martin_wynne

Hi Ray, Always have the switch blade clipped to the stock rail while fixing it, and pre-curve it in your fingers to match the template when it is so clipped. For 00-SF, when you open the switch blade by 1.75mm at the tip there should be at least 1mm clear all along the back of the blade. If more than 1mm, clip it again and make another solder fixing. Then try the dimensions again. Repeat as necessary. (1.75mm is the thickness of a 20p coin, 1mm is your crossing-flangeway gauge shim). Some 00-SF modellers prefer to build the switch section to 16.5mm gauge. In which case the switch blades need to open by 2.0mm. A 10p coin is suitable for this. regards, Martin.

Hi Ray, Well done, that's a great start for a first attempt, especially the correct use of the check gauge tools and the crossing-flangeway shims. Do the turnout-side stock rail next, and don't forget to put a set in it. It's important to get the stock gauge correct before fitting the switch blades. If you get the stock gauge correct the blades almost gauge themselves: More about this here: http://85a.co.uk/for...=491&forum_id=1 and a simple method to make the set bend is at: http://85a.co.uk/for...1324&forum_id=6 A lot of this was on Old RMweb, but it's off-line at present awaiting a server upgrade. regards, Martin.

Still on the current Templot Club web site: http://85a.co.uk/for...opic.php?id=542 You are welcome to make fresh replies. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, Gluing Lego bricks to things is a good way to clip them in place firmly enough to stay put, but still have them easily removable, and without needing any tools. You could clip down individual buildings that way, or maybe small scenic panels. To avoid gaps under buildings, you can sprinkle a bit of loose ground cover around them each time you replace them. You are not going to remove them very often once the scenics are finished and painted. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, As drawn there is only 2ft at the end of it in which to fit a platform, the main station building, a station forecourt -- and you. You may have to align it at an angle rather than square across the operating space. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, How are you going to access the operating space beyond the MPD if your back won't allow ducking under? Reverting to my previous crazy idea. The branch terminus is now a dummy junction station instead, where you can use the station buildings. The main lines at the rear of the junction are dummy, and most of the station yards etc. are assumed to be off-scene. However, you can have locomotive workings off the main lines down the branch to visit the MPD and back. The main line platforms at the junction could also see an occasional special off the branch terminating. This is all built over the storage tracks. The running lines below are all level with little complex pointwork, so you could have them built and running quite quickly while you build the rest of the layout. Only short trains and light engines use the gradient up the branch, so it can be quite steep and there is room for a longish run up. It can be single or double track. I don't know if this matches any prototype location. I'm fairly sure it will be rejected out of hand, so I have done only a quick 5 minute sketch: regards, Martin.

OK . But in that case where on the present plan does the MPD go? I have uploaded the Templot .box file at: http://85a.co.uk/for...1669&forum_id=1 It's not intended to be used as-is, you simply wanted some idea how to arrange the transitions. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, I don't want to throw a spanner in the works, but if those are your interests why do you need a station? A largish MPD with the main lines running by would seem to better satisfy your interests. There would be no need for pointwork on the sharp curves as the crossover connections into the MPD could be in the centre of the layout. You might be able to fit in a lay-by loop for additional interest. If they are all-level, you could probably get the main lines up and running quite quickly. Then at a later date, to use your townscape buildings, how about a small branch terminus above the storage roads? Short branch trains can handle steeper gradients and it needn't be more than single track running round behind the main lines. You have space there for a very attractive small terminus. I will post the .box file on Templot Club shortly as I don't think RMweb will accept that format. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, You wanted the box file for transition curves, and I have tried to match your original dimensions (overlaid in yellow). However, I see that you have moved on, so this is no longer much help. Each track consists of 4 transition curves -- into the corner curve, and then out of it again, at each end. I increased the width of the centre platform a little in case the existing buildings can't be aligned to the curve. Let me know if you still want the file. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, Happy to send you the file, but I'm struggling to reconcile your two drawings and set the dimensions. The track plan seems to be wider than your stated 14ft limit. Is this how it looks? If I've got that right, the most scope for change appears to be top left? regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, Are you cramped for width at both ends? If you could skew the main tracks a little, that would get away from the oval train-set look and maybe allow you to swell the curve out a little bit more. It would also help to disguise the fact that the track plan at each end is a mirror image. Using a longish transition curve can be a great help in disguising the severity of the end curve: regards, Martin.

