big T

Typical me doing things randomly. I was bored, and my soldering iron has decided to go on the fritz, so I got the airbrush out and painted the up and down lines. They looked a bit bare where I had removed the old ballast so I thought I'd try some small scale ballasting. Here is the result of an hours work: Hope you like! Cheers Trev

Thanks very much Marcus! Glad you are following, hopefully the layout will be as good as yours one day! I noticed that you were on the 50's last week - where did you take them from? - Reason I ask is my mate conducted from WWH to Banbury - you may have met him Cheers Trev

Hi Neil Cheers for commenting. hopefully if I pull my finger out and start the dreaded wiring it will look a bit better and my posts won't just be static locos Nice one! Trev

Cheers Porkie much appreciated. Ive got that much stuff Ive forgotten what Ive got! i found the coaches and the Loadhaul 37 and thought that its too much of an opportunity to waste! Thanks Trev

Thank you! Ive just had a look on Flickr and you are right, the corrugated style is very similar. Its a pity I didn't have a wider building as Gordon A quite rightly observed. I think I will be using the WRD area at Tees for reference, many thanks Cheers Trev

Hiya Col! Thanks mate - TBH I think I might try and do a few shows - I like the buzz! Hope you and your family are well - we will have to get together for a catch up.

After fighting my way down the M6 through the weather today I managed to get an hour or so on the layout. As Ive mentioned before, I'm planning on starting the bus wiring over the weekend. As I work for an M & E contractor, I was given some multi-strand 2 core brown and blue cable which I'm thinking of using for the bus. Are there any hard and fast rules as regards types and diameter of cabling you can use? I am sure that as its designed for 230v, it should be fine with 16v? Anyhoo, as I was bored I set up a few trains and locos for photos. 37114 on my Reggie Rail coaches with 37698.......... A few shots of 37114 And a couple with a 56 on Seacows..

Hi Stu cheers for looking! Thanks for your kind comments. Its coming along fairly slowly mainly due to me doing only an hour or so after work when Ive got the energy! Trev

Cheers Rob! Have you got a link to your layout please? I'll take a gander

Thank you Terry

Thanks Terry I will look them up. Cheers Trev Hi Terry Ive just had a look, and that does look like the type of finish I am after. Thank you

Has anyone got any suggestions of how I can replicate the platform surface please? Im thinking a finish similar to that found at Water Orton - edging stones with a tarmac infill. Im thinking of scrapping the Plasticard and using a single piece of hardboard with a high grit wet and dry?

Cheers Dan I'm enjoying the build, taking my time TBH. Ive still got a looong way to go, and I'm thinking lighting now!

Ive spent some time having a tidy up today in readiness for partial dismantling the layout for wiring. A couple of quick views towards the station end showing the run around loop and the general layout. Need to start thinking about the backscene, ballasting, signals, concrete troughs, foliage, hardstandings, vehicles, fencing, lighting, platform surfaces, buffer stops, static grass, yada yada yada!!!!

This weekend, i think I am going to start my favourite part of the build - the wiring. actually i am being sarcastic and don't really like doing it! All of the droppers are in, and now I have finished with the PCB sleepers and the soldering, I can now think about flipping the boards over and getting the bus wire in. A few more photos of recent developments: this is the bottom end of the layout and you can just about make out the run a round loop adjacent to the platform (with the HAA on it) A handful of the joints between boards with PCB copperclad sleepers. (I still have to cut the copperclad to prevent shorts) I think there around 20 sets of joints that I have done. I am sure they will look more photogenic once painted and ballasted. Track detail at the bottom end of the layout where the hardstanding area will go. (I am thinking road access for plant/ materials deliveries etc) Finally a class 40 at the top end of the shunt neck

Thanks very much, its something I've been doing for a few years now, but have still got a long way to go! Unfortunately the pictures are off my phone, in a dimly lit garage and there is no backscene, which don't make for brilliant effects! Cheers Trev

Hi Gordon thanks for your response. Yes i agree that the building is slightly too narrow, and could probably benefit from being say twice as wide to accommodate the repair activities. In reality, it actually fits in quite well with my chosen trackplan at that point, and the suits the limited width I have there. Plus, it cost me next to nothing and was a complete steal. I wanted to get a road behind the WRD so that I could have stock/loco's running behind buildings to give a feeling of dimension. I will be running a mixture of stuff really, from 153's, 156's, etc up to 4 coach trains (Reggie rail Mk1's/2's and GWR BFO's), together with RES trains probably consisting a PCV, a GUV and a pair of Super BG's. One platform road does have a run around facility, a loco release is provided by means of a loop. the other platform hasn't and will be operated in a similar way that the north bay platforms at Crewe were with the Reggie Rail services. - The train engine would come in, draw to a stand in the bay. a second loco would come on the back, and hook up. The train loco would be lopped off, and the tail lamp would swap ends. The new train engine would perform a brake test, get the RA and away, leaving the original train engine to toddle back to the DMD or wherever. I'm toying with the idea of extending the layout further beyond the platforms, so I may put another loop in then. cheers Trev

