Modelling Mike

With more than a week to go before any more substantial baseboard building can take place, I thought I'd tempt you with a track plan. Now, the plan is posted with some provisos. Firstly, it's not finished yet! Secondly, the "St Aldhelm" section won't be built until the track and electrics are installed on Talbothays and the fiddle yard. The fiddle yard and Talbothays are shown pretty much as they will appear in the final build. I'm concentrating on this section first, because it will allow me to run in my new locos on the continuous run and to play trains relatively quickly! I haven't drawn the platform, station buildings, goods shed and signalbox on Talbothays, but I'm aiming to emulate the tranquil, picturesque, chocolate box feel of Corfe Castle So, boards 1-5 have been built. On my next week of rest days (week after next) I'll almost certainly be able to complete the legs for 4 & 5 and build board 6. Boards 4, 5 & 6 are being built 4 inches lower than the fiddle yard boards in order to allow for scenic features to sit below track level. Although lower, I'll still be able to duck under them to access the fiddle yard which sits on the storage units (bought from a famous Swedish furniture store, shown in grey) which are home to the stock collection. HOW THE FIDDLE YARD WILL WORK... Until St Aldhelm is built, the fiddle yard will have to represent both ends of the line. The crossover at the top of board 1 (A) creates an oval, which won't be used in normal operation once the whole layout is built. It is intended to be used as a running-in oval and to form a loop (A-B) which will mimic the main platform and run-around loop at St Aldhelm. Once St Aldhelm itself is built, the loop will act as another storage siding, allowing me to form up even more trains, and the right-hand track will become the through road for trains from St Aldhelm to Talbothays. The fan of sidings will host trains of various lengths, some from the railway's own fleet, and others visiting from the mainline. To make operations a little more interesting, I've decided the preservation operation only has access to a redundant bay platform at Combe Hardy, plus a short loco spur. Therefore, the railway will run services in one of two ways Peak, summer services will be formed of loco and coaches with at least two locos in steam. The inbound loco will uncouple and a second loco will shunt from the spur and couple to the rear. Once the train has departed, the trapped loco will shunt into the spur and wait for the next service to take back to St Aldhelm. In quieter periods, the railway will make use of its collection of pull-push-fitted tanks and coaches, or its BR blue liveried DMU. I'll be using the siding closest to the baseboard edge as the spur, with a protective barrier attached to the end to prevent any unfortunate accidents occurring! TALBOTHAYS Talbothays is the only passing place on the line. The up and down platforms will sit either side of the tracks, with the station building roughly halfway own the platform nearest the front (the scene is viewed from the door side, with the fiddle yard hidden by the back scene). A goods shed and run-around loop will be accessed from a short head shunt. At the moment, I'm worried the shunt is too short, and may have to reconfigure this area once I get to the track-laying stage. AS FOR ST ALDHELM... The formation here has been copied and pasted from an earlier plan and is still a long way from being finalised. I should have called it Eganaws, because it's essentially a mirror image of Swanage. I'm currently re-jigging the station throat in order to move the track away from the edge of the board. I'll probably add a fillet of board to the corner here, but I'll need it to be quickly and easily moved to allow access to an eaves cupboard behind board 7. Moving the tracks back will reduce the number of joints across the boards, but will mean tighter curves, which is a pity, but can't be avoided. I've added a fictional carriage siding to the rear to add interest, and the shed is accessed from a head shunt. I'm not sure if I like this formation, so either the shed will move, or the access will be re-configured. The turntable is larger than the one at Swanage to allow me to turn larger tender locos. I don't see work starting on this side of the layout for quite a few months, so plenty of time yet to finalise the plan...thoughts and suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I had worried that posting progress from the word go might bore people - but it seems you lot love a good backstory and the prospect of things to come! John, if you take a look at some of my older projects on RMweb, you'll see how atrocious my previous woodworking attempts have been in the past. I have taken this opportunity at a clean slate to really put the effort in to doing it properly this time, and so far it seems to have paid off. It's amazing how much a bit of research, together with investment in the right tools and materials will pay off, and just goes to show even a cack-handed, accident-prone bumbler like me can put something decent together. I'm surprised and delighted by how it's all turned out so far. Still a long way to go though! I feel your frustration, John. That was me in 2012, when I dismantled my previous project only for the moving date to move ever further away. And when we did finally move, job changes and building work stopped me from getting started again. Last week was the first time since then I've done any kind of serious and sustained railway modelling for five years... I do hope your hiatus doesn't last as long!

