Last time I was working on hiding the rear of the layout underneath a new raised town scene…

Since then I’ve tidied up the corners so it’s not so square and added a retaining wall and ‘tunnel’ mouth. (above). I’ve not laid any new roadways, paving or grass scenics yet as I’m going to wait until I get a few more buildings to plan it all out. In the meantime I’ve added a townscape back-scene – you can pick these up very cheap and they add plenty more depth to your layout.

One thing always missing from my layout is a large station. When designing the layout I opted against a large station as it would simply take up too much focal room. Or would it?…

Now a considerable portion of the layout is hidden I can create the illusion of a big station by only having a short section of platform out in the open. (above). Think similar to Birmingham New Street…

…only less ugly. The rest of the station can be assumed to be underneath the new raised town scene.

I’ve used Balsa wood in construction which is exceptionally cheap and can be cut with a penknife instead of a saw, so it’s easy to shape it how you please. As the bridge was already in place I’ve had to build it around the existing structure (hence the removable piece shown above).

I’ve got 2 island platforms serving 4 lines – the outermost loop and 3 middle loops. The inner loop didn’t have enough room for one, but this is made up by the small station in the middle of the layout.

These were then painted…

and slotted into place…

I’ve then added some detailing to the bridge…

…and given the station a name and signage…

The name ‘Langstead Junction’ is a tilt of the hat to a Google Mapping error that incorrectly named a town near where I live, Wanstead, as Langstead. Sadly Google have corrected this error despite showing both Wanstead and Langstead on the online map until last year. A reference to it is found on this forum post. No place called Langstead has ever existed so it’s listing on Google was somewhat bizarre. Still, it’s quite a believable name and it has a local connection for me so that’s why I’ve stuck with it.

The signs are from Model Signs 4U which have a whole host of branded name plates you can download and print off for free! I’m using Network South East simply because it’s one of my favourite rail brands/liveries. To incorporate this the bridge detailing and sign posts have been weathered red.

Elsewhere on the layout I’ve added some more detail beside the water tower..

…added some billboards…

…and a tube station (by Bachman)…

…this will eventually have it’s own name too (although I’m still deciding what this might be!).

– Andy Carter