mudmagnet

The layout legs will be hidden, mine will be visible as now looking to operate from the front! You will be ok as long as I don't wear shorts!

Hi, I've managed to get a little bit of time on the layout today - filling in the gaps between the floor and inside walls on the depot building and a bit of tidying up. Also added along the front of the layout a material curtain has been added to hide the legs and boxes etc under the layout. These are held in place with velcro so fitting and removing at an exhibition is quick and easy. Thanks to SWMBO for her sewing skills!

hi Max, A very interesting layout and look forward to seeing this develop. Lucky that the boards can be laid-out in your garden!

Hi, I have been working on some work benches, shelf units and drawer unit for inside the shed. All I need now is to add some details onto these (such as tools, tool boxes, oil cans etc). Until these details are sorted, the benches etc will not get glued down, so just placed for photos and their final positions have not been decided.

hi Chris, Thanks for comments. Most of the pallet trucks that I have seen / used get battered very quickly. There are one of those things that don't get looked after! I have been working on some more details for inside the depot building and hoping to get these painted in the next day or so and will then post some photos. What are they? Well, you will have to wait!

Hi Gary, Seeing Glenuig in Model Rail was the main reason for buying the magazine the other week. I did very much enjoy reading the article and studying Chris' photos. I would really like to see Glenuig in the flesh sometime, but unfortunately Stourbridge is a little too far to travel for an exhibition from home, shame. Reading through the article and studying the track plan has given me a few ideas for a future layout and with some adaption could be perfect for my next layout. Mine, however, will not be Scotish based - I will leave that to modellers like yourself - I could not do this region justice. I think that you should model the region that you are familar with anyway. You have captured the 'feel' of Scotland very well. I to, like your lamps and there is something very fulfilling about making your own details, rather than simply buying off the shelf (not that there is anything wrong with that), I just prefer to make my own if my skills / knowledge allow! Mudmagnet

hi Matt, There's nothing quite like an exhibition deadline to get things finished! So far booked for the following shows this year - Hayle, Cornwall - May 28th / 29th - follow link Hayle Exhibition Exeter, Devon - June 4th / 5th - follow link Exeter Model Railway Society Barnstaple, Devon - July 30th - follow link Barnstaple Model Railway Club I would like to do a few more later in the year. I am also hoping to bring along to the SWAG day in Taunton next year If you can make any of these shows, please come over and say hello - may even hand you the controller for a stint!

Hi Andrew, Thanks for your comments. I thought that an overall view would be beneficial, with the layout only being 8ftx 18" (in old money), quite a lot of detail can be added, but didn't want to overcrowd and keep some space around. I prefer building layouts in this sort of overall size - small enough to finish and transport, yet large enough to get a reasonable amount of track and operational interest.

The buildings fit in well along the back and frames the station well. I hope you weren't tempted to call it G-string!

Hi, I have changed the Bachmann decoder in my 08 to a TCS M1 and what a difference in performance now. Well worth the extra cost, plus being a bit smaller is a little easier to fit. The 08 now crawls along extremely slowly when set to '1' on my NCE Powercab, you can just see the con-rods moving! I have also added a cab light and connected to function 1 (headlight) and by setting CV49 to the appropriate value, the light comes on when selected regardless of direction of travel. I'm not sure if this an option on the Bachmann decoders. The LED is yellow, I thought that the white one wouldn't look quite right! I tried the reduced setting on CV49, but was a little too dim. The full value setting actually appears to be about correct. The only thing missing now is the driver!

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure why I've not tried to get a photo like this before - could be do with getting the lights on the layout! Should be even better when I get some details inside the shed though! I will add some interior lights, which can be switched on and off to suit mood, but being a layout set late 70's / early 80's, I will add some 'low-light / low-efficient' lights, and need to experiment with LED's / grain of wheat to get the effect that I am looking for.

Hi, not much work on the layout, but have been making a couple of pallet pump trucks for placing inside the shed. I have a few other things to make before I start thinking about positioning and fixing down. The detailing of the interior will be a gradual thing and will probably add too much! However, I don't mind making the interior a bit cluttered - could be a good contrast to the rest of the layout - i.e. what lies outside the shed. The trucks are made from plasticard - Evergreen strips, cut and glued to together, with the handle from bent wire. Not particularily detailed, but should represent the real thing! Each has been painted with acrylics. Now, to move onto some more details.

Impressive looking buildings - will really look the part when painted, weathered and positioned with the associated 'junk'. Keep up the good work.

