Rhys

But how much are you paying for a plug and play system? (quick note I'm in NZ and have converted local peso to UK money) I have a Digitrax Zepher with an extra wired throttle which I wanted to extend. However the cost of a second handset was eye watering. I spent 35 quid (locally) to buy an Arduino with motor shield with the software preloaded. Plugged it into a 15 year old laptop with JMRI loaded. Power supply is out of an old Mac thats at least 30 years old (though modern computer power supplies are just as good). Engine driver app on a couple of old phones (that don't need a sim card) all connected through the home WiFi. plugged it in and it ran first time. not quite plug and play but awfully simple for an "old man uses computer" type like me. A friend of mine has a self contained system (through an old WiFi router) that has cost him all up 15 quid (using the old electronic stash that we all seem to have now). There is enough power to run 6 locos at once, and i think it will run 5 handsets (We have run 3 at once) Also, having the Arduino means that by adding a servo driver board (7.50) I can drive up to 16 points or signals through DCC-Ex with a simple control setup which is easy to program. Its not for everyone but for someone wanting to run a small layout with a handfull of locos and a couple of friends its christmas.

A couple from the other side of the planet(NZ). We were once invited to an exhibition in Christchurch (1990's) and thought why not. As we were in Wellington (the other side of Cook straight, think the English channel with a serious attitude problem) it was not overly simple. After looking at all the options we shipped our layout with a local shipping company in return for some advertising (now thats a level above brave) and we flew with all our kit. Layout turned up at the venue before we did and setup was easy. However we didn't check anything ran before we left for the night. Our electrickery guru had rewired the layout before we left (and had stayed at home). Saturday morning 30 minutes before the doors open and theres a dead short. With 10 minutes to go we are under the layout cutting wires untill something moves. 5 minutes to go and theres life and we get a train running round. Rest of the morning is a limited sevice with some soldering to undo the slash and burn. We did it again the next year without the drama. Going home we were at the airport when I was pointed out the "don't carry this onboard" display. After ticking off 1/2 of them in our carry on luggage I just thought "well, we got it all down here" and didn't say a word. No issues on the way home The layout was shipped back in an empty container and returned home smelling slightly of fish.... The other one is when my younger brother while doing some emergency soldering triped 1/2 the fuses in the stadium.

Beat me to it. I think the tank is a Pzkw IV. The Tiger I was a far bigger beast.

The EF refubishment progarm is slowly ramping up. The Mitsubishi offer was not taken up as it would have involved gutting and replacing the innards which is not in the budget. A friend has been involved in the test driving of the new locos, and they are an old favorute of his (well behind anything with an EMD 567). The first of 60 Stadler locos for the South island are due next year to replace a fleet in the island with an average age of 50 years.

Sorry, thats not the Glacier. it runs behind the spur on the left and much lower down the valley. you can just see a patch of it lower left above the spur line.. 35 years ago it was possible to walk up onto the lower/middle reaches of the glacier from the valley floor.

It is a brilliant addition to the city. My brother drives trams there on weekends. He says its an ideal job as he gets to stand round and talk about Christchurch's history and gets paid for it. The loop was extended opening in July last year and the trip is now ~1 hr. Another shot inside Cathedral Mall. Another famous spot is Regent Street, one of those historic "accidents" where there was not enough money or reason to knock down a collection of old buildings in the 1970's and so they were still around to restore after the 2011 earthquake. Its now a mix of resturants and small business, with a tram running through it (and no barriers in sight) My wife liked it enought to take a picture. My brother did manage a "first " when the new loop was opened due to an engineering error. The 2 previous "excursions" had been due to points being set wrong in the depot. He got a standing ovation when he finally returned to the break room later in the afternoon.

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here. Might I suggest using thin piano wire and curtain rail? Requires a bit more cutting into the baseboard but quite flexible and bomb proof (one of my now departed friend was using it in the mid 1980's and as far as I know its still going strong). The curtain rail can't kink or crimp. Heres an example from my layout, which also uses DPDT microswitches to route power to the point frogs. Track is hand laid 9mm gauge.

As an amusing aside modeling New Zealand railways in 1:48 first turn up as an April fools joke in the New Zealand Model Railway Guild Journal in April 1990. And your arguments could also be used for British HO, but like in NZ we would need a time machine to solve it.

I'd disagree with that, theres only 3 main scales used locally: 9mm on 32mm gauge track, S scale on 16.5mm and TT on 9mm. 1:48 is muttered about but hasn't entered the mainstream as far as I can tell. Back in the day (40-50 years ago) it seemed quite sensible to base a scale/gauge combination around the track that was comercially avaliable rather than all the other bits. Either that or everyone was too lazy to make their own track. It was also very difficult to order stuff from overseas untill the mid/late 80's. Contrast that with the UK scene where I can think of 6 different scales off the top of my head with 2 having 3 different track guages which to me seems utterly beserk.

Trackgang products https://trackgangproducts.co.nz/

Yes, here its just the standard gauge. The scale has some comercial support in the form of kits and 3D prints. We do use N scale mechanism's and wheels (US for preference as the production runs tend to be longer).

No, its TT scale on 9mm gauge track. And being from New Zealand I've never called it cape gauge.

I've watched this topic for 3 weeks now... Having been modeling in TT for over 30 years (abet in TTn3.5) I have mixed feelings about this. It feels like I have been living in a quiet out of the way hamlet for 30 years and woke up to discover that not only is someone building a large shopping center in the next field but there are people roaming the lanes telling the locals we have been doing the gardens and housepaint wrong. The plus is that we should see a stack more 2nd party lineside bits for the rest of us to use.

While theres not as much rail action in NZ compared to the UK, Its still a decent railway. Freight trains are commonly 1500-3000 tons with 6-8000 HP up front. The Auckland -Hamilton-Taranga triangle is one of the busiest in the country. As for historical railfanning, I'm currently on holiday in the south island and have a heritage train passing through tomorrow, while I'm missing a weekend of heritage railcar trips round my hometown in the North Island. There are plenty of modelers in the country, with US Ho being quite common. British O is "uncommon". Local NZ modeling is supported (I wouldn't say well) but the local wheel's (North Yard) are among the best in the world, and very cheap compared to anything in the UK. Modeling supplies are reasonably easy to source from local modeling shops. Its not quite the ends of the earth........

It's not the state, I always get the feeling that its Chemical companies legally covering their asses against being sued.