Superb shots there, Alan. Just the kind of atmosphere I'm aiming for on St Aldhelm. Inspirational stuff!

Thanks Alan, I've been following the goings on at Kingsbridge over the last few years - lurking in the background, as I've been gathering inspiration and ideas for my own build. Its your level of detail and atmosphere that I'm aiming for.

Another day of good progress today. I now have 5 out of 9 boards built, albeit the last two are legless (it is Friday night, after all!) Most of the day was taken up by measuring and cutting the irregular-sized Talbothays boards. These will jut out into the middle of the room, which will help me to duck under and have enough room to access the fiddleyard, and also should allow me to achieve a gentle flow to the curved track. To cut the boards accurately, I had to place all the boards on the floor so that I could position the ply and mark it for cutting. In doing so, I got a tantalising glimpse of what the final configuration will look like... The old adage of "measure twice, cut once" saved me from a very expensive mistake during this part of the build. Having marked up the wood, I suddenly realised that the fourth board, which I finished building this morning, had moved out of position, so one of the marks was a good 10mm out. Just goes to show, you have to keep checking!! After re-positioning all the finished boards in their rightful places, I then built board 5. The odd angles caused a few headaches, but I managed to make a very sturdy, solid board...somehow! For some reason, the photo below makes it look like the furthest two corners are right angles - but the board is in fact a rhombus with no right angle corners at all! I mentioned yesterday that boards 4, 5 & 6 will all be at a lower height than the first three. Another time consuming job today was adding the joining piece to board 4. It consists of a piece of 9mm ply cut to size to accommodate the 4 inch drop, with an off cut of 18x69 timber which will allow me to fit dowels to align it with the corner board. It's all glued and screwed together and is remarkably robust. The only concern I have is that I can't see how I'm going to clamp the boards together to fit the dowels. But that's a concern for another day... Sadly, building work is going to be paused again for a little while. Family and household commitments mean I won't get any modelling time in over the weekend or Monday, then it's back to work on Tuesday for two weeks. Happily, then I have another week off, with plenty of time to finish off these boards and crack on with track laying! I also have a growing shopping list for my trip to Ally Pally later this month...

More progress made today, although it feels like I got a lot less done despite being at it most of the day! Boards 1, 2 and 3 are now complete. These will be home to the fiddleyard, which will represent Combe Hardy (non-scenic) and the connection to the national network. The third board was an odd corner shape, and had to be shortened by a few centimetres to clear the radiator, so plenty of sawing and fettling of frame components took up loads of time. I had just completed the frame for board 4 before calling it a day earlier. This one's going to be even more complicated as I've decided to drop it 4 inches lower than the other boards to allow for some potential landscaping below track height. Boards 5 & 6, which will be home to Talbothays, will also be at this lower height. I think I know how I'm going to achieve the transition between boards...tune in tomorrow to see if my idea works!

Thanks for the kind words, Ian! The clean slate has been a god send...if a long time coming...and I'm determined to make the very best of it. I'm glad someone got the St Aldhelm's Head reference! I used to go on holiday on Purbeck as a kid. Our campsite being just up the hill from Harman's Cross - the end of the line back then - a trip on the Swanage Railway was always a highlight. I've been back a few times and still think it's one of the best heritage lines in the country. I'm hoping I'll have room for a Banks Arms beer garden overlooking Talbothays station with plenty of people enjoying the summer sunshine and watching the trains go by Being more of a kettle fan, I have very few diesels at the moment, but more will be added to the roster eventually, no doubt, so a gala might have to feature!

