LET’S GO ON A TOUR AND MAKE CONNECTIONS (Reconnecting all parts of the branchline).

[@fentoncentral-ngauge]

Excellent John. Great to see a full view. Fabulous work 👏

[@robertstrainset6556]

Hi John, I am so pleased for you to be able to run some trains through the parts of the layout you have been working on for months or even years well done its also nice for even your old subscribers to see the layout explained again. Cheers Robert.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Robert, yes the branchline has been up for a fair few months, and its good to have trains running again. There have been issues though to sort, video on that tomorrow, but drastic but very necessary work on Torr Vale unit. Youll see. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@keithshayle7027]

Having watched your videos for a good number of years, seeing how the whole layout is coming together is great! Meantime the scenery in the newer areas is fantastic, with a real sense of trains actually running through countryside. Your modelling skills are quite excellent, and your layout is equal to any of the other familiar model railway youtube channels!

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Ahhh thank you Keith, Im just continuing to have fun. Have to say though, with scenery of sorts on the majority of the layout it is exciting to see the vision close to fruition. Although, there are many areas to revisit, upgrade, refurbish, we are getting there. Thank you sooo much for your continued support, I really appreciate that.

[@iansngauge]

Good morning John! Nice to see a tour of the complete layout! I have to agree that the train looked really good going over the viaduct! Very pleased that you sorted out the reverse loop problem! Wiring issues can be a real PITA to solve! All the best, Ian.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Ian, I am so glad to get the reverse loop sorted out, and finally see trains going over the viaduct. Maybe its the curse of a complex layout, the wiring too gets increasingly more complex. I cannot possibly remember where everything goes. I have labelled loads but vast amounts remain unlabelled. It works thats the main thing.

[@going2thedogs]

Love your Picadilly station roof John. Looks superb!

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thankyou. I wanted to spend time on that as it is very clearly visible when you view the station.

[@bostith2236]

I dont comment alot. But I wanted to say the work you have done is fantastic.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Ahhhh thank you, so very kind of you to say. You are welcome to comment at any time, any suggestions and ideas always welcome.

[@Tyke-2075]

Spectacular, such detail in miniature, plus the foresight towards disassembling if required I look forward to each of your upload s to your channel

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thank you, so very kind of you to say.

[@FredWilbury]

Loved the look around the layout John cheers Fred 😊

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Fred. Glad you enjoyed it

[@michaelscott231]

Brilliant layout. You have managed to fit so much in!

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

lol, thank you. The idea being to fit areas close together which are normally many miles apart yet separated by many scenic breaks. (Usually trees).

[@StMaryChurchModelRailway]

Excellent video, Great to have a look around John. Keep up the good work. Amazing Picadilly station. ATB to you.Stuart

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Stuart, glad you like it.

[@stl1321]

Remarkable!

[@Elvenhome]

Really good to see the train running through Dinting and over the viaduct. It does look good as you say. I meant to say on an earlier video that I was watching a Don Coffey video where he was driving into Piccadilly and that really showed how accurately you have modelled Piccadilly's interior. I already knew what to expect as he drew the train into the platform and I could recognise so many of the features. Hard luck on the fishplate (pesky little things will work loose over time) and well done on finding a solution that avoided new soldering of the track. Stephen

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Stephen, fishplates will always cause issues from time to time. Ive got another directly under a fixed bridge, bit of wiggling its ok for a while, but usually shows its head every now and again, lol

[@jennadoel5748]

fantastic layout well done on the progress to

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Bless you, so very kind of you to say.

[@staffordstationngauge8359]

Nice to see Piccadilly station again, looks great.

[@Owlzilla]

I like how you've got my teams van in there as well on one of the photo backgrounds.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Lol, Im very happy for you. What team are you referring to?

[@moorlandmodelrailwayandy]

Hi John just catching up on videos after my holidays. It all looks good mate even the containers in that little space. The run across the viaduct and bridges looks fantastic. Glossop does need reconfiguring in real life lol. Think ive got 2 more to watch now cheers Andy

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Bless you, very kinds words, much apprdciated. I do think though after such a binge watch a long sleep in a remote darkened room maybe in order. Lol

[@karlsage3064]

Awesome, John! Just awesome! What more can I say? Cheers, Karl

[@ngaugefouroaksstreetstatio6932]

Great to see the whole layout and trains running through the new bits.

[@janetlewis7145]

Thanks for the tour, John. Love the Peninos. Bill and Janet from California

[@stephenriley9084]

John, that was a really entertaining video. It reminded me just how long I've been watching you. An overview is great when we are so often concentrating on building. There are some tremendous scenes and feats of modelling all over. You are managing to knit it all together perfectly. I'm always happy to see a train running through whatever terrain. Nice blue barrels! Regards, Stephen.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thank you Stephen, I videoed that flat section twice and it must have been the other clip when I pointed out the barrels inc the waste barrels by the narrow boat. Thanks again for your help.

