Duffryn Road TMD

Right, i first started off with a blank 4ft x 2ft board and a very simple plan - see layout plan

here i decided where to put everything, e.g. Depot , fuelling point, stabling road etc. After finally deciding i placed a backscene to hide the fiddleyard from the main scene. This simply constructed from hardboard and then screwed into place onto the main board. Again i didn't really like how it looked (see pic above) and so i took a gamble and fitted in a hornby tunnel that i had lurking around in a box of goodies from my older brother's model railway ( sadly it got broke by me =( - I never knew i would be interested in trains at the age of 4  )

So after finally putting in the hornby tunnel i had, i started on the scenery around it. Basically i created a retaining wall made out of cardboard then made paper mache hill to stimulate a tunnel cutting into a hill.

At this stage and after searching for some points i had laying about, i placed a small disused siding just in front of the retaining wall - This is where i was going to create some disused,rotting wagons covered in shrubery and weeds to create the effect of a scene i had seen at Severn Tunnel Junction. Here is a pic showing the disused siding in front of the retaining wall with the resident Class 47 528 emerging from the tunnel.

As you can see from the above pic, this shows the overall view of the layout. What i have done is to create using paint where most of the scenery will go. Top of the layout is the car park (black area) and depot area. Here i plan to put some security fences and also a few ballasting bags,skips, digger etc just to fill in the gap! This area will probably be the last to be finished after the ballasting and lighting and other scenics such as the hill break (large white area -right of the layout). Here by creating a small hill break, it will separate the Stabling road from the Storage lines at the front of the layout.

And here is an up to date picture showing the hill break and the resident shunter 08800 on the storage yard dropping off a redundant class 37.

another update on pic- here's the layout overview pic 2

11/07/07

Well guys have chosen to scratchbuild my Depot !! its going quite well for a beginner - have planned it out, drawn a template then used that template on some cardboard (not the ideal choice but thats all i got) - Card would have been better here!

I doubled the thickness of the cardboard so in a way you could say i've made 2 depots but have only made the 1 !!

After cutting it out etc, i glued it together - best tip is to use a "prix" stick glue to combine the thickness then use pva glue on the inside edges of the joins of the cardboard!

I should have waited untill the glue dried but i got out the primer out and sprayed it - any Car shop stock them, ideal for quick job like this!

here's a pic of what it looks like now - Hopefully tomorrow will see a huge improvement in it with the addition of the roof and also brick work at the bottom half of the depot but overtime it will get better!

1/8/07

Been busy on the layout front at long last i've finally finished the wiring for the layout including the fiddle yard which as a terminal connector block there to allow for further expansion of the layout or for extra feeds onto the layout.

Have painted the Hill break between the Stabling roads and Scrap storage lines in a base colour Green, ready for scenics. Also created some more retaining walls for the back of the baseboard on the backboards - This might change when i get some more money together to buy some ratio Retaining walls.

Other than that i'm helping out a friend of mine in designing his layout and this will take some time to get right and also making the trip up North to visit my Family so updates will stall for a bit untill i get back hopefully with some more goods for the layout.

12/07/07

Finally after hours of swearing and doing other stuff, i've finally finished the main bits of the depot!

As you can see, it still needs work by painting the roof and top part, also placing card edging around the entrance bays and roof vents etc. Other than that i'm a happy person!

An huge thanks goes out to all the guys on the New Railway Modellers Forum for helping me with words of encouragement !! really does help guys !!

21/08/07

Well haven't updated this for a while but thought that i would seing that there's been a mega change in the depot.

Decided to scrap the roof and place a totally new one - This has improved the depot a lot as has the new wasp stripes surroundin the door frames.

As you can see - a totally brand new roof and much better with roof vents instead of open windows in my opionion.