STEP BY STEP

1

I used a 3ft 6in by 1ft 6in baseboard. The main flat ground areas are raised 25mm off the top, using 15mm thick Woodland Scenics risers with two layers of 5mm foamboard on top. Black marker was used to rough out the plan.

2

In the foreground the risers/declines drop the track level down to the baseboard top on the main track and the stub siding. A couple of continuous ‘beads’ of Foam Tack Glue are sufficient to hold the risers in place.

3

Ground level was varied by reducing the layers of foamboard or by using two of the incline pieces, one reversed, as at the top of this view. For economy, much of the rest is supported on strips of foamboard.

4

Once the top surface of 5mm foamboard was in place, it was secured with Foam Tack Glue and held with Foam Nails until the glue set. I marked the positions of the main buildings with chalk.

5

With the track laid – Peco ‘OO’ bullhead with Code 75 flat-bottom medium radius points – I built the loading dock from strips of 2mm mount card and Velo-set quicksetting PVA.

6

I made this wall from Metcalfe Models stone paper glued to a double layer of mount card. The building is a Walthers plastic kit modified to fit. Crates and barrels are from Harburn Hamlet and Merit (Peco).

7

At the other end of the board, the road is 2mm mount board edged with Wills cobbles. The area between the cobble strips was surfaced with Woodland Scenics Smooth-it, sanded then painted with Omen Miniatures acrylics (MR279).

8

The wall alongside Shrub Hill Road was made from mount card and covered with Scalescenes download-and-print brick paper. The ‘border’ piece was laminated onto a plain piece. The ornate gatepost tops are made from card.

9

The waterway is varnish over plaster, painted with Omen acrylic greens and browns. The bridge is made from Plastruct girders and strip. I wanted it to be obvious that the bridge was the reason that the branch was weight-restricted.

10

I lined the canal with Scalescenes dock and harbour sheet. Buildings were constructed separately and tested in place at intervals in the search for other possible photographic angles – see p75 to find out how I built the warehouse.

11

I used three of the Dapol Easi-fix GWR round post home signals. These were the most expensive parts (RRP £33.50) but I really like them. The baseboard had to be drilled for the bases – a drill around 14mm diameter is needed.

12 Dapol’s signals are easy to install. You need a 12V DC power supply (you can buy them from Gaugemaster). The red and black wires are the positive and negative wires, respectively, and the yellow wires go to the switch.

13

To control the signals, all you need are the sprung centre, momentary contact types. You can buy packs of five from Hobbies (RRP £7.95, www.hobbies.co.uk). I mounted them in a small panel which I made from styrene sheet.

14

The pub lighting was just two grain-of-wheat bulbs, which I wired to a controllable 12V transformer. Running at 12V blew two bulbs so I turned the power down to 8V, which also made the night scene much more subtle.

15

The electrical test was successful. Though they all look the same in the photograph, the green and red indications work well to the human eye. In order to get a hemmed-in look, I started to add low-relief and flat structures round the edge.

16

I decided to add a mill as one of the buildings round the edge and I modelled it on memory of the sluice under the Lino Works at Staines which I remember from childhood. The rushing water is a piece of aquarium filter wool.

17

I coloured the canal bank with Woodland Scenics Turf. I painted the landscape with PVA and sprinkled it in place, trying to vary the shades. I applied scatter along the sidings in the yard too, to look a little unkempt.