Scenery and Buildings

One of the original ideas was to set Broadgate in winter. But because of time constraints a decision was made to set the layout in spring. The required materials were then purchased.

Slight mounds were now added on the edges of the layout to add some height. These were made from cardboard which was cut into appropriate shapes and placed along the edge like a wall. Supports for this wall were placed on the baseboard going inwards from the edge. They almost looked like a coal bay a this point. Cross braces were added in to strengthen them. The construct was then tightly packed with newspaper and covered and sculpted with Polyfiller. Once this had dried it was sanded down and painted with the same emulsion paint used on the baseboards and trestles.

After this various layers of sawdust, flocks and other materials were put down to make realistic grass and dirt around the embankments and all over the layout. All of the sawdust were put down with the same mixture of PVA and water with washing up liquid which was used for the ballast. Most of this was done in one day. The next job was to put on the fences. The posts for these were made of cut down match sticks. They were soaked in a mixture of dark brown matt paint and enamel thinners to provide a dark wood effect. They were left in this mixture for roughly two hours. During this time small holes were drilled onto the layout where the posts were to be put. The holes had PVA glue put into them and then the match sticks were pushed firmly in. After the posts were in place a thin black thread was woven around them and was used as a wire.

For the wall around the fiddle yard / control area we purchased some Wills plastic walls. These were placed along the back of the layout and to the front of the control area after being painted and lightly weathered. Some had windows and doors put on them to crate the effect of an abandoned warehouse. Most also had moss and creepers placed on them.

To go from the viewing side of the layout to the fiddle yard there is a small tunnel for locos to pass through. This was made from an altered Wills plastic wall and Plastikard. It was designed to blend in with the walls on either side of it.
There are working lights on Broadgate and these are strategically placed all over the layout.

There are no major buildings on Broadgate, but the layout does feature various smaller ones. There are only six buildings on Broadgate in total. I made various Ratio plastic kits of small huts and tool sheds and placed these all over the layout. The largest building on Broadgate is located near to the stabling part of the layout and acts as a small office. There is also a fuel tank on the layout which would supply the fuel pump. This is made from two tank wagons.

Broadgate is only small so obviously it does not have many trees. There are approximately ten trees on the layout. All of these are small in size and in some cases seem to small to even be trees. They are mainly there to make the layout look more three dimensional, to add more height. All of the trees on Broadgate are from Heki and were put on the layout in appropriate places in much the same way as the match stick fence posts were.
Next to be added to the layout were the hedges. There are many of these especially in the ditch at the front of the layout. Almost all of these bushes were handmade.

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Scenes

Obviously the whole layout is a scene, but this one big picture is made up of lots of smaller scenes.There is not much room on Broadgate for lots of little scenes but there was enough room to fit in some nicely detailed little areas. In fact we fitted on a few more than we though possible.

The largest scene on Broadgate is the fueling point and the dirt car park behind it. In the car park there are usually three cars parked. They are not permanently stuck down and so can be changed. It depends on how we feel at the time! These normally include a Land Rover and a Volkswagon Beetle.
The fueling point itself already had its plastikard base down. We added a fuel pump to this and put down the supply tank on the other side of the tracks. The plastikard was painted and weathered to make it look like there had been fuel spilt. There were many other small pieces added such as a hose, some barrels and some crates. Around the fuel pump two British Rail workmen were added. These were ratio plastic figures and were painted in the BR uniform to match Broadgates time scale of 1968-1972.

Next was the fueling point office. This was simply one of the earlier made buildings painted and glued down a few centimeters from the fuelling point. Next to it a four bicycle shed was put down. It had three bikes put into it. Some old crates and sacks were added around the area of the office. Three people were also added, one BR workman and two ordinary people were put near the bicycle shed.

At the front of the layout a small scene was put down made up primarily of two tool sheds. A BR workman was added near to the sheds. Next one of our favorite parts of the layout was added. It is hardly the most detailed but it just seems to work best. It is made up of scrap rails which have been piled up at the side of the new track. There is also a pile of sleepers. All have been made to look as if they have been left to rot. There is also a man, another British Rail workman who is standing near the dump.

Back up near the control area is the final scene. The main feature of this is the fuel storage tank which was made earlier. This was placed down on top of another plastikard plinth and has had lots of the barrels, crates and sacks been placed around it. A working light was placed near here and yet another BR workman and this part of the scene was complete.
The next part is made up of basically three buildings which have been placed down next to each other. On two of the buildings small fire buckets have even been added. There are more crates lying around here as well but this time they have sacks on them for a load. There is a water hose coming from the side of one of the buildings and a small puddle has been added at the end of it to make it look like it had been left on. There is a bicycle leaning against one of the buildings. To complete the last scent two more BR workmen were glued down looking busy. This completed the construction side of the layout for the time being. There is still more to add we are sure. It is just a matter of working out what works.

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