Work finally began in earnest building some baseboards for St Aldhelm today. Now, I'm the first to admit my woodworking skills have always left a lot to be desired in the past, and the construction phase of this build has had me panicking slightly. I really wanted to do everything I could to make sure I ended up with a sturdy set of level and trouble-free boards. For a while, I contemplated having some built professionally, but the cost put me off, and I fancied the challenge. How To articles in various magazines have been pored over, and I've been out and bought the best tools and materials I could get my hands on in the hope I could finally put my woodworking demons to rest. I started off with a big pile of wood: 12mm plywood for the tops (I wanted 9mm, but every timber yard in the area with a cutting service had sold out) cut to 2'x4' and 1.5'x4' size boards by the merchant; 18x69mm pine timber to form the frame; and 44x44mm pine for the legs. The timber was cut to size then glued and screwed together in the traditional way, and by some miracle, I ended up with this...my very first purpose-built baseboard which somehow managed to sit flat on the storage unit where it will form part of the fiddle yard. Could lightening strike twice, I wondered...turns out it wasn't a fluke, and by early afternoon I had a pair of boards. Half of the second board would sit on the storage unit, but the other part will be free-standing. Spurred on by early success, I wondered how easy it would be to fashion a pair of legs. Not too difficult at all, it turned out... I've deliberately kept things simple. The legs slot into pockets formed by offcuts of timber, which provide a tight fit. The leg is braced by a second piece of timber, again glued and screwed in place. A second screw has been added to each side of the cross-member since the photo was taken to provide some rigidity. Not being confident in my ability to measure and cut wood with pin-point accuracy, and to cope with any undulations in the floor, I decided to fit adjustable feet. These somewhat heavy duty ones are from Station Road Baseboards, and are simplicity itself to fit and adjust. Buoyed on by this further success, I decided to tackle the one job I had been fearing the most - aligning and joining the boards together. I did quite a bit of research into alignment dowels, and to be quite honest, I was daunted by the prospect of making them work. In the end, I opted for DCC Concepts' product, mainly because they provide a kit which includes the correct diameter spade drill bits and the promise of full instructions on the packet. Where could I go wrong?! For attachments, I went for sprung toggle catches (again, from Station Road Baseboards). These boards join together at a right angle, so one straight and one right-angled toggle was needed. I really needn't have worried about the dowels. The kit was brilliant, with the instructions being pretty foolproof. Within half an hour of clamping the boards together upside down on the floor (to keep the tops in line), I had two perfectly aligned boards which locked together firmly. This time included that taken to re-attach the right-angled toggle, as it wouldn't close firmly the first time. With these, you really do have to be accurate, otherwise you'll end up with too loose a connection. I neglected to take a photo of the two boards joined together, but I'm happy to say they fit together perfectly! All in all, I'm really pleased with the day's work. Everything went smoothly and I was surprised just how easily it went. It proved to me just how important doing the research, buying the right tools and not scrimping on quality products is to ending up with a decent foundation. Having said that, I might end up going up into the hobby room tomorrow and finding it's all fallen to pieces again! So, that's 2 boards down and 7 to go. I did start with two of the easiest boards today and tomorrow's construction will test my new-found abilities further. Lets hope it all goes just as smoothly...

