It does seem some time since I last updated my blog. I have gone through a lengthy period of reflection on model rail and what I want to do in the future. Some events that occurred last year gave me reason to reconsider the direction I was headed in and I have now had a bit of a think about what is coming next.

One of my conclusions was that having the layout in the garage was a major off putting factor. Over here it’s either forty degrees or cold and damp, neither of which are particularly enticing. So what I wanted was to have my layout back in the house. As we don’t have enough space in the house there was only one solution; extend.

We had been intending to move back to the UK this year however due to the current financial situation we thought it best to stay here as we both have reasonable jobs and it would be mad to go into an insecure situation. We had also looked at other larger houses but wanted to stay in the same area so extending seemed the logical choice. Having the opportunity to extend my agenda was to get a new railway room in the house. I have managed to get this but with one limiting factor; it has to be only a metre wide at most. The room has to double as a guest bedroom, computer room and music room for my guitars and amps so I cannot dominate the space too much. The idea is to have a 4.5 metre by 1metre layout. It would seem logical to do a plank type layout but my main interest is fast express trains and this type of layout is inappropriate.

My current thought are that 1metre is sufficient for a pacific to turn in. I do have a couple of my locos which would not make it round this sort of curve but you can’t win them all. The plan is to have to have two loops for the express trains and and have a small station halt with some sidings. The layout is to be based in Prussia in the period between 1918 and 1945. It will alternate between epoch 1 and 2 depending on what I am running. It will be exclusively German. My current layout had different sections which represented Scotland, Germany and Switzerland however some people chose not to notice the dividing boards between the sections and accuse me of mixing up nationalities stock as a means of point scoring. This new layout will remove that option for those types.

The idea is that for the epoch 1 running the station area will be a forestry based scene as there will be much woodland around the back area. For epoch two there will be a large rail gun which will be on a shuttle and pop out occasionally to shell the Russians plus some marshalling yards for eastbound equipment.

I have kept the track very basic as I intend to make this realistic. The temptation is always to stuff in as much track and buildings as possible. I intend to resist this and keep it as close to reality as possible.

The backdrop will be curved as the square edges were always a bane on my current layout. I will have the ground gradually rise after the station for about 6cm so that it will be above the rear storage yards. Insufficient storage with poor access was always an issue on the current layout and the storage there was wasn’t long enough to accommodate many of the longer trains.There will be roads crossing the mainline at each end so that the curves at the end can be concealed by bridges. I would prefer to avoid any telling tight curves. Woodland will fill the back area.

I don’t really have much time for modelling now so my plan was to take a couple of weeks off work and get the baseboards and track sorted out then.




I have chopped up the layout into three sections as it is a bit lengthy and would appreciate any comment or thoughts.

My layout plans have been on hold for a little while. Basically we have decided to move house next year and my layout will not be able to be transported. This has created a dilema about what can be salvaged and what I would like to do next. The plan is to do a modular layout based on a loop with storage yards at the back with interchangable modules at the front. I found that the concept of having different scenes was a bit difficult for some people to grasp so decided it would be better to interchange modules according to what I would like to run.

So first up will be a layout based on Spean bridge station on the West Highland line between Glasgow and Fort William. I decided to start off by building the station first. I got plans for this from an old Railway Modeller magazine article by Ian Futer.

I started off by making the four sides. The wall is stiff card with wooden doors and trim. The brick is Wills sheets.





Windows were made from etched brass and clear plastic.





These were connected together and a card roof was made to put on top.







I made the drain pipes from brass wire. End result doesn't look too bad. It will need a few touch ups though. I've tried it on my station platform on my layout but it's too big and hangs over the edges.

Recently I have been doing lots of smaller projects rather than big things. I felt that there had been many tasks that I needed to do that I had been putting off for a while that I needed to get round to. One of which was weathering my locos. When photographing a loco on the new BRMA sound demo layout I noted that what spoiled the picture, e.g. made it less real, was that it was clearly straight out the box; which it was, literally. I resolved to start weathering my stock immediately.


