SparxD428

I guess so. LOL. That reminded me of something I did once also. Just looked it up in one of my books. March 17th 1987 must have done a 17 to Reading West to do 50043 on the 06:50 Westbury-Padd from reading West to Reading then a 33 back to school !! Was my first recorded run behind 43 as well.

Cheers Western Aviator. They were good old days. Often I'd leg it home from school , get changed and jump on either the 17 or 33 in to town. If I had the money I'd jump on the 16:00 Oxford-Padd (if it was a Vac of course) to see what Old Oak was turning out on the commuters.

A couple of things have arrived whilst waiting for materials for the TMD.. Dapol 121 in GW150 livery has arrived. I could only get a 2 function decoder for now so just running it in at the minute. In other news, the 17 has run a bit off course... but couldn't resist a blast from the past, Reading Transport Scania. Due to closure of the M4 the X1 buses are stuck in the jams so RT have sent what they have towards Aldgate via the A roads in readiness for the evening rush hour ! Cheers, Stu

Managed to do a bit on the scenic bridge break today , making it an abandoned overgrown deck and also cutting card for the girder. Also added some ventilation ducts made of card to the roof of the TMD and carriage shed. Ran a few trains on Acton Green as well. 50029 running through Acton Green on the "up" Cheers, Stu

Hi All, Back to work this week so not much work has been done on the TMD. I have also pretty much run out of materials to complete the depot so have some on backorder online which I don't expect to be seeing for a while. I'm also unhappy with the printed retaining wall due to the reflective glossy paper so will be replacing that with brick sheet when it arrives. I have started on the roof of the TMD but no real progress, may post a couple of pics later this weekend. Have been quite happy watching a couple of trains chug around the main layout . Have a couple of little things to keep me busy like weathering stock and also may attempt to scratchbuild a fuel point so keeping myself interested ! Cheers, Stu

Interesting layout, just found your thread and glad you recycled some boards to make something new. Don't worry about the losing the mojo, it happens to us all. I bet 99% of people on here have been keen, made mistakes, got bored, started again, thrown stuff at walls etc. The layout will still be there whether you go back to it in a day, a week, a month , a year etc. Looking forward to see it progress however long it takes. Cheers, Stu.

Today I have been detailing the interior of the maintenance shed before I start the difficult process of building a roof for it. I've also completed the structure for the carriage shed as well and that also needs a roof layer and some detailing. Both sheds have had some white brick printed paper stuck inside. In the maintenance shed I have added little details like control panel for the roller shutter doors with cabling/trunking etc. , a couple of fire alarm points and something that resembles a fire bell. Added 2 roller shutters in the almost up position so you can see the wasp stripes just appearing. First efforts looked like a 5 year old drawing an anaemic tiger but happier with the 2 I've installed. Couple of pics as normal. On shed tonight 56079, 47593 and 50021 Carriage shed in the background structurally complete Hopefully more updates at the weekend materials and innovation permitting. Cheers, Stu

Thanks Neil, I hope I can keep going and post more when I'm back at work as well.

Steady progress due to lack of materials , so have been manufacturing what I can with what I have left. Limited brick sheet so printed off a load of brick type designs which took ages to get a satisfactory brown type colour as well as about £30 worth of ink ! Started constructing a single road carriage shed although it could be repurposed as a loco shed on the embankment when carriages are not around giving me more depot capacity for locos. Just 2 points and the feed line to ballast using the remaining fine ballast, so will probably ballast the last roads with medium if I think it will blend OK. Also printed a background of old flats of Ranelagh bridge but not convinced it looks that good. May get up in the loft to see if I still have any useable left over flex from Westquay to complete the carriage sidings. Took a few pics of progress.. 50032 on shed. Basic structure of carriage shed is in situ in the background Depot becoming busy tonight which currently hosts 5 Vacs, 2 Duffs, a Crompton, Grid and poorly Gronk. 47593 receiving attention Ground level view of the whole TMD and carriage sidings. Back to work next week so hoping to get as much done as I can by then. Cheers, Stu

Toned down the ballast a little with some watered down acrylic mix of black and ochre. Looks a lot neater now shame I don't have a decent enough camera ! Cheers, Stu

The dreaded ballasting has commenced. As I only have a limited amount of fine dark brown and fine light gray have been mixing and using sparingly as I think I will only have enough to do 5 roads for now. I've been studying old photo's me & my Dad took when we went on some depot visits in the 1980s (Old Oak, Tinsley, Toton, Thornaby, Derby Works, Crewe Diesel just to name a few) to get an idea of how depot ballast looks and its quite varied. So I think i will "oil" some of the 4 foot outside the depot to make it a bit more uniform. I've also built the 3rd side of the maintenance shed but yet to detail this. Also completed most window detail on the visible shed side using very thin cardboard strips. A few more pics. Cheers, Stu

