The Yorkshire Pud

Evening all ...... here's an update on todays progress. I've been making some more of the cement plant today ...... first up I have assembled a large building, which is to be part of the bagged cement building. This is from the Walthers Blue Star Cement plant kit ..... I know the kit is in HO scale, but I have shortened the building in height by about 40mm, and, butted up to the back of the former Scalescene Engine shed, it makes for an interesting building complex to my eyes. Also, I have made another cement holding tank to go beside it ...... this will have a conveyor coming out of it, linking it to the first buildings I made. This is also from a Walthers kit, but again shortened slightly. Here's how they look, roughly in place on the layout ......... I intend to disguise the Scalescenes Engine shed quite a lot eventually, so it blends with the other buildings as I have done in my previous attempts ...... I will live with the buildings for a while, and tweak the look and positions of them as I go along ...... I think it's a good way to develop the look of an industrial complex such as this, rather than rushing to fix down things and regret it later. At the mo I'm scouring the internet for photos of actual Cement and Gravel Plants for inspiration, and to get a "feel" of how these things look in reality ..... I'm not going for 100% accuracy, as long as it looks right to me I'll be happy. Very enjoyable days work ..... hope you like it too !! Cheers. Simon.

Evening everyone Since I decided against the hill and tunnel idea I had for the right hand side of the layout, I've also been rethinking the backboard at that end too. I originally left it open, rather than curve the corner and box it in (as per the other end) but now after some thought I want to make the whole layout more of a "scene", like a TV that you look into. I intend now to fit a removable top too, complete with a lighting rack of sorts for illumination, and frame the front as per a lot of layouts I've seen at various shows ..... I just like the idea of making it look "finished" even though it won't ever leave home ...... That said, I spent a couple of hours yesterday, and half of today modifying the right hand of the backboard, and I'm pleased with the results. Here is what it looked like originally ....... the red arrow shows a very convenient joint in the backboard which I managed to exploit ...... I removed the board to the right of this and cleaned up all the framing behind with a sharp chisel, carefully removing all the old PVA glue. A new piece of MDF was cut to size, and scored along the back around the curve ...... plus, the opening for the trains to enter the layout was also cut ...... this will be hidden behind the gravel works buildings at the right hand end Then the new board was glued in place ....... new wood framing was also added to finish the end off. After the joint was filled with micro filler and sanded, the new board was given a couple of coats of blue paint, then I roller painted the whole backboard again twice, to give it a nice even finish ...... I can now fit the rest of the cork tiles at that end of the layout to build up the ground level ...... glad I waited a while, or I would have been altering those as well !! Here is a shot of the whole layout now complete with new backboard ...... all told, a satisfying bit of work, and now I am happy going forward with the rest of the layout. Cheers !! Simon.

Evening all Just a short update on current progress ....... The Kato track I've used has a moulded "ballasted" track bed underneath the track, which puts the sleepers at about 5mm above the baseboard, and I've been mulling over what to use to hide this. To bring the ground level just about back up to the track I have decided to use cork to fill in all the gaps around the track work, and a quick search on t'internet found the very thing. I bought these ....... a pack of nine, good quality cork floor tiles, each measuring 300mm x 300mm x 4mm thick. They are very light, and have the added bonus of sound deadening the baseboard a tad too. I've started fitting them already, and PVA glue is being used to fix them down ...... I'll seal the top surface too once all is completed, to keep moisture at bay. This is only the basic ground level though, as I intend to have many hills and humps dotted around, as well as gravel mounds to the right hand side ...... the real world isn't dead flat !! I have also decided against the hill and tunnel on the right hand side of the layout now, opting instead for my idea of a small Gravel works ...... I'm thinking a collection of various buildings around the track, through which the trains will appear,stage right. Anyhoo, that's all for now. Cheers !! Simon.

That is really excellent modelling ....... You've created some very believable scenes ...... something we can all aspire to create, each in our own way. Simon.

