Bulding A Modular Model Railway - Episode 16: Yard Scenery!

The Modular Model Railway Returns and in Episode 16 I start work on the Yard Scenery!
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This video is proudly sponsored by:
DERAILS MODEL SHOP: derails.co.uk
and LCUT CREATIVE: lcut.co.uk
You've been asking and finally its here - a long awaited update from The Modular Model Railway! The layout is booked in for an exhibition appearance later this year and so that means I have to finish the scenery before it makes it's public debut!
This current series of videos will focus on the scenery around the station and yard modules as these are the focal point of the entire layout. Currently it's also the most bare section of the layout too so a lot of work needs to be done to bring these up to my usual standards.
In today's video I'll be taking care of the yard and locomotive depot which will include installing a coal dock, ash ballasting and plenty of detailing to bring this area of the heritage railway to life!
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Thanks for watching 🤩

[@_Zekken]

A heritage preservation railway is an excellent idea! I love so many different locos and rolling stock from many different eras and railway companies that I could never decide on what to theme it on. Making the theme "present day preservation" would solve that issue perfectly! Love it.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

It's definitely a nice way to combine a variety of locos and stock although it can become a little bit too much like a train set if you're not careful. (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing!) For me I'm trying to model a heritage railway realistically, so generally I stick to locos that you often see running at small preserved lines - plenty of industrial tank engines and maybe one largish flagship loco here or there. I wouldn't run the Hush Hush alongside Eurostar for example since it's not something you'd see on an actual heritage railway. Of course that's just my personal take on it and everyone is welcome to run whatever they want on their layout. I'll happily admit I have plenty of "Rule 1" running sessions too. Thanks for watching 😃

[@johnwalsh6844]

I'm sure it will go well. I belong to a British model railroad club in Chicago. We show once a year, it's a lot of work but it turns out just fine. We used to show it more before the COVID.

[@jamfjord]

A lot of people in the UK model North American outline, it's nice to hear it works the other way too. Best of luck with your next club show 👍

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Amazing, great to hear that a British themed layout gets exhibited in the US! I took my 009 layout to the same show last year to get some experience with exhibiting before I jumped in with the big layout this year so hopefully I'll have learnt from that. Thanks for watching 😃

[@intelligent_bean1805]

Best of luck at exhibition

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks, need to get it finished first! 😅

[@_RandomPea]

Good to see you back at it. Looks like I'm going to need to make more time to catch back up 🙂

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Absolutely, the hope now is to have new episodes in this series fairly regularly until the exhibition in September so they'll be coming thick and fast over the next few months! Thanks for watching 😃

[@tagsdm]

Great seeing this come back. The idea of a heritage railway is very appealing. We love the vintage ambiance, but modern signage, signaling and other devices are needed. Should be great! Those laser cut structures are really nice.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Yes it’s a nice combination of both the steam traction and vintage aesthetic but also those modern touches. It’s not something I feel we see often on heritage themed layouts. Thanks for watching 😃

[@gregorycoulson4174]

Sick! Can’t wait to see the results

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

There's definitely a lot of progress made in just this one episode!

[@Steve-tq6yc]

This looks bloody fantastic!!!!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Steve! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching 😃

[@Steve-tq6yc]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I can see several influences on your coaling point too. The new Hunslets would go a treat with this!

[@HemelDownModelRailway]

Looking forward to this 🙂🎉

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Hope you enjoyed the premiere! Thanks for watching 😃

[@timsully8958]

That was a very good advert for now to create a realistic yard but keep it simple and low cost. That method for creating the ash-rich ground around the engine shed is terrific as it is simple but the foam means you can cover a lot of ground quickly and effectively 😎 I was going to recommend the black thin foam board they do at hobby craft, as of course it is already dark and won’t show up if you get an accidental divot 😜 This laser cut kits look tidy too and o can see why you went for them 🤔 Cheers fella, great stuff 👍🍀🍻

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

I'm really pleased with the surface around the shed too. Black foam would work just as well, I just always have plenty of foam board around as a cheap and has tons of uses for model railways. But yes, the key thing is filling in the area as much as possible so you're not having to build up height by using loads of powder. Thanks for watching 😃

[@darkfrag83]

Already looking very much like what feels like my 2nd or even 3rd home.....😂 Can deffinately tell the inspiration.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

I'll take that as a win! Definitely inspired by the yard at Embsay but there's a lot of inspiration taken from Tunbridge Wells West too... even though they're practically opposite ends of the country 😅 Thanks for watching 👍

[@darkfrag83]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Spa Valley is deffinately on the to do list..... You will have to come visit North again at some point...

