Beechcroft Model railway - #45. …..The Tunnel Portal!

#hornbyrailways , #modelrailways , #bachmann , #modeltrains , #oogauge
Almost time for the Goods Yard… but just one more job to finish - my nemesis, the Tunnel Portal!.
I’ve had some great suggestions and ideas from the earlier video so I thought I would tackle the tunnel area and finish it once and for all. It may not be perfect but I do think it’s better than it was. I can’t believe how much time I’ve spent on this area but when something doesn’t look right it really niggles me!
Hopefully I can this to bed now and start working on the new area….
Thanks for watching.
/ @grandadstrainroom-pn3tt
andyjxf​@yahoo.co.uk

[@Sandlingjunction]

You've done a lovely job. The portal looks great well worth the persevering, Paul

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks Paul. It’s been bugging me for a while! Regards, Andy 👍

[@_RandomPea]

Yes that looks brilliant. Nice work 🎉

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you ☺️

[@ianhughes-zf1ll]

Great job looking brilliant

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 👍

[@carlsonrobb]

That looks great! Wonderful job!!

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 😊

[@grahamparkyn1590]

That’s looking loads better big 👍

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 👍

[@kelvinVAUGHAN]

Yes you can say that is finished. I would happily sign that off.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank goodness! 👍

[@derekloudon8731]

Much better 👍

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 👍

[@Amberlea-Model-Railway]

Looks really good Andy, well worth the effort. Chris

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Cheers Chris. It’s been proper niggling me! 👍

[@aussiefrenchman-hobbytable9960]

Very nicely done 😎😎😎

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks very much 😊

[@fentoncentral-ngauge]

Finally got there mate. Looks much better now 👍

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Cheers. At last! 👍

[@mewsdo]

I think you've got the tunnel mouth looking really good now... a good blend of nature and man-made brickwork. Enjoying your videos very much!

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks very much 👍

[@barryturner2916]

Darker tunnel portal bends in better and tick it off as `job done`, well done all looking great. Regards Barry.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks Barry. All ticked off! Regards, Andy

[@uncle_monty]

Beautiful work.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 😊

[@peterwoodley7473]

It's looking pretty good now

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Cheers 👍

[@EssexThameside]

I like it Andy, I like it a lot 😊 I agree with George, about the workman's hut as said before and general bits and pieces. They never clear up after themselves 😊 Also, how about a couple of dead/dieing/fallen trees on the hillside to take off that pristine look? ...Later... Great video mate. Brian

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Cheers Brian. Yep, just needs ‘scruffying’ up a bit! 👍

[@CharlesPruden]

That is looking a whole lot better. its very impressive. just a few final additions to add later for the area would be track side signage/signaling. it really does have that forest feel happening now.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks. You were so right about it needing more trees! 👍

[@rogerdunn5988]

Loving this build.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks very much.

[@mels1811]

Excellent video

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you 👍

[@Tonyd5996]

Wow! That’s really good, you’ve really got that tunnel portal looking very realistic. Well done.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks very much 👍

[@HentisRail]

That looks great. Lovely job done. Very scenic round there. 😊

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks very much 👍

[@wickedwitch99]

Love it. Your layout looks awesome. Great job of blending in the tunnel portal and scenery.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you very much 😊

[@107nthGalaxy]

nice job

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks 👍

[@georgethomas7814]

Tick it off for now. I still think you need to go back and cut space for a jigger hut and trackside crew. I gave my reasons before. But again I would say the two small workmans huts would suite that isolated spot out on the layout. If you think there is an era issue then make the huts abandoned. Like the lots of trees on the hill. Like the portal shape. Like that corner track design. It does tick a lot of boxes for now.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks George. Yep, workman huts are definitely going in there 👍

[@mathewevans5690]

Looks great. Did you mention you were going to change the back drop behind? Be nice to see the hill continuing in the that some how

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thanks. Yes, I’m hoping to replace it at some point with one that has more of a hill theme 👍

[@steveprince8390]

I think you chose the right options looks good. I know you always say that you dont think your scatter for grass is very good but I like it - I wonder if you could briefly list which scattters u tend to use to build up your basic grass....you always pass over quickly on time lapse 🙂

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you. Yes of course. I always use Woodland Scenics scatters. I start with some sieved, dried soil from the garden as a base. I then use WS Fine Turf soil, Fine Turf earth blend and Fine Turf weeds in patches. I then cover in Blended Turf green blend. These are all applied onto neat PVA. Once dried I scatter over Course Turf - olive green and medium green and seal everything with PVA/water mix

[@steveprince8390]

@@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt Thanks for the info much appreciated

[@GamingFnaticYT]

Layouts looking good so far, quick question though about the turntable, your Heljan turntable is DCC operated right? Well if so what decoder do you use for it? I’m thinking about investing in a Heljan turntable for my layout regardless of if I’ve got two turntables already but they need fixing, but I’ll ask a model shop to help me with them as the plastic on them is bent slightly and I don’t particularly wanna break them. Please let me know what decoder you use for it, I would also ask about dcc sound decoders aswell, but I’m unsure if any hornby one would work with other manufacturers models and with a gaugemaster prodigy controller or not, trying to learn all this new stuff, as I’m planning on equipping most of my fleet aswell with sound over time. Thanks for the responses etc so far, truly appreciate it.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Thank you. No problem. The Heljan turntable is wired directly into my DCC bus for power but for now i’m operating it via the supplied control unit - I’ve not yet been brave enough to look at decoder control!

[@GamingFnaticYT]

@@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt okay thanks, I’ve recently had a look at the manual on gaugemasters website and it just shows that a control box comes with it and doesn’t mention a decoder or anything but I’ll keep doing my research, aswell I found quite a few MDF buildings etc including the ones you’ve got and im planning on using them rather than plastic or resin kits, for my layout, as some of the ones I’ve got may need some extra work doing to them but we’ll see. The main advantage tho we these MDF kits are that they’re sturdy and I’d be able to make them exactly how I’d like them which is great. Will be posting some videos and photos on my channel as soon as I can, I’ll leave a link in this comment if that’s okay with you, it’s a great hobby this and definitely an investment aswell, so i wonder like other people why some say it’s dying when in my opinion I think it’s only just getting started especially with all the exiting new things coming to the hobby aswell.

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

@GamingFnaticYT I like the MDF buildings as well. Yes, do send a link for your channel. I’d love to see it 👍

[@GamingFnaticYT]

@@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt this is the link to it youtube.com/@Callums_Model_RailwayYT?si=doFT1N7qH_nc7sw2, haven’t posted anything yet. Planning on to. I’ve got some really nice models from various manufacturers even some metal diecast kit built models.

[@CockneyRooster]

Looks really good mate good video

[@Grandadstrainroom-pn3tt]

Cheers 👍