I have weathered quite a bit of rolling stock previously and had not yet done a loco. Probably due to the, “this loco cost me 200 quid and I’m reluctant to dowse it in gunk syndrome”. Anyway I got over it. My first effort was my new Bachmann Class 47 with sound. I don’t normally go for diesels but the reason I got this was because I was looking at a sound decoder for my Class 31 and found that the new Bachmann Class 47 cost only twelve quid more than the sound decoder for the 31 and would also save some time farting around installing the sound. Once I got the loco I had to paint up the add on detail parts. Unlike some of the Hornby diesels the loco didn’t come with pre painted detailing parts so you have to check pictures and pain the ends the appropriate colours. Once this was done I applied various weathering powders till the required effect was achieved.













Next up was my Hornby Class 31 however while examining the model to decide how I would go about it I noticed that the corners were cracking off. This is covered on a separate thread and weathering didn’t get very far on this.

I had decided to do diesels first however due to an accident, fate determined that my BR52 Kreigslok would have to be next. Terrible shame. In war conditions these would not have been getting cleaned so they would have looked pretty grotty. Unfortunately there are few colour photos of that period so I have had to make do with what I could find. One thing I have found is that the red chassis and running gear of the German locos comes out really well with black turps based wash. It really highlights well the intricacies of the wheels brakes and underneath. The upper body and tender take the powders better. Giving a nice result.

I’m now getting onto the rolling stock hauled by the BR52. I have ordered a few items to add to this train but have been waiting a while for these. The plan now is to work my way through my previously neglected rolling stock and add on all the detailing parts I can and weather them appropriately.



















In addition I have also added more to the Plockton station scene. I flattened the platform more as it was a bit too rutted. I have ordered lamps and power boxes to add to complete the scene. I’ll make the signs myself. I've made the stuff to go on the signs to print off so just to paint the signposts and boards and add them to the scene. The country side is a bit more full with forest floor covering and a few trees.
















Round the front I have painted black the boards so that it provides a greater contrast between the boards and the layout. Sort of brings it out a bit.



Here's a few more shots of the BR52 on the BRMA sound demo layout to finish.

One section of my layout that has been neglected for some time has been the German city scene. There were a couple of reasons. First is that I haven't had nearly as much time to spend on my layout since my youngest son came along and secondly, I have been getting round to installing point motors in this section. I didn't want to ballast or scenic before I had these installed and working.
This will soon be resolved as I will be ordering some lS150's and point motors soon to enable me to finish of this section. A project that I thought I could start which was not dependent upon this was the interace between the epoch 1 Bavarian station and the city walls. I have recently decided to make the actual city an epoch 2 scene rather than epoch 5. This will involve a bit of work as all my buildings are set in epoch 5, so all the computer shops will have to go and be replaced with contemporary scenes. I am reluctant to have nazi flags etc on my layout so I will have to get it as close as possible without making people think I have facist leanings. I have also decided that the city that this cutting is going through will be based on Nurnberg as I have plenty of pictures that I can base new structures on.

The section decided on had a board in place for a backdrop which ended abruptly and, quite frankly, looked stupid. I looked for ideas which would enable me to loose the backdrop yet have some form of interface which would bridge to the two eras and hide the control area. The picture below of a bridge and tower in Nurnberg seemed a good idea asit could apply to any era.



Having used plasterboard previously for modelling I had thought of using that again however the problem would be the joins. For this reason I used MDF with pollyfilla over it. First of all cut the MDF to size.



Then glue and nail it all together.



Cover it with pollyfilla and etch the brickwork onto it.



Start on the paintwork and try it for size.



For the roof, Faller and Vollmer make roof tiling sheets which are handy as the diamond style tiling is time consuming to do. These sheets are just cut to size. This was still a bit tricky as the roof doesn't have straight edges. There is a bend about a third of the way down.



This was the end result.







The bridge next to the tower was made from plasterboard with a roof cut to size from the roof sheeting.



I haven't permanently attached the structures as I need to lift them off at this point for access. I have one further tower to do at the end which will replace the Faller kit structure in the pictures.

