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I think there’s a recently repainted Rotank milk tanker lurking there somewhere too. It’s something a little unusual and would match well with the siphon.

Been busy with work recently so progress hasn’t been great. However the turntable is now substantially cosmetically complete at least. I’ve also purchased a set of small roller bearings from Amazon to seat it on to aid with rotation.

Given the lack of turntable options available I’ve decided to have a go at scratch building one. This may go horrendously wrong but the only thing I’ve had to buy for it specifically so far is the copperclad board (£5) so I’m not all that bothered if it is only good for the bin. The remaining hurdles to overcome are track power supply, motorisation and wheels. I think I have a suitable motor somewhere but I’m unsure if it will still work and I remember it being rather noisy. Track power will I think be provided by wipers slung below the deck onto 2 copper clad rings around the central pivot, and I’ll also need an auto reverser to prevent shorts. I have frankly no idea how to source the wheels but I will keep looking. Pictures of the progress so far:

Looks like the drains are blocked again

Another few evenings of progress. Fairly happy with the look of the corrugated extension, colour wise now so it’s been fixed down and a light has been added over the drop. Still need ladders, guttering, windows and handrails to finish it off but for now it’ll do. The sand furnace and water cranes have been fixed down too and it’s surprising the difference they make, now that the foreground isn’t just level board with track on it. I could really do with getting the third board more complete but that requires a turntable. I had planned to buy a Greenwood one but I haven’t heard great things. It may be back to the drawing board.

Thanks both, it’s definitely a learning curve, but I’m enjoying it along the way. And if the final product is of a reasonable standard then all the better.

I imagine the issue with filling in the coach ranges with diners and/or new full brakes or further liveries on colletts even if they had the CADs already, is that factory capacity will be employed on the shiny new Coronation set and new MK3s to match the upgraded HST power cars. That being said, even though my expectations were low I did not expect there to be absolutely no GWR/WR releases, either newly tooled or reliveried. (Save for a Loriot, but the less said about the motivation behind that the better).

Not much (if anything) in the announcement for me as a western region steam modeller but I have to admit I’m intrigued by the working lamps on steam locos. Given that not everyone will want the same lamp code on the front of their model it’ll be interesting to see exactly how Hornby have provided for the possibility of different codes.

Couldn’t be bothered with getting the layout out of the loft this weekend after only just having put the Christmas decorations back up there in the week. Instead I busied myself with a few things I could do without it. First up a sand furnace from a laser cut kit that went together nicely in not long at all. Next on the list of small jobs was 3 water crane kits to be assembled and painted ready for placing on the boards. And finally , the newest addition to the stable, the latest Modified hall from Bachmann, has been renamed/numbered and given a light dose of weathering with the air brush and powders. The final touches being crew and real coal.

First day off for Christmas has given me the chance to continue work on the layout. The main structure for the corrugated coal stage extension is complete. The structure is based on that added to the original stage at Newton Abbot in order to provide better conditions for staff over a drop that was originally completely exposed. As can be seen in the image the windows are much larger than the original brick structure in order to let much more natural light into the work area. As a result I will need to fabricate window frames, probably from brass wire. Guttering and ladders are also required. Before that it needs painting, which I think might take a few goes to get the colour looking right, not helped by the fact I’ve yet to find a colour photo of the original.

Newton Abbot had a Britannia and a number of 3MT tanks from new but they proved unpopular with crews and were soon moved on.

It must be a cold December evening, as the crew of this Churchward Mogul have left the firebox door open whilst they wait to the tender to be coaled.

Finally got round to wiring up the lamps for the coaling stage. Quite pleased with the effect in low light.

I think there’ll be a lot of people on this thread counting their pennies for this new release. I imagine it might be very popular.

I hope so… my wallet on the other hand, definitely does not

The final years of steam on the Western Region, and everything has seen better days

Progress has been fairly good over the weekend and I think it warrants an update. The Coal Stage is more or less complete, enough to be placed in position anyway. The concrete sides of the ramp are also now in place. The next stage will be to lay the track through the upper level of the stage and permanently fix the structure down.

Some further progress over the last few lunchtimes/evenings, tank completed, a start made on the porch* and the majority of basic painting completed.

With the evenings drawing in and my want to be outside after work dwindling, I’ve made a start on building the coal stage to replace the card mock up. The basic 4 walls are complete and given it’s my first attempt at scratch building anything from plasitcard, I’m fairly happy so far. It’s not going to be a 100% faithful representation of any single prototype, but I’ve taken inspiration from several examples. These are notably Didcot, due to measurements being readily available, and Newton Abbot in its post war state with corrugated metal extension as I am keen to incorporate something similar.

Just number 10 for me this time. 11 would also be suitable but given the limited working life I imagine far less attractive to a manufacturer.

Thanks to the team again. I’d purchase a set of 6, 8 and 11. However given the fairly recent and high quality Hornby offering being in my stock already, I’m not really desperate for any, and as such the numbers purchased may be lower than they would otherwise have been. B sets are long overdue and they are ideal for small layouts. I’ve chosen 8 because it’s the most useful for me and 11 so as to offer some variety of coach length.

2,3,4,5 and 6 for me. However I would almost certainly only buy one of the 12 wheelers if by some miracle they were both released. if I could only have one: 8 wheel: H38 12 wheel: H57 9. not listed. H49 (I think) cafeteria car converted (again, I think, someone more knowledgeable may have to correct me) from a tri-art diner set. Very aware this is quite niche however I’ve seen a Peter Gray photo of one attached to the back of an Auto train as ECS through Torre and the temptation to model that specific working is too great not to include it. I would go for the dining pair despite the length of the train needed for that not to dominate. As my ultimate goal is to model a scale length station on the Torbay branch, they would be the finishing touch to an otherwise mk1 Torbay express set. However I recognise they are not the most useful vehicles other than for named expresses so they are not my focussed choice. Who knows maybe by the time I have the space available for that model, the GWR/western region modeller will be spoilt for choice when it comes to catering vehicles. Thanks again all those involved in the polls, I very much enjoy following all of the debates as to the benefits of each vehicle.

8, 9 and 11 for me. Although I would prefer 8/9 to to the sunshine stock given that although, as you mention, there are certain inaccuracies with the Bachmann model, at least they aren’t completely unusable. Whereas I would say Hornby’s neglected centenary stock certainly needs a lot of work to bring it to modern standards. I also think that the super saloons would sell well, although I haven’t voted for them as I would not have a use for them.

More than happy to vote for option 1. Thanks for all of the teams efforts to continue with these polls and I very much hope that the manufacturers take note. The economics of producing models of such a wide ranging group of prototypes (So much for Great Western standardisation) obviously mean that compromises have to be made. Recently it seems as though the clamour for perfection is preventing the modelling community from getting something that, 10-15 years ago, would have been lauded as the best thing since sliced bread. For example, as far as I understand it, very few of the sunshine stock models produced by Bachmann have been strictly accurate to the specific prototype they claim to portray, but they still sell. Despite most toplights having been withdrawn by my chosen era I would certainly look to get a few that could be explained as summer Saturday strengtheners pressed into service.

This one would empty my bank account and then some if all were to be produced. Deep breath, I’d definitely purchase 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 11. These are a perfect excuse to add variety of stock to any location modelled (within reason) even if the traffic in that area was pretty dull.