[@derekloudon8731]

What a superb transformation from an almost bare board. Fascinating to watch, well done!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it Derek! If you think this is good, just wait for the episodes to come. It only gets better from here. Thanks for watching 😃

[@cornwallnick]

Nice trailer 😊

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Just wait until you see the full video! 😁

[@loispadgett6306]

It is coming along every nicely. Enjoying seeing the progerss of the layout can't wait to see more. Thank you for sharing. GOD BLESS from America 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it! It's been great to get back to work on this layout, just need to finish it now so there's plenty more to come. Thanks for watching 😃

[@BrecknockValley]

Great video, lots of progress! Can’t wait for the next one.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Definitely, I'm hoping each video in the series will make a big visual difference! Of course if you really can't wait, the next episode is available right now for Members 😉 Thanks for watching 👍

[@IanCawthorne]

Great to see the modular railway back and making progress again. Looking forward to the next update already!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks! Likewise I enjoyed reading about Outhwaite in RM recently! Thanks for watching 😃

[@speleokeir]

Nice to see the progress on the modular layout. Looks really good and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it, the next episode is already out of for Members if you want to see it sooner rather than later. Thanks for watching 😃

[@olic9804]

I like this. Love the use of a contemporary Heritage Railway setting - makes for a very interesting layout!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks! I do feel like "Heritage Railway" is often an excuse for "run whatever I want on a fairly generic layout" (which in itself is absolutely fine) but it's certainly a fun challenge to try and model a preserved line somewhat realistically. Thanks for watching 😃

[@olic9804]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Agreed! It's nice to see it get represented in model form - had half a mind to do something similar and add an imported foreign loco as additional 70s touch

[@TheModellersMess]

So nice to see how a layout can really come together, best of luck with your exhibition and nice to see this layout make a return with even more progress.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks, I'm really excited to be back working on this layout again! There's lots more progress to come over the next few months too in preparation for the exhibition. Thanks for watching 😃

[@TheModellersMess]

I also love that the image for the pothole road kit from geoscenic is an image of Gofod tin’s yard. They couldn’t of picked a better image

[@c-historia]

great video!! 🚂

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching! 😃

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

Nice video mate. Great to see videos on your 00 gauge layout again! The details added really brought the scene to life. Great to hear that it's booked in for it's first exhibition. - Nicholas.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Nicholas, yeah I’m really trying to add as much detail as I can to the layout as I go rather than leave it all to the end. Will be exciting to see if I can reach the deadline for the exhibition too! Thanks for watching 😃

[@nicholasbishop3300]

Great to finally see another layout update. Fantastic progress Well done Nick Australia

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it Nick, it’s been great to get back to work on this particular layout! Thanks for watching 😃

[@theenigmaticgamer]

Nice to see you back and thanks for another excellent video. The yard area is looking superb!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

It's definitely great to have some more scenics on this particular layout - the plan now is to just keep adding more until it's all done! Thanks for watching 😃

[@LetsGo_41]

Great to see you working on the layout again. The effects you're getting from the materials you've used is excellent. I really liked the way safety fences look so I'll be looking to purchase some of those for my own layout. LCUT are only few miles down the road from me. It's small world. Great, update and looking forward to the next one. Tim.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Yeah I’m really pleased with how the yard turned out too and the safety barriers are a nice little detail that just finish it off. Thanks for watching 😃

[@41241ivatt]

With the buffer stop module you should make a little private railway

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

The bufferstop module has already been completed but it's not really long enough anyway. It literally just acts as a headshunt for when I run the modular layout as an end to end terminus instead of a circuit. Thanks for watching 😃

[@oscarwilkinson2096]

Great seeing this back, I love your videos, Keep making them so good!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Oscar, I put a lot of work into producing the videos so nice to know they’re appreciated! Thanks for watching 😃

[@TheGreatWesternGuy]

What a fantastic video! Great to see progress on the layout again! Thank you for sharing!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully there won’t be too long of a break before the next episode this time 😅 Thanks for watching 👍

[@adam_fordham]

Brilliant to see progress being made on the layout, it's really starting to look the part now and I do like the modern touches as well 😀

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Adam! Yes I'm very keen to make it easily recognisable as a modern day layout that happens to run steam, rather than it just become a generic looking branchline layout. Thanks for watching 😃

[@rossdark713]

Have you ever thought of using a ballast hopper to speed things up and get a better shape to the ballast?