The Faller old city walls and tower will need to be repainted and weathered to fit in. I will permanently attach them together and plaster over the joins. I am still thinking about what to use as for the city square ground cover, e.g. whether to pave, have asphalt or gravel.



I also decided to curtail the Faller road system somewhat and only use half of the road length I had initially intended. I'm not sure about the availability of epoch 2 vehicles but I'm sure I can knock up something. I have also been looking into Veissmann signals but there are some issues with which decoder to use.

Here are some more photos of where I'm up to at the moment.



























Well after my initial attempt at using MDF and pollyfilla I decided to have another go by making the tower at the other end of the bridge to finish the scene off.


Same process but as there is a semicircular part at one end I had to improvise a bit. I used empty bog roll tubes to make the curved bit.



It seemed to be successful and retained rigidity once it had the pollyfilla on it.

Putting the windows in was a bit tricky as I had put scrunched up bog roll tubes inside the other bog roll tubes for strength but do-able.



I used a lot of DCC Concepts new weathering powders on this to try them out. They come in a handy container with a screw top so are a bit easier to use than the stuff in the bags.

I still need to tidy it up a bit by levelling the roof and so on but will allow it to dry thoroughly first. Paint, glue and washes are a bit wet yet.

This is how it turned out.













This is what it's supposed to look like.

In order to complete my raised level station I wanted to contrsuct a station building which was unique. My first choice was for a West Highland Swiss chalet style building however due to restrictions of size this wasn't going to be possible. I then perused the stations on the Kyle line to see what was on offer there. The Plockton station took my fancy as I have been there a couple of times and have passed through it more often. The station is mainly wood and as I have plenty of wood left over from my ship building days decided to proceed with this.

Armed with a bunch of photographs, some card, several strips of wood and a tool kit I set off to contruct an interpretation of Plockton station as it was in the early nineties.



First step was to collect dimension and put them down on card to act as a base for the model.



Next step was to vertically plank it. There are thin strips of wood which run vertically which I was unable to do with wood due to the inability to cut wood that fine so I used twine run through PVA.



Looks shocking at this point doesn't it? It does improve. Next step was to do the doors and windows. I also slapped a bit of paint on.



Next step was to add pillars. There are five of these at the front of the building supporting the canopy. These are made from carved hardwood at the top and bottom and a plastic cylinder in the middle.



Next step was to attach the pillars.



After this the roof was done. I had a bit of a talk to Richard Johnson about this and he suggested wood painted to use as tiles. This was a long and laborious process however it was worth it. Bearing in mind that the roof is the part that will be seen the most often it is not an area to to skimp on detail. The lead capping was done with paper painted with acrylics. After instalation of the roof came the chimney, made from wood and plastic parts superglued togther.

Finally, I added the carved gables. So this is how it now looks. I still have a couple of adjustments to make like levelling it and weathering some parts. I will redo one of the pillars as it's a bit wonky but it's most of the way done.









This is how it now looks converted to a restaurant.



To see it as it was modelled go to this link. and this

I still have a few more details to get however haven't located where to get them from yet. I need a couple of etched brass weather vains and a couple of etched brass lamps to add on. Once these are on I can finish the main building. In the meantime I had better finish off the background scenics and platform detail.

There is only one completely blank area of my layout left and it has been left mainly because it’s the least accessible to viewers. It is however the most visible to the operator so I wanted to make this area a bit special and more detailed. It will be a Highland terminus station not based on any one in particular although I will probably base the station building on the one in Am Ploc (Plockton). The shape of the platform is not ideal. I would have preferred longer however I have to work with the space I have. This hobby is all about compromise after all.

First job weather the tracks


Normally I would paint the side to look rusty however the track I am using is Tillig which already comes in an appropriate colour so I will maybe miss this stage.

This is an arial view of the area to be worked on.



For the platform I used the Peco platform sides. Cheap and easy. I pre-painted the edging in matt white before installing. Makes it a bit easier to do then.



