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My 00 Gauge layout - Oldmoor Junction Model Railway

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Peter C

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Hello all!

Having read about several other people's layouts on various websites, this forum, and even in magazines (does anyone remember those?! :D), I thought people on here may find my layout of interest.
It's a relatively small 8'x4' layout, with the standard two Hornby ovals of track, a tiny fiddle yard of two sidings, a station with three platforms (two through and one bay), and a small seaside terminus.
Set in the modern era, the idea of the layout is a mainline and heritage railway join operation situation - you can sit at the main station (Oldmoor Junction) and watch mainline trains run through and older steam-hauled services arrive from the seaside.

Here is the trackplan:
upload_2020-2-18_10-6-37.png
It's made in MS Paint so it's not 100% accurate, but it does a good job of showing where the track goes! :D

The layout works on DCC, using a Hornby Elite controller. I do have the option of running DC as well using a standard Hornby DC controller as most of my engines aren't actually DCC! This is mainly because they are either older models or models I got before I went over to DCC and haven't got round to chipping yet.

I took photos of each of my engines yesterday, so I'll put the best ones together and put them in the next post. I changed the layout about a bit yesterday afternoon so they won't be accurate photos in terms of the trackplan but they are accurate in terms of engines shown.

Thanks,

-Peter
 
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Cowley

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I like it. The idea reminds me of Paignton slightly.
Looking forward to hearing more, and also you’ve reminded me that I must start a thread on what I’ve been making.
Thanks for sharing it Peter.
 

Peter C

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I like it. The idea reminds me of Paignton slightly.
Looking forward to hearing more, and also you’ve reminded me that I must start a thread on what I’ve been making.
Thanks for sharing it Peter.
Thank you! :)
I've just looked up some photos of Paignton and yes - I can totally see that! Unintentional, but interesting seeing as I was trying to model somewhere with some seaside connection (hence the seaside station)!
I'd definitely read about what you've been making (I assume model railways) if you made a thread about it. I enjoy reading about other people's layouts and seeing how they do things! :)

Thanks,

-Peter
 

Peter C

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway update:

I've changed the trackplan a bit since I uploaded the first post. It's not a major change in terms of the main loops (the "running lines" as I've ended up calling them), but is instead a major change in relation to the station of Oldmoor Junction.
The new trackplan focuses on the mix of heritage and mainline operations running through Oldmoor Junction and includes two heritage-only platforms and a sizeable depot to maintain engines and units in.
I made the design in AnyRail but because I'm not particularly willing to spend £50 on the license for it, I can only lay 50 pieces of track, so MS Paint came to the rescue in filling in the rest of the layout for me, copying and pasting the track from place to place.
Here is the new design (don't worry about the R609 and R607 marks - they're there to help me when building the layout):

Potential Trackplan 4.png
The TMD at Oldmoor Junction comes off of the terminating platforms for the heritage line and will allow me to store my engines and units when they aren't running. I've been watching some of the videos from Simon's Shed on YouTube (link here) and his work on modelling Kidderminster Town and the associated depot on the Severn Valley Railway inspired me to add a depot to my own layout.
The rest of the layout is broadly the same as the original I posted in Post #1, but with some small changes, one of them being the seaside station (or lack of). I decided that, as most of my buildings are designed for more of a countryside town and not a coastal holiday destination, it would look a bit odd to have a seaside station right next to the green hills of what is meant to be the Cotswolds!

I'll post the photos of the engines in the next post. There's quite a few of each one and trying to find the least-blurry one will be a challenge!

Thanks for reading.

-Peter :)
 

Cowley

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That’s an interesting looking layout. Lots of fun to operate I reckon. Have you thought about building the board yet and have you got somewhere to put it?
 

Peter C

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That’s an interesting looking layout. Lots of fun to operate I reckon. Have you thought about building the board yet and have you got somewhere to put it?
I've already got the board - it's an 8'x4' board (MDF) and it lives in the conservatory. I'd love to have more space, such as a garden shed/garage/attic, but those options just aren't (currently) viable, sadly. I plan to move the layout to another room in the house (my room) as the conservatory is hardly the ideal place to leave a layout - in the Winter it's freezing and in the Summer it's boiling.
I used to have a 6'x4' board (until November last year) but it was proving a bit too small and the opportunity to increase the size of the baseboard was grasped with both hands! (well, the hands of the guy who delivered the board :))

I'm hoping that I'll be able to pull it all off and do it justice. In my head it seems like an amazing idea but in reality it could be dreadful! :D Let's hope it all goes well....

