A little diorama to keep me busy

November 27, 2014December 7, 2014Andy Carter Leave a comment

A fantastic little diorama from GWSRAlex on LocoYard. Very simple yet with so much to look at, this project proves modelling doesn’t have to take up acres of space.

Loco Yard

Locoyard seems to be suffering a bit of a railway modelling drought at the moment, apart from Simon’s excellent exhibition articles, with lots of posts on the big railways. Mr Locoyard himself is still dithering about what to do ;-), so I thought I’d post a bit about a diorama I made to keep me busy and to try out a few things, such as static grass. First off, choose a subject. I’m rubbish at imagining places, so it had to be somewhere real. I chose the approach to Winchcombe station (shown above) with the road over rail bridge as a main feature as I could visit regularly to get photographs to model from. There would also be a small amount of platform to model, some signals and embankment, so lots of interesting stuff in a small space.

So a start was made, first by hunting for the largest piece…

View original post 629 more words

Langstead Makes The Tube Map!

November 4, 2014March 3, 2015Andy Carter 1 Comment

Thanks to a Twitter suggestion from yours truly, my fictional town of Langstead is now on The Tube Map!

Not the real one of course but an Alternative version dreamed up by The Londonist. They recently asked people on Twitter to come up with suggestions of how they would rename stations if they had the chance. You’ll spot a lot of method in the madness as Stratford becomes Olympic Park and Westminster becomes Parliament Square.

Continue reading →

How To Improve Buildings: Simple Lighting

October 17, 2014November 7, 2014Andy Carter 3 Comments

I’ve always thought the OO Gauge resin buildings (like those in the Skaledale range) look rather splendid.

But now I’m starting to add more lighting features to my layout – like street lamps and retro fitting rolling stock with LEDs, some of those cracking looking buildings are starting to look a little left out.

Continue reading →

Project Planning

October 12, 2014December 7, 2014Andy Carter Leave a comment

A word on Time, Budget & Specification. A post by Loco Yard.

Loco Yard

Building a new model railway is a process which can be approached in different ways. For many it can be quite an organic process that begins with receiving a train set as a prezzie and evolves to end with a layout of considerable quality. However, for those of you who like me are juggling multiple demands, interests and schedules, an organic process is not the best way to get anywhere. We enthusiasts have a habit of thinking big rather than being realistic and this is something I have been guilty of. So, I’m going to borrow some generic processes to move forward a little quicker

Any project has three variables – time (when it is to be completed), budget and specification. These all link and rely on each other. For instance, if you have a lot of money and little time, you could buy a layout outright with the specification…

View original post 596 more words

Review: Bachmann 25th Anniversary Set

October 5, 2014January 12, 2015Andy Carter 1 Comment

Next up for review, something a little special: The Bachmann 25th Anniversary set (25-2014). No bonus points for deciphering that complicated product code!

I’m always a little behind the times with purchases, usually buying locos that have been out a while. This set however was released just a few months ago, and with internet analysis fairly sparse, this will be my most up-to-date review yet.

Featuring a Jubilee Class and Class 47, let’s take a closer look…

Continue reading →