jamest

Hi, Just searched around a bit more and found someone who used humbrol 36 for his respray of a big big hymek in O gauge. He had the advantage of re-spraying it all - I just need to touch up around the buffers (is it called a valance on the outside of the buffers underneath the body on the corners). I think my second hand hymek has a BR blue all black underneath and a green body. I should be able to use the No.36 and lighten/darken to my needs - with a bit of weathering it should do the job nicely. Regards, James

Hi all, I need to touch up around the front of my Heljan OO Hymek and I have been looking into the bottom green line. I understand it may well be up for debate but is there any humbrol close alternative to the Phoenix P138 BR yellow green? Or perhaps a car colour alternative? I would use the Phoenix colour but mail order seems expensive, and I don't have a local source for it. Regards, James

Hi, Been following your progress with interest. As someone starting out in O gauge with a similar space - did you manage to stay within your original plan, or did you go a bit bigger (by 6" to a 1')? regards james

Hi Thanks for that Kevin. Right, here are the lights painted and fitted to the layout - along with the long overdue name boards. I like to name my layouts around places I have a connection to - and not necessarily places that have connection to railways. We have friends who have a place on Anglesey and we have spent many a great week there in the summer with them. Their place is at Newborough, or Niwbwrch, and I thought it appropriate as a name. In reality it is not rail served but it could have looked like this if you close one eye and squint a bit! I'm not sure about the larger sign with the BR logo - it might be a bit too big - but its there for now. It might well have been dual signed in Welsh and English too - but I've obviously stick with the Welsh name. So here are the pics of the lights and signs - The light nearest the shelter has a bin attached too: Regards, James

Hi all, I found the broken lights from my attempts to add lights to my Braybridge layout - they are knightwing white metal ones. Rather than buy some more I decided to make my own versions! So I've used some 1mm dia wire with some plastic rectangular sectioned wire for the tops: Here is an example of a bought one (broken): and my efforts - I've wrapped masking tape around the bottom for the larger dia at the base - the tops had a hole drilled for the wire and I will need to fill in some gaps with model filler and paint. I need to straighten the wire a little more (it came off a reel). I'll show the end results later......along with the name of the layout! regards, James

Thanks Ray, Hope everything is good with you. Regards, James

Hi all, Well its been a while! The layout has suffered from a lack of attention over the last few years but I want to push on and put some finishing touches on it. I also had a troublesome point motor on the crossover at the scenic entrance so I spent a while replacing the solenoid from underneath. It is all working now and I've enjoyed having a few running sessions recently. So I've added some trunking for the point cables and added some relay boxes - I'm no expert on this so its more of an artists impression of the real thing! Please excuse me if I've broken any rules. So a view looking down the layout showing the trunking and the wire running under the track to the far point motor: And on under the road bridge: And back towards the station: It ends under the other road bridge before the station out of sight: And the same sort of shots during a running session: All the best, James

I agree that the last photo looks right. While reading above I was thinking the shed would look good against the bridge - and then you do it! regards, James

Hi, Looks like a great start and an interesting track plan - can I ask the dimensions of the scenic board shown in your first post? all the best, James

Hi again, Been having a play so here are some pictures with stock.... I still need to get some lights for the platform/steps (non-working) and populate the platform with a few people/clutter. I also need to name the layout and produce some signage - I think it will have a welsh feel to the name - for no particular reason! I really like the concept of doing other moving cameos of about four feet - using the same fiddle yards and cassettes. and an overall shot.... cheers, James

Hi all, More progress to report. I've planted my trees and developed the hedging around the rough track under the bridge. I was going for less tree but found they blended in quite well and went with it! So it was going to be one or two trees: but turned into several! I'm really happy with how the turn in the track and the tree canopies cover the transition into the back scene. All the best, James

Hi, I've been following your o gauge work.... Always liked your oo gauge stuff... Especially pallet Lane, and didn't you bring peafore yard to barnstaple? I got my gaugemaster GMC-100 MO in the post today and I am running in my 25. Off the rolling Road, on a few lengths of track, it moves so smoothly with such presence..... Must resist the urge to sell all my oo stuff! It is very smooth on dc with the right controller.... And I remember you always used it on your layouts. I don't plan to have a massive stud of locos, or have large complicated layouts, but I could go dcc if I want sound later. Cheers, James

Hi again, Thanks again for the advice.... The scaling up I mentioned was more concerned with rolling stock dimensions.... Not the actual scaling up of an oo plan.... Sorry if I wasn't clear there. You are right about the limited space to run... I did think about having the fiddle yard outside the shed... But then the weather dictates a bit. I might leave the passenger duties to the dmu and concentrate on running freight with the other motive power. Regards, James

