GWRfan

Welcome back to the hobby. I've been out of it for 20 years so I know how it feels to start over.

Sounds quite scary! Good luck.

What a great shame it may never be displayed again.

A little cameo like a stored loco coal wagon would I think add further to an already superb model. Enjoyed seeing the layout working at Mickleover last Sunday by the way.

Good Luck at the show. I've been following the progress of the layout from the start and it will be great to see the finished article.

Personally I'd put a back scene in place. As a photographer I've always tried to avoid background clutter and placed the emphasis on the subject. Without a backscene the viewers eyes will not settle on the layout for long and their concentration will wander as they stare at tangles of wire, stock boxes and all the other "interesting" items to the rear of yours and other layouts. So my pennyworth is set the scene and let them live in your make believe world.

I'm attempting the ballasting of my layout at the moment but having used the same method as yourself I have not achieved such a neat appearance first time round. This is no doubt due to lack of patience on my part resulting in a lot of cleaning up of the track and sleepers afterwards.

A really nice branch terminus. It captures the look of Gods Wonderfull Railway!

Fantastic result after all the hard work! Good luck.

I've been following your progress and must say it now looks like a layout that should prove to be very entertaining to operate and to veiw. Its good to see something a little different from the "norm"! Your planning has paid off and I look forward to its future developement. Regards GWRfan

It does look a bit dark on the brickwork but it's often difficult, due to the contrast, to show a range of colours in a photograph. Super model though.

They look great and definately not a waste of time.

I think its a great upgrade of the Hornby model. I must pluck up the courage to try this!

A very impressive loco.

Having returned to the hobby recently I have started to visit various exibitions, mainly for ideas and inspiration. The layouts that have attracted my attention the most have tended to be the smaller type. This is usually because they have great detail and realism with a feeling that you could almost be at the lineside. Having said that a degree of operational interest is vital if it is to retain my interest beyond the initial "wow" factor. The ongoing saga of layouts with absolutely nothing happening on them for minutes at a time is a common complaint from visiters to exibitions. Operational realism at home, the club and with like minded friends is fine but is not really a crowd puller at exibitions. Most people do like to see something happening, so your idea of standard gauge and narrow gauge should allow that. Good luck!

A lot of hard work but it looks promising.