George Hudson

Thanks for all the comments chaps. Andrew

Thanks, that's food for thought!

...and it's good night from me....

Another other is the Minories, a classic layout plan by Iain Rice, I think. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78492-minories-holborn-viaduct/page-3

Another excellent layout is stratford road http://www.colchestermrc.org/layout/stratford%20road/text.pdf

Thanks David, comments much appreciated. The main board is 3.5m by 0.5m and tilted into an alcove around a chimney. I think I can run 5-6 coach trains. For urban termini, you should check out Tower Pier layout; there are a couple of ther inspirational ones and I will post them when I remember (!). If I was to start from scratch in this space I would have less rail and more buildings which are my real focus. Here are some pictures with the latest work in situ. Regards

Have started development on rear side of station. Since this is viewed over a wall and through other window openings I have not included a huge amount of detail. The idea is to be aware of a space where parcel vans and taxis might pull up. This has enabled me to be a bit lazy with the use of flat textures for cobbles, which I wouldn't have done at the front of the layout. Also there has been a higher than average use of the photocopier! Hope this is of interest!

Thanks for all the comments. I haven't been on the site for a while or posted but I have now got all the (remaining) points and other electrics working on the main board so I am getting there. I decided to enter the RMW dirtiest loco contest and have started on the N2 A

All the other boards will be stored underneath with my other layout "Stratham". The track bed is just over 4 feet off the ground so there is plenty of room (famous last words) and the whole board is at an angle to the wall to ease congestion in the room and facilitate the exit curves from the station mouth. I hope this might spark some ides for those looking to solve a space problem. I thought of starting again in N! Andrew

Hello to anyone who has been following the slow progress of this layout in its various forms and locations. I think it has finally landed. I have finally begun the process of re assembling Aldersgate, sadly a shadow of its former self but better than nothing! Couldn't resist playing about with the buildings. I can't believe some of the surgery necessary!

I am a latecomer to this thread so apologies for repeating the admiration of others. The only way you could improve on those buildings is if you built them brick by brick! Andrew

Noted!

Will do, thanks!

Germany's worse. The tip is also shut on Sundays but when it's open they charge you €10 for a boot load or €15 for an estate car. Then there is a cross examination if you have a number plate from the wrong town/district! I can see me importing rubbish from Germany when I finally clear out my office. The guys at the local tip here in Essex just thought it was funny to see a car with a German number plate; "...he's come a long way to chuck something out..".

I promised not to make this a blog but I can't resist relating the experience of coming through the eurotunnel today. The ladies of the French customs could not understand my explanation of what I had in the back of my car so I had to remove some of the packaging. They were most amused to be provided with more evidence of the eccentric nature of the British (or perhaps the Germans as I was driving a German registered car). Andrew PS actually there are two layouts in the car, the coffin on the bottom contains Stratham for which there is no layout topic, only a gallery.

All packed up (sorry this has turned into more of a blog than layout topic: I will get back on track).

Thanks, hope I will be able to deliver something interesting. Andrew ps there are some other threads on card modelling forum re buildings

Thanks for your interest, it looks like the only practical solution to fit this into the spare room is to lose 1metre from the station. The main part of the layout if four 1.5m x 0.5m boards; the first of these which is the start of the throat will have to be replaced by a curved throat (36in + radius) to bring the mainline round in a U form to a traverser or sector plate type arrangement. The last board with the buffers will have to become 0.5m from1.5m long, pretty much as is shown in the photos above. The whole lot is still sitting in Germany and I have a few jobs in the house to do before I can think about moving it across. I am also finding the prospect of cutting the whole thing up pretty unmotivating to say the least and hoping that I could come up with a bright idea before I have to move it. Over time I am reconciling myself from moving from a pretty fantastic space to something more typical for the average enthusiast and looking at the mock up above, it doesn't look too bad. I will be back on the site when I have something tangible to show which might be just some progress on the buildings which are my major interest. Andrew

Thanks, that kit has always looked strikingly like the warehouses in Devonshire Square. street view ref (might work) if not type in Devonshire Square London in google street view and go tp the end of the street i.e. the square itself. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&authuser=0&q=Bishopsgate,+London&aq=0&oq=bishopsgate&vps=1&sll=51.887776,0.906115&sspn=0.032103,0.090551&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bishopsgate,+London,+United+Kingdom Regards Andrew

Thank you guys for your positive comments and food for thought!

Having moved back to the UK, I am now looking at bringing Aldersgate across too. Unfortunately, I will have to compromise and reduce it in scale. This is a bit heartbreaking but I am sure that there are a number of readers who would think that I should be grateful to have a spare bedroom to house it in any form. Basically I can only use the middle boards as they are which means that I shall lose about four carriage lengths of platform (still leaving the possibility of squeezing six plus a loco in) and have to put half (the less complex half) of the throat on a curve. I think this could work. In any event, Liverpool Street was itself packed in very tightly so that feel could be maintained. I have taken some shots of how it would look having improvised with parts of the station existing. I never fixed these permanently which probably reflects the fact that I was sub consciously anticipating this process. Oh well it was good while it lasted to have something 24’ long! There is another radical alternative which is to dismantle the whole lot and start again with a similar idea but this time representing only the suburban services and perhaps an earlier era where the train lengths could be shorter. I could still recycle the buildings which I have made to date since none are mid 50s themselves. It will probably take months to move anything so I have plenty of time to mull it over and perhaps assemble some ideas from RMWebbers. Andrew

I just wanted to add myself to the list of fans of both the prototype and this rendition of it. This is really excellent. It would be great to see Wisbech station and its dual level platform to accommodate the W&U stock. Andrew

Thanks, also excellent. I must try to see this on the exhibition circuit, like probably a lot of the audience, I am unfettered by any knowledge of the prototype! Andrew

Hi, the first video wouldn't play for some reason. Enjoyed the second though. Andrew

This has a great feel to it and well animated, thanks for posting. Andrew