ackers5861 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Helly everyone, 😀It has been roughly two months since getting into the model railroading hobby, and I figured it would be a great time to share the progress made on my first layout so far. It’s a basic 6x4 double oval layout that is aimed to have a GWR heritage theme; a throwback in particular to the South Devon/Dorset area. The layout is DC and is powered by a Gaugemaster twin-track Model D controller. The track is Hornby setrack, though I’ve since acknowledged the superiority of Peco track which I will definitely use for any future layout. Modelling the scenery has so far been a very fun and engaging challenge, and has served as a great platform to let my more artistic side out again. The outsides of the layout (what I considered the easier bit) are where the majority of the scenery has been done, with only some headway made in the middle portion. I’ve split this into three main sections that I plan to address in sequence: the station plus car park; the fiddle and goods yard, and what may either be a small private estate or visitor park. Outside of the station, I only have a very vague idea of how I want the other two parts to look, but thats all in due time. I even wish to install working lights for the car park and station.Anyway, I figured it would be pretty fun to post more updates on the layout as time goes, so I welcome any interest on the layout, whether that be praise, criticism, questions, or suggestions. It is in part thanks to the Hornby forum that some simple mistakes were avoided, though I indeed won’t pretend the layout is perfect. Hope you guys like it.Daniel/media/tinymce_upload/82fbafa5b9872022ddd8dd4618b4b5d9.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/9baa4584daa364cf6b5408860711ecaa.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5c3cc459477da40bcd130575ef510950.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/acc08fd84fe0a635cc545ada57dc8076.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/88aa6db7c8340723ec4f1b51090df517.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Looks good, but I see you have a curved point in there. Please read what other threads on here have said about curved points!-Those trees look odd. Trees don't just have greenery on the top! Those would be ok for making a forest with, though, where you can't see the bare trunks and branches.-The level crossing - they don't have a gate in between tracks! That gate needs to be moved out to where there is a gap in the fence, to 'protect' all three tracks.-Signals - they are the wrong way around, as you are modelling GWR. Unless you are running bi-directional on both loops, we 'keep left', and your signals are positioned for keeping right. In the direction of travel, the post should be to the left of the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Could be these trees. 😆 /media/tinymce_upload/ca7bd8b44714fd2e027a9085801046ad.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 I see five perfect pictures, how many are there? I have three peco streamline curved points and they cause no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Perhaps only the top part of you screen was working 😆 😆 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Eric we have beech tree woods here that look exactly like the ackers trees. They were grown to make chairs. Long bare trunks with no knots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Australian model rail road Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Looks great what size is your layout baseboard just take your time and of coarse money model railways are never finished all the best from Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Great work and progress, ackers5861. 😀 GNR-Gordon-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Hodges Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018  Hi Daniel, Great work. ! Nice layout. I like it. And your scenery looks great. I'd bet you have previous experience with making war gaming scenery or similar ? Kev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazy Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Coming on Great guns. I particularly like the signals nice to see you have thought about them. And the trees are nice too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Thanks for the responses so far, everyone. Really encouraging to see. Will try to address as many as feasible:@2e0dtoeric I only heard about the horrors of curved points (and Hornby express points) after fixing down the track. Some problems were encountered with my locos initially, but after making some light modifications to the points, there has no longer been a real problem and the trains run relatively smoothly now. At least with my current loco lineup.  The trees are still a work in progress. I wanted to attempt making my own rather than buying the expensive premade ones (which have yet to impress me), which was done using what looks to me like dried Elderflower, as suggested by my local club. The shape of the plant made getting the trees to look like your typical deciduous ones a bit difficult, although I’m sure I’ve seen ones like that in parts as others have mentioned. I plan to bulk them up with fine leaf foliage as it’s just fine turf for green at the moment. I might add extra bits or install more trees of varying heights to help make a thicker canopy, but without overdoing it.  