Looking very good there Marc, up to your usual standard! Will pm you re our exhibition - would really like to see this in the flesh! Mudmagnet

Yes, class 31's ran through Barnstaple with clay wagons, but sheeted straight over and tied down, i.e. without the hoods over the hoops. When running empty, the tarps were generally folded up and put into the wagon.

Hi Paul, No, the two are different. Also, I have used the tile grout on the bridge and carved to get the stones - but needs to be dampened before carving as when dry the tile grout is very hard and will blunt your tools.

Hi Paul, Many thanks for your comments. It's good to read that Orchard Road has inspired someone else - which is one of the great things about RMWeb. I'm always happy to answer questions, again on of the things about RMWeb - the opportunity for interaction. The 'concrete' is tile grout from one of the DIY stores. For the section outside the shed, after laying the track, the edge was formed with card, being glued with PVA, then the concrete built-up in layers with the tile grout. Once the top of the card is reached, I dragged a steel rule across the top of the card and rails. The excess is then removed from the top and inside the rails. The section between the rails is also edged before applying the tile grout. Inside the shed, a similar method was used, but without the card board edging. The tile grout is then painted with acrylics, building the colours up. I also drew the concrete joints in pencil and added a few pieces of scenic material. I hope that this helps. Mudmagnet

Thanks Grimleygrid. The picture below shows a quite moment at Orchard Road, with the light coming through the sky-lights, showing the steel frame of the building (from Evergreen section).

Hi Tom, Sorry not had much chance to get a view from behind the layout, but have attached a photo showing the light pelmet sat on top of the support legs. Each leg upright is bolted to the baseboard frame behind the backscene using M6 bolts and wing nuts. The light pelmet is made from a horizontal piece of 6mm ply, onto which two pieces of wood are glued and screwed. The light fitting (from Homebase) was then screwed to the timber. A seperate piece of 6mm plywood is screwed to the front timber (only screwed so that it can be removed if needed). This hole assembly locates via wooden dowels into the horizontal supports and a single M6 bolt and nut is used to hold in place. The power cable is clipped to the timber using small cable clips and then run along and down the supports - clips will be added later, around which the cable can be fitted (loose to allow removal / fitting at an exhibition). The only thing that I may do is to add triangular gussets across the ends to finish off and make a tidier finish. I hope that this helps, but let me know if you need anything else. I have also added layout name to pelmet. I created my own stencils by printing these from my computer. I used the BR font from Scalescenes (bought their station nameboards a while ago and comes with the BR true-type font) in Word and printed out to the required size. The letters were then cut out using a scapel and drawn round onto the pelmet. The letters were then hand painted and the whole pelmet sprayed with matt varnish when dry. Mudmagnet

That's a good point about getting access for painting - I hadn't considered that! At least the weathering can be built up over time.

Hi Tom, No problem - will take a couple of photos from behind the layout at the weekend.

Should be great fun finishing the painting and plenty of scope for weathering. Looks very good. Watching with interest.

Hi, The lighting pelmet / name board has been given the first coat of paint this morning, using a pale colour emulsion that I had left over from DIY project. I wanted a pale colour as I didn't want a dark colour overpowering the layout and the colour used seems to be OK. The name baord still needs to be finished - i.e. painting the layout name - i.e. Orchard Road and BR double arrow logo - which I may get to at the coming weekend, but will need to produce a template on the computer so that the letters can be marked out. The overall photo hopefully shows the arrangement (excuse the mess in the garage). The lights are fitted onto the horizontal section and front panel is screwed in place so that it can be removed for painting the letters. The top section locates into the supports using wooden dowels and then two bolts to secure in place. The cable for the lights runs over one of the supports and down the rear - I need to add a couple of clips to hold the cable in place.

Hi '66' - thanks for your comments! Much appreciated. It's good to share photos and modelling here, plus good to read any feedback! Still, not progressed very far on the modelling side, but have made the brackets for the lights / pelmet. Hoping to get this finished over the weekend and a couple of photos taken.

Marc, I like the idea of 'night-time' operation. There is a layout on Carl Arendt web site ( follow link ) where there is an American city layout which is night time only, but can't remember what it is called (sorry, will have to have look and let you know of I find it). An interesting way to go, but probably needs to be designed from the outset. I would think that the whole layout needs to be boxed in - as you have done with Hendre Lane - in order for this to work. Has the added benefit that everything is protected when moving around! Look forward to seeing progress. Richard p.s. will this be ready for Barnstaple show in July ?