ackers5861

Sent this last night but appears to have not yet been moderated, so I hope this isn’t going to be a double-post. If that will be the case then either can be deleted. An update to the layout, with a few things added to the car park, but main addition is the large garden area in the layout center, which will overall encompass a single, private residence. The modelled environment is inspired off what you may find in areas like Torquay and Paignton in the Torbay region of Devon. The palm trees are a particularly defining characteristic, though the ones I specifically have may not be quite typical to those areas given the climate. I figured they still look nice enough, and I’m quite pleased with the work done overall. Cheers. 😀 /media/tinymce_upload/033ca8939e37664998ccac317ff0fc7b.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/155cbfcf4c8c81ffac8da61ba76b20e1.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/1bb43d5458e5ab60585ea14c474432d0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/caa1b4e6e22fe6d562ee9fdeade5a3f0.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/21f56530a4604b61a5e329852eaa98d0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/04d5012b20133e337b36973a6b6ad2b0.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/0f08ba8408893e4a8fcccd92f997dd34.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/0d64b11e5f939db0ffc87c3f0cce9c61.jpg

Auto correct on my iPad somehow thinking that ‘trunks’ is an appropriate substitute for ‘trains’. Useless.

Have to agree, Jimbopuff. Very satisfying and therapeutic, and not to mention money-saving. As much as I’m looking very forward to seeing my trunks eventually run on a final layout, it is the process leading up to that that is the real adventure, even on something as small as my layout.

@atom3624 Big thanks for the compliment. My 6x4 layout runs up to locos at a time, although I plan to have an additional two reserved in the sidings. As my layout is GWR-themed, there are two locos I currently own which will be run: my Class 57xx Pannier and my City Class 4-4-0. I recently also purchased a couple of second-hand Bachmann Mk 1 passenger coaches. For the other two, I have my sights on possibly a small diesel shunter and a Prairie tank. Stock has not been much of a priority at this point, so I haven’t given it full thought yet. I have of course other stock which can be run for fun such as my Black Prince 9f (although it despises 2nd radius curves), Mallard, Scotsman, and a couple of others.

Here is my first attempt at a scratch build that I’ve been busy making for nearly the past couple of weeks: a double-line engine shed. The design itself has been largely improvised as I wasn’t quite sure how to approach it, with standard measurements taken from what could be gathered from various internet sources, though I’m not too sure how well proportioned it really is. Materials range from coffee stirers (shed front and roof A-frame), Will‘s kit (roof tiling, shed wall-backing and arch windows), and simple Metcalfe card for the brickwork. It’s not the best, but for a first, not so serious go, Im not too disappointed. Some additional effects and features need to be added, such as roof guttering and downpipes, chimney for the side/office building, a bit more weathering, and possible light installations. Cheers. /media/tinymce_upload/0bc3d939d3b0258e54e8aee373265a9e.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c71e8c252275447242e9a0cfdbb3f22b.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5def8812c1fb730f6f6f43ffc8e4d8e6.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/40e34d48c8befd03e951133ca22af1d4.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/c62bd6cde0cac4118cfca1cabac7960e.jpg

Thanks @ Great Western Railway. It is indeed meant to be GWR, particularly around the south-western region. The setup itself is imaginary, but a lot of it is loosely inspired off the South Devon railway in the Buckfastleigh area. The wayside station itself is honestly just a metcalfe kit (PO238), so it isn’t anything too special. Some additional parts have been retrofitted onto the model (e.g. GWR spear fencing from ratio), but I’m still in the process of additional modifying. I do however plan to scratch build my own GWR-themed engine shed for the fiddle yard area, which will be to my own design. Most of the sheds which can be bought premade are just too generic for the context I wish to model. I figured this would be a good opportunity to save money and put more of my modelling skills to to the test, so it should be an interesting side-project. Looking forward to more images as a fellow GWR fan.

@Jimyjames, yeah they originally came with my Hornby Flying Scotsman train set that I’ve had for a good while now.

Thanks for the great comments. About the curved point on the right, I think this was one of my first regrets on the layout. Back in the design phase, I had the fixed mindset of basing the layout off the original Hornby trakmat plan (the ‘dream’ layout back when I was younger), which meant installing a curved point somewhere, which now upon reflection, was an arbitrary decision. The mistake was installing the point on the third radius curve (thinking the point had a universal fit regardless of radius), which explains for the somewhat asymmetric track geometry as seen in the photo. It looked acceptable to me on my original SCARM trackplan at the beginning, so I stuck with the design without much thought or bother. It‘s an aspect of the layout that I‘ve grown to just tolerate now, since I dont think I can really do anything about it at this stage, and the trains and stock I own were able to smoothly run over it in both directions back in previous testing. As I acquire more, I’ll call continue to bear the point in mind. It’s a future mistake that I ensure to avoid for any future and larger layout, perhaps by avoiding curved points completely, with more careful planning, research and thought made before laying any track. I think if there’s ever a thread on ‘what not to do’ for beginners, my layout would be the prefect case study haha. Cheers.

So I think it’s been a pretty long while since I last posted anything on the forums, particularly on the topic of my layout progress. Sadly, other commitments got the better of me, along with the cold weather and just a general uncertainty as to where to take the layout next; so little was done since last update. Fortunately, some new ideas had excited me to continue the layout again, with the pictures below being the result so far. It’s not much, as it’s difficult to get much done on a given day due to current circumstances, but its slowly coming along again. Main addition is the scenery on the other side of the station, particularly featuring a Bachmann water column tower that was kindly donated from a friend. Still, there is much to do, including: redesign of fiddle yard to include headshunt for slightly more shunting opportunities; relocation of signals (fixed in the wrong direction for silly reasons that I up to this point overlooked); removal of trees for better versions (whether premade or custom again), in response to previous criticism; track weathering on branchline; various other miscellaneous tasks. Anyway, enjoy :) /media/tinymce_upload/d9e25cecf3162e77f92b69be5af75f40.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/9b3eb1521648d0a969fa2aa6562185ee.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/be985a7111079da4f0a45eb021bb8db4.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/db8a456a6832819afd236d7d79d12573.jpg

I’m just getting into the hobby, but this is what my first-time layout is going to be. It’s 6 x 4 so very modest in size, but I have many ideas to make it work. Long road ahead.../media/tinymce_upload/f824dc700c83b63f6230b523e0e72248.jpg