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Still lookin' good. When you switched from the N&CR to HLJ, I thought we were still looking at the N&CR!

Always look forward to these videos , can’t wait to see it at an exhibition

This layout is amazing, can public visit and admire in person?

Its taken me 4 years to be nowhere finishing my 5 foot 4mm cameo layout....your dedication to this ground breaking project is admirable. I lose my mojo for months on end - do you have a set number of days/hours you try and get down? I'm a musician, and I try and force myself to do a minimum 16 hours study/practice a week, but I dont have (or feel that I need to have) the same discipline when it comes to the modelling.

Well done! The river looks very realistic, and that's a lot of track to lay! Greetings from the @Kingsviewmodelrailway

Wow, what a project! The knack for good soldered joints is to tin the rail first by putting the iron on the inside of the track and apply the solder to the outside - that way you know the track is hot enough to melt the solder and get a good connection. Tin the dropper wire the same way (apply the solder to the wire, not the iron!) and then iron to inside of rail and dropper wire to the tinned area of the track until they flow together. Job done! The soldered joint should look nice and shiny - if it's gone dull you've burnt off the flux and potentially made a bad joint so worth redoing. Good luck, keep up the great work!

Fantastic work! Small nit at 2:13 - your caption says "Heavy MGR Trains", not Heavy MGR Trucks". My proof-reading skills can be a curse - sorry! Keep up the great work! 🙂

Simon, are you the only person building this mammoth 🦣 layout, track weathering, buildings, wiring , scenery. Steve

Simon, the amount of realism on your layout is truly amazing, especially the point motors and rods controlling the points, ❤️ Are any parts of the point motors and associated bits 3 D printed, I am in awe of your talent, Steve

Simon, is this your layout or a club, and if it is yours, did you rob a bank or something 😊. How do you get to any part past your arm length, and is there an end goal on size, Steve

Good pub

Great idea to do the fully sceniced section, I'm sure it will motivate you a lot when maybe enthusiasm starts to flag. Nice to see the Western as well 😊

Please invite pete waterman down to take a look. Be a great video

Wills do a corrugated asbestos sheet which is closer to O gauge tin sheet.

Hi Simon, rather than have to learn to 3D model and print, might it be worth approaching some companies that do this such as West Hill Wagon Works or 3 Peak Models? They might be willing to expand their range?

Good work Simon. Highlight of my week, viewing wise. Where would some of us be without model railways to keep us going 👍💜😊✌️

Love the Western!

I must start by saying that I'm in awe of what you have built and how hard you have worked on the upgrade/remodelling. However, as an ex-driver of some 35 plus years (in the West Midlands area) would you permit me to query the concrete sleepers in the sidings? This is not a criticism (and I do understand the horrific expense of track etc and the wonderful donations from Peco) but is this an accurate depiction of the area you are portraying? I ask out of curiosity as much as anything because I worked into and out of places like Tinsley, Toton, St. Mary's (Derby),Washwood Heath, Bescot, Longbridge Sidings (The Austin to most Brummies of my age group) Gloucester South and a few other places and I don't recall concrete sleepers in any of those yards. If it's "artistic licence" then fair do's but as I said, it's not a criticism just a curiosity. Maybe my old memory is failing me and perhaps I did see concrete sleepers in yards - my memory fails me on many other things these days so don't worry - but I don't recall it with any clarity. Keep up the smashing work though. I'm lovin' it. 👍

Great video Simon. Really looking forward to seeing progress on the two boards.

Are you adding any support for the baseboards on those steel frames to prevent them sagging over time?

Just so you know, Right hand drive Concrete Agirators Mix Counter Clockwise (Barrel up in rearview mirror) and Clockwise in discharge if viewed from behind. Left hand drives are opposite. This has to do with road camber and balance of truck whilst driving with a live load.

I’ve started to really look forward to these videos…I’m always left with a sense of fascination combined with a sense of disbelief at the sheer size of the project…thanks for taking us along with you on this incredible project Oh…and the scratch built tower looks excellent 😎

"Leave in a good frame of mind"....such sage advice, especially when various things may be trying one's patience.✊👍

Your right about being slightly mad. I know my self. With having a layout in the loft & classic motorcycles in the garage.

I'm loving this channel. How or Why i haven't noticed it before I did, I really dont know but thank you for sharing regardless. As a resident of the North East Tyne Yard was my local, they had a shunters cabin, at the North end of the Yard, where the lines for through MGR and freight traffic, I dunno about Healey Mills. I was wondering if you'd be putting them in too. Easy for me to say, your building the things I know. I was just thinking most yards probably would've had them. Sorry if it seems I'm trying to tell you how to build stuff, when I haven't got a clue where to start myself, I'm honestly just wondering. You may get a few more questions of this ilk, so I apologise in advance. Keep up the excellent work, very enjoyable watch.