For the level crossing, there’s actually meant to be two. The other on the third line is going to be scratch built as my Hornby one just doesn’t fit, but I havent figured how I’m gong to do it exactly; it’s just two bits of painted card as a prototype. The way I designed and envisaged the layout (which took inspiration from the Hornby R8011 Trakmat) made two level crossings unavoidable somehow, which I admit isn’t very prototypical. I would like to clarify that the signals are not fully fixed and can be removed If needed. I have to confess that the direction of travel was a little overlooked when designing and fitting the layout when looking back. It sounds odd but the trains running right-side always seems to be the defauly when imagined (I think I spent too much time watching American trains in the past 😛), and so is what I’m more used to seeing go on the layout. I also think that this configuration works better with the way the sidings are located. I can, however, change this, as I’m aware that this isn’t how UK/GWR lines work, and could look wrong to many folk. Thanks for the response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 @Australian model railroad,Thanks for the response. Not too sure on exact dimensions other than being a typical 6 x 4 (~1829mm x 1229mm or a tad over). The baseboard itself is 9mm sealed ply. @Kevin Hodges, Thanks for the comment. I like to think it’s coming along, and will especially come together when more work in the center is done. To answer your question, I have no experience with wargame scenery and the like. I’ve naturally been quite good with card and similar materials back in arts class (and I’ve always enjoyed putting things together), but that’s about it haha. Lots of inspiration for scenery has been taken from numerous layouts watched in real life or online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2e0dtoeric Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Just curious, ackers - where on the world are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 2e0dtoeric, my guess is that ackers5861 is in the USA, as the words "model railroading hobby", in the original post of this topic. GNR-Gordon- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Ronseal fence paint, tin of Dulux and a Vax vacuum cleaner. UK is my guess.  Oh and a Lakeland carrier bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 I’m in the UK, northeast of England. I’m not American, but I think the number of American videos I’ve so far watched on the hobby may have got me into some habits with certain words. It should have of course been ‘Model railway‘ and not railroad; that’s a silly oversight on my part. Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 I tend to not get much progress done throughout the later bits of the week due to work, but I always try to spend an hour or there on more of detailing./media/tinymce_upload/ec52ab3e66d0abad9988f991b78efce8.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/5cb0af71f2d485b974758329e00bf4ad.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/7b9aff41766994242a72f5bf29a1c538.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/2c51c58036b2da58d52d4c28d2525af1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjb1961 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Hi ,,,,very nice start ,I do love the realism you have achieved with your scenery,,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Great scenery work, ackers5861. 😀 GNR-Gordon-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Thank you. Will definitely get some locos running soon. Track needs another clean thanks to the scenic cement sprayed and I’m just at the moment working on the inner fencing surrounding the car park, among a couple of other miscellaneous things . Very looking forward to seeing it down and decorated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 You are very welcome, ackers5861. 😀 GNR-Gordon-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Australian model rail road Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 Have a look on Ebay so many trees and cheap too from China I have bought quite a few hundred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ackers5861 Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 A few new updates to the layout. Been working more on the train station/carpark area which included the inner fencing, bushes, trees and street lights. Found some great woodland classics timber trees at my model shop that I thought would look perfect for the context I wish to model. The street lamps were also exactly what I was after. Signals will be relocated, but will need to refill the areas underneath each with new ballast (which I foolishly cleared under the original certainty that these were where the signals would go). The next areas of work will include a patch up on some outside parts of the layout, before making a full shift to the station area. The siding which leads to the station will also need to be weathered. I’m not too sure on how to quite approach the station, whether to scratch build completely this or kit-bash using one of the metcalfe or similar sets (or a combination of both). Working lights are also a major area of interest for me.  Cheers, Daniel/media/tinymce_upload/6b2cb6db0fbb2ee1ae4cf781a96bee03.jpgDisclaimer: none of the telegraph poles, trees or lights are permanently fixed and are only fitted via tax for display purposes at this stage (don’t wish to have these catching on my sleeves or have me snapping them off as I work)./media/tinymce_upload/8414479867ecf6bcb56bfa249724437c.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/16f25b2627c8f240bd6a3488fd258d78.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashbourne Junction Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 I think this setup is looking amazing! You weathering and general layout including proposed station area looks amazing. Well done mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NWR-Gordon-4 Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Fantastic update images, ackers5861. 😀 GNR-Gordon-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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