Good morning. A couple of photos to show progress around the "Bottom" (station) end of the layout, in particular trackwork into the WRD building. It is my intention to make a hardstanding around the building out of plasticard and to have the area very overgrown with weeds and to have lots of clutter. I am looking forward to adding yard and building lighting and I think Im goingto go down the express Models route as I have used their items before and was impressed. Saltley's pet 08905 poking out of the WRD shuffling BDA's around.... One of my fleet of PCA's - Ive modified these by removing the tension locks, adding instanters, brake discs and air pipes. A quick dirty and a few streaks added too.

Hello again! A few more pictures showing recent progress. This is the actual Wagon repair Depot Building that the layout is based around. Its not fixed into position permanently as it still needs painting and weathering and internal lighting adding. The eventual plan is to add corrugated clear plastic to the roof to simulate UPVC rooflights. these will be weathered with a slightly orangey hue to represent ageing. This is the view from the fiddle yard end looking towards the station. the up and down roads to and from the station are to the left with the yard roads and shunt neck on the right. all three tracks at the bottom will lead to the fiddle yard, enabling two person operation. I have been adding the droppers as I progress. i remove a sleeper, and solder the dropper wires in a 90 degree bend to the underside of the rail, then feed these through a drilled hole to below the baseboard ready for linking to the bus wire. This photo shows the progress made at the station end of the layout by the actual WRD. the coaches are for testing the running and smooth transition across turnouts. I've also used them for gauging to set the distance for the trackwork running alongside the WRD.

Having stripped the boards back to bare wood, track laying starts and I don't really have a fixed track plan. I am setting out turnouts and track as I go along. After each part of the track is test fitted I tend to do a cheeky photo set up for effect! Cheers! Trev

This is my third foray into layout building in the last two years. Having been down the scrapyard route with 'Pensbridge' and a diesel depot with 'Shelfordby', I thought long and hard for an idea for the layout's existence. I've seen container depots, Cement depots, yards etc done before and couldn't make up my mind. Having sold Shelfordby, I desperately needed a new project. I picked up two superb scratchbuilt plastic buildings off one of the buying and selling groups from Facebook and had an epiphany! A Wagon Repair Depot! One of the buildings would be ideal, and was a single road corrugated shed, of approximately two loco lengths long. All I needed were baseboards and I’d be in business. After a conversation with a friend,it turned out that he had four 4' x 2' bespoke boards with integral legs for reluctant sale. Armed with a handful of cash, a swift visit to Coventry was made and boards were loaded into the car, transported home and swiftly set up in the garage. So the idea of a Wagon Repair Depot was born, with sidings, run around facility and a two road station added to boot. This will provide me with a reason to run a lot of my loco’s, stock, and wagons, shuffle class 08’s around, and potentially offer single or two person operation. I would use three of the boards as scenic sections, with the final 4 x 2 board used as a fiddle yard. Operation will be kept as simple as possible, with DCC control. Points will be manually controlled, with the option for motorising at a later stage. I would like to have yard and station lighting and working signals, but I think these will be something to think about in the not too distant future. Track will be trusty Peco code 100, laid directly on the softwood top of the baseboards. A mix of wooden and concrete sleepers would be used. The layout will be of the stay at home variety; however will be suitable for taking to shows should invitations come my way! I have decided upon the early 1990’s to mid 2000’s as a time period which gives good flexibility as regards what to run, and will range from BR blue, Sectorisation, through to EWS days. The location is entirely fictional and would be located somewhere between the West Midlands and the North. It was evident that the previous owner had made a start with track laying and ballasting, and had installed a two road dead end island style platform. I ummed and arred as to whether to keep the track as it was, because the look of it was just right and the track configuration was good and offered plenty of scope for movements. However on closer inspection below the wiring was a bit urgent to say the least, and it was clear that it had to go. In the end to reduce complications with wiring opted to remove the existing track and wiring and start again with a clean sheet, mirroring parts of the old track formation. So, track removal started in earnest with the hardest (and dirtiest) part being the wetting and removal of ballast and sanding back to obtain a good surface to accept new permanent way. The following photos show the layout in its early days, with the original trackwork still in situ, then the slow progress whilst removing track and ballast. Cheers Trev

I've used Lcut on the last couple of layouts I have done, and cannot recommend them enough. I have just had some retaining walls land which Im looking forward to making immensely. The kits are good quality they go together really well and they take paint brilliantly. Thanks to Jacub and Co.

Nice little layout you've got there, Johan! Guys like you are the future of our hobby - keep up the good work!