At the international model train exhibit in Cologne, Germany, Mike Bisset and John Donaldson presented their famous model railway layout, called Ladeside Diesel Depot. The model railroad system was built in O gauge or O scale, and it depicts a diesel locomotive depot in the early 1960s of British Railways. Then, diesel locomotives were starting to take over from the old steam trains. The brand new locos could often be seen standing side by side with steam engines in dirty rundown steam depots. The authorities soon discovered that these old steam sheds were not the ideal environment for the maintenance of diesel locomotives and they decided to convert the former steam sheds to provide basic servicing and fueling facilities for the diesels. The model train layout of “Ladeside Diesel Depot” is typical of such conversions. The layout is based on the former steam shed at Ardrossan in the south-west of Scotland. The railroad system is DCC wired and all diesel locomotives are fitted with sound decoders, some even have smoke generators. Some steam locomotives are also in evidence, and they are also fitted with sound decoders and smoke generators. The size of the model railway layout is about 7.0 meters x 2.0 meters. More information and a lot of photos are available at www.pilentum.de, for free.