dan_the_v8man

So why did the 08s have hatches in the cab roof and ladders up the radiators? What was the actual requirement to be accessed up there so much so both ladders and a roof hatch were provided?

and a rough approximation of what the complete layout will look like

Flangeway are producing their snowplough in O gauge, I've already registered interest in a pair of them

Another 08 on the bench for radio/battery conversion And think I've finalised the track plan for the other side of the garden

I've also been testing a new board for Fil of Fils Battery Trains which works great! Reed switch stuck on the side switches the power on and off so when the roof is placed on the batteries are in circuit Did some speed testing with a 3 lipo cells

I found one of the new sections had a bit of a dip in it so roughed it all up and recasted screed to bring it back up to level Plenty of SBR to hopefully get absorbed into the screed https://youtu.be/CkRmiQerKeI

After more concreting I thought it was a good idea to get some track down temporarily and do some testing with another Dapol Class 08 I converted to radio control today I also removed the unprotected lipo from the Class 20 and made up a higher capacity replacement from individual protected cells

My new arrival turned up today

Potential idea for the other side of the garden. The straight line across the top goes off to the cabin above the return loop. I'll probably add some sidings at a later date

A bit of gauge and clearance testing tonight

The rockery 1 year later (actually 1 year and 1 week) but how it's changed...

After a year of no progress I decided I better do something! Originally the railway was going to carry on climbing and go over the roots of a lovely old Acer. However over winter it died which meant cutting through the roots was no longer an issue. Cut back about 5ft of the existing concrete so the gradient could be reduced My method of marking radi... The 5 foot I took up got smashed up and reused And of course as soon as I got the concrete down and floated the heavens decided to open! The line is going to continue you around the top of the garden and back down the other side to a second loop and a branch line off into my cabin

What's the plant growing next to the track bed? A variety of Thyme?

I've just purchased a new addition to the fleet from Tower Models I've not converted it to battery yet and this one is having something a bit different