Del

Evening all, We finally completed our house move, and will eventually be sorting the garage into the modelling den. But until then, the domestic authorities have suggested that the conservatory might be a good home for the layout. It has underfloor heating, and is quite warm in the current weather, so I wouldn’t be too concerned about this time of year, but it did get very toasty in the summer. Would it get too hot in there for trackwork? The conservatory is basically floor-to-ceiling glass leading to the garden, and has a translucent roof.

I found out recently that the most common name for a settlement in the UK is Newton, closely followed by Newtown, and that's before you add the suffixes, like Aycliffe or le-Willows. And there have been more stations named Newport than anything else. So, if you're the kind of person that has a lot of different interests, all your different layouts can be Newton (or Newtown, or Newport), but they don't have to be the same one!

Ah, that might well be it! I'd thought they were two-car sets, but it seems that my eyes had deceived me. Yes, I think you might be right, not sure there are any cab fronts!

Hello all, I've become very interested in trams recently, especially European single-deck trams. And during lockdown, eBay has become very dangerous...I have a browse, think 'Oh, that look interesting, let's chuck a tenner at it and see what happens'. Well, one of the things I chucked a tenner at was this. And I won it. It's a collection of HO parts, resin rather than polystyrene, with no instructions. It was listed as Ustra Stadtbahnwagen, Ustra is apparently the transport provider in Hannover, so I'm assuming that's the prototype. There appear to be enough parts for six cars; there are definitely six roofs (four of one type, two of another) , twelve body sides, and eight cab sides, so I think it's two three-car units. Any idea what make it might be, and what the correct prototype is, so I might find some more photos? Thanks in advance!

Thank you all. I'm wondering if it might be worth flogging the Dexion (or some of it at least) and put the money towards the cost of the insulating. I already have a number of Billy bookcases that layouts could sit on.

We are (hopefully) moving to a place with a good sized garage, built from single skin breeze block. I've had a good read of some of the threads on here so have a good idea of what's required, however this situation is slightly different. At one end there is a decent amount of very useful Dexion racking bolted to the wall. Now, I know that the proper way to do the job would be to take down the racking, insulate the floor and walls and then put the racking back up. But...how much of an issue would it be if I only insulated the floor and walls as far as the racking, and left that section as it is? The racking is on three sides so I could floor right up to it, but can't get to the walls without removing it. I did wonder about putting a false stud wall across the end where the racking is, leaving that area as it is, and then insulating the rest. Would I be asking for trouble?

I've been enjoying it as a bit of a wagon-shuffling 'unwinder'. It's amazing how half-an-hour's shunting helps you relax after work! New buildings to be built in the New Year for its rebirth as a light railway terminus.

They had an album called 'The Big Express', with a cover of a driving wheel and the group in GWR uniforms with Lode Star on the inner sleeve. It also includes a song called 'Train Running Low On Soul Coal': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Express

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Saw a sign for the craft centre while on a drive out in the sunshine, mainly because I thought SWMBO would like it, so imagine my surprise to a) find a model railway shop and b) for it to be so well stocked! Not just railways, but plastic kits, and a smidge of slot cars too. Treated myself to a new Electrotren 'Ajax' for just over £50, and a Classix Triumph Herald reduced to £3.

For comparison, this is an actual 475.1 Hugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

I found this pocket watch in a vintage/retro store, and wondered what the loco was? It's lettered USSR, and I know Sekonda as a company was set up in the 60s to sell Russian watches in the UK. But a quick search for 4-8-2 locos doesn't bring up anything Russian. Looking at what was built, it looks very much like a Czechoslovakian CSD Class 475.1, but are there any other likely candidates?

To get back to the original point, Anne does have a layout and has mentioned it a few times when on The Jeremy Vine Show, and its predecessor The Wright Stuff. Another less well-known enthusiast is Susan Calman. She doesn't drive so travels by train a lot, and has also started modelling. She was considering a garden layout at one point and goes to Model Rail Scotland most years.

'Skylarking' by XTC.

To paraphrase Dave Lister, 'That's run right up my flagpole, that has. I'm saluting that one.' That looks almost exactly what I was thinking of.

A little while ago, 'teaky' of this parish had a small layout that was surplus to requirements. He was very happy for me to collect it, and now I have, I'm thinking about what to do with it. I'm going to add a bit to the front and back (probably 4" on each side) to give a bit more room for scenery. I have the following that I'd like to use: A Wills goods store A Bachmann engine shed A Ratio coal merchants It's crying out to be a BLT or light railway terminus, which appeals greatly, but not sure how to arrange things logically. It would make sense to me for all the goods facilities to be located near each other, so the bay could be an end loading dock or cattle dock, the coal merchants on the 'angled' siding and the goods store at the front. The loco shed with a coaling stage and water tower, and maybe a carriage siding could then be on the two roads at the front. Another idea was to put the loco facilities on the bay road, with the coal merchants at the right-hand end on the front siding. The platform could move up, so that is right at the end on the angled road, which means engines would have to shunt back to the loop to run round, that's a little extra complication which might make operation a bit more interesting. What would you do? Any other possibilities?