The Bus Depot closes

Late on a hot August night, the small bus depot that had stood alongside the tracks at Philden Beach saw the drivers sign-off for one last time and the two luxury motor coaches quietly disappear in the dead of night.

With the busses gone, the witches' hats were pried free to be reused on the new scene.

Early next morning, concerned locals reported seeing a giant hand jump over the fence and remove the few remaining signs and witches' hats from the scene, bringing to an end a microcosm of alternate modelled reality that had graced this blog since 2021. And just like that, the Murrays Coachlines bus depot was no more.

The original bus depot in 2021. It was set against the backdrop of industrial inner-Melbourne as part of the Philden Street Yard layout.

By the end of 2022 a chain wire fence had been erected around the depot and trees had sprung up.

In early 2023 Philden Street Yard was rebuilt into Philden Beach as part of the Revamp an Existing Layout book project.

And by August 2024 the vacant bus depot was replaced by a cement plant that was teleported to Philden Beach from the original Philden layout of 2015.

Replacing this scene came about after the release of my book Revamp an Existing Layout. Although I was happy to have enjoyed the sight of the parked Murrays Coaches hiding in the background of so many of my photos from my books, I'll now have a more interactive structure to occupy the background of my future photos. The cement plant looks like it has been there the entire time, when in-fact it was left over from my original Philden Build a Bookshelf Layout. It becomes a nice touch to tie elements of all 6 books into the one layout, and you can follow the Cement Plant rebuild project on the links below.

Next up, the cement plant gets weathered to make it look like a salt air survivor. Make sure you keep reading to see what the giant hand does next!

See also; Resurrecting the Cement Plant and Re-detailing the Cement Plant