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Every so often I consider it but with a modular layout I’m rarely ballasting large sections at a time and visually it doesn’t look any different so I’m happy doing it by hand for now. Thanks for watching 😃

[@theaveragemodeller]

Looking great! I'll be at the Spa Valley show in September with my HO North American layout "Underpass" so I'll see you there!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Amazing, hope you're looking forward to it! It'll be great to have an American layout at the exhibition. Thanks for watching and for becoming a Member too! 🤩

[@charliedowzell8622]

So glad these are back! Enjoying the vibe of your layout and I'm very keen to see this progress. :)

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Charlie! It's great to be back working on this layout again, having a deadline is exactly the push I need to get it finished. Thanks for watching 😃

[@paulisnotonfire]

Really nice progress there, yard scene looks really well done. Think I've got that same loco boiler kicking about on mine as well Cheers

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

It's a nice little item isn't it! Works really well with a basic coat of paint to make it look like something that's being worked on. Thanks for watching 😃

[@thetrainguy4797]

I hope I’m going to the the model show!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Awesome, hopefully see you there! Thanks for watching 😃

[@awesomealbertt1150]

Wow! Two sponsors in one video! This channel is really progressing!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

I think there were two sponsors for the 009 Layout series too. But the channel has definitely been attracting more attention lately which is definitely thanks to all you guys who continue to enjoy the videos! Thanks for watching 😃

[@thebritishengineer8027]

The signal box, water tower and little brick building are "orrid". I only have two Austrian Narrow Gauge water towers, my first Signal Box will probably be the far box at Crewe's heritage centre.... However I do have some rather nice brick buildings that may fit. The weigh bridge office is a little bigger than what you have but looks pretty close or maybe a brick plate layers hut. I don't mind donating a few items to the cause... let me know.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Each to their own, I quite like the work I've done on the structures and for me they fit the theme of a small heritage railway rather nicely. Thanks for watching 👍

[@thebritishengineer8027]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy No criticism of your ability I can assure you, only of the quality of some of the models currently on offer to work with. My thing is precision 3D printing and apparently I got some of my stuff right, the “scale-four” society are even happy to use my offerings straight from the packaging…. If you do need a few bits, I’m completing a comprehensive 1920’s coal yard everything from coal staithes, weigh bridge, sacks even a sack elevator. Quite a few of the production tests are just gathering dust, yours if they can help you out… Toodels.

[@willbreckinridge8010]

Man, I love watching these, will this be a weekly thing? I might become a channel member just to watch them early :)

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Not quite weekly, I'm still going to keep them fairly regular but generally I'll release each video once the next episode is complete, if that makes sense. Becoming a member is definitely the best way to stay up to date and there's also extra behind the scenes photos from the layout I share along the way too. Thanks for watching 😃

[@MatthewDawkinsUK]

Great work! Out of interest (because I'll be doing something similar on my own layout at some point), what's the logic behind the different choices of material used to cover over the ground? Why clay in some places and filler in others? Is there a difference? I was thinking I might use Sculptamold to infill my goods yard, seeing as I'll be using that already for the landscape. But would you recommend using clay around the track itself, and if so why? Thanks for sharing your experience! Oh, and great to see you promoting LCut, I bought a goods shed from them and it's fab!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Thanks Matthew. So the reason I used clay for the inset track is just because it holds its shape better than the filler I was using. Just makes it much easier to cut the flange grooves. I imagine you could do it with filler or sculptamold too, it might be a bit more messy and you might have to cut the grooves after it dries but I can’t say for certain as I’ve never tried it myself. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

[@WickedMuis]

I'm curious how you tackle, if you use that, the use of DCC on a modular layout, with track detection, turnouts and signals, since it's modular and you like to make them interchangeable.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Hi there, for power there's a DCC bus that runs underneath every module with standard connectors on each end. The bus then has feeders that go to the track. The points and signals are pretty much focused around the Yard and Station modules so there's a simple network connector that joins these together. There's no track detection at the moment as nothing is automated but watch this space... depending on how things go that may be the subject of a future video! Thanks for watching 😃

[@WickedMuis]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Yeah, it's one thing to run everything manually handle all the turnouts and signals yourself, but an other to have some automatic services running and have it all handled by software, while also make it interchangeable.

[@drmaley]

Loving the footbridge! Where did that come from?

