greenglade

looks like an Interesting layout Mike... love the track and associated stone work, buildings are fab.. look forward to seeing further updates soon... Regards Pete

Just a quick not on loft access, there are staircases made that have a steeper pitch than a standard staircase yet still fulfil building regs. Might be worth a look to see if you have enough space, I have one fitted for my loft. You can specify the height and depth that you have available and they will either make a staircase for you or supply you with a kit of parts for you to assemble yourself, all to building regs of course. IIRC my cost just over £300 two years ago Pete

Hi Chaz Your probably right although I've always wanted to have enough room for a rake of Gresley teaks behind one of his A1 pacific's, my preferred era being late 20's to early 30's, like you I'm an eastern man.. I have a lovely Finney A1 awaiting the time when I can get on with my 0 gauge ambitions, being undecided on a house move has complicated things a little. I've had so many interests over the years ( like most i guess) that I'm finally getting clear of most and returning to my first interest, that being model railways which all started due to my late grandfather who was most certainly a LNER man. Gone is all R/C hobbies.. boats,cars and aircraft, war-gaming has also stopped' well as far as on tables is concerned, I'm still involved on the computer side (online) but than I have a contract that pays me in this area so that will stay. This leaves my main interests of today, live steam comes first and now my return to model railways, although this time around it will be 0 gauge in preference to my old scale of 00. Once I get my smaller live steam loco ( in my avatar) ready for this years season I'll be able to spend a little time on the railway which I have to admit I'm looking forward too.. seeing you guys with your own layout constructions certainly gives me a lot of incentive to get going, I love your 'dock green' oh and I must get on with that auto coupling system that I promised...... Pete

I had also considered the Garden, even got SWMBO's ( as Chaz rightly states, the Head Gardener) agreement when I suggested she could be in charge of all of the gardening needed around the track, that naturally needs to fit in scale wise. Problem is we've not sure if we will be in this house for much longer, mind you we've been saying this for years. The garden as it is would certainly make for an interesting project, it's about 90'( +10' patio) long and 20' wide although it has a number of features that would need working around, a large Koi pond being one of them, plus the different levels. It does also have two large workshops taking up some of this space at the bottom, one of which 20'x10' could be used for an indoor section of the layout, again this would have to wait for my eldest son to move his gear out, he himself has already left the nest. I also have my eye on the loft which is currently my youngest sons bedroom, he's due to move out in a few months time, I could make a layout up there, iirc the space is about 16'x12', so I do have a few options.... if only I didn't want to move out of suburbia....decisions, decisions.... Pete

welcome to the world of 7mm, I'm sure you'll find it a very interesting scale with many possibilities to work in. To second what cromptonnut said, check out the 0 Gauge guild, all you need to know about this scale can be discovered via this Guild. Regards Pete

Hi Barnaby The latter and I'm not teasing... However I have two steam loco's to finish first.. well one really, the second will take another 5 years, perhaps more so will have to wait but the first ( steam test shown in my avatar) is now certified and just needs stripping down, painting, detailing and finishing off, 3 months or so should do it and then I can return to the auto coupler. I will of course make an announcement when ready Regards Pete

I've been following this thread since it was created, mainly as I was looking into a coupling system for myself, to be honest none of the commercial items don't do it for me. I decided to design my own when time permitted and have most components sorted in my head and a test sample constructed. Now it's R&D time as I want more, I want 3 links and nothing else will do for me. I will get there but it's not my priority just now as I have a couple of live steam locomotives to get finished first.. what I'm saying is.. 'watch this space'... Pete

Hi Guys This piece of British Transport film has a wealth of information as to the duties and in what order they are done while an engine is 'on shed'.. go straight to 35:30 for the 'wash and brush up' stage, it also gives an insight as to how the various sections of shed are laid out. Regards Pete.... also an LNER fan...

absolutely fantastic work Chaz, I've been following your build with interest and have to say your layout is as David said 'inspirational'... I hope you display it again soon close by (North London) as I'd love to see it in the flesh. Well done Pete

top stuff sir! very good indeed Pete

Evening all I just wanted to say that Templot may seem complicated at first glance but you'll be surprised how quickly you'll get a template to your specification printed and ready for use. I'm not just new to 0 gauge when it comes to building your own track, I had never done anything like this before , building my first turnout using a C&L turnout in a bag kit which I used to build a 31.5mm gauge B6 straight turnout. Templot is in a word "brilliant" and I've only just touched the surface and know that not only am I going to be able to build my trackwork in a prototypical way but that it can be as complicated as I wish it to be. I do believe that because of Templot I'll probably get more fun building the track than any other aspect of this hobby. Give it a go, you won't regret it. Pete