THE VISION Welcome to St Aldhelm, a bustling and often crowded seaside town in the southern county of Wessex. Situated on the end of a peninsula, separated from the mainland by a large natural harbour to the north, a winding river to the west and surrounded by rolling hills, the town and its environs are accessed by just one main road, and until the 1960s, a branch line which ran from the local main line-served market town of Combe Hardy, via the beautifully picturesque village of Talbothays, which is dominated by the ruins of its Norman castle. Although the railway closed as part of Beeching's modernisation plan in the mid 1960s, almost immediately a small group of vociferous and enterprising locals launched a project to reopen their beloved branch line. Over the past 30 years, they have been slowly re-laying track, renovating structures and restoring and maintaining an impressive fleet of rolling stock. Having achieved their aim of reconnecting St Aldhelm with Combe Hardy several years ago, they are now running regular steam trains through the beautiful Wessex countryside. Not only are these services popular with the plethora of tourists who visit the area in the summer, they have also proved popular with the locals who have come to rely on them to get around the peninsula - and avoid the heavy traffic on the over-stretched roads. St Aldhelm itself started out as a small fishing village. The mining of the local honey-coloured sandstone in the surrounding hills gave rise to a burgeoning economy, with the town becoming a centre for the stone's shipment to places such as London, where it became a popular building material. This saw the development of the harbour area, and as wealthy merchants moved in, so did the enterprising railwaymen. A branch line was first mooted in the 1870s, soon after the LSWR built its main line through Combe Hardy, and was finally opened in the late 1880s. It was an immediate success, providing a fast and efficient method for transporting the stone, and fish from the harbour to London. It didn't take long for the entrepreneurial Victorian businessmen to recognise that the town's picturesque shoreline could also become an attraction in itself, and so they began to build impressive pleasure gardens and a promenade to attract the tourists, who flocked to the quaint little town. Today, St Aldhelm has recovered from the slump that many seaside resorts suffered during the late twentieth century, and has re-awakened as a popular destination for tourists wishing to undertake a "staycation" in the UK, taking in the town's award-winning gardens, sandy beach and beautifully restored promenade, museums, theatre and arts venues. The town's success is thanks, in no small part, to the success of the re-opened railway. Many locals believe that the line - always popular in summertime - should never have closed in the first place, and the local council have taken every opportunity to support the line and take advantage of its ability to bring in the crowds, supporting a year-round community rail scheme in conjunction with the local train operating company. Situated in the heart of the town, a short walk from the seafront, the station was once a bustling terminus - with two platforms for passengers and a large goods area. The old yard has now been taken over by a car park and small supermarket, but the rest of the station area is still home to the new tourist railway, and includes a small loco shed and coaling area, two carriage sidings, a signal box and goods shed. The station entrance looks out onto the end of the high street, which is the main shopping area. Opposite the station site, a parade of late Victorian and early Edwardian buildings house an art-house cinema, boutique hotel, public house and the obligatory gift shops selling postcards, souvenirs, buckets and spades. Behind the carriage siding to the north, on the embankment leading up to a residential road, is a small picnic area, beautifully kept by the railway staff for families and spotters to keep an eye on the action in the station whilst partaking of a locally-made pasty and/or ice cream. At Talbothays station, there is far less hustle and bustle, with the beauty and tranquility of the village only disturbed by the busy road leading through its centre and the regular trains passing through its station. Set on a low embankment, the railway provides visitors with an unrivalled view of the village, its castle and the stunning rolling countryside. The station itself is a beautifully preserved specimen of LSWR architecture, built from the local stone to stay in keeping with its quaint surroundings. The two platforms sit either side of the two running lines forming the only passing place for the otherwise single track line. SOUND FAMILIAR? If that vision sounds