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Introduction
Stafford Central is a fictitious location somewhere in the West Midlands during the last 15 years or so.
Running stock includes DRS, EWS, Fastline and Freightliner with other modern stock depending on what takes my fancy - all stock is recent Bachmann or Hornby with a little Vi Trains & Heljan at times thrown in for good measure. There is a preserved railway nearby which occasionally runs excursions onto the main lines (thus allowing another excuse to run anything!). The layout is OO gauge using PECO Code 100 track and located in the loft. The overall space available for the railway is approx 7 metres by 5 metres.
The railway is designed for my enjoyment and is not run prototypical. I have no interest in scratch building, or fine detailing at this time – if I can buy something and that makes my life easier I will. I make full use of EBay and I run what I want to run how I want to run. The railway is operated using Lenz DCC.
The project started in December 2003 with the first year spent laying flooring, wiring the loft and planning, more planning and even more planning – I should have better prepared the loft but cut some corners to allow me to “play” – I felt the brunt of those cut corners in extreme weather when the loft could be very hot or very cold, but that was prior to installing the alu foil insulation - the first winter with this added made the experience so much better - the temperature in the loft never dropped below 10 degrees.
Track laying started in October 2005 and was pretty much finished come Summer 2006 (though I do seem to add another section from time to time) – the quality of track laying could have been better in places. The majority of 50 or so PECO Insulfrog points are electrically operated and were wired using PECO point motors as I went along, with these being connected to Lenz LS150’s or LS110’s to enable operation from the Lenz handheld. I am also putting in signals and lighting to add colour and spectacle.
Scenery is being built periodically as the mood takes me and I am quite pleased with the general results. Buildings are from Hornby’s Skaledale range in the main, with many lit using LED’s.
I had no previous experience and am learning as I go along mainly by trial and error and with much research online. I subscribe to Model Rail and have acquired the majority of back issues for inspiration.
My local model shop is
A.P Models in Newport, Shropshire, a shop I can’t recommend enough; both Paul and Angela are always more than helpful and accommodating. I have visited many model shops over the last few years but none have come close!
Would I do things differently…….always but then there is next time!