I'm lost for words. Just......WOW!!!!

Hi Simon, I think you'll need to modify the cement mixer cabs for something more in keeping with the layout era and Blue Circle, The Mercedes Benz Actros range wasn't introduced until 1996 ?

Hi Simon. For 3D CAD work for the buildings, I advise Autodesk Fusion 360. It's free for personal use. Can be a bit of a pain to get started with, but very powerful. Might be able to help out a bit?

This is a mammoth task! How did it all start! How have you got to this point? Is it totally self funded?👏

If you still need any help with real water and moving scenery, I'd be happy to help. I have over 20 years of model railway experience on absolutely massive scales.

I'm currently in talks with my local council to get permission to build a simulated 35-mile track in a closed down railway tunnel from the 1800s. This is approximately half a mile or 759.96 ft. There is another 5 and a half mile tunnel, which, if I can get permission, will simulate Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, which is about 392 miles. In a 4mm scale, that would need over 27,000 ft, or approximately 5 real length miles. I did have a oo gauge railway that was built in a 1 mile tunnel. However, after years of struggling to maintain such an old structure, I had no choice but to hand the ownership back to the council.

Healey Mills only shut completely a few years ago. I was there when the last of the sheds were removed.

When exhibiting my layouts at shows, people get talking and the old, "how much perspiration / how much inspiration..." frequently crops up. I always say it's 100% observation. I think the observation of the prototype is why this layout is outstanding.

Sod all the naysayers & the green eyed brigade with the negative comments,you've built this to your spec & your abilities,we all wish we could do the same,I usually watch a few videos of model railways like yours,River Road (Boomer diarama) Dean Park,Deresley (before it was put into hibernation) & a few others that I can't remember off hand (Chadwick ?) we are all individuals & have individual tastes,& whether we build a layout from a real place & whether we build 1 from our own imagination is what makes the hobby so diverse 👍

I'm not being rude to other YTs, but I always save your videos until last, I always look forward to them and they offer so much especially being so far north. I wish I had the funds to contribute toward the build. Please video whatever you want and talk about whatever you want, I'm never bored

Another cracking video! Not sure if this comes across as ignorant, but as a OO gauge modeller, I haven't experienced O gauge for real. So the sense of scale with what you are doing, I (and maybe others) might not fully appreciate what you are doing. In one of your next video updates, would it be possible to include something OO gauge (like rolling stock or buildings) in the Healey Mills marshalling yard, so we can truly see rhe scale of things! For fun, maybe stick something N gauge down as well. Hope that isn't coming across as negative - it really isn't. I'm in awe of what you are doing. Best regards, Tim..

Hi Simon I may have missed this in the past but how do you run the layout. any sort of automation if not how many operatives do you need to run a busy layout........Tony

It is all coming together…. 👍

Love the philosophy of taking this layout to the sort of venues you have in mind ,similar I guess to the Pete Waterman roadshow and Chester Cathedral but shopping centres etc mean I assume you will reach a wider audience hopefully. Just out of curiosity how many helpers do you need to move this beast about ?

Could you show us how you create such fantastic coal loads in your wagons, they are the best that I have seen . Fantastic , thank you 👍

Could you please show us how you get such fantastic coal loads in your wagons . They are the best I’ve seen 👍

This layout is a "tiny" bit bigger than my N gauge layout 😅. Fantastic layout ! Cheers Euan

Supper layout looking forward to seeing wen it's out about👍

Love it! Are you doing any tours in 2025 or are they all in 2026?

Amazing layout simon,the detail is incredible especially considering how big this layout is,but not britains biggest apparently 🤷‍♂️ when is it going on tour again ,

Great video Simon. Those RC trucks are amazing. I take my hat off to you, don’t think I’d have the patience to lay all that track. It is an amazing layout, and I’m sure the new section will be equally as good if not better than the existing layout. Love it. 👍

Amazing - the R/C trucks are really convincing. This layout is definitely my favourite 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Could you make a video of weathering the HAAs using both airbrush and brushes? I have a dozen or so to weather and not sure where to start, As you have hundreds you will be well practiced! I am following your extension with great interest. Well done.

The amount of work you put into this layout is phenomenal, the details and the future plans are top notch. Look forward to seeing it live one day.

Thanks for your videos on your, and your friends, incredible and superb modelling. Hundreds of wagons - and there’s me with my handful of RCH 5 and 7 plank coal wagons lol! The RC trucks look amazing, great. Looking forward to seeing the cooling towers in place. Thanks again.