[@mtty1988]

16:51 dropper looks good as it could be a orrange tube with track wires in it😊

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Yes thats certainly possible, thank you.

[@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge]

Fantastic John. Great tour of the layout for your new subscribers. Brilliant seeing the trains going through all your painstaking scenery work😊

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@medwaypeninsulaMR]

Hi John I enjoyed the tour but the highlight was that view into the station that showed how intricate the roof is. I am changing from card as the change of temperature does cause issues. Cheers Kev

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi Kev, thank you, hopefully in the future there will be an affordable camera small enough to get into the station and turn. Time will tell. It’s really unbelievable how temperature and humidity can affect card buildings. I always varnish any card now inside and out, but airing towards 3d printing or plasticard. I’m going to do a basic tutorial on Friday about Tinkercad. Ie designing 3d models for printing if you are interested.

[@medwaypeninsulaMR]

Yes John I’ll be tuning in 👍🏾

[@mikeuk1954]

Fabulous bit of modelling John. That terminus station is exquisite.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Mike, so glad you like it.

[@andrewwheat4601]

You really are a fantastic modeller, such great skill and attention to detail.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thank you Andrew, so kind of you.

[@pompeyyard6381]

Hello what a great video always great to watch great to see updates and to see what's new but best of all you see things that haven't been seen if you know what I mean that you miss in seeing and of corse as people film you see different angles etc I really do like watching I know I don't reply lots but I always watch I am restarting in model railway so thanks for great inspiration

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi, thank you so much for all your kind words, and fantastic that you are building your own. I do love it when viewers say that, as it all goes to show the hobby is actually growing. Thank you again for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@pompeyyard6381]

@piccadillymodelrailways thank you very much for your kind reply I do have my own channel on KZbin with some of my last layouts but like I said I am restarting from new / scratch I do put a few real life trains around Portsmouth on my channel as I haven't done anything yet to my layout apart from building the base board My nephew is IVER JUNCTION yet again great work

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Good stuff, yes I know Danny. Good man, not met him yet guess thats just a matter of time.

[@John_N_Quay_Harbour]

Thanks for the reminder of how it all fits together. Congratulations on your progress

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

You are so welcome! So glad you enjoyed it.

[@jimrivett9926]

Very good, I did enjoy that video, it was nice to see your work coming together and trains running through your enhancements. I wouldn't mind seeing more videos of trains running. Also, could we see a drawing of your entire layout (plan view with measurements) so as to get a better perspective of what it all looks like?

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi Jim, thank you so glad you enjoyed the video. Sadly I don't have such a drawing, the layout is approx 10'x10' with standing areas in the middle. Piccadilly station is at the front and that leads to a twin track main line in an oval. Links to Piccadilly station are there to access pl13/4. Another exit from the mainline to access the carriage shed. The upper level is served by two tracks out of Piccadilly around the back, through a tunnel out over the viaduct to Dinting then you saw how trains can get to Hadfield, New Mills and what will be Glossop. Hope that kind of explains it. I design my layouts in my head and act on that, track in hand and change and adapt things as I see fit. Thanks, please say if I can help further. In hindsight I’ll do a quick overview at the start of the next video and point out the varying locations.

[@EM-yk1dw]

So impressive, have you thought of extending Dinting and creating Hadfield as a terminus?

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi, thank you for your kind words. Space around both stations is very tight and I do need room to stand. Hadfield is created as a terminus so trains can stop at Dinting then go on to Hadfield and eventually Glossop. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@lilchris26]

Nice video John, first time I have seen all your layout, You can not beat seeing a train go over a viaduct or bridge. Re the track tester, I have soldered two wires on mine with crocodile clips, it makes it easy to check the polarity of frogs on points. I have a few of those unifrog points they are ok only made for code 55 has far as I know. Your reverse module can you not wire it to change the point, it can be done, mind you if you have all manual points I suppose not. I first used Peco point motors but have changed to Cobalt point motors now, at first anolouge but now the digital variety. Chris H.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thanks Chris, glad you liked it. Good idea regarding the track tester, certainly makes it more versatile. Ive not heard of reverse modules changing points, but TBH Id rather not tamper with it, as its going into the unknown. I tend to use surface point motors, but in the more inaccesible areas of the layout, like behind the Torr Vale Mill unit. I tried under board motors and found them hard work to fit. If a smaller surface motor becomes available I may fit them, but its ok for now.

[@stevenhill23]

Excellent work as always, I am currently building Reddish depot in N, so I understand why you made Piccadilly Station roof short, very laborious and repetitive, I would also assume you made it short so you can see more of your stock, as a Mancunian myself everything is very recognisable.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi Steven, thank you for your kind words. Repetitive work had never put me off TBH, but the station was made shorter purely because of space. The layout was around 4' shorter a few years ago, so I had to make a decision about what looked right. When i extended the layout the outside platform length is about right. The shed remains about a foot short, I cannot do anything about this.