Good evening everyone ....... here's todays update on the cement buildings As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to get the storage tanks built today. Now I know the height of the main building I can cut the tanks down to size before starting assembly. You can see the before and after height of the tanks in this first picture ...... to my eyes they were just way too over tall. It didn't take too long to cut the pieces down with a junior hacksaw, then clean them up with a mini flat file. I cut the first one carefully, then used it as a template, marking the others with a pencil so all six tank pieces ended up the exact same length. The next step was to make up the front and back sides of the tank from two pieces each. They are joined together for strength inside with a plastic strip as seen below ...... Then, using the top panel of the tanks upside down as a base, I started to glue the tank pieces together ....... again using strengthening strips on the remaining joints inside as shown below ...... The tank went together pretty well, but a couple of the joints just need a little filler, and sanding slightly to fully hide them ...... not a bad fit up though considering all the pieces involved. A plate similar to the top one glues onto the base to add further strength, then the basic tank is finished as seen below ....... A long corrugated shed is then built up, and glued onto the top of the tanks ...... once again, I used the same green marker pen to "tint" the windows. Looking pretty convincing I reckon when the light shines through ....... Here it is now with the main building I assembled yesterday ....... there's a lot of detailing work to do still, but the basic building is now complete. Finally, here it is on the layout, roughly in the area I have in mind ......... This whole corner will be filled with buildings eventually ...... my current idea is to scratchbuild at least one single larger tank, which will be linked to the bagged cement building complex in the front siding. I also want this to be linked up to the building just made ...... satisfying progress so far. Cheers !! Simon.

Next up I fitted the roof panels complete with vents on top to finish the basic structure. The loading shed which is made from corrugated sheeting, fits on the front, but again, I wanted to alter it slightly ....... It's supposed to be nearly twice the length of my version (compare the original roof in the picture below to the shortened shed frame). I like the look of it being the same width as the building ...... again, personal preference, and another spot of personalisation to the kit. Works well I reckon ...... Once glued to the building it looks like this ...... Pretty neat I reckon, and the tinted windows look the part too ...... well chuffed with how this turned out !! Here she is sat (roughly) in place on the layout for a trial look see ....... I still have to build up the ground levels on the layout, as the Kato track is approx. 9mm higher than the board level. The cement wagons are well clear though, even without this work having been done. Overall, an enjoyable and rewarding afternoons modelling ...... I'm starting work on the storage tanks tomorrow ...... now I have fixed the height of the building, I know the correct height to cut them to. Cheers !! Simon.

Evening all A week later than I thought, but I finally managed to make a start on the Cement plant buildings ...... I spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon working on the main building. I guess this is subjective, but to my eyes, the building and storage tanks in the kit are a tad too high ...... a spot of alteration was therefore required first up. You can see from this first picture how much I shortened the building ....... After cutting down all the side walls to the required height, I glued in all the doors and windows. I wanted the glass to have a subtle tinted look, so I experimented with various colours of Sharpie markers until I found what I thought to be a nice shade of green tint. Here's an example after colouring ...... looks pretty good against the white (which will be later painted to represent concrete walls). Next, the first two walls were glued together ....... Then the remaining walls to make the basic structure ........ the tinted windows stand out nicely methinks More to follow .........

Great layout Martin Look forward to seeing it progress in the future. Simon.

Look forward to seeing how things progress with your Cement Plant based layout Martin I've just started my own thread on here .... Wortley Dale Cement, which I am basing around a Cement Plant and Gravel Loading facility. Purely fictitious setting, and not tied down to any particular time period or company. I'll follow you with interest !! Cheers. Simon.

Mini Master Yoda surveys my new weekend project ..... fresh from the posties hands ..................... YES !! .... BUILD YOU MUST hehe btw ..... I love building Walthers kits. On my previous thread, Riverside Cement, I built this very same kit, albeit in HO scale ..... with a bit of adaptation and bashing, its a really good starting point for planning a Cement Plant. Cheers .... Simon.