Thanks,

-Peter
 

Peter C

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 3
------------------------------------------------
I've talked a bit about trackwork and the layout for the Oldmoor Junction Model Railway (OJMR), but not scenery. I thought I'd go on about it at length for those who are interested to read!

I plan for the layout to show three types of area - the countryside (e.g. Cotswolds), a small town, and an urban street.

The way this is going to work is that at one end, the railway will pass underneath a hill which will be added to with a couple of small cottages and maybe a green field to create the idea of it being in the middle of the countryside.
In the middle of the board there's going to be a small town, formed of small shops and houses.
The opposite end of the board to the countryside end (the Fiddle Yard end) will contain a more urban street (think Open All Hours) and you've got the idea). This urban street is going to be above the Fiddle Yard and some of the curve at that end of the layout, meaning that the railway will be partially in a tunnel at that end. The Fiddle Yard will be hidden underneath the street, creating the illusion that trains going into that tunnel are going off to somewhere like London or Oxford.

Here is a diagram showing the raised bits (marked in red outline):
upload_2020-2-23_15-56-35.png
(The tunnel entrances are shown using circles)

The buildings at each end of the layout are going to be mostly card kits - the Metcalfe Worker's Cottages kit at the countryside end, and the Metcalfe Terraced Houses and Shop Front kits at the urban street end. The middle of the board is going to be populated by mostly Hornby resin buildings. This is to ensure that they all fit in as I've started building up the middle of the board with resin buildings and I don't want the buildings to look out-of-place. However, the Metcalfe Church kit does make an appearance at the countryside end, meaning a card kit is included in the town scene.


Thanks,

-Peter :)
 

Cowley

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You’ll be fine, and actually that’s a pretty decent sized board so you should be able to get quite a lot of interest on there (which you’ve planned anyway).
Will you be able to get right around it to reach stuff/clean the track etc?
 

Peter C

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You’ll be fine, and actually that’s a pretty decent sized board so you should be able to get quite a lot of interest on there (which you’ve planned anyway).
Will you be able to get right around it to reach stuff/clean the track etc?
Definitely - I've been drawing up plans over the last week of all sorts of layouts which I could use and this seemed to be the best one.
At the moment, I can access every bit of the board as it is actually located on top of an old dining table (well - it was the dining table until the layout went on it - we got another one as a result of the railway taking over). However, when the layout moves to my room, getting to each bit will be a bit more difficult.
Because the layout isn't moving until late July at the earliest, I've got plenty of time to make sure the side of the layout I can't access will be finished before it goes upstairs. To a certain extent, that applies to the whole layout - before the board is moved anywhere, I've decided that the track needs to be stuck down (well, pinned down) and sorted. That will mean that I don't have to be reaching accross the board to lay and cut cork underlay! :)

-Peter
 

Cowley

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Excellent. I’ve got to go out now but I’ll reply properly later.
 

Cowley

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Right I’m back. ;)
A few thoughts...

1) Don’t try and pack too much in. If possible leave an area that looks like waste ground or similar because it really helps to have a few areas without anything going on. I incorporated an area of wasteland into my sons 00 layout at one end (this layout fitted onto the bottom base of his bunk bed - so smaller than yours, and it worked really well I think)
C738C770-D7E6-4844-AA43-466222710340.jpeg 33D5AC42-6120-432E-9CCB-B32E38904CAF.jpeg

2) Have a think about weathering things, including rooftops, walls, stock etc.
You’d be amazed at the difference it makes.
Have a look on YouTube for tips.
3) Try and tie it all in together. What I mean by that is use the same method of weathering (if that’s what you end up doing), maybe the same road signs/markings, grass/trees etc across the whole layout so that it looks like one scene...
4) Make sure that everything is tested and running properly before you start on the scenery as it’ll drive you bonkers later if it doesn’t.
5) Enjoy doing it. That’s the main thing.
If there’s anything you need help with then pm me and I’ll do my best to be useful.
 

