trisonic Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Yes, I was convinced that Dave had beaten the big C. It’s about time that humanity did. Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted September 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 10, 2014 Is Gordon still out on that golf course? That layout must be covered in dust. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Is Gordon still out on that golf course? That layout must be covered in dust. Gordon has an army of Roumanian cleaners armed with size 00 paintbrushes to take care of that...... Don’t worry he’ll be back... Best, Pete. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Belgian Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Gordon has an army of Roumanian cleaners armed with size 00 paintbrushes to take care of that...... Don’t worry he’ll be back... Best, Pete. . . . but, when? JE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 OK, I've been rumbled….:-) Regular readers will know this has been an ongoing saga for years now. Enthusiastic man dreams up large layout. Tons of progress in first few weeks. Spirits high and goals achievable. Several minor problems arise with the design, but work continues, albeit at a slower pace. Major design fault comes to light and work slows to a crawl and then stops. Builder/dreamer beats himself up for not recognising design fault at the outset and work is scrapped. A few quid down the drain, but countless hours lost. Owner takes himself off to a parallel universe where life is great, but after a while the first love of his life returns and the the circle repeats itself…. Played golf for three or four days each week. Handicap came down rapidly and a few trophies collected. Sun is out and everything great. Suddenly it's a cold and wet day and golf is bloomin' miserable. Whilst sheltering from rain, dreamer thinks what on earth am I doing here, cold and wet. I could be home in the dry pottering with my trains... Rather than continue with the latest ET and it's inherent faults that will bug me forever, I've gone right back to basics and pulled a couple of boards together. It could end up as a diorama for photographing stock for eBay when the dreaded day comes, or could be the start of another attempt to build something that will work. On paper ET is now just a through station and there are four loops to watch trains go by in a folded eight. Boards have been raised around 150mm so that storage units and cabinets will now go underneath them and gradients have been split to give 1:100 in half the distance. The extra height meant a further reduction in width but does open the possibility of a reverse loop across the centre of the room with a lifting section to provide easy access if required. The additional height up to 44" means easy access anyway, so the lift up may not be required. Will it get finished? Will anything run? Who knows, but at least it's a warm haven when the winter comes. Radio on, bits of plywood and A4 paper stuck together and the dreams and memories of BR(E) in the 60's return as strong as ever. They never told me it would be like this when I bought my first 'Model Railway Constructor'…. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2014 thanks for the update, Gordon - whatever you decide - GO for it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Dunno whether this helps you or not Gordon. I’ve decided to do a series of vignettes of different locations that, if I want to, can be hooked together by linking non-landscaped, non-lit “fiddle yards”. I call them fiddle yards ‘cos I don’t have the vocabulary to describe some that would be storage areas and some just links. It’s a lot easier though when you want to model “shortlines” rather Class A railroads. Best, Pete. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi Gordon What ever decision you decide on, I'm sure your loyal band of followers will continue to support the ups and downs of progress in the hopes that you will finally reach Valhalla and no I don't mean St Pancreas for those who read Douglas Adams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hi Gordon What ever decision you decide on, I'm sure your loyal band of followers will continue to support the ups and downs of progress in the hopes that you will finally reach Valhalla and no I don't mean St Pancreas for those who read Douglas Adams. Gordon I have to agree. You have to be doing a great deal right to maintain 267 followers. :locomotive: Duncan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_H Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 and gradients have been split to give 1:100 in half the distance. . .............................. gradients, what gradients? I thought we'd done away with gradients .................. clearly I've missed something! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) We did, but optimism has taken over again. I've got to do something to stop it looking like a trainset with posh track….:-) I've done it all on paper and by taking one set of tracks up and the others down, I can easily get 1:100 over half the distance, so they're back in for a while…..but only if these two boards go without a hitch. These are the top and bottom levels. ET station will sit height wise, bang between the two on the opposite side of the room. The possible reverse loop needs to take tracks from the up pair to the down pair and vice versa and at some point or another they need to crossover one set of lines. To eliminate the need for a track crossing, I came up with a cunning plan to create a height crossing between the pairs of inners and outers, which will allow a reversing loop without track crossings. But back to basics. First two boards are just to test my stamina and ability to deal with problems/cock ups. Get through these two and subsequent boards will follow until the circle is completed. Changes in height and width will allow me to lay track in situ eventually, so it's likely the woodwork will be completed and track will stay in paper print form on subsequent boards until I'm happy things will work. Only once I get that far, will I sit down with a glass of wine, contemplate my navel for a few weeks and make a decision as to which way to go. There's a lot of cold and wet days ahead where I will need something to do... The old boards are still here and haven't been scrapped. There's an outside chance they might be resurrected, but highly unlikely. They are too low for storage and I made a schoolboy error in laying pointwork over board joins, so any further work will mean compromises. It would work, but lots would have to be scrapped if ever we moved house or needed the room for elderly family members. That is a possibility and I couldn't face