Andrew1974

I’ve not used them in 009 but in 00 they work well for me with loops on both ends of the wagons. I have omitted the loop from the loco in the past due to not being appropriate staff under the buffer beam for the counter balance and they have worked OK as well. I suspect they will work fine with a single loop of with two, depending on the exactness of the set up.

I bought part 9 from our local Tesco, so it does also appear elsewhere…although I accept it is probably very hit and miss

A bit late for my normal timeframe…but still very tempted

My experience is that whatever the cost of building projects 2 years ago, add 50% for a reasonable estimate of costs now.

As mentioned above the current curved set rack turnouts ST-245 and ST-244 have 2 second radius curves. Before releasing those points they used to do a version with 2 first radius curves (I think they were ST-242 and ST243), I have one of each in my spare track box and plan to use them at some point on a dock side layout. You sometime find these on eBay etc if you are looking for a tighter curve - same problems with the large dead frog though and the current version

As a long suffering Hull City fan I’d love to get 90 minutes of entertainment for my £20…but I do agree with your underlying point.

That’s the plan. Maybe a class 121/122 unit, an 08 dropping off/picking up a parcels van or something like that.

Ray, Thanks for your comment. You can actually fit 3 VEA vans (just) on the shorter siding, that only needs to take 2 wagons, so I’m hoping it will cope quite well with slightly longer vehicles although will be some that won’t work…but that’s OK with me.

Hi 101, That was my first thought, but if the look at the far varanda on the photo linked to on the OP then it looks ( to me at least) that in this instance the planks were removed. I might ‘cheat’ and pretend they weren’t…suspect it will make life easier!

Hi All, I’ve built a few wagon kits over the last 30 years but I’ve finally decided to build a small O gauge layout. I’ve built the baseboard which is the somewhat diminutive size of 5’6” x 2’. The plan is to have a 2-2-3 inglenook on a lower level with a single line on a higher level (which will be at the top of the picture) representing one platform at the edge of a larger station. Low level track laid, but not yet wired. I’ve also added an extra, off scene siding for storing a couple of extra wagons. In the picture below only the right hand end will be scenic with the sector plate off scene.

Thanks for the comments. My model no longer has them. I’ve also removed the small handrails next to the ducket and the roof rain strips so in can replace them with straight ones. I then need to change the planked ends with sheeted ends…but that is a bit more tricky!

Not sure, you can see in on some prototype photos and not others?

Duplicate post

Hi All, I’m planning on converting my Dapol brake van to a ZTO as shown in this picture on Paul Bartlett’s website (https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbrakevan504/h1acd4589). The basic features seem OK, (it appears to have the right axle boxes for example) but the veranda ends on the prototype are sheeting rather than planked as on the model. Has anyone changed the model to a sheeted end and if so what method or approach can you recommend? Failing any better suggestions I think I will need to carefully drill/ cut out the planking as simply sheeting over will not look right on the highly visible internal side. Many thanks. Andrew

Hi All, I appreciate the BR ‘standard’ brake van was pretty much anything but, but I have a specific detail query I am hoping someone can help me with. I have an O gauge Dapol brake van and I am hoping to convert to a ZTO as shown on Paul Bartlett’s website (https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brbrakevan504/h1acd4589), the Dapol model has a small box to the left of the number which is not on the picture of that particular prototype. Does any one know what it is/ was for, or is it just a figment of Dapol’s imagination. Thanks

These are the extra bit of platform sold as part of the booking office / waiting room for the building to sit on when joined up with a straight platform section. Sorry, don’t have one but may help with you finding one.

Hi Jim, My 13 year old son is type 1 diabetic, over the years we have used a number of different blood glucose monitors, which is essential for T1 but optional (depending on who you talk to) for T2. We started with the Accucheck, which you can buy for about £30, but then you need finger pricker (about 2p per stab) and testing strips (about £30 per 50 tests). As a T1 you can get this on prescription, but no idea if you can as a T2. We then Moved onto the Libre flash glucose monitoring system, at the time you could not get this on the NHS (some people now can) and cost us around £100 per month but at the time seemed like a life saver, we could test bloods at any time without finger pricking, really helped to see what was happening to blood sugars after eating etc. We now have the Dexcom, this costs £169 per month but is absolutely perfect for us but might be over the top for what you may need. Why do I tell you this...when we were finger pricking I felt we were getting all the info we needed, we moved onto the libre and got more useful info and highlighted things we could not spot with the accucheck (peaks or lows that we were missing my only testing a few times a day) but the dexcom tells us even more, but at a price, and has helped us bring his HbA1c right down. I’m not sure exactly what you may need (if anything) but can’t help thinking the more info you have the easier it is to see the impact of your choices. Good luck with both your weight loss and diabetes control. Andrew

I have found this pick elsewhere showing the sort of thing I am thinking about Filler has also been suggested, but how on earth do you get it between the sleepers whilst keeping it off the top of the sleepers?