Thanks Ben .... I am deliberately going to be a tad vague, as I don't want to make the layout too era specific if possible, then I can run trains and wagons from different time periods. I have no one preference as to era or stock, just enjoy seeing all the different types as they changed over the years. If I can incorporate a bagged cement building as well as the cement tank loading siding, and maybe a gravel loading siding too, then it gives the layout plenty of operational interest. No.1 aim though is to have fun with this and not get too tied down by 100% real world accuracy. Cheers !! Simon.

So here I am now thinking that the track is all glued down, and all trains running smoothly .... the Dapol uncouplers work well with the Kato magnets, and now I'm thinking that I'm not so sure about the Preservation Railway idea, complete with station .... hmmm ..... typical innit !! Like I said before, I like to go with the flow .... ideas come and go, but one idea stuck firmly a long while back thanks to a certain Chris Nevard .... a layout based around a Cement Plant/Gravel Works. I like industrial themed layouts anyhoo, and as I work in Heavy Engineering, its kind of home turf for me. That was about a week ago ..... the decision to switch the theme of the layout, and I'm glad now that I took the plunge sooner rather than later when I had too much work invested to turn back. Here is the state of play with the layout now .... all track glued down and ready to start with planning the cement plant. Some of the feeder wires underneath for future DCC use can be seen in this next picture .... red wires are to the points. A closer view of the left hand end can be seen here .... I acquired a Scalescenes engine shed, which will be slightly modified and incorporated into the cement complex as a bagged cement loading building. The rear siding will be in front of the main loading buildings and tanks ... I have a Walthers ADM Grain Elevator kit on order which will be a good starting point for the plant. A closer view of the run round loop and spur siding can be seen in the next picture ..... I am thinking along the lines of gravel loading from a ramp in the rear siding .... have to think about that a bit more yet. So, that's the state of play so far ..... coming along slowly, but I'm enjoying the process. Having fun running trains up and down, and not getting too far ahead of myself. Look forward to comments and anyone who cares to follow along. Cheers !! Simon.

Again I did a bit more tweaking, and decided to add a passing loop at the station. This adds greatly to the operating potential of the layout. The station platform was also shortened slightly, and now was a through platform rather than a terminus type. A small spur siding was also added in the loop to house a yard shunter , or anything else that needed to be "tucked away" on the layout. This now increased the number of #6 points to four on the layout, and made for a lot more shunting fun. I was starting to get to the finished idea I thought for the trackwork, but I decided to run trains on it for a while and see how it performed in operation before committing to gluing down the track. This last picture gives you a good view of the flow of the track .... even though it is not flexi track it still works very well I reckon. After a while I took the plunge and started to glue down the track, one piece at a time, checking good running at all times, and good electrical flow. As I added each new feeder track section, complete with its own feeder wire underneath, I tested the electrical connection AND that each section made the train run in the same direction every time .... didn't want to end up with a stray wire connected the wrong way round to throw an electrical spanner in the works later when converting to DCC (which is my plan btw). More follows .... Simon. Nice to be back Mick ..... ta very much !!

I decided at this point to buy a job lot of Kato track .... at least enough to be going on with for now, and hey presto a few days later ..... So I could now put the trackwork idea into practice on the baseboard, and see how it looked and operated "in the flesh" so to speak. Here is how the station looked initially .... I decided after a while that it needed to be a tad longer, so I tweaked it again on the plan ..... At this stage I decided to add the backscene board for the sky to the layout. I made it from 3mm thick MDF, glued to a frame made of 35x6mm stripwood, and roller painted a nice shade of light sky blue. The left hand end has a slight curve built into it so as not to have a hard corner, but the right end is left open for now, I am thinking a hill at that end anyhoo from which the trains emerge through the tunnel. The layout will be cassette fed for simplicity, and I intend to use the Dapol uncoupling magnets on my locos with the Kato magnets in the track. I'm running DC for now, but the layout will be DCC future proofed by adding lots of feeder track sections in all the sidings complete with wiring underneath. As you can see from the picture, I only had 2 points on the layout at this moment, and it still was a tad too simple for interesting running, so I got my thinking cap on again and set to work with the card templates. More follows .... Simon.

