jetmorgan

I posted the pics on the facebook group Model Railway Enthusiasts and the concensus was Newhaven Town

Couple of better shots of the signal post with a bit more detail

Another film recorded off Talking Pictures TV at the weekend. For Those in Peril, a wartime film about the RAF rescue launches picking up downed pilots during WWII. Near the beginning though is a short section of railway footage featuring a Southern 2 car EMU 2BIL I presume, arriving at a station somewhere on the south coast. There is a clearer view of the signal post so I'll try to get that but my screen grab software isn't really compatible with windows 10

This Dodge Charger has been spotted by our delivery driver in London EC4 in the past few weeks

For those like me that were so disappointed with this new BBC version. The BBC have got the proper book on BBC sounds...... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07lgzc9

Not great ones. I'll have to do some better ones as I was just using my living room lights. Have a look at the end of the second page of my thread on Wot Halt

Have a look at DCC Concepts Legacy ballast. dark grey blend LB 2SE (steam era - dark mix) that to me looks like a mixture of ash, cinders and old ballast. I've tried using that on my diorama Wot Halt. You get some dark greys and also some shades of brown. I used 2mm N gauge size but it could do with some in fill of something finer than that. One down side was that when glued down with diluted PVA it did get a darker look than when it was sprinkled on dry...but that could just have been my gluing mix & technique

Going through old copies of Railway Modeller and Model Railway Constructor from 1960 to 1999, scanning various articles that I'm interested in I've reminded myself of a number of layouts that always caught my imagination. All the various Ashdon & Midport layouts have always been something that catches my eye and I still have a dream of copying the later circular ones.

As the bridge was going to form part of the baseboard joint to hide that joint I had 2 ideas for the actual edge of the board so it was a bit more robust when it gets knocked about. One idea was the veneered MDF, just cut out 2 pieces the height of the bridge structure and cut out the bridge arch and glue the bridge to that but my jigsaw had broken so I've gone for the moment with an extra layer of thick card to the inside of both bridge sides. When the 2 halves are fixed into place on the baseboard I'll have a removable roadway for the top which I can just slide into position. The next thing I need to decide is if I should go with a high brick wall for the top or steel plate girder sides which might look more like a road over bridge than brick walls. For the steel plate I'll have to download the bridge kit from Smart models as no one else seems to do anything like that in card.

Big posting because of the photos. Made a start on the buildings for the shopping street and the bridge that will form help hide the base board joint. There will still be some faffing about with the row of shops but they give a general idea. And the road bridge means i can now get a better idea of the track plan for the where the lines cross the baseboard joint. I will need to separate the 2 baseboards.

After a shopping spree down at Squires in Bognor. First time visitthere and as the trains were up the swanney with a tree blocking the line at Pulborough I decided to drop into Gaugemaster at Ford as well. Picked up some Metcalfe low relief kits for Ball Spond Road at both places but not all i wanted...so good excuse for a second visit...something to do over the Christmas holidays.

I wish!!! 22,000 sq ft warehouse....what a model railway I could build in that!!!

haha no it's not quite like that sadly...wish I could do that. This has happened over the past year I suppose, but I've only just got around to posting stuff about it on here. I've usually posted stuff on my facebook page. In fact I'd built the baseboards a couple of years ago and then they sat around my workplace so I thought I had better get my finger out and do something about it or it will be like a lot of my other model railway "projects" and just sit somewhere not even half started.

Last update for today...will do more over the weekend. After some fiddling about I've come up with this trackplan the tracks nearest to you are the lines into the fiddle yard. Those furthest away are where the station will be along with the parcels & freight depot off to the right and the stabling siding off to the left. What I need now is to buy a pair of Peco Streamline code 100 double slips and a couple of right hand medium points...so that will be about £100 thank you very much!!! Once I have got those I can figure out the shape of the platforms and build them up. I do need a signal box but I haven't decided if that will be platform mounted or further down the baseboard near where the bridge will be. To cover the baseboard joint will be a road over bridge, a Metcalfe kit split if half along it's length but with a sheet of card with road way glued to it that I can slot in to hide the gap. Also marked up the rough space for the fiddle yard. Once that is sorted out I can figure how much of the backscene I need to cut out.

Sorry I thought that was in my initial explanation...at the moment my idea is for it to be based in the 1970's although the limits of that might stretch a bit too very very late 60's and very very early 80's So I can run BR Blue mostly but I might run the odd train in BR Maroon, BR/SR green and the early BR blues with all the various yellow ends. Right through to BR blue/grey. I can also run pre TOPS and post TOPS. It's a period I've not seen modelled very often, also It fits with the idea of the having the imaginary link withe the City Widened lines before they were closed down.

A bit of baseboard pretty-fying while I was having a little enforced break in modelling. Backscene given a coat of a light blue kitchen/bathroom paint that I've had sitting around for a years...it was rather smelly but once dried it was fine, just needed a good mixing again. Also gave the outside of the backscene a coat of varnish...again a pot of paint that I've had sat about for years...very surprised it was still okay to use. The edges of the veneered MDF got a coating of diluted PVA to seal them and yet another pot of old paint...this time a semi-gloss black exterior wood stain. Next up was the start on some of the buildings and also planning of the final track plan.