Hi John, I've been following yours, and several other, layouts on here - thanks for the advice. I have sold some OO stock, but I am not planning to sell it all for now - I have a layout I'd like to move on to generate some funds for re-investment! I plan either a traverser or sector plate 'off scene' - Although I would like to keep the man handling of the stock to a minimum - but cassettes seem a little risky/heavy This plan is very much based around Andy Peters work - its difficult to miss his work as it accounts for half the layouts on here! (meant as admiring praise!). I've always admired the 'flow' he gets with a lot of his track plans. He uses standard point work but still finds curves and flow. I'm hoping the 46" run around will give enough room for two coaches (assuming I am correct at about 18" each) with room at the point for the loco to pass with clearance. I envisage the passengers alighting and the loco and coaches reversing slight into the run around for reversing. I will plan further with templates and stock before committing to glue and ballast. I see your point on the sound, and I'm not ruling it out as my Lenz controller will do it when I need to, but for now I'd rather be running what I want in silence than have less stock with sound. But I realise that is a personal choice and a debate topic in itself! Regards, James

Hi all, Like many before me I have recently had thoughts about moving up to O gauge. In February I bought a Dapol 08 (green) and I also have a few 12T vans and 3 lengths of peco track. I was happy thinking about things and running my 08 up and down a plain piece of track while still finishing my OO projects, but a new purchase has hastened my desire to start a layout in O gauge. Last Sunday I was browsing the net and spotted a Heljan class 25 in just the livery I wanted (green with small yellow panels) at a very good price. Here we are a week later and I am hooked - what a lovely loco! I had a shed built several years ago with OO in mind so I do not have a massive amount of space - just over 11 feet by 2 feet for layout (including fiddle yard) going down one side of said shed. I'm quite experienced in OO planning and know what proportions generally work - I know in theory all I need to do is multiply that OO knowledge by 1.75 for 7mm, but I wanted to run a few thoughts past some experts. I'd like to do something like the plan below - its not revolutionary, and is very similar to other layouts I have seen done already, but I'm already excited about getting something going. So a platform - with a possible bay at the top - run around off scene and a couple of sidings on the front. Having done a bit of planning in the past I know what I want to run is limited by my run around loop and fiddle yard length. In the plan below I have around 52" for a fiddle yard, 7' scenic length and the run around is about 46" from the front of the top RH point to the exit of the scenic area. I would like to run a couple of mk1 coaches with the class 25 and I reckon that is about 18" a coach (at 63'5" in real life) coupled with about 14" to allow for the loco - so it should be do-able? So the green area is scenic and the track is all peco (RH and wye): I have also debated DC against DCC and have decided to stick with DC for now - in the knowledge that I can move over to DCC if I wire the layout with that in mind. I also have a eye on a Dapol 121 when they are released and I also need to acquire/build some more rolling stock. So any advice is greatly received (although I have ordered a gaugemaster DC O gauge controller - so please no stories about how I will regret not going for sound!!) Regards, James

Hi all, I've now added a lighting strip to the layout and painted the fascia black. The LED light kit was around £11 from Amazon and consists of four lengths of warm white LEDS - you can join them in line or zig zag them - Two strip lengths are about the length of my layout so I went up and back in two lines. there are several connectors supplied and you can cut the strips at predetermined lengths if you need to. They are self-adhesive backed and I coated the ply underside with aluminium tape before fitting them - you can see the connections between the two strips in the photo below - you can have a straight connector between them or a corner piece to space them out/make corners. The blackboard paint was drying as fast as I could paint it - I could go straight on and start the second coat after the first - must be what the forth bridge painting gang are used to!!! Cheers, James

Hi, Right back to the trees as promised. Last year at the Taunton show I bought some wire and bark 'pre-mix' artex like paint in a tub from Greenscene. I'm not in the shed at the moment but I'll get the Greenscene part number because it is really good stuff - I'm sure there are many who do their own mix but for £4 for a pot that I've hardly touched (for five trees so far) its great value. Ok - I have a book - Model Railway Scenery Vol 2 - Fields, hedges and trees by Anthony Reeves, and I was lucky enough to talk to Gordon Gravett (sorry if that is miss-spelt) at the Minehead show a few years back. Its the tried and tested twisted wire covered in 'bark' mix and foliage attached with hairspray. I always avoided this in the past as I was not confident in my ability to re-create what nature finds so easy, but I was struck by how rewarding and calming it can be - and you get custom 'made to fit' trees for your layout. The starting lengths and number of wires takes time to gauge but I would encourage anyone to have a bash. Its not expensive to try. I've made several in different sizes but here is the build of the first one: Here is the wound wire in the rough shape - note the masking tape at the base to keep everything secure while you form the tree - I also pull out two or three wires by 25mm ish to use as a 'root'. That is what is pushed into the foam. None of this is my idea - it was all the book! And tidied up a bit: Now I applied masking tape around the main structure - the bark pre-mix is thick, but this masking method helps mask the wire beneath better and means you don't have to apply the bark mix too thick: Bark mix applied with a brush: and painted with a green/brown paint - my walks with the wife in the evenings around the countryside in North Devon has helped a lot - not many tree trunks are brown! I use pulled horse hair for the finer branches but you can apply any coloured fine foliage from the scenic manufacturers. Note I have also added some Mini-natur ivy to the trunk: I've not got a photo of the next stage but if you use horse hair it is recommended to spray it with a colour similar to the trunk - I used a slightly darker aerosol I have but on subsequent trees I have used an airbrush to apply a thinned mix exactly the same to the main trunk colour. I simply use hairspray over the horse hair to attach it - and then hairspray again to attach scatter - but you could use PVA/water in an atomiser spray (3 parts water to 1 part PVA): You will need to spend time trimming and tidying up the stray horse hair to get to this stage. Here are some other smaller trees: I've dry brushed the bark with a light brown and added fine scatter to replicate moss. Regards, James