Absolutely superb layout. Love how you've got all the colours absolutely spot on. Fantastic modelling. And of course being BR Blue 1980s makes it extra special. Cheers, Stu

Steady progress on the TMD this week. Rail sides mostly painted now using acrylic though they need 2 coats so taking time. I also added a 7th road to the TMD as I had enough gap between road 6 and the carriage sidings. I have also made the decision that the carriage sidings will be on a small embankment, just to make things easy ! This meant having to construct a scenic break bridge on 2 levels which I have also started. Done a little more painting of the 2 sides of the shed I am constructing. A few pics.. Cheers, Stu

Have you thought about building a modular type layout with small modules linked by through lines? And you just build the modules one by one to what you feel like at the time? After 1 module is built you will have a "layout" to run, but if you feel you want something different start building the next one etc? Could be different time lines on them to suit your needs. Oh Lord, I've given you ideas now !! (and myself..oops!) Cheers, Stu

A little bit more work here and there. I have run out of enamel paint for the railsides so am continuing with acrylics and hope they look OK. Have weathered a couple of my ballast wagons, started construction on a smalll office for the TMD and also on the main shed. Based on Bristol Bath Road in the 1970s and 1980s, the mountboard and brick sheets have been under attack to produce the basic structure for the front and one side. Going to paint and weather both first before completing the other 2 sides and roof. Couple of pics of TMD under construction and also where it will sit. Sides have not been stuck yet hence the lean to Cheers, Stu

Looking great Rhys. Love the weathering on the Mk2's looks fantastic. Cheers, Stu

Looking good Ian. Will be great to see the station develop. Cheers Stu

A bit of steady progress on the TMD layout lately, taking my time at present. The 7 TMD roads are down (6 + fuel kickback) , and have power and have tested OK (before ballasting anyway !!). Had one point spring slightly dodgy but seems OK after trimming a nearby sleeper acting as an obstacle. I have drilled out for point motors to be retro fitted but as I've yet to do this on the main fiddle yard after 5 years may be a while to wait for them yet. Laid down some card for hardstanding base, as I will be constructing a 3 line shed building. Was just going to do a frontage with doors closed but decided I may as well build something more substantial. Started the laborious task of rail side painting with the limited materials remaining at present. Meanwhile on the main layout one of the fishermen has a scratchbuilt landing net, and 47500 has returned to service after some recent troubles. Think it just needed a good pickup and wheelset clean and maybe some crud in the gears?? 47500 test run light engine. Cheers, Stu

Don't get too frustrated mate. My lifting hatch is beginning to show signs of shift even though I rarely lift it up, spent ages the last couple of days putting stuff back on the track after it has fallen off for no apparent reason. Even had a couple of Bachmann Mk2's jump off going through the station which has never happened before. I blame China - if it wasn't for them we'd all still be in the pub instead of locked away in garages, lofts & sheds !! Cheers, Stu

Hi Rhys, Nice to see Leaford go to a good home. Looking forward to seeing how you develop it further. Good luck. Cheers, Stu

Cheers guys. Just a bit of painting and final track laying tonight. 6 depot roads down. Taking it step by step on this section Cheers, Stu

Looking very good Neil. Like the way you've done the hard standing, really looks top notch. Cheers, Stu

A lake has appeared by the railway line. Its not finished yet as I need to do something with the water and also paint the fishing rods and tackle boxes to make them more realistic. But who'd have thought that Bachmann carriage passengers minus legs would make convincing kneeling fishermen? Meanwhile the TMD "extension/new layout" is coming along during this crisis. To be honest most of the construction has been done with a few lagers in hand as I don't think I've ever constructed a layout whilst enjoying a few beers. So far haven't managed to burn myself with the soldering iron or remove digits with cutting implements ! 4 depot tracks have been laid and track droppers drilled for a simple DCC wiring bus. Hope to get the last 2 depot tracks laid, then wired and tested before I put down the carriage sidings. A lot of debris lying in these pictures but I have tried to put a gentle curve to the depot to make it less "train set" and more like Eastfield or Old Oak. More to follow in the next few days/weeks of lockdown. Cheers, Stu

So phase 2 has now been completed today. This included:- Building the "cradle" although its not really a cradle more like a bedframe support This was then mounted to the wallframe and supported at the front by small pieces of 2x1 using the storage road baseboard as support. I think it will take a fair bit of weight, in fact I reckon it could take my weight easily enough. After I was happy with the weight stress test stock has started moving back to the storage yard All i need to do now is construct the baseboards for the TMD. However I have laid out the main 6' x 2' piece to experiment with track layouts before construction. and during construction the small shed and siding at Acton Green was rather busy with Vacs ! Cheers, Stu

Just found your thread Rob. Looking good my friend, I like the fuel point, very nice work. Cheers, Stu