Depot #8 by Riverbank Railways (fictional 1980s / early 1990s depot)

[Adrian]

Hey all, new to the forum and thought I might show my layout progress here - it's my first so be gentle! Back in the hobby after 25 years so learning all the latest techniques and practicing my skills on a small depot before going for the bigger layout. I love the variety of skills you have to learn for a model railway, none of which were in my skillset when I started last year, specifically I am very much not a carpenter Progress is slow but steady, I like taking my time to delve in detail and do it right rather than rushing. Plus between work and a toddler I usually have only an hour or so in the evenings. I'll keep posting major updates here and pop a few how-to videos of techniques in the tips section  

The depot is totally fictional, set in the 80s era, will be completely filthy as per the custom of the time and will sometimes see UK loco visitors, as I am just now starting my Irish collection (a lifetime ambition of mine). I'd welcome any comments / feedback / tips you might have and will get you caught up with some of the highlights so far...Enjoy!

Initial Plan

Profesional wiring diagram

Construction in my office

Baseboard and control panel added

 

 

 

 

 

Acrylic control panel - had a lot of fun drilling these holes with a black and decker!

All connections underneath and to every section of track are soldered, I tried the blue clips but wasn't happy with their reliability

The control panel worked out as I had hoped...

...and looks cool in the dark

Made up some cardboard mockups to get an idea of the final layout and proportions

Sealed and painted the mdf to prevent swelling when all the ballast glue goes down (maybe it's not needed but I wanted to play it safe). Also marked out the areas for the concrete hardstands, a well as point motors, relays etc

Started on the concrete using DAS modelling clay which is very easy to work with

Sanded and sprayed in a mixed concrete colour - I used enamel: Humbrol Matt 27:28:121:34 in the approx ratio 2:6:6:4 and thinned 1:1

Rest of the photos are the final result after weathering, powders and oil added. To be honest I was delighted with the result, my first attempt at something like this

I'll fire this process in the tips section as well if it might help others - I did 15 x 1 min "short" videos for YouTube & Twitter which I'll stitch together.

And it looks even better with the orange and blacks

Cheers!

[David Holman]

An impressive start, Adrian. Sensible approach too, so deserves to do well.

 Love the weathering on the depot floor and intrigued by the DAS clay. Use it myself, but how did you get from the rails being completely covered over to the neat channels in the later photos?

[murphaph]

A very impressive start. The concrete does indeed look very realistic. Looking forward to more updates.

[Galteemore]

This is very impressive Adrian. And you’re quite right ~is amazing what skills you can develop on the way. Although to be fair it looks as if you had quite a few skills already honed!

[Rob]

Very impressive! The oily, dirty look under the shed looks very lifelike!

[flange lubricator]

Looks great you have made a great start .

Edited December 6, 2021 by flange lubricator

[ttc0169]

Excellent progress so far,the concrete area looks great,look forward to the updates.

[jhb171achill]

Absolutely superb. 
 

if that is a FIRST attempt, it promises of amazing stuff to come!

[Adrian]

Oh wow, what a response! Thanks for all the comments and encouragement everyone
 

Quote

how did you get from the rails being completely covered over to the neat channels in the later photos?

Hey @David Holman, with lots of learning! I cut along the inside of the rails with a scalpel and then used a metal ruler to cut along the channel, then dug it out with the scalpel, then I learned that the channels were too narrow which caught the wheels and I had left the surrounding clay a little too high which bumped them up and broke the contact (this is after spraying ). It was fine for stay alive fitted locos but not good on older ones. I had to resand and make the channels wider and respray again (which actually worked out well as the concrete ended up with two different textures). Then after weathering I learned that you gotta clean the inside top of the rails as well, as the locos were depending on that for contact (especially older Lima wheels which are not flat but at an angle). Then I learned not to let the varnish pool too much or it would lift the wheel again as it passed over lol.

So trial and error on the first attempt but once figured out, the second hardstand went much smoother. I'll have a video up soon which shows the technique so will plop a link down here for ya

[irishthump]

Lovely work there Adrian!

The baseboards and woodwork look very sharp and the concrete hardstanding on the engine shed looks spot on. really looking forward to seeing this layout progress.

