High Street (A working Title)

[Al Tait]

Well, I wrote a whole load of spiel here about the background for our new layout, the idea behind it and all sorts but I have just lost it all so tough, I may come back and add some details another time. That'll teach me to write straight into a forum rather than do my usual trick for long winded posts to do them in word. So here is short abridged version!

High Street is just a working title as we can't decide on a name, though I like the generic nature of it. The plan is that this will be a generic layout to allow us to alter the era and area with a switch of stock/road vehicles/signs. The idea is to be able to run trains through a scene rather than mess around running things round and shunting.

Anyway, here is the work in progress:








Hopefully Cam and I will continue to make slow progress with our weekly meets, plan is to fit the bridge next week but I don't think it will be ready. We should be in a position where we will have all the track down in the next two week.

 

[john lewsey]

Looking really good

 

[paulc]

I do like the fact the its built on arches , reminiscent of the streets around the back of Holloway road where the houses were built up to the archways . I don't know how people lived in them , or slept .
Cheers Paul

 

[Al Tait]

No update last week, we did make a little progress but not much, a few things have been done on the side but more of that another time/

This week we fixed the bridge in place and most of the track is now fixed down. Hopefully next Wednesday we should be able to get the last of the track in place and start thinking about some more buildings. The arches have had a coat of engineering blue but need the reverse side doing before they come back to me for some additional detailing.




I think the next photo is probably my favourite so far, this starts to give the impression that I want. The terrace house won't be there but a three store public house. Not 100% certain what will be opposite but one of the Intentio warehouse/mill type buildings are a distinct possibility.

 

[Al Tait]

Not a massive amount of progress to report at the moment but the track work is all but down so I am now looking at the next buildings to add. Neither of us have a huge amount of motivation at the moment so tonight we had a play with a rake of HEA wagons.



And I couldn't resist this view of the A Team van. This view won't be possible when the pub goes in.


Hopefully some more updates in the coming weeks.

 

[Al Tait]

Well in the current climate our Wednesday night 'train club' has been caped UFN. I'm still trying to knock up some bits and get bits and pieces ready to be able to plant when we eventually get the all clear! Mainly at the moment the arches and retaining walls. Once they're done I'll pop some pictures up but for now I've tinkered with a track plan, you can pretty much see what we're aiming for in the previous pictures but here it is anyway:



Without being able to draw on the baseboards and measure up I am really struggling with what we can do with the station end. I have a bit of a plan for 'Railway Terrace' but I am stumped. It needs to be something fairly structural for the road and station forecourt but do we go pillars or arched walls. More thinking required.

 

[Al Tait]

Not a lot going on with the layout at the moment given the enforced lock down, however I am slowly working through a few bits so that when Cam & I can re-convene there are some things Ready To Plant!

With Stephen Fay's painting guide from the Intentio website (Painting Guide | intentio) I have over the last few weeks been working on various bits of the arches and retaining wall for the layout, slightly modified as the base for these walls is engineers blue brick (Phoenix Engineers Blue Brick P954). I am relatively please with how these are turning out. They have all just had a good coat of satin varnish and now drying in the garden. Tomorrow I will hopefully get some sunny shots of these bits and then they're pretty much done until they get fitted. I think I'll wait on weathering them until they are in situ and can be blended in with their surroundings.



There may be a couple of new buildings for layout appear this week all being well and I'll post progress in here keeping my workbench thread for Stock and items not destined for the layout.

 

[Al Tait]

As promised I've taken a pic of all the retaining walls in the Sun this morning. The top longer section is KS Laser Designs with the two shorter pieces below made up from off cuts, cardboard and a couple of sheets Slaters Plastic sheet. I'm not as happy with the paintwork on the Slaters sheet, it didn't work as well as the laser cut wood, but as it won't been seen from normal viewing angles it will do. All needs a good weather but this will be done in situ. The bottom two pieces are also missing coping stones, but these are in Cam's garage! I can soon paint and add them at a later stage.

Also in the pic is my first blank for the arches, not 100% happy with this but its a start, I need to make up another complete plank and two more with openings, one for a garage and one for another industry. Not sure what yet.

 

[Al Tait]

The first of the inhabitable buildings arrived to today and so after work I had a little motivation to start putting them together. I have been discussing with Phil since the Bristol O gauge show about buildings for the new layout. His new half relief pub kit was the impetus to make a start, so today a full pub kit arrived with an extra storey (the roof line needed to be above track level), unfortunately there was some space in the box so I was forced to purchase a half relief shop too! There is a plan for this shop and the next purchases to create a street for another part of the layout. So although the two buildings are pictured together below, they will end up at almost opposite ends of the layout.

If I can sort the lettering on the pub name board tomorrow the brick pieces will likely start to get paint tomorrow evening. The shop/house may well get put to one side until the rest of the street is ready. I will have to start thinking about the interior as well.

 

[Al Tait]

Well a little more progress over the last couple of days. I am however running out of some stock items. Completely run out of grey primer so I'm now using white, hence the off white look on some of the pictures below, they are fully primed but in a white/grey mix! I have also run out of cheap white gloss so the pub is using a base of Black instead, will see how the red oxide covers for the brickwork!


This is about as far as the shop/house will get for now until I have the rest of the street, so this now goes into storage for a bit. I want to build the street as one whole building so there are no distinct changes.