Hi All, I know in the real world railway companies used all sorts of materials as ballast for their track. I feel like I can model the ballast of a running line with a reasonable level of reality but I am not sure how to approach a goods yard. Looking at photo’s (mostly from the 60’s) many of the goods yards look like the area surrounding the track is pretty solid, with no noticeable stones etc. Probably some stone under there somewhere topped with years of detritus to make a solid looking surface, often level with the tops of the sleepers. Has anyone found a good way of modelling such surfaces and if so, please can you share your secrets. Many thanks Andrew

The Spurn Point railway has always interested me. Due to the changing shape of the spit of land the railway looks like it went straight out into the sea - which I didn’t. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spurn_Point_Military_Railway

Ok, so slightly later than hoped but here is my first attempt: I’ve got 10 roads in the fiddle yard, most of which will take a 6 coach train. I’ve also included a turntable with the small engine shed top left, and added in a small pair of private sidings on the other side of the track to the shed just to add a little more operational interest. I’ve only gone for a simple 2 platform secondary station with related goods yard. The yard can be shunted without fouling the mainline. So you could set a couple of trains tail chasing whilst doing a bit of shunting if you wanted. In the space you have you could fit lots more in, but, the more you add the more you risk the train set look. Anyway, just my ideas, I’m sure others would do it differently and there no right way of doing it, I’d just spend some time working out what you want to achieve first...oh and if you are going to use a loft take some time first to ensure it is going to be some where you want to spend time, make sure it is properly insulated and ventilated. Good luck Andrew

Hi Simon, If anyone is going to actually help, then I think we need more info (or at least we have to make some assumptions), So far I have: 00 gauge, 24’ x 6’ space to work with 1950’s - 1960’s (although the stock I can see appears to be from mid 1930’s to early 1960’s) lots of features (big station, goods yard, engine shed) requirement for a fiddle yard 6 coach trains Avoid the ‘train set look’ (flat boards with straights and bends) As I don’t know what your likes and dislikes are I thought I would set out what I would do given the same starting point, whilst taking you through why I would do it - feel free to ignore it all or take some of the bits and adapt for your own preferences. Track: if you want to avoid the train set look dump the train set track. Peco Streamline is the way I would go for ease. I love the bullhead track but would ignore for this layout (limited range and expensive) and go for code 75 flat bottom rail (easier to make look good than code 100) using electrofrog points (I find performance is better than insulfrog points). Baseboard: Given these are built I would not change too much but I would loose the gradient and have the track on a single level. In my experience that gradient is just going to lead to frustrations. Track plan basics: I’d start with the two ends and assume each end is going to be a semi circle roughly 2’6” radius - being the largest that can reasonably fit (again tighter radius suggests train set). If you assume a few inches at each end so the track is not right to the edge of the board then that will leave roughly 18’ feet each side for the straight(ish) bits. My other overall proviso (because it’s important to me) is reasonably realistic formations, akin to what would typically be seen in the chose period. So for me in say 1960, the key basic one is minimising facing points. So, what would I do with that space and those self imposed limitations. On one side I would put a fiddle yard, for 6 coach trains experience tells me that I can fit a reasonable fiddle yard in 12’, this would leave 6’ remaining that I would earmark for the engine shed. On the other side I would add the station with related goods yard. I would not try to add in anything else at the risk of it being over cluttered...I want some space for scenery, so the trains are moving from a landscape of some sort, which could be urban, rural or a mixture. I’m thinking a bridge over a river at one of the ends might break up the ‘flat baseboard’ thing a bit. Now I have decided what I want to achieve, I am going to get out a pen and paper and doodle a few ideas to see what I like. I’ll post what I come up with tomorrow. Andrew

Hi Mike, can’t help much on the railway questions for this bit of geography, but this a PP9 is a 9 volt battery Andrew

I was given my oldest gauge master as a present for my 16th birthday over 30 years ago and it is still going strong, unlike the Hornby 8f that I got at the same time that has long gone to the fiddle yard in the sky.

Goathland for me. Being going regularly since before programs about policeman and nurses or films about wizards made it famous.