Another catch up with the updates. Just some little jobs. Firstly I wanted to lay down some sheets of thick card onto the baseboard, partly to act as a bit of sound deadening and also to make it easier to lay the track and pull it up again should I need to make adjustments. I Also wanted the station building to be at pavement level rather than have steps up to the station...most stations seem to be at pavement level so it was out with the table saw and trim some of the veneered MDF down to the right height for a raised area for the low relief shops, road and the station building. Pieces of card glued down to the raised section and rough sections for the low relief buildings, road and the station building. Next jobs will be to build and modify some Metcalfe kits for the shops and get the platforms built and also build the goods and parcels building which will run along part of the backscene or along the whole length of the baseboard...undecided about that at the moment.

Couple of off cuts of 9mm wood veneered MDF just over 1ft wide but not quite square. So it was set the table saw to 1ft and 1 half inch, right on the limit of width of the table and the fence. Ran them through and now they are both the same width. Just glad I got the table saw...birthday and Christmas present from the family. From the front with the backscene now all glued, screwed to the sides of the baseboard...also drilled holes where the bolts go through that hold the legs in place. And from the back. This will be the operating side. I will need to cut a hole in the backscene. Most likely at the near end once I have sorted out the fiddle yard area. Next job will be getting the track plan sorted out.

You wouldn't think so if you looked at it close up

Right started the first of my layout threads....Ball Spond Road. Posted some of the early pictures of the baseboard building but more to come

After a long break of nothing going on I made some progress when I was able to reclaim some timber for the legs. A company up the road from where I work was throwing a load of exhibition stand walls that had a load of 2 x 1 as the bracing. So grabbed as much as I could....with their permission of course...and got the legs and bracing built and bolted together. The legs just slot into pockets in the underside of the baseboards and the bracing is bolted to the baseboard sides. I only did 3 sets of legs so i have one baseboard with 2 leg sets and one baseboard with just the one set and that rests on a ledge piece fixed to the other baseboard. Next thing to get done was the back scene and end pieces.

Original basic idea for the track plan...the near end will be the station, the central 2 tracks. a parcels bay off to the left and 2 train stabling sidings on the right. the track at the far end will be the fiddle tracks with the various lines going through tunnel mouths. The track plan has now changed a bit which will be seen on later photos. I'm losing one of the stabling sidings as the platform will need to be an island. Also I'm restricted by the width of the road bridge that will cover the baseboard joint.

Model railway project number..........Oh I forget now...probably into double figures now and still none finished, knowing me. Anyway...... A short end to end layout based on a fictitious station in the western suburbs of London, south of the river around the Kew area-ish. Originally built by the SECR as part of a plan to link up with the Great Central for their plan to extend down to the Kent coast and built a cross channel tunnel to France. Things never got that far but there was enough business for the Great Western to extend the Brentford branch and approach the station through a tunnel. The Midland also put in a line through that gave access along the City widened lines to the lines out of St Pancras and Kings Cross for freight and parcels traffic. That way I can run almost anything I like! The SECR lines were third rail electrified in the grouping and it became Southern and running any 2 car Southern/SR units. 2 car and single car DMU's from the Western and short loco hauled trains from the Midland and Eastern regions on parcels trains. So first stages were building the baseboards. I've used offcuts of MDF that have a wood veneer on them from a cabinet makers that was next door to where I work. 12mm MDF for the sides and 6mm MDF for the surfaces. Each board is about 62" long so total length is close on 10ft which should just fit in my living room although I have the layout stored at my workplace for the moment. Width is 16"

Last update for the moment. Ballasting started using DC Concepts 2mm Legacy ballast dark grey. the look I was going for was a line that had been cheaply ballasted with ash, cinders and old dirty ballast and the DC concepts stuff gave the nearest colour to what I was looking for, very dark grey's for the ash & cinders and lighter brown bits to represent the old ballast. laying it down it went in fine and looked good but as soon as I started gluing it down with a watered down PVA mix along with a drop of washing up liquid, the ballast turned a very dark dark grey and the lighter brown specks almost disappeared. Also the matt, dry look to the ballast disappeared as well and while a bit of the colour has returned it's still very dark for what I was wanting and once dried it has a bit of a sheen to it. Possibly I had too much glue to water. I also didn't have enough washing up liquid either as when dropped onto the dry ballast it made all the ballast bobble up and clump on top off the sleepers. Anyway I still have some areas to ballast so I can experiment a bit more and see what happens. Also had a little photo session play with some of the trains.

Thanks for that...more pics to come in the next day or so. Not so sure about the great modelling as I'm back to being a beginner. Also have to start some threads for my other modelling efforts, including 2 layouts so will have to start those as well this weekend.