone over the hump

I have hit a bit of a wall in terms of enthusiasm for my layout. I have even been flirting recently with the idea of switching to O gauge. The price of the Dapol 08 compares favourably with Bachmann OO gauge equivalents, but digging deeper, the cost of trackwork and rolling stock bumps it up to way beyond what I would be happy paying for a layout. I could sell my stock and look at selling my layout, but that would put me back to square one and I know that any monies gained from sales are more likely to be swallowed up by 'life' than 'leisure' activities. I always do this with projects - I research them thoroughly and am full of enthusiasm during the early stages, then when things are acceptable but not finished, I lose enthusiasm and want to move on to something else. In order to try and move things on a bit, l decided that I need just one more loco and it must have sound fitted. I bid on a Hornby DCC sound, weathered Class 31 tonight, which would complete things nicely. I put in a cheeky but generous bid and up until the very last second thought I had won it. Then I went on an online database and discovered that it was a Railroad model. Then, when I reluctantly went back to Ebay to complete the purchase, I found that someone had outbid me ..by 10p I will class that as a lucky escape but confirmation that I know what I want , but I should also not rush getting it.

Ordered from ebay. Should get it next week.

The other thing I am thinking is that, for me, the most enjoyable aspect of my layout is shunting parcels stock with a filthy 08. I suppose it doesn't matter whether it's six OO gauge GUVs, or a BG and a CCT in O Gauge, the principle is the same. Even if I never get round to doing anything in O gauge, I can have some fun making plans on my computer. Thanks again. Have a great weekend everyone.

I have only just discovered this thread. It's a lovely looking layout- bang in my era. I have got a OO gauge layout but I am more and more tempted to dabble in O gauge. My main argument against O gauge was the cost, but having just searched for Dapol Class 08 prices, it compares quite favourably to some OO gauge stuff on the market- I saw Bachmann 47 on Ebay go for £525 last week! I am also not sure how patient and adept I would be at kitbuilding, but I guess it can be no more fiddly than trying to put together Kadee No 5 coupler, right? I think I will give my current project another year, and then start something new. Thanks for the inspiration... enjoy your excellent work. Stu

It's as if the weed in the right foreground is saying " ya'll not get me, petal "