Peter C

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Thanks very much for the tips - very useful! :)
Having a section of waste ground would work really well somewhere on the layout, seeing as it's based on a heritage railway. It's the standard thing you see at a heritage line, isn't it - rails, random bits of engines, etc!
I've thought about weathering stuff before - mainly tunnel portals (the standard marks caused by the smoke and soot from steam engines), but maybe weathering the buildings could work as well - thanks!
I've found that Wordsworth Model Railway (link here) has produced some speed signs and other road accessories and I've printed them out to make some signs when I get the roads sorted. In terms of scenery, I'm thinking of using Woodland Scenics grass (do they do grass? I can't remember, but I assume so) for the fields and gardens - that should make it all look like one scene.
I'll be testing this layout a lot before the track is pinned down in the early Summer in preparation for moving it. I've done ballasting before to varying levels of success but this time I'm planning to use different colours and types of ballast (like Everard Junction on YouTube has done recently with his station area) to make it look worn in places (sidings, bay platforms, etc.) and brand-new in other places.
I'm definitely enjoying it - sometimes it can be a bit monotonous, e.g. when laying track and trying to find fishplates (!), but it's very fun 99% of the time. Running trains is almost certainly the best bit and because I'm really quite childish I love sitting on the floor and seeing the trains from the view that you would see them from if they were real! :D

Sorry for such a late reply,

-Peter :)
 

Cowley

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Nothing childish about that (we do that too ;)), some railways you see at shows are designed to be viewed like that, and magazines tend to photograph them from that angle too.
Yes Woodland Scenics do pretty much everything. I’m going to give static grass a go this time because I’ve never used it before and it looks great.
As far as ballasting goes - I’ve found it a lot easier since I started misting it with water (to hold it all in place) before glueing it. I don’t know why I hadn’t ever tried it before because it makes it so much easier.
Always learning. ;)
 

Peter C

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Nothing childish about that (we do that too ;)), some railways you see at shows are designed to be viewed like that, and magazines tend to photograph them from that angle too.
Yes Woodland Scenics do pretty much everything. I’m going to give static grass a go this time because I’ve never used it before and it looks great.
As far as ballasting goes - I’ve found it a lot easier since I started misting it with water (to hold it all in place) before glueing it. I don’t know why I hadn’t ever tried it before because it makes it so much easier.
Always learning. ;)
That's new to me; model railways built to be viewed from "realistic" angles! I expect that they are raised up, but I want to imagine everyone at these shows is on their knees watching the trains go past - quite a funny image!
I've used static grass before; it looks very good when done right (which I only got close to once or twice) and it's surprisingly easy to do. If you don't want to break the bank in getting the equipment needed, Woodland Scenics do a small static grass applicator bottle which you put the grass into, shake, and then squeeze to apply the grass. Just don't use cheap WHSmith PVA glue; it dries clear but dark and ruins the whole thing!
I've seen people do ballasting with water to hold it down before; the main problem I had with my ballasting work before was that I just used the glue as-is, with no water to, well, water it down (:)), and the ballast would clump together in big lumps, ruining the work I'd spent quite a bit of time on!
You're 100% right about always learning; I've been trying to make a model railway for 5 years this year and I've learned so much - from track laying to scenery making! :) There's 101 ways of doing pretty much everything in this hobby and everyone seems to be sharing brand-new methods every day!

Thanks,

-Peter
 

Peter C

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 4
------------------------------------------------
Today, on Oldmoor Junction Model Railway Updates, we have.... yes, you guessed it... some basic photos of the layout. :D
I've just finished some scenery work (very basic - just laying potential positions of buildings) and I thought it would be a good idea to share the photos I took of my attempts. Each photo has its own caption to aid explanation.

20200229_170709[1].jpg
Above: The layout as a whole, with Oldmoor Junction station at the back of the frame and (what will be) the scenic end of the layout at the left of the frame. The urban street scene will be at the right of the frame.

