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How impressive does that look!! Excellent work.

Very good indeed Mike. I particularly like the backscene. It really adds a sense of perspective.

Here’s the track plan. A simple 3-2-2 inglenook, with the line with the brake and 5-plank being the 3 wagon road. Currently undecided as to whether I want the goods store behind the 3 road, or to build a wriggly tin shed there, with the doors to it from the back line. Thoughts?

Great news. Shall be buying that for sure. How do you find fork layout operation? I’m still a little undecided on Somewhere in Shropshire whether my 3-2-2 looks cramped and a fork arrangement might have more space.

I’ve been flush with motivation this weekend. So, I though it best to crack on whilst the going is good. What you can see above is the combination of a photo on master-builder Chris Ford’s blog (where he used a Wills vari-girder kit to build a water tower and this photo on the 009adventure blog. Everything you see is out of the bits box. The shed is scratchbuilt from mount board and plasticard, with masking tape giving a good roof felt texture. The water tower is the Wills girders, a spout from a cheap Peco water tower and the legs from an old Knightwing kit. The coaling staithes are much cut down Wills products. All have been painted with acrylics before being dry brushed to tone down and weather.

07? Love pootling around with wagons myself. Get yourself a few Parkside kits. Once you start you can’t stop!

The description and picture are great. Thank you very much! Ah Cronton, of course. Cracking micro. And looking forward to seeing the mystery loco. Hope the house move goes well!



Here we go then. A new project. Space and time issues mean that a shelf project is the way forward and so, inspired by the Lilleshall system that was so close to where I live, and the excellent Juniper Hill (a Northamptonshire-based ironstone micro) here is those initial baby steps.
 The baseboard is an 80cm by 23cm floating shelf from the orange DIY shop. It's a rather fetching shade of blue, close to matching the colour scheme in my office, and I've bought Daler board of a similar shade to create a fascia. 
As I'm a kit builder, rather than a layout builder, I really enjoy building wagon kits. Therefore I've decided to head down the inglenook route (a 3-2-2 variety) using one point and a fiddle stick.
 So far, apart from the board and the point, everything has been made from bits I'd got lying around, a Wills goods store for one, with other builds scratch built from left overs.
 I've got a Barclay, weathered expertly by Grimy Times, whilst a blue Peckett is on order to join the fleet too.
 I've got a few unresolved issues currently. Firstly, the name. It's based around the Newport/Lilleshall area of Shropshire so I might look what street names jump out. Secondly, as Rocks by Rails is something of an inspiration, I'm debating whether it should be a preserved line along similar, ahem, lines? Or whether it should be set back in the day. I'm leaning towards present day Heritage personally, with a small platform in front of the good store, allowing brake van rides .
So, that's it so far. Lots to do. Lots to decide. And, hopefully, lots of fun ahead, too.


Luke, it all sounds great. Well done. The photo looking down the line, where you’ve recently installed the fencing, looks fantastic. And do I recall there’s a Railway Modeller article forthcoming too? Are you going to give us any clues on the loco? Diesel or steam? I’m thinking it’s a Barclay or Peckett? Finally, if you don’t mind, a quick question. When you use the wire in point, do you have the sdpt switch pointing up from the baseboard, or out from the fascia? Does that make sense? Thanks, and keep up the good work!

Great day, by the sounds of things. Super photos too. Thanks for sharing. Rocks by Rail is quite an inspiration for a potential layout.

Yesterday my former Burnley Gas Barclay arrived back from Steve at Grimy Times. Very impressed and he’s done a fabulous job (no connection, just a satisfied customer etc). Just nameplates (on order from NP) to go.

Great news bout the RM article. Well deserved!

Hi Luke, I think personally I'd probably dry brush them in some grey to pick out the grains, before brushing a diluted murky wash over them to try and give it that aged look. I certainly wouldn't make them appear new, in agreement with Mike above. Just to say, watched the Youtube, and the layout is looking great. Top work.

Hi Luke, Glad your first exbo went well. The photo of the layout all set up really caught my eye. That's because you can see just how small the layout it, something that you can't see from the photos you have taken of the layout in action, which always make the layout look much bigger. Well done, keep up the good work! Chris

I've not looked at this topic for a while, can't believe how much it's come on. It's looking really good - brilliant idea and really well executed!

If you placed a single track behind that currently in place, could you - using a plug-in fiddle stick - not turn the layout into an inglenook? Perhaps a 3-2-2, adding larger operating potential? Looks a good start however.

Just want to echo the comment above. Quick flick through RM highlighted this fantastic model. Particularly impressed with the PO wagons... might have finally given me an idea I could see through. Excellent!

Hi Phil, Code 100. Thanks Chris

Thank you, Brian. Much appreciated.

Hi all, probably a really daft question - and potentially been answered I'm sure - here but I'm a complete electricals dud. If I am planning a small 'tuning fork' layout using a Peco electrofrog Y point, do I need to do any fancy wiring? Or can I just plug it in and play? Thanks for any help, Chris

Nice - I got cheesed off with waiting and ordered a Barclay! Looks good.

Hmm, there's a lot of food for thought there! Thank you!

Thank you both for your input. The Scalescenes bridge might be worth looking in to. David - using those dimensions perhaps a bit of modelling and scratch building one might be the way to go. Thank you again folks.

Hi all, apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere (a search using the title didn't seem to show anything). I'm quite inspired by the Helston branch, particularly enjoying the small bridges they use with the limited clearance for stock. I'm currently planning a layout and wondered if there is any kit out there that would produce such an effect? Probably a ridiculous idea but would an n gauge Peco (double?) tunnel mouth work or not? Thanks for any help. Chris

Luke, Can only echo Jerry’s comments. The J94 looks fabulous - great work.