4mm Llanfair ....

LarryG

Western Thunderer
This layout is evolving as it slowly progresses and one bugbear was the bottom corner. I didn't want to see trains on the sharp curve! However, I started off by shaping some rough timber with a jigsaw as a basis for an embankment....

WEB Llanfair new 19A.jpg

I discovered that if I used the slightly sharper Set Track curves, there was room to insert an almost straight section under the bridge. Signs of the original curve are visible on the baseboard .....
WEB Llanfair new 19B.jpg

The shot below gives a better idea of the modifications. I'm currently awaiting Code 100 track and turnouts for the fiddle yard. The Hornby Riddles 2-6-0 negotiates the Set track curve without fouling the front steps. All the Code 100 will be pinned down to give much quieter running...
WEB Llanfair new 19C.jpg

Track level view to see how things will look ...
WEB Llanfair new 19D.jpg
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
This was the scene 4 years ago showing Llanfair's embryo in November 2020, and in 0 gauge too...! It was a mirror-image of Llanfyllin back then, but the station been at the brightest end of the shed ever since...

WEB Llanfair original 1.jpg

Positioning the road bridge closer to the station has made the scene more compact, so from now on construction should be straightforward...
WEB Llanfair new 19E.jpg
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Half the Code 100 curve to the fiddle yard has been glued down, ballasted and weathered. From hereon, the track will be pinned seeing as it is outside the scenic section. Even when glued and ballasted, running is noticeably quieter on the Code 100 than it is on the Bullhead. Dunno why. Scene with the bridge removed....
WEB Llanfair new 19F.jpg

Scene with the scenic break bridge in place. It was pure good fortune that the backscene mismatch ended up behind the bridge....
WEB Llanfair new 19J.jpg
 
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LarryG

Western Thunderer
The Kernow GWR water tank has been a feature of the layout for some years now and was the reason for the gap between the tracks. However, when the greenery began to be added, it somehow became a scenic break and one too may since bringing the bridge nearer the station....
WEB Llanfair new 20E.jpg

So its now mounted on the far embankment against the backscene...
WEB Llanfair new 20C.jpg

It makes sense as well now. The turnout on the 'mainline' (red arrow) acts as a form of trap with it set for the goods yard on the left. The mainline is never used as a back-shunt, therefore locos needing water will not be stood on the mainline. Auto-trains will of course take the coach with them. The embankment between the tracks might be lifted later on as scenery advances. It cant be justified except that I like it for the moment...... :p
WEB Llanfair new 20D.jpg

The grass is only laid as a base. It will be grassed and what-not later on.
 
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Captain Kernow

Western Thunderer
Hi Larry - the new arrangement with the water tower is much, much better!

Re: the embankment between the running line and the siding, I'd personally lose that, as I'm not convinced that it would have been a topographical feature in real life. Better, perhaps to have some flat, rough ground, perhaps with a couple of nondescript huts, maybe a PW motorised trolley hut with the characteristic piece of track at right angles to the running line, that sort of thing?
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Re: the embankment between the running line and the siding, I'd personally lose that, as I'm not convinced that it would have been a topographical feature in real life. Better, perhaps to have some flat, rough ground, perhaps with a couple of nondescript huts, maybe a PW motorised trolley hut with the characteristic piece of track at right angles to the running line, that sort of thing?
I agree completely about the minor embankment between the tracks, as I was uneasy once it was there. I'll 'grass' the nearer side of the baseboard next before taking further decisions.
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Simple tasks involving PVA take ages in cold weather. Anyway, the ballast has been laid between the tracks but it needs properly grinding down when dry. Weathering wil be done tomorrow followed by static grass. I painted a corrugated hut to match Bachmann's water tower...

WEB Llanfair new 20G.jpg
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
I carried out and photographed several experiments, photoshopping each one to get an idea of how things could look. Slewing the mainline over next to the headshunt was even considered, and that grass mound went back between the tracks twice! Anyway, here is the result with very little to show for two days of making my mind up...

WEB Llanfair new 21A.jpg

In a way, it is like painting the scene on the pieces of a jigsaw as it goes together ...
WEB Llanfair new 21B.jpg

Viewed from the bridge. Some work was done around and on the water tank plus every length of rail was given a new coat of rust...
WEB Llanfair new 21C.jpg

One of those little nooks. Rust at the base of the iron railings and around the buffers. Not happy with the brickwork but it can wait...
WEB Llanfair new 21D.jpg

Almost the whole scenic entirety from the buffers to the bridge. Lots of grassland to add on the leading edge of the baseboard.....
WEB Llanfair new 21E.jpg
 
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