[Geeb]

thats awesome Adrian you are quite tallented, i get terrified when i see the wiring diagrams but i guess im gona have to figure them out. thats exactly the idea i had for my own command center as such again didnt think there was gona be so much wiring lol i never soldered a thing in my life but i got one today from the amazon man so im gona practice on some fine cable before i touch resisters and cable for the lights and such before i move onto points and important stuff,

love the layout so far man i look forward to following it

[Adrian]

43 minutes ago, Geeb said:

thats awesome Adrian you are quite tallented, i get terrified when i see the wiring diagrams but i guess im gona have to figure them out. thats exactly the idea i had for my own command center as such again didnt think there was gona be so much wiring lol i never soldered a thing in my life but i got one today from the amazon man so im gona practice on some fine cable before i touch resisters and cable for the lights and such before i move onto points and important stuff,

love the layout so far man i look forward to following it

Thanks dude! I was the same, never soldered anything before this time last year, there's a bit of fear at the start, but as you say, if you start practicing on random bits of wire, getting a single LED working etc you'll be flying. That's what I did anyway - here's some of my earliest experiments...

* https://photos.app.goo.gl/VfP7U8AKyb8oATDx9
* https://photos.app.goo.gl/NhUH1XjLJSMfHEwh8

Quick tip, when soldering flux makes everything easier

 

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@David HolmanHere's the vid for cutting out the grooves in the rails - one thing to note, they need to be 1.5 to 2 times wider than what you're seeing here - as I learned!

 

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Adrian

[Geeb]

I just subbed up to your channel bro I’ll blast trough them all tomorrow evening before I attempt and of the delicate work, and yep have the flux ordered that’s due tomorrow, the post man must love me these days thanks again Adrian

[Adrian]

12 hours ago, Adrian said:

So trial and error on the first attempt but once figured out, the second hardstand went much smoother. I'll have a video up soon which shows the technique so will plop a link down here for ya

Got the videos organised and have them in a playlist for easy watching - they're quick and to the point - 15 mins in total - have fun! 

Posted here: 

 

[Rush and Lusk]

!'m learning so much from you Adrian - excellent work. 

[Adrian]

17 hours ago, Rush and Lusk said:

!'m learning so much from you Adrian - excellent work. 

Delighted to hear that

[Adrian]

Oh I’m loving this! Evening time at the depot after fitting the MM 071 sound chip and the IRM A class EMD sound chip to my new MM 073 and IRM A class 017 - the sound quality is way better than I expected, full of bass and sounds even better in real life - the rail squeal effect is my favourite

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Adrian

[flange lubricator]

Excellent video very realistic .

[Adrian]

Ballasting has commenced! 

 

[jhb171achill]

Much as I like the GM sound on Murphy 121 / 141 / 181 classes, I think the IRM "A" sound is by far the most realistic yet - and I remember both 141 and "AR" engines in real life from new!

[Adrian]

Yep, maybe so, the 071 just does it for me cos it’s the one I remember most from being a kid and getting the train in the 90s (born in 1980 in Carlow so didn’t see too many A classes) - for me that’s “the” train sound  and gives me goosebumps 

[Adrian]

Having fun with ballasting, first section is gluing now. I love the creativity you can unleash  

Going for a brownish mix around the main areas of the depot with plenty of variation, second pic shows an oil tanker siding a bit away from the main track work, so different ballast mix

[Adrian]

Delighted with these class 121 sound chips for Christmas , checked with all the Irish suppliers but eventually got them from Roads & Rails in the UK.

1st is #127 with the newer 645 engine sounds, 2nd is #132 with the older 567 engine - enjoy!

 

 

[JasonB]

It's hard to beat the whine and the sound of pure power from an 071, but the 567 engine comes in a close second for me. 

[Adrian]

23 hours ago, JasonB said:

It's hard to beat the whine and the sound of pure power from an 071, but the 567 engine comes in a close second for me. 

Yep total agree, that 567 engine is very unique, I’m delighted with it

[Dave]

Excellent layout. The hardstanding is very realistic. Well done.

[Adrian]

Thank you Dave! Missed your comment so sorry for the late reply

Lots of work done in the last few weeks so stay tuned for an update this week

[Noel]

Wow that's an amazing return to the hobby after 25 years.  I returned in 2014 after a similar absence and found things had moved on so much since I had left, so much new stuff and materials to learn. Well done, progress so far looks excellent. Layout looks fab. Btw, those carpentry skills looked spot on too. Enjoy layout, its like gardening, and will never end nor complete, but the journey is so enjoyable. 