20200229_170720.jpg
Above: Oldmoor High Street, showcasing an old banana van making its way down the small street. This will be similar to many a street in the Cotswolds in smaller towns; the roads are often very small and pretty much one-way. Shops are on the left and houses are on the right.
20200229_170724(0).jpg
Above: The backs of the houses in the previous photo, showcasing where a siding will go as indicated by the points to the right of the frame.
20200229_170729(0).jpg
Above: The Goods Shed, which will form part of the TMD at Oldmoor Junction station, and Headingley Insurances Offices, which backs onto the mainline. The roof of the building at the bottom of the frame belongs to The Pine Shop. The latter two buildings are going to form the tiny Retail Park/Industrial Estate on the railway.
20200229_170735(0).jpg
Above: The level crossing which allows the citizens of Oldmoor to leave the town. This will be one of two access roads to the High Street, the other being a road up the hill of the scenic scene.
20200229_170744(0).jpg
Above: The High Street, looking from the church to Headingley Insurance Offices. The level crossing and shed are part of Oldmoor Junction station car park; my thinking is that the company running the station (probably GWR, or maybe Network Rail) are trying to highlight the importance of the railway in Oldmoor throughout the past. Part of the "history" of the layout and Oldmoor's story is that the goods yard used to be a lot bigger but now it has been dramatically cut down to just a TMD. Cars will be able to drive over the level crossing and park in the engine shed and in the area outside the station, behind the shops.
20200229_170749.jpg
Above: The four platforms of Oldmoor Junction station, as seen looking in the "Up" direction. The cardboard platforms are scratchbuilt to fit the larger gap between Platforms 2 and 3 (with P1 being the rightmost platform).20200229_170756.jpg
Above: The end of P4, looking in the Up direction. The TMD has been changed a bit from the original plan but it is still perfect for what I need it to do. The tracks at the far end of the baseboard are the two lines which will form the fiddle/staging yard.
20200229_170801(0).jpg
Above: The Goods Shed, viewed from a slightly different angle. This view clearly shows the two buildings which will be put on top of the fiddle yard urban street scene - the Rainbow Carpets and Model shops.20200229_170806(0).jpg
Above: Platforms 2 and 3 of Oldmoor Junction station - these platforms needed to be larger than the Hornby ones which I've used for the rest of the station and so scratchbuilding was the easiest way to solve the problem. Platforms 1 and 2 will be used for terminating heritage railway services and the occasional terminating GWR service (if/when I find a Class 153 in GWR for a reasonable price, or maybe even a 165/166!)


Anyway - those are the photos I took of the layout today. I need to upload the photos of the engines at some point! :D

Thanks,

-Peter
 

Cowley

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Like it. There’s lots going on and it’s good that you’ve got stuff to do on the outer loop as it’s easy to just have stuff inside but sometimes you’ll want to change locos on the outside one as I you’d probably run longer trains on that because of the platform length.
You’d got a lot further than I’d realised. Are you going to fix the track down soon?
 

Peter C

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Thanks very much! I've tried to add as much operational diversity (triple word score) into the layout as possible; the TMD at the station is part of it. I'm happy with the long platform as I do like to run 7/8-car trains sometimes (Mk1s).
My plan is to keep testing the track, until I'm 100% happy with it, and then I'll find some cork underlay to lay the track on. I'm prepared to slide the cork underneath the track after it's all been laid instead of putting the track on top of the cork to begin with so that should be alright. Because I'm moving the layout upstairs in early/mid Summer, I need to make sure it's sorted by then, but that's quite a way away at the moment, so nothing to worry about - thankfully! :D
After the track is pinned down, I'll be ballasting it. I've got a sort-of plan for how the trackwork is going to be sorted:
  1. Test, test, and test the track
  2. Find cork underlay
  3. Put cork underlay underneath track
  4. Pin track and cork underlay down
  5. Ballast track (starting at the station side of the layout and working around to the opposite side)
  6. Board gets moved! :D
I'm hoping this will all go to plan :)

-Peter
 

Peter C

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 5
------------------------------------------------

I haven't got any pictures of the new layout changes, so you'll have to make do with just my descriptions! :D

I've changed the level crossing from the Bachmann 1-track one to the Hornby 2-track one (the one you get with one of the Expansion Packs for the Track Mat). I found it whilst looking through a lot of stuff and installed it last weekend (mainly for the woosh sounds metal wheeled-rolling stock make when they go over it!). The crossing is using modern half-barriers instead of the older gates.
The big crossing is sat next to a smaller crossing - the Hornby 1-track one. The idea is that the smaller crossing was once used for a private purpose but the introduction of a new crossing in the last twenty-or-so years has lead to it becoming derelict and disused. I plan to make the smaller crossing look abandoned to really emphasise this.
The crossing-keeper has a small hut in which he monitors the larger crossing; the modernisation of the area has meant that his job is hanging on by a thread but he still uses his small plot of unneeded company property for a small allotment behind his hut! :) He keeps an old crossing gate there as well - an item of interest.

