Actually Peter, Chris did those as an experiment with summer light, here's mine    

I prefer those Phil - to me, steam engines and bright summer light levels don't mix ……I'm definitely a "dark satanic mills" man myself ……………………

 Here's a few more recent pictures of Pen-y-Bryn Station.

(EDIT) I can't upload the pictures, I get a message:-  "Error detected with respect to the upload of a file: the server is missing a temporary folder for the file."

The layout is now over thirty years old, I've taken hundreds of picture of each area and from every possible position, I feel now that the layout has come to an end, I am in two minds whether to dismantle it, if I do, there are lots of cameos that are to me, too good to be scrapped, like the station, colliery, engine sheds, Modelu figures etc, so, the qustion is, if the layout goes, what to do with them?




 

Sorry Phil, but this place is a ghost town nowadays. Will you use some Pen Y Bryn elements with something new or seek another guardian for this iconic layout?

Bon courage mon ami,

Bill

The layout is mostly fixed Bill, except for the colliery which can be dismantled, also the Station.
It hasn’t run for a long time so I have no plan at the moment, there’s a lot of area to fill in with a new layout, a cameo might work, Chris Nevard does a lot of those 

It will be a great shame to dismantle it all Phil, but as long as you replace it with something else things won,t seem so bad.
I have followed your journey for quite a few years now and you have my admiration for what you have achieved.
I, and I am sure, everyone else on the forum will wait with bated breath.

Do you want to give it another try with the pictures Phil, I might have fixed it.



Ed

 

Thanks Ed.

Be a shame if you dismantle it, but a new challenge could be fun.


Ed

Trouble is, it's a large area which would take a long time to fill O_o

I'm sure you'll think of something Phill that can incorporate the colliery and/or the station.

Without going back, did you ever publish a track plan.
 

See what you mean about a big space to fill.
 

The sides could be left and the sidings but there's still 18' to create !

If I had 18' I'd be modeling something based on minories, but that doesn't help you very much.


Ed

I can understand when a layout becomes "time served" Phil and you face the question "what to do with it" ?

I'm guessing your fire is lit by the building rather than by running the trains …………….?

You certainly can't destroy those cameos you mention so the obvious thing is to incorporate them into a new layout.  IMHO, using them as "dioramas" would somehow distract from their beauty in that they would be models of buildings, on a shelf, gathering dust rather than having a proper "raison d-etre" on a layout - in some way, connected to the world, "working miniatures".

I'm not you (in many ways, unfortunately) but if I were, I'd plan a new layout, ironing out those little snags or bits you didn't like too much on the old one, and design the buildings into a different style of layout.  As you say, they are way too good to languish on a shelf for the occasional photo-shoot …………………….

 

If I was 30 years younger and had the enthusiasm I had then then it would be a little different😳 If that was the case, looking at the layout plan, everything between the double track top left and right corners could be removed for a clean slate. A new totally different design would be needed, the track as it is, consists of flexi phosphor bronze and scratch built points, when I built them, chairs were not available, so the rails are soldered to copper clad sleepers, the problem with this method is that they don’t look authentic with close up photographs, today, I would go for ready made but close scale points. 

My scratch built station turned out good but because it’s at the back of the layout, it’s very difficult to photograph, this would need to come forward somehow?

The engine sheds, small signal box, goods shed, back factories etc could be re-used, the colliery however I think would need to go, the road and public bridges could possibly be used somewhere🫤


The spur track coming off the main line to the colliery and exiting to the main line far left would be left.
Having said all of this, getting together a plan that would work and also giving good cameo areas is not easy😳

Sounds like a plan 

You think so    O_o    :)

All I need is a plan in corporating all of the above O_o