Planning out the station

Having done some experimentation on an old piece of track, and with the help of a friend, I have taught myself to solder again. It's taken a few evenings, but I now have the entire layout wired up with cab control. Now I can move on to planning the layout of the station. But before …

Code quality matters

We've all been there. Time is short, so just bash out a bit of code, and as long as it works we can move on. Code is for computers anyway, right? Who cares what it looks like? Actually, how our code is formatted can totally save our bacon later, and save us time in the …

Jesus’ authority

This is a sermon preached at St Peter & St Paul Shepton Mallet on Mark 11:27 - 12:17. Jesus enters our lives, as he entered Jerusalem, with authority. Our response should be submission. We should find our identity in him, the anchor in the storm, defining ourselves first and foremost as children of God. We should …

The importance of a role

At work the other day we were having one of those team-building sessions, led by an external 'facilitator' to help us get the best out of ourselves. A little cheesy at times, but there was one part that really made me sit up and think. At the beginning of the session he asked each of …

Two words that changed everything

Yesterday I was idly reading the latest posts on the Model Railway Forum, as you do, and found myself on a post about a wiring diagram for a DC layout. Nothing too extraordinary there. Until someone commented the following: I see nothing wrong with that as a starting layout. As you expand , then cab …

Base coat of brown

Here are a few photos of the latest progress on my railway layout. I've given the entire layout a base coat of brown acrylic paint, and then added a layer of green on top in a few places. It's still a little thin, so especially on the areas that are covered in newspaper you can …

Sticking with GWR

After much dithering, I've taken the plunge and started glueing my styrofoam base together. There's no going back now! I've also decided on a GWR colour scheme for the layout, and have started repainting some scenery in readiness. I've spent quite some time refining the styrofoam boards, adjusting them a millimetre at a time to …

Scenery paint test

Today I started testing out some paint for my model railway scenery. I bought a little pack of acrylic paints off eBay last week - not nearly enough to cover the entire layout, but enough to test out a few colours on an offcut. Bottommost on the picture opposite is green, applied pretty much neat …

Landscape refining and engine oiling

Another successful evening in my garage saw a host of subtle improvements to my styrofoam landscape, smoother running from my Smokey Joe 0-4-0 thanks to some sewing machine oil, and a slightly longer siding to accommodate a two-carriage DMU. I have to say, the blue is starting to get to me. It really needs painting. …

Landscaping with styrofoam boards

I want a hilly landscape for my model railway, sculpted from polystyrene foam (styrofoam). I went for a super-cheap solution - under-floor heating insulation! There are many forum posts and YouTube videos recommending various approaches to creating rolling landscapes for model railways. Most of them still rely on the track itself being directly attached to …