That's looking good Gordon. I think you win the prize for being the first to post an image from the Templot sketchboard on RMweb. Don't forget that in TDV you can add the platforms directly, and they will stay with the tracks if you need to change the curving, length, etc: That's at real > platforms... menu item. regards, Martin.

Hi Robert, When I was 8 I was building my own layouts. A different one every week if I remember. I think I would have been most indignant to have someone telling me how it should be arranged. Build him a baseboard. Buy him some track. Show him how to fit it together. Provide glue, paint, Airfix (Dapol?) building kits, scenic materials -- the messier the better. Show and help him to do things but leave him to design and build it himself. Other toys can be included. I remember building a Meccano crane which was ludicrously out of scale -- but how else are you going to load and unload the wagons? Martin.

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BVHK8Yh8Bc

Hi Pete, Yes, 21mm gauge to P4 standards. 20 years on the UK exhibition circuit, and now in the care of the South Dublin Model Railway Club. Adavoyle pictures: http://www.templot.c...RI/adavoyle.htm Adavoyle at SDMRC: http://sdmrc.hobbysi...hp?article_id=4 A rather poor quality bit of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqE17fxtAHY Apologies to Gordon for hi-jacking his topic. regards, Martin.

Hi Gordon, If the design is still fluid have you considered making it a junction station with a bit of a branch line? Even if only a single DMU to a buffer stop and single platform above/behind/in front of the fiddle yard? The extra operational interest of having a train which departs and arrives somewhere else on the same layout is considerable, and you can have fun arranging the connecting stopping services at the junction. If you can add something else down the branch such as an industrial private siding, the junction operations become that much more interesting. And it adds a bit more scenic potential. Also, if you have non-modeller visitors, you can let them have a "play" on the branch without risking them creating mayhem on the main tracks. Now you have the TDV in Templot you can post your plans here in diagram mode, which looks much neater than a screenshot. You can also add the platforms in Templot, or even use the new sketchboard feature to add some colourful scenic detail. p.s. Here's Railcar D arriving at Adavoyle Junction, having crossed from the Monaghan Branch behind the signal box: regards, Martin.

Here's the water tower in Euston Street: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Greenore,+Ireland&hl=en&ll=54.032679,-6.133289&spn=0.018551,0.038581&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=19.175733,39.506836&vpsrc=6&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=54.03273,-6.133299&panoid=f93mGYDCcxwnj0NOUKjEwg&cbp=12,316.69,,0,2.23 Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway (LNWR). Terminus at Greenore.

"And is there honey still for tea?"

How about some phrases worth using? I'm fond of "In due course." It sounds so wonderfully positive without committing you to anything at all. And you can defeat almost any argument with a good "furthermore" or two. Wonderful word.

It's one of the great features of the English language that you can use almost any noun as a verb. Sometimes it sounds ok ("fence the area off") and sometimes it sounds odd ("helicopter him to safety"), but generally you can do it with any noun. Of course the meaning isn't always clear. I would read "to medal" meaning to apply a medallion to something or to give someone a medal, not to receive it. Interesting is the difference between "license your car" and "licence your car" with s or c. License is a verb and "license your car" means to obtain and pay for the tax disc. Licence is a noun and "licence your car" means to physically attach the tax disc (licence) to it. Martin.

Mixing imply and infer always annoys me. But the phrase which really raises my hackles is "I was always taught" when discussing the best way to do something. I was always taught to think for myself. A nice conundrum. Martin.