Longstone Maintenance Shed

Longstone Maintenance Shed - 2016

(20th layout)

Loco No.1 "Proteus" brings in two four wheeled coaches at the end of the day.

The trial Gn15 layout was in the form of an operational diorama of a "maintenance shed" or running shed.  The layout was on a 40" x 12" baseboard intended for a 009 scale layout, but it would give my wife and I experience in the new scale with new materials and techniques.  

The baseboard and track showing the two sidings to the shed and the tiny single track hidden fiddle yard area.

The track was Peco Streamline 0-16.5, but I had to use standard "00 Setrack" compact turnouts to get the sidings into the shed building.  This didn't bother me as just about all the sleepers would be covered by ground cover.

The ground cover base being applied, it is a mix of sawdust, p.v.a., grey-brown acrylic paint and advanced lightweight filler.

The second building, an engineers office made with coffee-stirrers glued onto foam board with a thin mdf roof.  The valance is by York Modelmaking.

The layout features the maintenance shed building, a wooden office, a coal bunker and a water column, that is just about it, apart from two small trees, flowers and scrub made by my wife.

An estate wall was built along the back scene the layout a scenic border.

After I built an estate wall along the back of the layout, my wife painted distant trees onto the back scene.

Coal bunker made from an old 00 scale standard gauge wagon.

One tree was simply made out of a twig and ordinary 00 scale lichen with added foliage, the other is a much different affair.  Based on another garden twig for the trunk, we used eight 4mm scale Woodland Scenics Tree Armatures for the branches.  The plastic mounting pips were cut off, and a 3mm hole drilled up the trunk of each armature, then stiff garden wire was super glued in leaving 1/2" protruding.  These were then super glued into the twig at different points.   It was then dry brushed all over with acrylic grey.

The tree skeleton.

We then glued on Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage with clear adhesive, and then added a coarse leaf foliage glued on with p.v.a, (hoping it would all stick together!)

Completed tree.

Various other scenic items were tried, ordinary 4mm scale lichen, cut-up K&M hedges, foliage, dried and plastic flowers. 

General scene outside the shed sowing about 3/4 of the layout.

The buffer stop and water column.

No. 2 "Jiro" taking on water

Scene at the shed.  Interior details which can be seen here were made from a 1:24 garage kit.

"Jiro" arrives with bulkhead flat wagons.

Hunslet style Smallbrook Studio kit named "Triton" at the head shunt.