Hello once again to everyone I've been lurking for a while on RMWeb just to catch up, but now I want to start to share with you my latest project. Actually, it's an evolution of an N gauge shelf layout I started back in October last year, which was originally called Wortley Dale Preservation ...... the title says it all, as it was to be based around a Preservation railway yard. The shelf layout itself measures 8ft long x 1ft wide, and is made from various 2x1ft and 1x1ft pieces of 6mm liteply from Hobbycraft, framed underneath with 1.75" x 0.75" pine stripwood. All trackwork is Kato, and the points used are all #6, with the majority of curves being 718 radius to give it a nice flowing feel without having to use flexi track. I really like the simplicity and quality of Kato track and points, plus they are electrofrog by design, so are very good for slow reliable running throughout. As is my usual method, I prefer not to plan too rigidly, and see what comes to me by way of ideas or design as I progress. Very much a freelance way of working I guess, but it allows more freedom to experiment, use my imagination, and discard things that don't work for me. As I said at the start, my initial idea was for a Preservation railway yard. I will describe my progress to start with and show you how my layout has evolved so far into what is now Wortley Dale Cement. I guess I never really fully scratched the itch that is the Cement Works layout if truth be told ...... my still born attempt that was Riverside Cement whetted my appetite, albeit in OO gauge, but space issues and time to devote to a new project took me once again to N gauge. I dabbled briefly in N after Riverside Cement, building a few modules to try out the gauge, and was so impressed with the results that I knew I would eventually have to build some kind of layout. Ok then, to start ...... I first made a paper plan of the layout, complete with my first idea for the trackwork, from full size card templates. The trains would appear on the layout from the right, emerging from a tunnel. I colour coded the track on the plan as follows ...... Green ..... DC Feed Wire Red ........ Future DCC Feeder Wires Blue ....... Uncoupling Magnets Here is the built up baseboard fastened to the wall with metal brackets, with the same card templates on it. This was my starting point, though I quickly realised the limited running potential, and started to expand on the idea. I added a small wayside halt station platform in the rear siding shown by the orange card, and tweaked the shape of the trackwork slightly. One of the sidings on the left would have an engine shed on it, and the other would be for locos and wagons ...... still very much a work in progress though ....... More to follow. Simon.

I get up ...... I get down ........

Very nice work there Peter !! .......

Nice work again Peter !! ........ I look forward to seeing these extensions to Glen Gillie. Cheers !! Simon.

Hee hee !! ...... too right mate ...... they'll have yer guts for garters sayin' that !! BTW ....... more nice pics of the layout from Jamie ....... (ooh !! ...... that puddings got me tum rumblin' now !!) Cheers !!

Hi Peter. Nice idea, having an Abbey on the extension ...... not something you see on a model railway layout usually !! Look forward to seeing your progress mate. Cheers !! Simon.

Well done Pete mate ....... nice bit of Silverware !! Hope to see you again in September at the Barrow Hill show near Chesterfield ....... do you think you will have the authentic whiskey smell from the distillery up and running by then ? ...... it might make people hang around Glen Gillie a tad longer !! .......... hic !! btw .... nice pics Jamie !! Cheers !! Simon.

Hi Jamie No problem mate ...... I'll catch you next time !! Peter did go off looking for you for a short while, but had to give up, as he'd left the layout unmanned apart from me and the missus ....... Ooh ....... was I ever tempted to 'av a play !! Quite right too that Glen Gillie won the "Best Layout" prize ........ but I agree, there were some nice layouts in attendance. Look forward to seeing your photos when you get the chance to upload them. Cheers !! Simon.

Quite right too .............

Hi Peter Great to see Glen Gillie up close today at Bakewell ..... excellent layout mate, and really enjoyed chatting with you about what you are planning for the future. The trackwork plan up close looks even more impressive than the photos show (and complicated to operate !!) ....... BTW did Jamie ever come back to help you !! If the missus (my Wendy !!) wasn't in tow, I would have offered to give you a hand ....... looks like a nice layout to play on !! ............. Hope my first effort at building a layout ends up half as good ......... Cheers mate !! Simon.

I'm still on for Saturday mate ...... see you there Peter. Simon.