The track has also been realigned - turns out it was all over the shop! :) It's now all correct. The platforms at the station - the larger ones - will need trimming-down width-wise, though, potentially. I also need to make some new platform pieces to form the ends of P1 and P2. I've made a small model of a station building - based on Toddington, on the GWSR (local heritage line), but I'm not sure whether I want to use it on this layout or on something else I've been thinking of... watch this space!

That's it essentially. I'll try and get some photos taken soon.

-Peter :)
 

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Sounds like you’ve been enjoying yourself Peter (I’m currently going cross eyed trying to make an N gauge farmhouse for my friends railway).
A couple of thoughts...
1) Re cork underlay - you can buy a big roll of 6mm cork from your local friendly DIY store. That’s what I bought for mine. I coated it and the board with Evo Stick contact adhesive and rolled the cork down, weighted it with books and just left it be for a while.
You can then lay everything over the top and if you want you’ve still got a 6mm top that you can cut into if you want to make a stream or something similar.
Just an idea to think about...
2) With your level crossing - If ever I’ve do bits of missing railway I’ve used a spare bit of old track to push the imprint into some ballast while the glue’s drying. Work a treat actually.
You can just about see a bit here leading into the disused platform on my sons old railway.
17B9678E-24B3-47C0-A0FC-3E999CB29E1A.jpeg
 

Peter C

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Sounds like you’ve been enjoying yourself Peter (I’m currently going cross eyed trying to make an N gauge farmhouse for my friends railway).
A couple of thoughts...
1) Re cork underlay - you can buy a big roll of 6mm cork from your local friendly DIY store. That’s what I bought for mine. I coated it and the board with Evo Stick contact adhesive and rolled the cork down, weighted it with books and just left it be for a while.
You can then lay everything over the top and if you want you’ve still got a 6mm top that you can cut into if you want to make a stream or something similar.
Just an idea to think about...
2) With your level crossing - If ever I’ve do bits of missing railway I’ve used a spare bit of old track to push the imprint into some ballast while the glue’s drying. Work a treat actually.
You can just about see a bit here leading into the disused platform on my sons old railway.
View attachment 75187
It's definitely been fun! Thanks for the info about the cork underlay. I've ordered some cork underlay from Amazon but I think it was 2mm - is that alright in terms of height, ballasting effect, etc.?
Thanks for advice about the level crossing. It's actually in place on the layout at the moment as if it was still in use (on either side of the tracks) so I can't use your disused track technique there but I have thought about including some disused track in the station area; realigning the track has given me some extra space! I'm thinking disused mail platform or bay platform - think Worcester Shrub Hill.

That looks very effective in the photo; I'll try it out! :D


Thanks,

-Peter :)
 

Cowley

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Hi Peter
It's definitely been fun! Thanks for the info about the cork underlay. I've ordered some cork underlay from Amazon but I think it was 2mm - is that alright in terms of height, ballasting effect, etc.?
Thanks for advice about the level crossing. It's actually in place on the layout at the moment as if it was still in use (on either side of the tracks) so I can't use your disused track technique there but I have thought about including some disused track in the station area; realigning the track has given me some extra space! I'm thinking disused mail platform or bay platform - think Worcester Shrub Hill.

That looks very effective in the photo; I'll try it out! :D


Thanks,

-Peter :)
Hi Peter, yes 2mm cork will be fine. I don’t actually pin my track down because there’s a danger of distorting the track in N, so I spot glue it and weight it down while it dries, and then the PVA in the ballast does the rest. It’s pretty easy to pin 00 set track though as it has pre drilled holes.
 

Peter C

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 6
-------------------------------------------------

One of the biggest developments for the layout took place a couple of weekends ago - the track was sorted out, complete with cork, and pinned down - finally! :D I've been waiting for the track to be sorted like this for ages and now it's done I've begun work on the ballasting, which I need to get finished within the next few weeks ready for the layout to be moved upstairs. I've also run out of ballast, meaning this work has been slowed down quite a bit. I'm spending the time between now and until I can get some more ballast making sure the bit I have done is as close to perfect as I can get it.
I forgot to take photos of the work so I'll upload them in the next post. There's not much to see, mind - just some track, cork, and ballast! :D

Thanks,

-Peter
 

PeterY

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You've done well with the space Peter C and it looks really cool
I'm in the process of building an N gauge layout.
 