scrapping years of work once it was up and running. The new boards have been designed to come apart right from the outset. I'm amazed that anyone is following this after all these years and nothing ever getting completed. Thanks for your entertaining replies and perseverance. You guys deserve a medal…:-) Edited October 11, 2014 by gordon s 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2014 Nothing wrong with optimism Gordon. I've lived on it for years! I think we all understand the demands and distractions that keep us away from our hobby, but any further procrastination could result in a group of RMweb enforcers being sent to see you (as long as they're not golfers) . Actually, I'm not sure that's a good idea. On the one hand you could put them to work to speed things up. On the other they might cause more confusion and doubt (see various threads ad infinitum). Seriously, your efforts do inspire others, even if it doesn't always feel like it. Keep up the good work and enjoy yourself in the process. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_H Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Anymore thoughts on incorporating the Bastille Terminus ............ opps, now I've gone and said it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Don't go there….:-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 (edited) Welcome to the gang Gordon! Better to have done something and become wiser than done nothing and be no wiser...... I found I liked layouts where builders are actually tracksider's watching passing trains. When Greenfield was up and running, the location itself was spoiled due to a third of the scene being in the shadows of the station buildings and goods shed. I thought about the real locations where I enjoyed watching trains for real or on video and they were in stretches of open country (Llangollen line and mid Wales). The location I finally chose is like this but remains in West Yorkshire, however, i have already considered having a 'funny hour' of GWR locos! Edited October 10, 2014 by coachmann 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Funnily enough I really like Gordon’s steam locomotive weathering skills. Not often mentioned. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Anymore thoughts on incorporating the Bastille Terminus ............ opps, now I've gone and said it Oh I wish you hadn't said that. With two reversing loops coming down from the top in each direction, Bastille terminus could sit right down the middle of the room and it then becomes a continuous loop plus an in and out terminus. I'm closing my eyes, blocking my ears and shutting down the web forever….. La di dah, di dah, di dah……I'm not listening. Block it out, block it out……. Oh alright, save the idea for a year or two's time... I love this place..:-) 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2014 Fair weather golfer (and fingers crossed its dry on Sunday morning for me). I looked up High Post and it turns out you play golf not far from me, and your club has a home and away match for the Sandcastle trophy against where I play. I would suggest you go to something simple like a small BLT but just doesn't seem to fit with the ambition in your head. As the weather turns I am looking at my layout in the same way of there is another idea and I can fix some of the faults I have. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Unless I've misunderstood your post, the comp I won at High Post was a Seniors Open. I don't play there, but just enjoyed their hospitality for the day. I also enjoyed a similar day at Tidworth Garrison. I play at Sand Martins in Wokingham. As you probably realise, small BLT's don't do it for me. Purely my own personal preference, as I know they bring pleasure to loads of modellers. I'm firmly in Larry's camp and just enjoy watching trains go by. Most of my childhood memories are A4's thundering through Wood Green on their way 'oop north. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold pirouets Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm at Castle Royle not to far away. Played Sand Martins a few times but have one of those job things that gets in the way. Look forward to see how this version evolves as the same with watching trains go by. Have to say in my case n gauge may just be starting to beat my eyes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2014 Gordon choose one track build it wire it test it with some trains ballast it and move to the next it doesn't matter what order you complete the circuits just that you have one that works and trains go round. You could even make it all plain track then cut and fit the crossings required in afterwards I think more than anything else you need proof of concept. I will leave telling you off for a pm..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold fishytrains Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2014 This is the problem when you have too much time to think about the layout instead of building it. I know I have the same issue. All the best for this version. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 What a day, both Gordon and Coachman back on RMWeb. Makes one glad to be a railway modeller. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2014 Welcome to the gang Gordon! Better to have done something and become wiser than done nothing and be no wiser...... I found I liked layouts where builders are actually tracksider's watching passing trains. When Greenfield was up and running, the location itself was spoiled due to a third of the scene being in the shadows of the station buildings and goods shed. I thought about the real locations where I enjoyed watching trains for real or on video and they were in stretches of open country (Llangollen line and mid Wales). The location I finally chose is like this but remains in West Yorkshire, however, i have already considered having a 'funny hour' of GWR locos! Hi Larry, Can you please make it a 'funny couple of hours or so', being a follower of all things "Gods Wonderfull", glad to see you back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted October 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm amazed that anyone is following this after all these years and nothing ever getting completed. Thanks for your entertaining replies and perseverance. You guys deserve a medal…:-) The reason we keep following, Gordon, is when you doff your golfer's cap, and don you modeller's cap, you produce the most beautiful flowing trackwork, exquisite ballasting, and well observed scenery. I just wish you did it more often... All the best for the renewed onslaught. Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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