Montgreenan

[bulleidboy]

Hi Richard - the picture of the cottage was impressive - so I hope you don't mind but I copied it. I have an N gauge one up in the hills - it is now partially "creeper" clad. Barry

[cheshire lines]

Excellent modelling and photos. Love the cottage scene. What did you use for the red foliage?

[Hound Dog]

Excellent modelling and photos. Love the cottage scene. What did you use for the red foliage?

The red foliage ( and in fact most of the foliage) is from Tajima miniatures ( www. Tajimal1) and is the Tall Flowers Lupins etc (TM40) in Scarlet colour....... really impressed with the service and quality from these guys with whom I have no relationship other than that of a satisfied repeat customer.

Cheers - Richard

[cheshire lines]

Thanks Richard.

[Hound Dog]

Having felt a bit like Dr Beeching by ripping up track, the rework of the west end approach to Montgreenan station is well underway and so there is absolutely no going back now, as the pictures show.........it is testimony to my ballasting that this has been a pig of a job to do and there have been a few breakages along the way.

I have decided to not only improve the alignment into and out of the 3 sets of curved points, but to also remodel the routing, so that movements can cross-over and directly access both the Down and branch line when departing in a westerly direction from Platforms 3 and 4, the Parcel depot and also the distant MPD and freight yard ( all will become clearer when I re-lay the track)........previously this routing was not possible and traffic would have to go down the Up line for some distance before being able to switch over to the Down line, and do a full circuit of the layout before being able to access the branch line.

I am awaiting delivery of a new r/h curved point and also a double slip, but hope to have everything trial fitted this weekend.........actual wiring and repositioning of three, and fitment of two new point motors might take sometime longer.

Hope everybody is safe and well, and enjoying their trains - cheers Richard

[Chops]

https://www.google.com/search?q=images+ ... hfppapVUxM

[bulleidboy]

Looking forward to seeing the pictures when you have finished. I don't think I'll ever be ripping up the track - unless I was starting again from scratch - which is highly unlikely. Barry

[Bandit Mick]

Can be a bit upsetting ripping up previous work but when you know it will lead to improvements it’s worth it - it’s just taking the plunge that’s difficult.

[Chops]

Your reply regarding the Ratio foot bridge gave initiative to review Montgreenan, again. I am still charmed by the high ratio of passenger to goods traffic. This is very, very rarely done in North America. The effect is pleasantly startling. Also of note, is the placement of the village center upon an elevation behind the retaining wall. This increases the depth of field, and also serves to break up the pancake effect. I think I may plagiarize this upon Henley, which is quite flattish.

[Hound Dog]

Hi,

Having gorged myself on Hydraulic fluid for many months, I suddenly took the urge earlier this week to park my Diesel hydraulics for a while and transform my "Portencross" layout from the 60's back to recreate "Montgreenan" in the BR blue days in the 1980's..........I have to admit to feeling a bit sad as I boxed up most of the Hydraulics, coaches and wagons etc, but I wanted to see how easy it was to change the layout back to its original form and there were a few BR Blue diesels that I had very much missed running.

The Westerns were moved en-mass to one of the sidings at Waterside yard and whilst for a moment it appeared as if they were to be destined for the breakers yard, in fact the 4-off locos + another mystery one that is still in the works, have been saved by a wealth benefactor and will be used for occasional railtours, along with the Blue Pullman.

As sad as it was putting away my Hydraulic fleet, it was conversely quite enjoyable unboxing the BR Blue diesels and I had forgotten how good the Sutton Class 24 looked and sounded, or the Highland beat of the Class 26 / 27 Sulzers, or the really fine job Mr Mumford had done on repainting my Class 31 and silver roofed Class 47.

The layout transformation really centred around the depot buildings, signal box, 2-off footbridges and station signage and vehicles etc........everything has survived storage and so I am confident that the material from Portencross will do likewise.........I am going to run trains on Montgreenan and also look at what little projects I can do to develop it further, before starting the next major building task on my layout - the south west tunnels and hillside.........I don't expect Portencross to re-appear until that body of work is complete, so could be a few months at least.

As usual any comments or feedback welcomed - cheers Richard.