pirouets

I have to ask. when you were growing up, was forum button design something you foresaw in your future or were your plans less ambitious?

Not a bad few days progress. More static grass has gone down and the base layer painted for the road. You'll not the board alignment has skipped slightly but will probably mask this with bushes and trees. As the river/canal turns I am thinking a weeping willow or 2 would look good there. I then had a play around with a dark weathering powder and a think wash of dark paint to get a road color I like. I've also created a pavement sheet for the houses but before this goes down I need to have a think about drains for the down pipes and cutting those in. Looking the other way I've also finished the base layer of static grass so having a think about what will then go over that to remove the flat earth look. I know with a canal and railway it would be flat but some trees are need along with a fisherman on the bank. Posed a crowded scene at Norton Rd and this is as busy as this station will ever get. Still working on a couple of timetables for the layout. Finally the station for Dinfield has its roof now but I need to do the Gents again so that is not attached yet. I quite like the scruffy roof. That's it for now as here comes Monday though the next few weeks are all 4 day weeks as I have some holiday I have to use by the end of the month. On the Dinfield side of the layout I need to crack on with the point motors which will be the main job over the next couple of weeks. I also want to get a couple of LED's to try out building lighting for the 1st time.

Have started on the station for Dinfiled. Nothing that hasn't been seen before as its a scalescenes kit but as its the late 70's/early 80's I do need to grot it up some what, so the roof over that platform when it goes on will be corrugated with no windows in it and I will board up the top window. I need to find some felt tips to edge the tiles on the 2 story part of the building. Over at Norton Rd its time to start thinking about roads and pavements. For the pavement I won't raise it to much so a thin piece of card gives me around a 2 inch high pavement. I'll edge it with scalescenes paper and then cover it with a light grey pavement. I've bought some acrylic paints and am playing around with tones. The picture doesn't show it well but they are different tones. For the surface I will just stipple it with the brush or a sponge. The stippling in the bottom right is to much so I think thin layers and build up rather than 1 think layer. Once down i'll put a matt varnish layer over it but before that happens I need to look at what powders and washes I have just to give a dirty look to the surface. My thinking is the road will be a lighter shade of gray and the garage area will be a darker, more worn surface. (See post on 30/6 above)

Now you have it, Just don't make the mistake I made yesterday putting in some more modern fencing on my layout and put one bit in upside down. Now I just need to digest the 1568 pages of this thread to see what you have been up to for the last 7 years. In all seriousness though Rob, I know early on there is a plan via a control panel image but what is the overall dimensions of the layout? Is there a specific cake type that the driver of a such a cute engine would consume? Need to ensure modelling standards are maintained after all.

So a fair amount has happened though not as much as I hoped given 2 weeks off. The old station design has gone and a new model loosely based on Newhaven Harbour has appeared. Reason for the change is it means I have somewhere for the freight to run in to now which makes it far simpler to operate and reverse freight stock. The back scene is kept low so on tip toes I can see over to the inner most line in the fiddle yard. The station building will be based on the Scalescenes medium station and there is some room for scenic development in and around the station throat. For fun I will keep working on the large terminus/parcels structure I was creating as who knows where that may come in useful in the future. Over the other side of the layout I have the path way in across the line and the fencing finished. Need to think about the roadway in to the yard area Alongside that i've also put together the fencing around the factory. This is from Scale Model Scenery and I have to say I am officially a fan of their product range though I do need a word with Mr Bodgeit as his installer, Mr Leggitt has put a couple of the fence panels in upside down.

The finest posties in Berkshire have been tasked with safe delivery so should be with you on Monday or Tuesday.

You right. Have emailed pocket mags to ask if they can fix this.

Will this do, full piece is around 18 cm as you say 7 inches above (which is longer than 125mm). Happy to post if you PM which ever of the following you think apply Address Postcode Passport no (Always useful to have a fake ID according to the movies) Bank details (Got an email from a Nigerian prince and I think this ones for real) A set of winning lottery numbers Name of 1st pet I'll leave you to add anything else you feel will get me to the post box tomorrow morning. regards

Let me check later today. I think I have some in the shed as I have various fence packs from them.

So I've been wondering over the last few days whether a Minories style terminus actually fits with the idea. Since looking at a fair amount of Devon based info just where might such an urban station actually be along with I opened up a Railway Modeller and there was Newhaven Harbour. The other thought that has been troubling me is how to reverse some of the freight stock to make it operationally more interesting. I drew up the key parts of Newhaven and it does fit in the 8ft by 15inch space with the only loss being the short siding alongside platform 2. The other thought is as well as somewhere for the passenger trains to start/finish, I can also run freight in to the exchange sidings and use it as though things come from 1 line and then go back out via the branch with Norton Rd and when needed in to the storage roads at the end of the shed to be turned again. I have all bar 1 of the points needed and given I haven't fitted any of the point motors yet its an easy point to stop. Not going to rush in to this and to avoid that I have some entertainment in the mean time... Lots of things to do to finish of the line side edges round Norton Rd but the 1st thing that came out was the garden shed. No weathering yet but at least I got the concrete base the right size. I also have the last garden gate drying at the moment which hopefully can be fitted tomorrow.

