ScR steam in the 50's

I am in the process of rebuilding my layout, based on two stations on the Far North Section of the old Highland Railway- Inverness- Wick- set in a slightly alternative 1950's decade. The stations to be modelled are Helmsdale and a terminus copied from Thurso, but with a beefed-up engine shed, to add a bit more play value;-). Construction started at the end of last year, and replaced a similar style set-up I had worked on for twenty years off and on, with The Mound junction and a terminus based on Kylesku. For various reasons this had run its course, so the decision was taken to start afresh. The last build has a layout thread on RmWeb under Kylesku and The Mound if anyone's interested, and I can post some pics of it here  if wanted.
At the moment the new build has its track work completed- a hidden continious run with some loops ant the two stations in a raw state waiting buildings, which are being worked on now,Once they are in place I am going to do the scenic side, but am trying to keep to one task at a time- far too easily sidetracked for my own good, and one of the reasons the last layout took so long.

Anyway, here are some shots of things as they stand- the pictures should show the general scheme of things- two each of the terminus and through station. Helmsdale had a small loco depot and turntable till the end of steam, and had more operational interest than might be expected for a small rural backwater.

Some very impressive trackwork there Ben.

Plenty of scope for operation.

Some very impressive backscenes too.

Very nice Ben.   Look forward to watching your progress.:thumbs

Impressive, Richard.  :thumbs   I like the way the back scene seems to fall away.

If this is as good as Kylesku I will be watching with interest.

As you say Ben - rather more than you'd expect for a sleepy highland station …………..:roll::roll:

The heather from the hill behind the control panel seems to be encroaching on the tracks ………….time to call the estate manager methinks

Lovely stuff and I too must comment on the very appropriate and stunning backscenes.  What are they ?

Looking good Ben!

Phil

Thanks for the kind replies, and I hope that I manage to make future work as well received as the last layout was. I was overwhelmed by the general response to Kylesku and The Mound, and in fact hesitated for over a year before I first posted pictures of it, and thought that it would be of a small interest for a week or so and then vanish from the public eye. As it was, it featured off and on on RmWeb  for the best part of three years, and the exposure did more to improve both my output and quality of work in that time than the previous fifteen years of solo modelling, and proved to me ,as a natural lone-wolf modeller, the benefits of web sites such as these for improving ones game.

When I started this current layout one of the aims was to correct various things that I had failed to do on the earlier one, and also to incorporate some of the advances of recent years, and the backscene was an important part of this work. Kylesku had none at all for years- my artistic ability being basically nil, and photostitch programmes  a thing of the future- but eventually a smaller version of the Helmsdale scene was added. This threw up several ptoblems due to it being fitted to landscaping that was in place, and never worked as well as it could. So, this time the backscene has gone in first and the scenery will follow. They come from a range done by Art Printers and International Models also sell them. I used the 15" version, with the too verdant bottom 3" cut off, to give enough sky to help with photography- this was another drawback of the last set-up- digital photography changed the way images could be taken and processed, and this is another aspect that is being incorporated into the build. The last one had a smaller one, which wasn't enough to get a good shot, and eventually an extra layer of sky was added which meant some electronic "painting" was needed to blend the two layers. Photoshopped backgrounds were not an option- beyond my techie abilities for one thing and the railway room gets some nice natural light which gives a far more authentic "feel" than some called-up skyscene.


There is not much point going overboard with pictures until some more scenic work is done, but here are a couple of the station end of Helmsdale. I have only modelled a small part of the platforms, to allow for some plain track to give some idea of space, and feel that platforms can overwhelm a small layout, esp. if a more rural scene is being created. Of course, I have gone the opposite extreme with the terminus station, but is needed here to satisfy my shunting wagons around desire, and it is more of the nature of the terminus to have the platform  modelled, certainly with this station.







 
The run-ins of the two stations are on a loop behind the backscenes and adjoin each other, so only one can be worked at a time which is not really a drawback as this is a solo operation, and it is this track arrangement that has enabled me to get the two stations tucked into the space available-c 11' x9'- and manage to avoid too many tight curves.  A photo here shows the arrangement.





Hope this sets things out a bit to explain something of what I'm aiming towards.

Richard

What you've done so far looks very good, Richard.  :thumbs

I see you are also suffering the perennial challenge of lumpy back scenes.  :twisted:

I love that sweeping curve through the station Ben.

I also wonder how a man in Thurso ended up with a beer mat from the Wheelhouse in Surrey …………………:roll::roll:

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:

What you've done so far looks very good, Richard.  :thumbs

I see you are also suffering the perennial challenge of lumpy back scenes.  :twisted:

Yes, the only bit that wrinkled, at the most important viewpoint- it won't be too much of a problem in finished shots though- a dabble with the smudge brush will blur it away. The backscenes were fixed down with Photomount onto mount board, and I think it appeared as a result of me being too impatient to put the curved board in place -should have waited overnight for things to dry properly!


Richard

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I love that sweeping curve through the station Ben.

I also wonder how a man in Thurso ended up with a beer mat from the Wheelhouse in Surrey …………………:roll::roll:

The station itself has curves through the platforms though mine start a bit earlier. There is a nice small website section showing the station at various times- http://www.helmsdale.org/station.html  takes you there, and you can see what I am trying to do. The shed area has been shifted about a bit to suit the space available, but that's normal for model railways, in my case, I'm afraid.

The beer mat came back from Canada, it must be thirty plus years ago now:shock: from a relatives trip there, and it has been earning its keep since! There's not much better than a bottle of good beer and some creative modelling work to keep me pleased;-)…..

Sorry for the disjointed replies- I haven't worked out how to get multiple quotes into one reply, or how to post links for that matter, but I daresay I'll work it out somehow, given time.


Oh, the overgrown heather was the results of trying shredded paper as a bulker- a once off, I can assure you- after that it was crunched-up kitchen roll- far tidier! The surface was Sculptamould, and is a easy, clean way  to  apply a plaster type surface- one coat and its as hard as nails.

Richard

Thanks Ben. :thumbs

Unfortunately, the Helmsdale link doesn't work here in France ………………….. is there something missing ?

Just try Helmsdale.org Peter.

Just arrived at this layout.
I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop.
I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop.

Looking forward to more pictures and progress.

[user=394]ddolfelin[/user] wrote:

Just arrived at this layout.
I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop.
I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop.

Looking forward to more pictures and progress.

Yes OK DD - you've made your point !!!

On edit:  Sorry - me being stupid - the penny's just dropped - I get your point now but the echo should have been in smaller print …………..:oops::oops::oops::oops::oops:

I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop.

I get your point now but the echo should have been in smaller print …………..

 I echo what others have said about that mountain scene backdrop

Careful Peter - or you will set him off yodelling too.

He's not Frank Ifield in disguise is he ? :roll:

I'm terribly sorry that your thread has been hijacked, Ben.
Unfortunately I have no control over them.