[MOC] Ambridge and Paxley LEGO Railway

[BricksMcgee]

Hi all,

It’s been quite a while since I contributed to the forum, nice to see it’s still so active!

Ambridge & Paxley (few more photos, a track plan, and a video of the layout on this page) was a new type of display for me - an 18ft long end-to-end railway, with a station at either end, and connected by a single line. We usually run looped track which requires less effort to run during shows. It is also only 48 studs deep - I wanted to see what I could achieve with a much narrow scenery depth than I’d usually start with.

The layout is based on a fictional rural branch line, with Ambridge being the terminus station and Paxley a through station (in future - it was a terminus for the purpose of its first show earlier this year). All of my station/display names are taken from villages and towns in the BBC’s “The Archers”, a long-running radio serial here in the UK.

Between the station sits a small valley, home to the River Am and Ambridge Cricket Club. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by BricksMcgee
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[Andy Glascott]

Looks fantastic, reminds me of the different UK heritage lines, I lived near a few when I lived in the UK. 

[Pdaitabird]

What a great layout! I love that 02 locomotive.

[The Island Chronicles]

Great Job on the details! 

[BricksMcgee]

15 hours ago, Andy Glascott said:

Looks fantastic, reminds me of the different UK heritage lines, I lived near a few when I lived in the UK. 

Thanks - that was sort of the look I was going for. Used to live near the Great Central Railway as a child!

14 hours ago, Pdaitabird said:

What a great layout! I love that 02 locomotive.

It's brilliant - belongs to Isaac Smith (aka Smith Movies). His 121 Bubblecar ran on the layout too - looked fantastic!

14 hours ago, Brandon Pea said:

Great Job on the details! 

Thanks - I suppose the benefit of a smaller layout than normal is it gave me more time to think about smaller details. I've since added some hedges near the level crossing, and a water tower and coal bunker at the Ambridge end too.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing layout, great trains and impressive ballast!

[BricksMcgee]

43 minutes ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Amazing layout, great trains and impressive ballast!

Thanks - it's a technique I really like and doesn't add a huge amount of time to set up / tear down. It's documented in more detail here, if you're interested - essentially, tracks are raised by 2 plates and we spread the ballast over the track. It takes a bit of running in - it can get caught in points in the the running space a loco needs, but it's usually fine after 15 minutes or so.

[Andy Glascott]

12 minutes ago, BricksMcgee said:

Thanks - it's a technique I really like and doesn't add a huge amount of time to set up / tear down. It's documented in more detail here, if you're interested - essentially, tracks are raised by 2 plates and we spread the ballast over the track. It takes a bit of running in - it can get caught in points in the the running space a loco needs, but it's usually fine after 15 minutes or so.

I use a similar ballast set up on my layouts, though typically I only raise the track 1 plate and it’s on my 12v track. I haven’t got nearly enough though to cover the whole layout, it’s a gradual process to build it up. 
 

Ps, I was in Nottingham near GCR North before moving over here.

[zephyr1934]

I love the idea of open-loop layouts, and this one is great. And the Angel of the North is a brilliant addition. So you are thinking the terminal station would be shared with your main operating loop at shows? Any thoughts on lengthening the single track section?

 

 

[BricksMcgee]

On 6/26/2020 at 6:13 PM, Andy Glascott said:

I use a similar ballast set up on my layouts, though typically I only raise the track 1 plate and it’s on my 12v track. I haven’t got nearly enough though to cover the whole layout, it’s a gradual process to build it up. 
 

Ps, I was in Nottingham near GCR North before moving over here.

Yep, we found quite a lot from Pick A Brick walls in stores, and ended up buying some in bulk from Europe too. 

I used to live in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire. Small world!

1 hour ago, zephyr1934 said:

I love the idea of open-loop layouts, and this one is great. And the Angel of the North is a brilliant addition. So you are thinking the terminal station would be shared with your main operating loop at shows? Any thoughts on lengthening the single track section?

 

 

Thanks. I think this is going to remain a standalone display, but with more (potential) display modules to add in the future. We could length the section in the middle, or expand it at the Paxley end; we've had an idea for a seaside scenic section similar to Dawlish, which is enticing to me.

The Angel of the North is one of the favourite things I've built - took a few iterations, but got there in the end. I keep meaning to get round to making one at twice the scale...