Shhhh, don't tell anyone. Also how else am I meant to get through the day now I spend around 16hrs a day, 5 days a week in the same room. (My desk is in the bedroom rather than being some insane workaholic)

I concur with my learned colleague above on both points. Might have to take the day off instead and go in the shed.

I'd been wondering what to do on the other side of the line from the cottages and after watching the video of Barmouth Junction and seeing the white hotel right by the line in Penmaenpool I have started knocking up a 2nd set of cottage but all white. In my head there will be a footpath to the front doors, a small amount of grass/scrub and then the railway fence line. You can see the pencil line on the board which marks where the fence will be. At the moment the 2 parts are not stuck together so I am going to knock up an extra middle section to see how it might look if it was a row of 6. I've already got the spare windows and doors for that so shouldn't be to much work.

Ohhh, ain't that nice. After all these years he still thinks he control the class :-)

Isn't the thing with any venture, you need the right products to start with, so just how many retailers who have premises now did actually start in their garage. I keep forgetting that the Hampshire Models outlet in Basingstoke is there and has been for a year or so and its half the distance that Alton. But rather than a high street premise has gone for the outlet approach in an industrial unit which I suspect keeps the ongoing costs of premise far lower. However they arrived at the point of getting a physical store, they have the full range of stock now. As what we buy is a bit more specialist and less likely to be an impulse buy (ignore the N Gauge Terrier I have even though I model OO and BR Blue - it was a moment I had), we seek out the shop whether that be an online retailer or physical store, but for me the advantage of the store is seeing all the other bits n bobs I didn't even know to search or realise I needed.] I think that will always be there and I was more than happy to wait until Alton Model re-opened to get some pipe wagons. I also think Hayfield's point above is close to the mark and whilst some model shops may close due to the current challenges, are they the ones that would have gone anyway in the changing world of online v physical?

Always had a thing for the Fairford Branch with a failed attempt to build Alvescot, so just ordered a copy of the issue to add to my collection so it can be added to the list of , Who knows, maybe one day layout plans.

As someone who is putting a fiddle yard behind a back scene a couple of questions - have you thought about using set track points off scene as you can open up longer storage lines? Obviously that means code 100 for the fiddle yard. - will you be having multiple trains on a single road? If so how do you get visibility so you can stop things in time. - could you flip the design so the station is opposite the fiddle yard so it narrows the board with the fiddle yard? Glad to see you spotted using the space at the sides of the layout for short storage sidings. I realised that after i had laid everything so i have not been quite as efficent in use of space.

Kids do well in exams. For that they get to do some more history. They all get offers at uni. Along the way they do some general studies.

You have indeed and glad to see you have someone to turn to and go "You owe me a beer" when insanity (or should that be sanity) hits.

What about today or should that along with tomorrow isn't possible either No problem with paying but I think your should know your free copy of BRM has given me sore knee's and a headache plus taken money from my wallet (Damn Phil and that chain link fencing)

Is this becoming portable as well then and going to Exhibitions? Looking forward to it at Warley 20xx.. It would be heck of a model though.

I think your right with that. The compromise on my layout (circuit with station + minories) is the pain of moves to reverse the direction of the freight stock at times. Some are easy to facilitate as a piece of on scene operation but others mean working out how to juggle things off scene. If I had the space ideally 2 end points plus a through station somewhere on the circuit but a 12*6 shed is not the place for that.

Out interest then, not sure if this was mentioned at the start of the thread but why this area then if you have never been there or is it the combination of features as described in the 1st post?

Isn't this because he has moved down south to Pompey now from the peace of Middle England? Not sure a Pannier with those wagons would have been that quiet either but the picture does make me wonder just what the world is like further down the main line.

Not a bad weekend of pottering. I knocked up a piece to see how a raised road might look and I think it stops that idea. It means I would have very little ability to see into the fiddle yard but with an 8 inch back scene I can see over and even possibly have an extra storage road for the passenger stock. This evening I put the station buffers in place after toning them down with rust and dirt. I still need to add the red dot for the lamp itself. Finally a bit of insanity (possibly) for the ticket office and put together an old bashed up notice board and cupboard unit. The books are from BR operating manual covers whilst the notices if you could read them are a mix of cookie dough recipes, a script my wife wrote for a youth video, my sons summer to do list and a couple of other random bits of paper with notes on them. Even though it will never be seen once the back of the station is in, think there does need to be an internal layer behind the windows to complete the room. The idea for the ticket office came together after seeing the superb pictures in the Horncastle thread.