Once the paint is dry I set the platform sides up and pin it down to test for clearance with coaches going in and out. Once I am fairly happy that it is right I pin it down more robustly.

The next step is to infill the platform with plaster. I use scraps of polystyrene or any other scraps to reduce the amount of plaster I need. Cover the tracks with plastic or card to prevent plaster getting on them. When pouring plaster for a platform or a road I tend to colour the plaster with pigment as I do want a uniform colour. In this case I have used a stone grey for concrete colouring. The picture below shows the infilled platform. The mess on the tracks is scrapings of plaster from where I levelled it. Unfortunately I wasn’t too careful when I removed the plastic covering. When this happens it is better to leave it to dry before vacuuming it up. If you try to clean it up while wet it gets everywhere and becomes harder to remove.



The PECO platform comes with self adhesive brick paper to stick on the side. I prefer to use the Vollmer stuff though for a couple of reasons. It looks better, it is longer and therefore has less seams, and it is more three dimensional. I cut the sheet into strips and glue it to the sides. Once on and dry I give it a coat of weathering to give it that lived in look.



Once the edging has been done get the inspectors in to check that has all dried before moving to the next step.





The picture below shows where we are up to at the moment.




The next thing is to add a coat of paint to resemble a tarmac covering. First I etched paving stones on to the edges of the platform using the edging as a guide.



Close up view.



Then it’s time to start adding weeds. I want to create the impression of a run down neglected station so weeds are a must. I also rub in weathering powders to get that dusty look.







Then a final inspection before calling it a day and heading for home. It’s about that time.

This month I have been trying to improve and detail the area that I worked on previously. I have included some more local plants such as ferns and those purple plants that you see along the side of the railway tracks. I also added some trackside features such as point rodding which would be appropriate.

My friend Peter has done a bit of point rodding on his layout which was quite impressive and I thought I would be like to give it a go too. I bought all the stuff and then took ages figuring out what to do with it as the instructions were not as comprehensive as I would have liked.



Fortunately Peter forwarded me some articles from Model Railway Journal on how to do it and lay it out. After spending some time reading all the articles I had a fair idea of what I was going to do. It wasn’t all that hard however the section of the layout which I had decided to install this on was probably the most inaccessible, i.e. five foot high with a five foot six inch section just in front of it and two feet in. I have to say that my back was thoroughly done in after an afternoon of doing this. I had to go up a step ladder and bend double to do this as there was little that I could lean on without doing damage to the layout. Now that it’s added it does look good but I’m not sure I would have done it had I known how much hassle it would be. If you are going to do this, then start in an accessible part of your layout. It will make a big difference. The picture below shows the tremendous difference that the point rodding has made.












Didn't see it? No, it's not really noticable. These pictures may show it better.



















Apologies for the quality of the photos. The magnification is about the limit of what my camera is capable of.

I also added some of those purple flowers that you see along the sides of the railway tracks in summer. These were made from clipping the lower strands of Heki kit fir trees and dabbing purple paint on. I couldn’t find the correct shad of purple /pink for them so I have had to blend it from pink blue and red. These plants are very common on railway tracks in the UK so I am surprised that they are not offered ready made. They are not hard to make though so they can be produced fairly quickly.






I also painted the wire on the fence. As supplied in the kit the wire was clear nylon. I gave it a light coat of gunmetal mixed with light grey to give it the galvanized steel wire look.



Before making this section I painted the plaster brown as an undercoat. The soil in highland areas is actually a grey colour and is frequently visible at the edges of cuttings and slopes. I tried to replicate this using a Carrs soil mix with grey pigmentation. It didn’t apply as well as I had hoped however it does look right colour wise. It wasn’t very sticky and wouldn't adhere to the base well as can be seen above and below.



I added more bushes of a darker foliage. Having sat through several of the drivers eye view DVD’s I am now familiar with the wide variety of foliage and plants that border the railway line. I have tried to get as much of this in as possible.