oddly familiar to you, it's because St Aldhelm and Talbothays are inspired by (though not a slavish reproduction of) Swanage and Corfe Castle on the Swanage Railway in Dorset. The St Aldhelm Railway will be my first attempt at building a layout in nearly six years. Since decommissioning my last layout, Rempton, I have moved house...twice, started a new career (on the railway, of course!) and we have built a large loft extension to our new house. In that time, fitted around decorating, DIY, furniture buying and building, and a considerable amount of training for my new job, I have done a heck of a lot of armchair modelling, reading almost every edition of all four major modelling magazines and their supplements and spending a lot of time browsing my favourite layouts on RMweb. In short, I have been soaking up ideas and letting my imagination run wild. Now, I finally have the space and money to build a decent sized layout in a dedicated room in our new house. THE PLAN The layout I am planning to build, although vastly different to Rempton, is a direct descendant of that scheme. Station names have changed, but I have essentially developed a scheme I have been trying to build since I was a teenager, inspired by the Swanage Railway. Back then (we're talking over 20 years ago now) "The Rempton Railway" was essentially a train set with an oval and two extended sidings representing each end of the line. Since then, as life and available space has dictated, I've gone through everything from loft-filling master-plans to tiny shunting layouts in my hunt for an ideal project to get my teeth into. What I have ended up with today is a more grown-up version of what I started out with as a teenager, a more sophisticated train set featuring an oval and extended sidings! St Aldhelm will be housed in a dedicated room in the new loft extension. It's a modest sized room, a few centimetres over 3x3m. I've developed a plan which will allow me to model St Aldhelm and Talbothays stations scenically, with Combe Hardy and the connection to the national network represented by a fiddle yard. Although the plan is to incorporate an oval, I will only use this for the purposes of running in locos and the occasional day when I just want to see the trains pass by. Usually, the layout will operate as a preserved branch line would. The railway itself will feature a plethora of lovely, mostly Southern region, stock, with the occasional Western interloper. Steam will be at the forefront, but diesel traction will feature occasionally, and the main line connection will allow me to run some "specials" and more unusual fare. Many people have strong opinions about whether the preservation and heritage scene is suitable material for modelling. But as a modeller with an interest in steam outline as well as the modern scene, who's only experience of steam is trips to heritage lines and the occasional sighting of a mainline charter, this feels like the perfect subject matter for me. Although I haven't built a layout for 5 years, I have continued to build my collection of rolling stock, all of which I plan to use on St Aldhelm. This isn't just an excuse to run what I want whenever I want to, though. I want to model a fictional heritage line as realistically as possible, and each train featured on the St Aldhelm Railway will have a history and a reason for being there. Although that won't stop me from invoking rule 1 of the modeller's code whenever I feel like it! WHAT'S NEXT? After so much time spent thinking, planning, despairing as to whether I'd ever get this project started, I now find myself with a dedicated modelling room, and all the materials I need to build some quality baseboards. I'm itching to get started, but need to be patient just a little longer. I have six rest days starting on 1st March, and plan to build the first couple of boards over this period. Realistically, progress is bound to be slow as I fit my modelling in around a full time job, commitments around the house and other interests, but I'm aiming to have trains running on the oval part of the scheme by the summer. I'll be updating this thread as and when progress is made. In the meantime, for posterity, here are some pictures of St Aldhelm's home as of this month...a blank canvas waiting to be filled! The fiddle yard will be built across these cabinets, with the Talbothays scene running through the centre of the room on removable boards. One day, all this wood will be a scenic railway! The boards will run from the fiddle yard on the right, under the window onto the scenic section - one track will turn sharp left towards Talbothays in the centre of the room. Another will go straight on, over a viaduct and on into St Aldhelm. The station throat for the latter will be approximately where the workmate is.

