Mikkel

Many thanks for the input and encouragement everyone. Some pretty wild but fascinating ideas there - changing from pregrouping to current time over an exhibition weekend, or from broad to narrow gauge! Not sure how the audience would react though! :-) Yes it could turn into a big task if I don't control it. I've been wanting to some RTR/RTP bashing for a while though, so that could help save time (I hope!). Flintfield certainly doesn't show any joins (in the photos at least), so that is encouraging. I think the idea of looking for "natural" joins is the way forward as it won't be easy to find a material that can disguise joins and yet be removeable! I rather like the idea of a cobbled area which I've always wanted to try anyway. Hiding joins won't exactly be easier if the layout is to be viewed from all sides though. BTW the shape of the baseboards in the Sketchup images was inspired by an Ikea table top: I think it's out of production now though - and anyway the material probably doesn't lend itself to this kind of job.

Looks like someone beat you to it :-)

Fantastic. I'm a big fan of de Hezelpoort too, but didn't know the system was commercially available. Will be very interested to see your experiments.

devondyno, I think I better do some testing before expanding on the concept. I have a feeling that each of these drop-in modules will take some time to do - not to mention the core layout part of the itself!

Jonte, that sounds great! I haven't actually sen that Ian Rice book, so would very much appreciate if you can find the title :-)

Hi Pete, thanks for the encouragement. I actually like the challenge of the joins (although I may regret having said that!). One option is to look for natural "line breaks" in real railway yards. Photos such as this suggest some options: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~calderdalecompanion/mh185.jpg But perhaps the most obvious solution is to make it a cobbled yard. Eg:

Thanks for the tip about the salting :-) The weathering on the C is really subtle and helps add to the robust look of a real loco, I think. Nice work.

I have been thinking about an idea for a "flexible" layout. This is still very much developing, and what you see here is not an actual trackplan, but an illustration of the concept. The basic idea is a layout where selected drop-in modules can be removed and replaced with other modules. So a particular cameo, building or siding can be exchanged with another cameo, building or siding – thereby changing the look of the layout. This in turn allows for variation in rolling stock and operation. Ultimately, such a concept gives endless possibilities of varying a layout from one operating session to another. In my case, though, the aim would be to have a layout that can capture a little of the way in which a railway scene changes over time. In real life, sidings also frequently changed their length and purpose over the years, as stations were rebuilt, trackplans changed etc I also like the idea of having the layout change over the course of a single day. Exchanging one lineside diorama for another could be used to indicate that we have now passed from morning to afternoon. Buildings and their immediate environments could also be prepared as individual dioramas and then used on the layout as appropriate. It would be interesting to buy a couple of ready-to-plonk buildings and then have one in pristine state while distressing the other one, in order to show the passage of time. The layout could be designed to be viewed from all sides. That would add to the feel of an "interactive" scenery. Anyway, it would be interesting to hear if people think it is actually feasible? Joins will clearly be the big issue. But I'm sure something similar has been tried before, so if there are any thoughts or experiences out there I'd be happy to hear them.

The images look promising, but clicking on them only leads to a small thumbnail image. Something wrong with the link maybe?

Great angles and perspectives here, clearly very well conceived. Looking forward to se more :-)

Sometimes a single shot is all it takes. Beautiful! It would be hard to get that kind of light inside. Very inspirational, thanks :-)

Impressive progress. I must give my wife a spa weekend :-)

That's a really good-looking front end (odd-sounding sentence!). It looks like it could actually work, which is far from always the case.

Hi Rich, I'm not seeing the photos... or maybe it's just me?

That sounds like an interesting project. I have a couple of old panniers I'd like to update for a possible future 1940s project, so any expereinces and photos you could share as you go along would be much appreciated.

Tonnes of atmosphere in these shots, it's such a great concept you've got going here I think. And the tanks are brilliant - not just in terms of the modelling quality, but also how they add to the height and depth of the layout. Great stuff :-)

What a neat solution. It looks great and was clearly worth the effort.

Intriguing photo, and clearly also an intriguing soldering challenge! I'm sure you'll work it out. I have some colleagues who are like that. Can you fix them too? :-)

Hi Chris. It's always interesting to open one of your blog entries. You never know what scale and railway will appear :-) This one is pretty interesting!

Somebody get that man some wheels! We want to see the 43xx! :-)

That's a good tip and an excellent tutorial. Many thanks for sharing it.

That's an attractive wagon, thanks for sharing. Also glad to see I'm not the only one with an unfinished challenge entry from the past :-)

Congratulations on the new job. Not being your own boss anymore will no doubt fuel your need for modelling - to let off steam ;-) Only joking! It's amazing how much wiring is needed for such a small layout. Good to see it sorted.

Those windows look superb. The colours on the doors - it's so subjective. I wonder if the dark stone should be more reddish/orange, but that's just my interpretation.