aselley

513 pages read and all caught up. Simply inspiring Kevin, from the idea of building a landscape and then fitting the rail through it, to the constant re-invention and new additions, not to mention all the amazing photos. I just have one (overriding) question: how did you do the thatch?

Having just spent the last week and a bit borrowing time to read all these entries, I have to say your attention to detail is simply inspiring. Thank you for sharing so many lessons, and tips as you bring this layout to life.

Your goods shed looks amazing, the level of detail and the working doors are impressive., as is the signal box progress. I really like the use of CAD, 3D printing, and then scratch building to get the level of quality you desire. Any interest in getting your own 3D printer to cut down the waiting times and make little tweaks easier?

The watercolour effect might be a great tool for making scenic backdrops?

Well the soldering was done. A case of a "poor tradesman blaming his tools" was both an apt and accurate description. A new Soldering Iron, so good solder and some good flux and job proved almost too easy. So while the wallet is lighter for the tools, at least I no longer have to replace destroyed points...or so I thought. So I had all the points glued down, all the track as well, and I turned over the board to start on the wiring, and of course my project took 2 steps backwards...or if I choose to look at it in another light, it sent me back to school to learn some more lessons. Clearly I am not gentle enough. (Though I must confess your honour I was being real gentle) While wiring the points, on two of them, the frog wire fell out. Which is to say it snapped off the point, and this of course is the piece that is wired to the Cobalt motors to change polarity. So I now have a quandary? Is it better to, Just replace the points, which seems kind of wasteful. Even though "ripping it up" did do damage to the surrounding track work (though not the point), which will necessitate a bit of a bodge, when I replace it. Or, Is there a way to solder a dropper wire to the tracks directly like you do for power, when you convert the electro-point to DCC. I ask because, and this may be my lack of Google-Fu, I can't seem to see or find anyone else who has done this...though I doubt I am the first who has had this wire snap off. I can also see why all the "guides" say getting the track right at the beginning is the key to layout success, since it's the track work part of the hobby that seems to dominate my learning curve. 2 steps forward, sometimes 1 back, sometimes 3...

So even the "men in green" can't slow Andy down. :-) Great to see you are either on the mend, or refuse to rest and instead continue to build.

Hope you're feeling better soon Andy. And maybe a little enforced rest will let the rest of us try to keep up with the pace of your builds

It’s been 3 weeks since I decided to ditch the code 100 insulfrogs and go code 75 electrofrogs, much of the time which has been spent at first waiting for the postman, and then secondly teaching myself to solder. At this point I’m not sure which has proved the most trying...though I concede the later might prove more useful, the learning curve has been steep and thus far not too successful. So I’m glad I’m only destroying some old code 100 rails in my practice. So given that I had the time, I decided to also revisit the layout plan, especially since Peco has some nice points that give options that don’t exist within the Hornby range. I spent a lot of time on the old RMWeb forums looking at the layouts offered by Hugh Flynn, before deciding that his layout 25 (see here) was just about what I was looking for. Close enough to my original design and yet utilising some of the suggestions from Phil (Harlequin) in a previous post on this thread. And so I now have this: The station will sit on the far left along the curve, as for the rest of the planned buildings, I have some ideas to represent part of the village, and site the boat building shed at the front on the right where it can also serve as a scenic break. Ok, back to learning to solder. As long as the brew comes in a tool and icy glass it is a very welcome respite from the heat and humidity that is Singapore.

We all love it when the postman brings us presents. Looks like it's full steam ahead on the project...maybe a busy weekend for you?

I like the idea of a crossing as a scene break. A great way to "end the line" without a buffer. mmm...got me thinking.

As long as there is a cooling bevvy nearby "she'll be right" :-)

I wish when I went to Bodge something it turned out this good.

So while I wait for the new points and track to arrive, I decided to start on the quay portion of my harbour. Will's embossed plastic sheets form the main parts of the quay wall, and the joints will be hidden behind timber supports. The small step on the left will form a loading section which will be accessed by either a ladder or some rough stone stairs. So while waiting for glue to dry I came to the realisation this hobby does have a lot of waiting and waiting, especially for glue to dry.

Nicholas my condolences at what must be a very hard time. Your father's models and indeed his life are something to be proud of and serve as an inspiration to many of us. My thoughts are with you and your family.

I have spent the afternoon (on this side of the world) online researching just that. It's good to have what I found ratified by someone here...ok time to put in an order, and prepare the board for new track. But better to find out now, and not after I did the ballast.