The Waggon & Horses however can carry on in earnest as it is effectively a stand alone building.

 

[john lewsey]

The buildings look very good .The scene does remind me of Inkerman street it should look great
John

 

[Al Tait]

The buildings look very good .The scene does remind me of Inkerman street it should look great
John

Thank you John. Inkerman Street is not layout I know but the idea is to have quite an urban look to it, there will be some relief to the buildings but I do want to try and make it as built up as possible. Just a shame I can't get to the baseboards at the moment!

 

[john lewsey]

Hi Al
Inkerman st
was a layout built by MRJ and was very atmospheric I'm sure that you can Google it. It was at the MRJ exibition years ago. Your layout has for me at least great promise and I look forward to seeing it progress
John

 

[Alan]

I do like a good urban layout, and this looks like being a very good one.

 

[Scale7JB]

Oh yes, I do like that!!

How many Dapol 66's have you got on pre-order?

JB.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

His new half relief pub kit was the impetus to make a start, so today a full pub kit arrived with an extra storey (the roof line needed to be above track level),

I think the pub looks better with the extra storey.

Without being able to draw on the baseboards and measure up I am really struggling with what we can do with the station end. I have a bit of a plan for 'Railway Terrace' but I am stumped. It needs to be something fairly structural for the road and station forecourt but do we go pillars or arched walls. More thinking required.

For the station building and forecourt I'd go for arched walls as these will fit in with the other arches

Just been looking at your plans with interest and have a few ideas which I've annotated on your plan. This may or may not interest you and I've assumed datum levels to try and explain.

As I've said it may or may not interest you but I've enjoyed the exercise.

 

[BrushType4]

Cracking start on the buildings! Was just thinking that a taxi firm would be a possible under arch business. Especially handy with the garage next door. Another thought was a bric a brac business and second hand furniture etc.?

Whatever you do it’s going to look great.

 

[Al Tait]

Hi Al
Inkerman st
was a layout built by MRJ and was very atmospheric I'm sure that you can Google it. It was at the MRJ exibition years ago. Your layout has for me at least great promise and I look forward to seeing it progress
John

I did manage to find some bits and pieces but I'll have a proper trawl over the weekend.

I do like a good urban layout, and this looks like being a very good one.

Thank you Alan.

Oh yes, I do like that!!

How many Dapol 66's have you got on pre-order?

JB.

Thanks JB, I've no 66's on order yet (I probably should have seeing the company I work with have a few!!), my interest is more late 80's early 90's so expect to see more 37's, 47's & 56's when they arrive, though I suspect Cam will have a couple & there are a few 60's available to us.

I think the pub looks better with the extra storey.

For the station building and forecourt I'd go for arched walls as these will fit in with the other arches

Just been looking at your plans with interest and have a few ideas which I've annotated on your plan. This may or may not interest you and I've assumed datum levels to try and explain.

As I've said it may or may not interest you but I've enjoyed the exercise.

View attachment 121925

Thanks for your comments Dave, the road you've suggested to rise from Datum to Datum 1 will indeed do that as it will be the road access to the cabin by the siding. expect to find a crippled wagons or a tamper in there at some point. I am thinking open arched walls as the station support, but can't quite picture it yet! Will definitely take your other comments on board too. Watch this space!!

Cracking start on the buildings! Was just thinking that a taxi firm would be a possible under arch business. Especially handy with the garage next door. Another thought was a bric a brac business and second hand furniture etc.?

Whatever you do it’s going to look great.

I was thinking a taxi firm too, and one of the other arches will be another garage but this time open with an interior. Not sure about a bric a brac/furniture business, fells a bit too modern a use, maybe Tim Burr & Son's Timber Merchant.

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Very much appreciating everyone's comments and feed back, its certainly helping with my motivation. No update as such tonight but there will likely be one tomorrow. The retaining walls have been re-united with the layout, Cam's car battery failed so an essential journey has been made to provide a battery charger with the retaining walls left at the end of a drive at the same time! If he can sort some pictures tomorrow I'll provide them here. There is also some progress on the pub, bot more on that tomorrow.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Thanks for your comments Dave, the road you've suggested to rise from Datum to Datum 1 will indeed do that as it will be the road access to the cabin by the siding.

Just had a thought - as your layout is set in the 80's/90's how about making PW hut derelict? Then site a well used Portakabin next to it for crew/PW staff accommodation and provide some incongruity with the surrounding Victorian buildings. Sincere apologies for throwing more ideas around.

 

[Al Tait]

Just had a thought - as your layout is set in the 80's/90's how about making PW hut derelict? Then site a well used Portakabin next to it for crew/PW staff accommodation and provide some incongruity with the surrounding Victorian buildings. Sincere apologies for throwing more ideas around.

View attachment 122000

By all means feel free to throw ideas about, most of this so far has come out of my head so far to build a layout around the bridge! I like the little P/Way hut so I think it will stay as is for now but you never know. Maybe I should by another one off Phil to trash and flog this one! Once some more structure is in we'll see where we go. The warehouse and station buildings are likely to me a more modern affair or at least with the station have some modern additions to it. I am sort of working from left to right, but the shop above is a start on the street at the back. It would be nice to make one or both of the Mill buildings more of an modern office block, but we'll see what I can source/build. I did fancy a fairly modern high street look about it, but there is time yet!