I eventually got my Busch ferns. These come in a kit with mushrooms (three different varieties). Why the two are included together I don’t know. I would take a punt at the fact that they are both associated with damp conditions in most climates however in Scotland they grow openly on moorland rather than only under woodland cover. The ferns are individual leaves or fronds which have to be inserted into a drilled hole to form the plant. I painted them first as I do not like the look of plastic straight out of the box. I also painted some reddish brown as I am aiming for an autumnal look. The lower down ones will be green and the higher ones dried out and brown.







This has nothing to do with scenery but I also got the new Modelfair A4 Merlin which I thought was very nice. It comes in BR “experimental” purple. This came in a limited edition series of 1000. I am quite pleased with it. Still deciding whether to install a sound decoder in this one. Anyway it provides me with an excuse to show a picture of it against the new backdrop. I should warn you that the colour seen in the photo's is not accurate. I could see through the viewfinder that the colour of the loco was not the same as it is in real life. It is more blue in the pictures than in real life.

As I stated in my previous entry I have been working on the back section of my layout. I wanted to create a Scottish Highland scene reminiscint of the Highland Mainline or the route from Inverness to Kyle of Loch alsh. I have spent hours watching these trackside DVD's looking at the plants and topography along the line to get it right. However one fundamental integral part has been a strugle; the backdrop. Recently I decided to do all sky backdrops however I really wanted a decent picture of a Highland scene. I have some saved on computer that I have been using for a while however the colour match between the sections was never brilliant. I had to split them into sections due to the length and the ability to get access to a printer which could print on a sheet of paper two metres long. The lack of a sheet of paper two metres long was also a contributing factor. So this has now been resolved. I recently bought a laser printer which has given me a perfect print and the sky matches perfectly on all print offs. I did have a couple of slight mismatchs, however nothing that the odd Birch tree or Scots Pine couldn't disguise. This the backdrop along it's entire length.



Looking closer the joins are not readily visible.



This is the view from the left hand side where the rocky cliff face conceals the join between two sections. It has just been ballasted yesterday so I am waiting on it drying to tidy it up and weather it.



This shot shows both sides of the cutting. The side on the right can wait till later as it is not able to be seen.



This shot shows the right hand side of the backdrop.



Up until I bought the laser printer I had been making Birch trees, Scots Pine, Gorse and other track side plants to go on this section. The Birch trees are Sea Moss which has been painted to look like Birch bark. The darker Anita Decor foliage does well for the leaves. So that is fairly easy. The Scots Pine was more of a pain. A while back I bought a bunch of handmade trees of the twisted wire variety. The trunk was acceptable however the foliage was atrocious. There were flecks of dayglo green flock in amongst the foam leaves. To turn these into Scots Pine I had to cut off the lower branches as Scots Pine branches usually start pretty high off the ground. I had to do a bit of reshaping of the branches. Then I had to pick off all the original foliage. I then used Heki Fir foliage which is a nice dark green colour as the Pine foliage and the results look pretty good.



Gorse as covered before is just clumps of Busch foliage.



There is also a lot of grass along the trackside so I have been using various colours to get the late summer look right. I have used a blend of several grass types to get an accurate look as there is always dried and fresh grass. I still have to do more to this to get a late summer look to the grass. I will dry brush a blend of yellow and white paint to it till I get the look I'm after.



I have used Silflor extensively here. Several different types have been used to match the backdrop.



Although the backdrop is only two inches horizontally from the track I have tried to make this look further by comressing several definable layers into that area. First there is the grass, then the Silflor, the fence, then a different colour of Silflor. Trees too and bushes add to what is really a very small area and help make it look bigger.



I still have to do more to this section. I have ordered point rodding so that I can detail the points on this section. I will add other trackside embelishments too to get this section as accurate as possible. I also got a call today saying that the ferns I ordered in February have arrived in the shop so I can pick these up on Thursday when I go back to work. I am also going to make those purple plants that flower along the side of the railway tracks that I don't know the name of. I have figured out what I need to do. I just need some purple paint for the flower part.

Here are some more shots I took of the backdrop. It is interesting that a slight sheen has come up in the pictures. I didn't use flash or have a particularly bright light on them. I suppose it must have been the sheen of the paper.