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Ahhh all is to be revealed very soon! I wouldn’t want to spoil a future episode 😉 Thanks so much for watching 🤩

[@plutoyaldnil4750]

I know it may sound crazy but the thought keeps occurring to me ....when you use that road powder stuff whynot run basically a toy road traction ( steam roller ) over it to level the surface?

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

It wouldn't really have much effect to be honest. It's only a thin covering so it's pretty much flat already and any minor bumps are softened as the glue solution is added - though sometimes it's actually desirable to have some unevenness depending on the surface being created. Thanks for watching 👍

[@ModelRailwayFan38]

Forgot to comment when you posted this, lol! I’m really enjoying the comeback of this series though, and it’s inspiring me to start working on my layout again! Just a quick question though, when is Episode 17 available for non-members? It’s been over a week since this one came out. I don’t mind waiting, I was just a little confused that it didn’t come out over the weekend, that’s all. Keep up the great work!

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Hi there, glad you're enjoying the return of the layout/series. As this is a much bigger project than my other layout series there isn't really a set time on when episodes will come out. Basically Ep17 will release once work on Ep18 is done so that I'm always ahead of the game. That said I'm hoping Ep17 will be out really soon. The aim is to try and have at least a couple of videos come out each month up until the exhibition in September, rather than have 4-5 videos in quick succession then nothing for ages. Hope that makes sense and thanks for watching 😃

[@ModelRailwayFan38]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy Oh yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I should have considered that, I figured this was similar to the oo9 layout where you had only a few weeks to the exhibition. It’s better to have a slower schedule though, as it means that you can get the layout how you want it and not make a mess of it.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

@@ModelRailwayFan38 No worries 👍 Gofod Tynn and North Poleton were both much smaller "tabletop" projects where in comparison the modular layout will be almost 15ft in length when complete. I've certainly got my work cut out 😅

[@ModelRailwayFan38]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy yeah for sure, and then there’s me intimidated by my little 4x8, lol. I figured I would bring this up, as your videos have been extremely helpful for building my layout (especially your ballasting videos, really bad with that part of modelling…)

[@blueinu26]

After the exhibition the layout will have a story behind it and a connection to the national network?

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

I certainly intend to come up with a history of both the original line and the preservation railway at some point… I’m not sure yet if a mainline connection fits into that. Thanks for watching 😃

[@user-tn2xf7zq3k]

Just asking were did you get your railway lamp from because I need one 😂

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Ebay! 😅 It might take a while before you find one at a good price though. Thanks for watching 👍

[@timothybrandt8254]

Hey man, just question out of curiosity, what turnouts are you using in the yard area?

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Hi Timothy, it's a Small Radius Left Hand Turnout and a Y Point in the yard. You can see this more clearly back in Episode 5 when the track was laid. Thanks for watching 😃

[@philipgreenhill2782]

Hi Iam philip and I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how I can create my layout as iam having trouble with chooseing how I want it so can you please help me

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Hi Phillip, that's a pretty big question to be honest. My advice would be to check out my Model Railway Basics series - that should give you an idea of where to start. I'd also recommend looking at as many layouts as you can (KZbin, Magazines, Exhibitions) to get an idea of what layouts you like the look of and if there are any particular features you want to incorporate into your own layout. That should give you a really good basis to work from. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

[@joshuaW5621]

Today is also a fun day for me because the Unlucky Tug is finally back to regular uploading today after his channel was falsely terminated and he had to start over.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

Yes I saw that! He was kind enough to give me a shout out in his own layout building video too. Thanks for watching 😃

[@nrgcarrington]

Love the content, but I'm afraid I skip through all the constant plugs.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

That's understandable but similarly I'm sure you understand that making high quality content on a regular basis like this also isn't cheap. Generally I keep the sponsored content to model railway related companies who might be of use to viewers, rather than sponsoring any old rubbish that comes my way. Thanks for watching 👍

[@nrgcarrington]

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy au contraire, I imagine it pays you quite well. A variety of calculators on the web estimate your annual income from the channel to be several thousand dollars/pounds. I don't begrudge you the income, just that 4 commercial segments in one video is more than I can accept without some comment.

[@ThatModelRailwayGuy]

@@nrgcarrington Haha, I wouldn't take much notice of those online estimators - they're usually way out 😂 Like I said it's expensive to make videos like this on a regular basis and the sponsors are what help make that possible - considering as well it's not always financial support. For me to keep producing consistently high quality videos for everyone then they either have to be sponsored or they just don't get made. It's as simple as that.