I suspect none of us would have got into or back into the hobby without Patrick Murphy's successful business endeavours.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Noel

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, Noel said:

Wow that's an amazing return to the hobby after 25 years.  I returned in 2014 after a similar absence and found things had moved on so much since I had left, so much new stuff and materials to learn. Well done, progress so far looks excellent. Layout looks fab. Btw, those carpentry skills looked spot on too. Enjoy layout, its like gardening, and will never end nor complete, but the journey is so enjoyable. 

I suspect none of us would have got into or back into the hobby without Patrick Murphy's successful business endeavours.

Tis he who got me back into it, having abandoned it in my very early 20s..... I just had to have a 141. Up to only a short few years ago I was more than happy with a large collection of German and Austrian narrow gauge! "Dugort Harbour" was actually originally conceived (baseboard-wise) as an 009 set-up..........

[Adrian]

On 27/1/2022 at 10:30 AM, Noel said:

Wow that's an amazing return to the hobby after 25 years.  I returned in 2014 after a similar absence and found things had moved on so much since I had left, so much new stuff and materials to learn. Well done, progress so far looks excellent. Layout looks fab. Btw, those carpentry skills looked spot on too. Enjoy layout, its like gardening, and will never end nor complete, but the journey is so enjoyable. 

I suspect none of us would have got into or back into the hobby without Patrick Murphy's successful business endeavours.

Thank you very much Noel, appreciate those comments! Especially the carpentry which was never my strong suit

Just finished a video series on creating oily, grimy ballast at the fuelling point - if you're interested check it out over in the tutorials

 

[Adrian]

Phase 2 is complete! So in this phase I concentrated on getting the ballast in place with a base level of weathering and some trackside details. I've gone for a really dirty, oily 1980s depot look, with lots of spilled oil around the tracks as well as oil leaks from the locos along the most used routes in the depot. Things are much cleaner nowadays but they really didn't bother cleaning anything in the 80s! Have included a set of reference photos as well that I was working from.

I also experimented with point motors, manual levers and point rodding to see how it would look - it turned out great but the point rodding was very fiddly (especially as I had already laid the ballast and had to dig some of it up). In the end I decided that in our depot, the last of the old point rodding was about to be removed and replaced with manual levers, and some of the previous point rodding was just lying around, rusting with time. This will eventually be overgrown with grass and weeds etc. in the next phase.

Honestly, I'm delighted with this result One thing I found as well is that as most phones have cameras at the top, if you hold the phone upside down you can get a much more realistic perspective Also, reversing the camera and placing the phone in unusual places can give you great, normally unseen shots looking out from the back of the layout - just a quick tip for any folks reading this

In the next phase (Feb - Apr) I hope to complete: 

1. Backscenes
2. Fuelling point
3. Level crossing road surface
4. Static grass and overgrown areas
5. Weathering of the sheds
6. Practice weathering on some old locos and body shells that I have - no way I'm starting on my lovely Irish locos!

As always, I welcome any feedback / thoughts / ideas people have - enjoy the photos and the short video at the end!

 

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Reference photos I was working from:

 

Looking across the depot from the fuelling point into the setting sun (got this shot totally by accident when the phone looked directly at the light bulb )

 

Looking through the engine shed with light reflecting on oil stains

 

#183 in the headshunt with old rails and the last of the point rodding still in place before being replaced in our fictitious depot

 

Obsolete point lever frames and rusty point rodding, with manual point levers, a relay box, manhole and rusted rails

 

This siding in the foreground will be a little overgrown and used for fuel tanker deliveries - I'll probably add some fuel pumps into the ground for pumping fuel from the tankers to the fuelling point

 

#073 sitting on the fuel point, with oil stains reflecting the light

 

The other section of the layout (initially just for loading locos out of sight, but I decided I might as well practice here too and make this section more modern) has electronic point motors, with cable trunking emerging from a (future) tunnel and exposed wiring to the motors and relay boxes

 

Note the oil stains where locos idle, waiting for release from the sidings, between the sidings will have some weeds and static grass added in the next phase. The rusty siding to the lower right is no longer used and will be totally overgrown.

 

Cable bundles running from the trunking to the relay boxes, these will also be overgrown with weeds

 

Another unusual perspective, I love the foreshortening effect on curves when seen from this angle

 

 

Murphy Models class 071 #073 on a short move from the headshunt into the fuelling point

 

[Noel]

Superb results.

[Rob]

Excellent work- really impressive

[DoctorPan]

Stunning, simplely stunning and an impressive replica of real life.

[meathdane]

Amazing stuff! the attention to detail here along with the track weathering is just wow!