Hi Les, I've been away from RMWeb for some months now and just come back to have a very enjoyable browse through all the layout topics I've missed. I have to say, Bishopscombe is one of the highlights. I love the detail and the atmosphere - really great stuff there. Very inspirational - it makes me itch to get back on with my own modelling! Keep up the great work Mike

I was thinking more of a yellowy waft rather than green - I like the yellowish tinge to the grass on Wencombe - it's more becoming of a late summer / early autumn day. Aside from early spring, grass doesn't tend to be green from my observations!

I've been tempted by one of those new tea strainer grass applicators and it's interesting to see the results. It doesn't quite look as uniform a finish as a Grasmaster may give you, but nice, nonetheless. The colour does look vibrant next to your yellowed grass - but you do tend to get fresher greenery next to watercourses, and perhaps a pass with some weathering would help to bring the two shades together? Great work on Wencombe - it's one of my favourites on RMWeb. Keep it up, and keep the photos coming!

I've just finished working my way through this thread and have enjoyed every minute of it. Mark, your modelling is fantastic. In any scale, this is fantastic stuff, but the fact it's 2mm makes it even more inspiring. I love the atmosphere you're managing to evoke, both through the model and your very enjoyable updates. Living in South London myself, I have often marvelled at some of the fantastic 20s and 30s architecture there is dotted around (Peckham being a surprisingly rich treasure trove of hidden gems, believe it or not). I'll be following this one with much interest. Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see what you'll tackle next. Mike

This sounds like a great challenge, and as I face being layout-less in the coming months, gives me something to actually do over the summer. I know exactly what I'm going to do...something I've been dying to do for ages, but haven't had the impetus. Thanks to Andy and Model Rail for a very interesting challenge, and good luck to everyone who enters. Mike

No matter what I seem to do, or what my best intentions are, life just seems to constantly get in the way of modelling. For each minute of actual modelling I manage to get done, I must spend 100 minutes thinking about it. As I'm sure many of you will testify, this is a dangerous trait for us modellers. Thinking about modelling should probably be banned, or at least limited, because it always seems to lead you away on tangents. These excesses in brain function coupled with the inevitable prerequisites that our modelling ventures must somehow fit within (or around) what is commonly known as "the rest of our lives" seem to mean that I spend much more time dreaming about future possibilities than actually getting any modelling done. And just when I think that I'm finally getting somewhere, that I've hit the perfect equilibrium, something comes along to completely knock that for six. My main layout, Rempton Southgate, is a case in point. Over the years it has gone from a trainset-like roundy-roundy to a larger, slightly more grown up version of the roundy-roundy, to a much smaller (but even more grown up) terminus to fiddle yard arrangement. Having gone through the period of dissatisfaction at having to dismantle two thirds of the layout I'd lovingly been nurturing since childhood, I actually came round to the idea of developing a much smaller layout - one that I might actually one day get close to finishing. Besides, the old layout had resided in the loft - a particularly inaccessible one at that. Now, Rempton Southgate has pride of place in a bedroom in my flat - very accessible, very manageable, but still very big! I've managed to make some sort of progress with it over the last 6 months or so, but still it has been painfully slow. And now things have ground almost to a standstill. Work has been pretty crazy of late, but that particular project now being over, I'll find myself with a lot more time available for modelling, but followers of Rempton's thread will not be seeing much in the way of progress, at least not on the layout itself. For times are a-changin' and Rempton's future is once again unclear. Rempton was downsized last year thanks to a house move. Having moved from a house with a loft to a flat with none, I was left with no choice but to consider a smaller layout. And now, I'm facing another move - a positive one, but still one that involves significant challenges. Having lived with friends in a house-share for the last 10 years, I'm now about to embark on my greatest adventure yet - I'm moving in with my partner. Although our love of the railways is mutual, our love of the model kind isn't. Despite my best efforts and much pleading, it looks like I'll no longer be able to keep Rempton on display semi-permanently as it is now. More compromises are needed. Where we'll end up still isn't certain either. And so, with the future so up in the air, is it any wonder that I'm finding it difficult to concentrate on any modelling at all at the moment? But that's where the wonders of daydream-modelling come in. For now, after much head scratching and mulling over, I have managed to concoct some sort of a plan. Whether those plans will work or not remains to be seen, but what is becoming clear is that Rempton will almost certainly have to be rebuilt. Despite its downsizing last year, it is still far too bulky - built as it was originally for permanent loft habitation. There is a pang of sadness when I think that after all these years, I'll finally be saying goodbye to the layout that I've so desperately been trying to keep going since my teenage years. There is a lot of history in those boards, and for someone as sentimental as me, it will be difficult to let them go. But then, Rempton is not just about the wood it's built on - it's a vision I've had and developed for a long time. And after the initial shock of realisation that things can't continue as they were much longer, I've come to realise that this is a positive move. Rempton has always been about compromises. It's always been slightly too small / too heavy / too crowded / too toy-like.Starting again from scratch will allow me to learn from the mistakes I've made and build on my skills. Of course, it does mean that once again, I'll be back to the baseboard-building stage - the aspect of modelling I like the least! But it will be a chance for me to iron out all those things about the layout I've come to dislike. The heavy boards, the terrible electrics (although it will remain to be seen if I can improve on that!), the straight track and lack of space. If I'm clever, I'll be able to incorporate some pretty nifty ideas - some that I'm quite excited about. And, if I'm really clever, and if circumstances permit, Rempton may well end up growing again. But there I go again...dreams, dreams, dreams. All that will have to wait, of course. I can't make major plans without even knowing where I'm going to end up. In the mean time, I'll keep myself busy with other aspects of the hobby. I'm still trying to build the new station buildings, which will feature on the new layout. I'm keen to experiment more with weathering and detailing my rolling stock, which is a major project in itself. And of course, there's the planning and day dreaming to be done - and there will be a lot of that to do. So, once again, life dictates the direction my modelling takes. One large life decision has impacted, again, on the life of the layout. It's going to be an interesting year, and I'll be keeping Rempton's thread up to date with progress as it happens. Just don't expect any wood to be cut just yet. After all these years, I'm only now starting to realise that in this hobby, you can't expect things to happen too quickly. (edited on 11th Oct 2013 to fix formatting errors)