[@bramelsheretan]

amazing layout, thanks for sharing it. Q: how do you deal with dust?

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi, thank you glad you like it. Dust is one of those eternal questions, but I vacuum very very very carefully on low power with a brush attachment. If you have any thoughts on other methods, please say its never easy and losing any loose items is always a problem.

[@charlie1872]

Your catenary system does look really good John. Are the catenary in the heritage area the same as those in the main station? There is always something new to see on your layout and I had forgotten just how much 3d printing you have done. Do you make your 3d print files available ? Your layout really is a great example for the enthusiast considering building an N gauge layout and how to maximize the space available. Is that a separate layout on the shelves below or is it connected?Really inspirational. Thanks for sharing

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Thank you Charlie so glad you liked it. I think you are interpreting the branch line as the heritage line. It was once called the ‘Woodhead line’ as the tracks used to continue out of Hadfield to Woodhead. Although that latter stretch has long since closed the rest remains in real life. ‘Don Coffey’ (a driver on KZbin) did a video from Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield, well worth a watch. Let me know if you can’t find it I’ll link it. Those gantries are still there. Manchester’s gantries are each made bespoke to what is there now. The mainline is quite generic, with a basic design I might mix it up a bit. You asked about .stl files, sadly not available, as I tried to help people long ago only for them to moan and complain, sorry. The section underneath is the fiddle yard with a train lift for trains to enter and leave the layout. I had a track expand and burst in a crucial place a couple of years ago so I hardly use it. It will be overhauled maybe next year, let’s get the layout done first. Hoping that’s helpful

[@charlie1872]

@@piccadillymodelrailways Very interesting John. I would have been quite happy to pay for use of files. There is always someone ruining it for the majority. 👍

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Sorry Charlie, that event with that person put me right off. Isn’t there anyone in US or Canada who produces British outline? Having said that they were very easy to make in TINKERCAD, its literally joining shapes together from by squashing / stretching basic 3d shapes, like cubes, cones. Cylinders etc etc.

[@charlie1872]

@@piccadillymodelrailways Interesting that you ask that, my 11 year old grandson is now an expert in Blender just asked if he could make something for me?😀

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

I’m going to do a Tinkercad tutorial on Friday (hopefully anyway, lol) and will probably make a gantry. Do you have any preference? I’m thinking of a typical east coast mainline type like what you made from SMS.

[@alanobiwala6822]

Brilliant example of modelling in N gauge, keep it up. Just wondering what 3d printer specs and design software you use for your excellent models?

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi, I use two 3d printers, both Creality: heavily upgraded ender 3 v2, and v3 KE. For designing the .stl files I use Tinkercad. Hope that’s helpful.

[@alanobiwala6822]

@@piccadillymodelrailways Great thanks, it's something I've been considering doing, but I haven't had the courage to take the plunge yet. Having seen your results I think I 'll be asking Santa for one, cheers once again.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

May I suggest watching some videos on KZbin what is best 3d printer for you. Creality make loads of printers. Mine are filament or FDM but you also have resin printers. The latter produces higher detail but there is more kit required and several steps to go through. Asking Santa for your preferred type of printer is a good first step. Hoping that’s helpful.

[@alanobiwala6822]

@@piccadillymodelrailways OK will do. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'll look forward to your next video, cheers.

[@gerardburton3741]

Hi, Will you be adding Broadbottom station and it's viaduct that runs into the Dinting viaduct and then Dinting station. This is on the mainline from Piccadilly and just past Hattersly station.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi Gerard, Id honestly love to build every station along the whole line all the way to London Euston, and Glasgow Central the other way. Sadly even with just another viaduct and station, I don't have any more space. Even with a layout like mine (several stations and landmarks placed very close to each other separared by scenic breaks), it is very difficult to decide what to include and equally what to leave out. I will be Glossop and station throat as promised.

[@andrewbrown4985]

Do you still have the 3d printer files for the station canopy?

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

Hi, sorry long gone, but due to a very bad experience with someone I tried to help many years ago I decided not to share files anyway, sorry. May I suggest have a go yourself, Tinkercad (free in internet, open an account off you go) is really easy to use. Plenty of tutorials on KZbin. You start with basic 3d shapes which can be fully changed and you combine them with others. Similarly can remove sections from a shape. Honestly, it’s not hard. Export as a .stl send to your fav slicer: orcaslicer cura, Creality print etc etc Bob is your best friend You’ll be amazed what you can produce. Lil tip though don’t go less than 0.5mm unless you print with resin, a filament printer can really struggle. Hope that helps.

[@piccadillymodelrailways]

I am thinking about doing another Tinkercad tutorial, that helps. MAYBE this coming Friday

[@andrewbrown4985]

@@piccadillymodelrailways Thank you for the information concerning tinkercad