wireman

Hi Marcus, the post are Ratio G.W.R. line side fencing. As supplied they do not have holes as the plastic wire is meant to be glued to the moulded lines on the back. I painted and weathered them on the sprue, then drilled four holes in each, still on the sprue using the moulded lines for spacing. This means the back and front become the sides. Plant a line of post as required, then thread the wires. Hope this makes sense . Brian.

A little better picture. The pole is upright its my photography again.

Another evening with swearing and looking for bits on the carpet as the sixth signal kit is finished. All now fixed in place. Some scenic areas have been revisited, ( glue on more stuff ) and many small details being added or improved. Hopefully someone will take more photos soon. Brian. ( Wireman )

Hi Marcus. Thanks for comments. The name is simply taken from a road name near the area I live in. ( A bit like Beaulieu Road in the New Forest on the Southampton to Bournemouth line. ) Brian.

With fencing and grass. The plan is for trees on right hand side, sheep and small hedge/ fence at back. The photos were taken by me and look a little dull. My photographic ability looks sadly lacking. However the general idea can be seen. The fencing continues around the curve to near where the tunnel to the fiddle yard will be. This will have to wait a while as the next job is the land around the goods shed and engine shed together with detailing of them both. Can anyone suggest a suitable kit for the water cranes.. 2 platform mounting, 2 ground mounting. LSWR or BR southern region. Brian

Fencing, grass etc from box to the hill

The previously mentioned low hill in the corner now taking shape. Simply a piece of house insulation block, cut to shape from a card template, then carved outside of the shed to prevent the resulting mess inside. This was taken two weeks ago and static grassing / flocking now taking place.

Another early pic. This time the start of the peco turntable. The corner area here covered in junk is now becoming a low hill.

A couple pictures from the start of the layout. The first one is the beginning of a six road fiddle yard, now covered by a small work bench. The second, the ZTC 511 housed on a sliding tray assembly, allowing it to be pushed under the board when not required. This has since been moved along to make way for a second tray for point switches etc. and the third is the start of the goods yard, loco spur, It can be seen from previous photos that this was changed slightly during the build.

Many thanks for encouraging comments. Scenic work on the hill now taking place. Photo soon.

Hopefully the track plan above is self explanatory, GS goods shed, ES engine shed, LS loco spur etc. The track is all Peco code 100 laid and ballasted in the normal way. Points all electrofrog, I have not switched the frogs and all works well. The two slips are connected together with normal rail joiners, then both are insulated from all other rails by insulated joiners, just using one feed for them both. On the subject of ballasting, as normal practice, I sprayed the ballast with water before adding the diluted PVA. It is often difficult not to disturb things when doing this, but I was given a couple of empty Wella blow dry lotion cans. These are not aerosols. On these the top can be unscrewed and refilled with water, the resultant spray is very fine and does not spread things around. There are probably many other makes of these type of hair spray things with removable tops around, ask wife or girlfriend to ask their hairdresser. May be you have your own. Who knows. On the same subject, I have discovered that a fifty fifty mix of water / PVA can be sprayed though these, this is great for spraying already flocked areas for application of static grasses etc. almost no cost compared to buying scenic cement spray. Many of you will doubtless know all this already, but if I can help somebody along the way, as they say. Brian.

Evening at Coleborne last night, adding more scenic scatter, making more chimney pots etc. Nick now making his fifth and sixth signal kit before commencing the gantry unit. These Ratio kits are not the simplest to build but are ideal for adapting to match your own requirements. None the less the instructions are a little sparse, no indication is given to how much swearing and looking for bits on the floor is required. Hopefully Scott can pop over soon to do a photo of these, as ever, despite being another first attempt, Nick has made an excellent job. Bit of a late night, thought I might lose my late pass but all ok. As Nick mentioned before the branch baseboard is now ready but I think with all the other things happening it may well be a while before anything happens here. Brian ( Wireman ).

Once again thanks for Photos Scott. Yes track plan will appear once I find pencil sharpener. The station building is a Metcalfe kit reduced in width to just two and a half inches, this means the end buildings have to be reduced back and front to keep the roofline and reduce the amount of platform width required. Plus adding various Ratio bits. The island canopy was scratch built by Nick whose own layout Coleborne Junction can also be found here on RM webb. Scrolling through Coleborne Junction will show pictures of the impressive canopy's (is this correct for the plural ) he built for his layout. Whilst talking of Coleborne, having only ever started one layout before many years ago, it has been my involvement with Coleborne that encouraged me to start my own. The platforms are Peco kits and together with the Ratio footbridge has been reduced in width. The next job is the small hill towards the back left corner, it should have been done before as I now have to reach over other things to get to it. However track plan next.

Thanks for pictures Scott. I forgot to mention in the original introduction that control is DCC via a ZTC 511. I am pleased with this unit, though less pleased with the company concerned, hopefully yet another change of management will improve things. I have joined the ZTC owners club and await developments.

Brampton Road was started about four years ago in my ten foot by six foot shed. Ideally I wanted a double track main line, through station, possibly a bay platform, goods yard, turntable and loco depot with some space for scenic country side. The shed was purchased second hand about thirty years ago and despite being moved twice is still in quite good condition, albeit with the roof being re-felted a couple of times. Work started with a partial insulation and installation of an electrical supply. The more astute will have realised my wish list would not be possible without severe restriction on train lengths, size of yard etc. However, having built base boards the usual way with a lifting section at the door,a start was made. There is now a double track circuit with a six road fiddle yard, station etc. Train length is restricted to four coaches, but a small depot and goods yard ensures plenty of operating interest. The initial photos will be as the layout is at present, earlier ones showing development to this stage to follow. Note. Brampton Road has now become a Yard to Terminus layout. See page 9. June 2018.

Great to see the new pictures Scott. The branch may well start before long, the carpenter has been to visit re. the lifting base board over the storage sidings for Wim Hill. Have to give some thought to point control etc. Will need to be able to operate them from the present control area when operating solo plus from in front of the new station when other operators are there. All good fun.

More point movements in the hidden sidings to improve flow, plus have now wired in the first ZTC loco detector to roads 11 and 12 only another 5 units to go. Once the branch is built, all 12 storage roads will be hidden so these will be a necessity. Yard lights next I think, unless Nick does actually start the branch.

As Scott has already said, the turntable has been a problem for some time, but little things like the station canopies, signal box, stock drawers etc. have all eaten away with the time. However it is out, and work to put it back has begun. If anyone has any suggestions or tips on refitting please drop us a reply. We aim to run it through a DCC chip so that operation can be from the main controller or one of the slave units. Regards Brian

Just to note the signal box LED has been replaced with a grain of wheat bulb. Much better.

Best Photo so far.