ColinK

That just looks superp. Compared with what you started with, a very poor kit, it’s a brilliant piece of modelling.

That single coach electric railcar must be a rare beast worldwide.

There is a pub on the platform at Lancaster.

It may seem obvious, but make sure all the fishplates (rail joiners) are fitted correctly before fixing the track down. Don’t ask how I know, but it can be very hard to correct afterwards.

As I’ve (obviously) got to go to my Dad’s funeral tomorrow, my G-scale ‘Hexen Schmalspur Bahn’ is in bits all over the house ready for loading on Friday. Just hope I don’t get there and discover I’ve left something vital at home.

I totally agree. On the rare occasions I’ve had to stay overnight I’ve managed to find my own ‘free’ accommodation with friends. All I ask for is lunch and gallons of tea.

The rails on my garden railway went just like those on the original photo, looks rather realistic. When I moved the track indoors following a house move, I removed the crud with HP sauce - yes, really, and it worked.

Just in case it’s of interest, I had a joiner to build this framework in my railway room. It currently has a G scale layout on the top level and the lower level us used as shelving. However, after exhibiting this weekend the G scale layout will move onto the lower level and a new OO layout will be go on the top.

I’ve a 009 micro layout, it uses Kato N gauge track with their ‘setrack’ curves of 117mm radius. Locos are mainly powered by Kato 4 wheel chassis which go round the curves fine. However, some of the stock has problems on the curves as the couplings are not long enough, I’ve solved that by using home made wire couplings instead. I don’t think any 0-6-0s will go round the curves. Beware that at least one 0-4-2 loco actually has a well disguised 0-6-0 chassis. I’ve found that a lot of 009 stuff doesn’t really like shunting, so a countinous run is a good idea. The Kato track is designed to be assembled many times, so you could have a layout on a shelf, and just plug in the track to make the continous run when you want to run trains.

Many thanks, I’m helping a friend build a layout and am contemplatibg using them instead of my usual method of a piece of copper clad paxolin laid across the baseboard joint, often with several tracks on it, then cut along the baseboard joint.

What’s your thoughts on the sleeper things (sorry forgotten their name) you’ve used at the baseboard joint?

Long before I started school and in my pushchair my parents took me to sit by the railway near Newton Aycliffe. I think I must have been about two at the time. I still remember watching long coal trains slowly going past uphill hauled by black steam locos, fairly certain they were 0-6-0s and 0-8-0s. I’ve never managed to work out which line it was on, the ECML, the branch to Stanhope, the Bishop Auckland - Barnard Castle (onto Stainmore) line, the Bishop Auckland to Durham line (if it was still open). But I only remember steam hauled freights, not passenger trains, so that probably discounts the ECML.

Seeing all your interesting photos makes me wish we had spent some time exploring the trams in Poland during our visits there.

Looks great, well done,

Perhaps some of the Mk3s could find a use on mainline charters.

From what I’ve heard two sidings are going to be laid immediatly south of Horton for loading stone (it currently goes by road to Ribblehead). Because trains reversing into the new sidings will block the foot crossing to the northbound platform, Horton is going to get a footbridge, and - wait for it - lifts. The lifts are required to provide disabled access to the northbound platform. The locals are not happy as the lifts will be very visable. Note that the foot crossing is also part of The Pennine Way path, resulting in up to 3,000 people a day crossing the tracks.

My fully scenic G scale layout will be making its first public appearance at the Chapel show. Cleaned the track yesterday. Just needs lights in one of the buildings now.

I’ve used round tube on the cassettes mating with round rod on the layout track. Worked well. Once the tube and rod had been soldered in place, I covered the non-mating parts with Devcon epoxy glue.

I’ve enjoyed many trips to Koln too. One was timed so I could go to the model railway exhibition, much different to UK shows. One thing that mare me smile was the seemingly compulsory coffee machines behind each layout, along with bottles of beer and wine. Perhaps thats why many of the layouts were automated.

I got one of the Oxford hoppers, but never got the rest of the rake. I’t’s sitting unloved with other unused stock.

I like to see a variety of layouts, different scales, different gauges and different countries, standard and narrow gauges too. The things that particulary interest me are BR blue, especially with mainline action and European prototypes. I’m not really interested in pre-grouping and American models, I find loco shed layouts very boring . One exhibition I went to recently had a considerable number of very small layouts, most of them being inglenooks, which wasn’t good. But I do think exhibitions should have a wide range of exhibits to cater for everybody’s interests. Perhaps my own layouts explain my intetests, I had a blue diesel layout until recently another one about to be started), a tiny HOe layout (quite different too), a 009 micro layout (built for a club competition) and a G scale layout based on East German/Harz practice. The G scale will be making its first public appearance at the Chapel-en-le-Frith exhibition on 24/25 February.

Reading about all the in service faults on the GWR IET’s it makes me wonder if Hitatchi are finding it more expensive to maintain them when they agreed the contract? Perhaps to the point that Hitatchi make little or no profit, or even a loss. Perhaps it is also why LNER have ordered CAF units to replace the 91s, rather that IETs which would be the logical choice in order to keep a common fleet.

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Three way points now installed on the layout. Unfortunatly the Gaugemaster CDU hasn’t enough grunt to switch the two Rails of Sheffield solenoid motors at once. But I discovered that DCC Concepts produce a high powered twin CDU which us cased and plugs directly into 240v. It’s a good bit of kit, and when you consider that it is mains powered, is good value for money. Superb service by DCC Concepts in getting it to me.

The service in the North West is just as bad with regular cancellations by all three operators, Avanti, Northern and TPE. Cancellations and turning trains short are common place. One thing that is really annoying is that because Avanti crews change at Preston, if there is a problem at somewhere like Penrith, Avanti don’t run anything north of Preston. There are operator led barriers to travel which deter passengers too, take for example Carnforth, the only way you can pay for the station car park is by smartphone - no smartphone, no parking, no train journey. The self service ticket machine is difficult to use, especially on damp days when the touch screen is erratic and often tells me that no tickets (snormal off-peak return) exist for the journey I am going to make. But if you don’t gave a ticket its a £100 fine. The Morecambe line has so many cancellations it’s no longer a viable means of transport. The daily train to Heysham harbour, which connects with the ferries to and from the Isle of Man rarely runs, although it did run on the days the ferries were cancelled due to adverse weather. People get stranded at places like Windermere due to the last train being cancelled. Add to that strikes, overtime bans etc and the railway is no longer a viable means of transport. Sad but true. Many of my journeys are now made by car or bus instead of train, or in some cases I just don’t go. Which means that I no longer go to model railway exhibitions further from home eg at the NEC.