Hi, Actually.....before I go onto trees I want to share my efforts on the fiddle yard - I was keen to get stock moving on the layout. I mused over traverser, sector plate, fan of sidings but settled on cassettes. I have some experience of them and a few left over from a previous layout - Braybridge. I wanted to have a simple frame work supporting the cassettes and all the track alignment dealt with on the scenic board as I don't have any alignment devices to hand! I extended the line on the scenic board via a short section of code 100 on a 12mm piece of ply. I then solder two pieces of code 100 rail in the 'side' of that track which guides in the extruding rail on the cassettes: The extended section with code 100 rail - the second piece of ply underneath is to guide the cassette on height - the frame work is pulled away to show what is attached to the scenic board. A view from above showing the cassette approaching And the cassette located: The support 'ladder': The power normally runs fine by contact on the rail above but I've added crocodile clip points to supplement this if required: And an overall view - please excuse the mess - what looks to be growing out of the top of the scenic board is in fact the upturned fiddle yard for one of my other layouts behind it. The advantage of these types of cassette (these are just under three feet long) is they can be stacked - I plan to make some more that are a little longer at exactly three feet. Thats all for now. Cheers, James

Hi all, Bit more progress to report. I've continued to add greenery and dirtied up the platform area and shelter. I've also started on the hedging that takes over from the rear fencing half way along the layout. It is horsehair cut into strips, teased out, sprayed brown and covered in scatter. I do this off the layout and glue the resulting hedge down with pva. Hopefully you can see how I plan to bend the road right to hide the point it hits the back scene. The fact the hedge line drops at the back is not ideal but I plan to hide this with trees: As you will see I have also added a wills lineside fence along the front of the layout - I need to tone down the supplied translucent wire with a darker wash: Thats all for now - I'm currently experimenting with making trees from wire. Cheers, James

Hi all, Ok now for the aforementioned infill behind the fencing. I carved some land forms from some celotex insulation and covered with javis brown scatter. I then static grassed them - which was much easier off the layout: and here they are in place..... I also ran some pva in a straight line on a metal quality street tin lid and produced some long lengths of grass - I can then cut them in half and use the straight cut edge against the fence - leaving the random edge outwards: I've also started on the green track - also by gluing down straight 'pre-prepared' lengths of grass: Regards, James

Hi, This is looking great - I too marvel at the blend of groundwork and the effect it has - top work. I 'm at the greenery stage with my little layout too and I find myself taking in the detail and colour on the hedges, trees, bushes, etc on our exercise walks every night. Nice work on the green house too. Cheers, James

Blimey, there is another regulation to keep up with - although I think common sense would have hopefully prevented this in real life! Looking back I could have extended the top slope towards the platform or dropped it less in that portion and lost most of the drop along the platform in the second section as I have plenty of room that way....Or started lower! But hopefully it is a 'suggestion' of what might have occurred. Moving on a bit - I said that I was going to thin the platform a little and I have achieved that with some fencing either side of a simple shelter. I will be filling with greenery behind the fence. I have laid a base coat of static grass and started to form the green lane under the track to the left. As I said previously I had already committed this way before the canal suggestion earlier but I plan to hide the lane by suggesting a bend around behind the platform and clever use of hedging! - later photos will explain this better. I also posed a 25 with some ballast wagons too! All the best, James

Thanks all for the comments... Adam... I've already filled that gap.... I'll post some pics tomorrow. Regards, James

Hi all, Its been a while but I hit a bit of a block with this layout with regard to platform access and how to blend between road bridge down to the track over the rough lane. I also want to make the platform thinner by adding fencing and greenery behind it. I had a light bulb moment the other day and that, combined with the current lock-down, has given me the impetus and time to make some really good progress. So here is the catalyst....a ramp and steps to gain access via the road on the right. The gradient is in reality a little steep, but I'm really happy with it. It is a blend of scalescenes papers on a card base - combined with some excess jewelry making wire from my mum! I see the hand rail as the 70-80s scaffold pole type I remember. I've made more progress in the last few weeks, including a tidy up of my shed....so more updates to follow. All the best, James

Hi, I think in those last pictures the brickwork looks great - although I appreciate its you who has got to be happy. The powders blend the colours better and give it a more 'matt' look. Regards, James