Time for some details

It has been a long time since the last of the track was stuck down yet there are still so many unfinished mini projects on Loughtbury.

It is the details that can really transform a layout from a train set to a model railway, and I have spent a lot of time learning and trailing new techniques on this layout. This is the first time I have used proper ballast rather than the foam underlay and the first for using static grass and making my own trees.

Some things may not look absolutely perfect but they have been a great challenge and lots of fun, such as building the hills and tunnel and then realising the trains didn’t fit!!

I spent a recent weekend making some tiny posters and poster boards, along with creating platform departure boards and station signs for Rafferton. It was a lot of fiddly work that involved designing some posters on the computer and printing them to scale and then using 1mm plasticard for them to sit on.

I am really pleased with the departure boards as they are just 1mm by 4mm and give the impression of having tiny details of the next train. These details help make the stations look a bit busier and help bring the whole thing together. I am still looking into getting some station lights, but as I am not too fussed about LEDs it has been a fruitless challenge so far.

Watch this space for more!

Other details that have been recently added have been some ground level shunting signals. I was going to try and make these myself, but then I found some awesome 3D printed ones available online that look the business. I just need to glue them straight!