Peter C

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You've done well with the space Peter C and it looks really cool
I'm in the process of building an N gauge layout.
Thanks very much! :D I've been working on it for a while - a layout's never finished and all that!
That sounds very interesting re: your N gauge layout - have you thought about making a thread on here for it? I'd be interested to see the progress you make on it.

Thanks,

-Peter
 

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Oldmoor Junction Model Railway - Update 7
-------------------------------------------------
As the country keeps dealing with the coronavirus, and the amazing NHS keeps working to save lives, and we all stay at home, I've been working on the railway again.

A want to have engines on the layout permanently but not run them has lead to the addition of... yes, you guessed it... a railway centre! Having been to Didcot Railway Centre so many times over the years, and having gone to so many GWR-themed heritage railways, I've wanted to add a railway centre to store (mainly steam) locomotives in a realistic setting. Having a railway centre also provides a base for heritage operations to work out of - instead of heritage trains running out of the scene to the staging yard, they can run into the railway centre.

20190615_123147(0).jpg
Those of you who have been to Didcot Railway Centre (as seen above in my photo from last year) will already have an idea of what I'm aiming for here. If you've been, you'll know that Didcot have a 1932 Engine Shed with cafe and Gift Shop alongside over a few tracks near the entrance to the site, providing a central hub for their operations around their yard and running lines.
In my layout, I want to have a couple of sidings in the open, a couple of sidings in a shed, a siding in the goods shed, and a siding (if it will fit) by the cafe/gift shop to hold a coach which can act as extra seating/shop area (think Bodmin & Wenford Railway or Chinnor & Princes Risborough Rly - see my photos from Bodmin in 2016 below)
20160827_102801.jpg Left: the coach as seen from the entrance 20160827_102806.jpg Left: the coach can be seen on the left.

I plan to take some photos of the progress I've made with this railway centre and I'll upload them in the next post.

Thanks,

-Peter
 

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Love it. Thanks for the update Peter it’s always nice (especially at the moment) to lose yourself in this kind of thing.
I like the Didcot ideas too because I’ve always loved the place.
How’s the ballasting going? Have you PVA’d it?
 

Peter C

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I can't agree with you more with regards about spending time on the layout. I can easily spend an hour or two, or maybe a full day sometimes (and this will probably happen more now I'm staying at home) on the layout. :)
The ballasting is going well: I managed to get a very small bit finished before I ran out so a new order is in the Interwebs. I'm going for a lighter-coloured ballast now, not the grey I've been using. The layout is going to be a mix of different ballast colours because that's what the real railway is like. I haven't been doing a lot on the ballast work so PVA is a way off yet - but it is going to be finished within the next couple of weeks - stuck down and all - because the layout needs moving.

Thanks,

-Peter
 

Cowley

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I can't agree with you more with regards about spending time on the layout. I can easily spend an hour or two, or maybe a full day sometimes (and this will probably happen more now I'm staying at home) on the layout. :)
The ballasting is going well: I managed to get a very small bit finished before I ran out so a new order is in the Interwebs. I'm going for a lighter-coloured ballast now, not the grey I've been using. The layout is going to be a mix of different ballast colours because that's what the real railway is like. I haven't been doing a lot on the ballast work so PVA is a way off yet - but it is going to be finished within the next couple of weeks - stuck down and all - because the layout needs moving.

Thanks,

-Peter
Great stuff. I can’t remember if I said but use a water spraying thingy to mist water onto the ballast before glueing it. It makes it so much easier because it doesn’t move around when you’re soaking the glue in...
 

Peter C

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GWR land
Great stuff. I can’t remember if I said but use a water spraying thingy to mist water onto the ballast before glueing it. It makes it so much easier because it doesn’t move around when you’re soaking the glue in...
Thanks very much. I'm not sure if it was you who said it but I know what I've found it online somewhere. I'll be trying every way of doing ballast when it comes to it to get a good result! :D

-Peter
 
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