Hi, just found this thread and have to say I'm extremely jealous of your set up there! The layout looks very promising. Great use of space and plenty of potential. I'll be following this with much interest. Good luck with the rest of the track laying. Mike

Just stunning, as ever, Chris. I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing photos of Catcott Burtle, so please don't stop taking them! Mike

I'd like to add my congratulations to the winner, Eldavo, and the other entrants and give my thanks for a very entertaining time I had looking through and marking the layouts. I feel the competition proved just how interesting, diverse and imaginative our little hobby can be. And it made me have a good, hard look at some other prototypes I wouldn't normally pay attention to and learned a thing or two. And not forgetting Andy's sterling work organising such a successful venture. Thanks for your hard work, as ever. Might I be so bold as to make a suggestion for next year though, and that's allowing votes out of 10 instead of 5? I often found myself giving the same mark to different layouts although I preferred one to the other. It would have been great to award one layout a 7/10 and another a 6/10 instead of awarding both a 3/5 (for example). It's only a suggestion though, and I don't want to take away from the success of this year's competition. As for 2011, I'd like to add my support to M Graff's idea of the Four Seasons. It would be great to see how different modellers tackle spring, summer, autumn and winter in their own unique ways. I may even be tempted to join in myself then! Best to all, Mike

I'm with you JB - I was shocked to find out Catcott was 2007! Seems like only yesterday I was following its construction with much interest. This is looking like it's going to be another stunner as well Chris - I'm looking forward to seeing the finished layout. Your track always looks incredible, whatever your method - a great boon to us 00 modellers to know that it can look just as good as the more accurate gauges. Mike

I've spent a good few days working my way through this layout thread and have to say it's great work. I stumbled across it back in early December, then spotted it on the front cover of Model Rail so quickly tracked it down again. Great work there! I particularly like the night shots - some of them are incredibly realistic.

What a fantastic viaduct! I love the detail you've added which really brings it to life. Can't wait to see it completed. And your back scenes are looking good. I was worried about the lack of depth on my own layout when it came to adding back scenes, but you've proved that you don't need too much to give a sense of perspective. Great stuff! Mike

Hi Steve, Just spent some time going through your thread. It holds particular appeal to me as I grew up in a village near Chippenham and the Calne Branch has always fascinated me (not least because as a kid I could never work out why there was a redundant platform at Chippenham station!) It's strange, but I only recently found out about the Harris bacon factory (through work, rather than local knowledge) which is odd, as I'm a Harris myself! (No relation though, as far as I know.) I'll be following this thread with much interest. It's a great way to assuage my homesickness. Great work so far, and I can't wait to see the layout progress. Mike

I've stopped by this thread many a time over the last few months and it never ceases to be a source of inspiration. And great to see some Southern stock in that last photo! Keep up the good work, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more of your running season as it progresses. Mike