Of late I have been very busy doing scenic work. I started on a new section of the layout mainly because I needed an unstarted section to demonstrate techniques for the Basic Scenics article. The section I have now started on is the Highland station section. This has a station (or will have) which will be at eye level and will require the best standard of scenic’s and detail I can muster. My thoughts are a station on the Kyle line near Strath Carron. The backdrop I will use shows countryside similar to that just inland from Strath Carron. To define the partition between this section and the next I will use a large rocky cliff.

I started this process with the cliff section on the Scottish side of the bridge seen here.



As further detail was requested on the scenic process I then started a stretch at the end of the station (or where the station will be when built). This is just at the left hand side of the bridge.



Continuing on from there I need to install embankments in the lower section, and in the upper section, make a three tunnel entrances or two. I’ve made one tunnel mouth so far and some of the embankments. Just really trying things out for size at the moment to see how they will look.

This is the piece of plasterboard I used as a basis for the cliff face. Biggest I have done so far. I scraped a layer of skin off when carving the strata into this. This explains the red marks you can see on it!



I was watching the cab ride DVD for the Kyle line and along the line especially around Strome Ferry there are some pretty sheer cliffs composed of Lewisian Gneiss. I have coloured this to look like Lewisian Gneiss in this picture.



Unlike many cliffs there will be no moss grass or anything growing out of the Gneiss as this rock erodes to make a very poor soil and doesn’t tend to have plants growing off of it. To be honest it doesn’t really erode much at all. It’s strong stuff. This is why little vegetation grows above it as there is often little soil and a lot of pooling of water. Many of the plants which take root here are bog plants.

However the embankments will support a variety of vegetation and I have been studying these for this section. Also gave me an excuse to watch the Kyle DVD a few more times.

What I am needing for my scene is autumnal colours for the grasses. I have started experimenting with Woodland Scenics Autumn grass however this is a long and tedious process laying down glue and cutting bunches of this to attach. Looking at the size of the section I have, I could be here for some time before I get this done.





I’m also not that happy with the colour either too bold. I need something more diluted.

I have ordered some of the Silflor Autumn grass to intersperse with the other moorland grasses. If you look at the variety of colours on the backdrop; I need to match these colours with my scenery. This will involve a degree of experimentation but should get there eventually.

I have installed a fairly lengthy backdrop for this part of the layout. It will come between the rocky outcrop at the mountain section and the new cliff face I made. I tried to reprint a new one however the colours weren’t as good as this one. No idea why as they come from the same image. So to cut a long story shot I pulled this one from a previous location and had to strip it of the backing and refix it here. There was the odd tear however I can cover this with scenics later. This was obviously a major job but I think it was worth it as this backdrop works better than many and fits the scene I wish to create.



The area at the back will have to get sceniced with lots of trees and so on. This is how it looks at the moment. I will have to get more of those Heki fir trees kits. I think.



There will have to be a station building made at some point. I am reviewing the various buildings on the Kyle line to see which to make. I am currently thinking the Plockton one as it is made out of wood and will be a bit easier to make. I haven’t made anything out of wood for a while so I do fancy this.





I also got some permanent way and British Railway workers to add to this scene.



Normally I have finished a scene when I write up my blog but this section will be lengthy and time consuming. It may well take several months. This is only the beginning.

I am starting to do short films of my models now as I have got the hang of posting them on the internet. I am trying to get an idea of what are the best perspectives and angles to shoot from. This first set are taken from above the models at various angles. These would probably give the impression of viewing from a bridge.









I've tried to do these from a few different angles to see what's the best. The ones which follow are from track level and below giving a track side or platform perspective.










Overall I think the best level is track level although below isn't bad. Viewed from above doesn't seem as good though.

I think I want to put a bit more thought into where the trees are. The autofocus seem to have gone for the trees and bushes instaed of the loco and coaches.

I thought it might be worth doing a short clip to add to a review to give a more three dimensional perspective to the item.

Any thoughts?