Brian D

We had a great time at the Wilmington show yesterday. My Grandson was goggle eyed watching the layout and some very friendly operators engaged him in conversation and explained what was going on - greatly appreciated. What a nice friendly show. Spent an hour in the shed yesterday and a couple of hours this afternoon. Three walls of the shed are now completely insulated and lined. The door wall has been "bubble wrapped" and I have enough Jablite to complete it but not enough mdf. Another trip to B&Q on Tuesday, and hopefully I can get all the walls finished this week. Next, the roof! Regards, Brian

Oh no! Not only a prolific layout builder but multi-talented ace gardener as well Seriously, I hope that gardening malarky didn't include any heavy lifting. Them pots look heavy. Take care. Regards, Brian.

Good Evening all, Work has continued today in between a trip out to get groceries and another sheet of Jablite. I cut the 8 x 4 sheet in half length wise, making two 8 x 2 sheets, which , when stacked, just fit in the Mazda provided the front passenger seat is reclined. So Mrs D has to sit immediately behind the chauffeur (i.e. me) and do her "Your Madge" impression So, the end wall is finished and the window wall is approximately 80% done I would guess. I need to finish this and the door wall, all of which involve fiddly mdf board cuts so will be time consuming. Then the roof. Getting there. Off to a semi local exhibition in Dartford, Kent tomorrow morning with number one grandson, his first experience of a model rail show. Looking forward to it. Regards, Brian.

It's found an exceptionally good and appropriate home.

I have made a good deal of progress today despite the showers and dealing with Toshiba. The end wall is now almost complete - only one more 370 mm deep board to fit. The rectangular board is cut ready (courtesy of B&Q) but needs cutting by yours truly to fit the slopes of the roof. I'll get this done tomorrow and also hopefully finish off the window wall but I need some more Jablite for that. Good news on the lap top front. Having spent nearly an hour on the phone this morning, including being talked through various interesting tests, it seems it is after all a hardware fault so covered by the warranty and it is being picked up tomorrow by courier to go to the Toshiba Repair Depot (I know not where this is!) and could be gone for up to 10 working days. Hopefully my little net book will keep soldiering on in this period. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for the tip, Andy. I was thinking of adding some shutters of some sort. This job is a little way down the track so to speak so "filed for future reference". Regards, Brian.

Hi Big Jim, Apologies for swamping you with "like" notifications, only just been referred to your thread having read about it on Andy Peters Bitton thread. Fantastic stuff and highly relevant to me as I am currently lining and insulating my new shed railway room. Keep up the good work. I was previously planning to go down the non DCC traditional route but, you know, having read through your thread I'm tempted to go digital. Food for thought. But I have got quite a bit of non compatible (not DCC ready by any stretch) favourites. Hmm. Great stuff Big Jim. Regards, Brian.

More "biblical" rainfall this morning prevented me from getting down to B&Q until mid afternoon - didn't want the mdf to get too wet carrying it to the car. I also seem to have spent quite a few hours today with recalcitrant computers! I'm typing this on my little Intel Atom powered net-book (which I hadn't used for a while and therefore needed to spend a while updating itself) because my main laptop has decided to go all unco-operative on me. It boots up ok if a little slower than normal then goes into complete slow motion or no motion. Fortunately it is still under gaurantee (just) so a phone call to Toshiba tomorrow is required. I suspect a virus which the warranty won't cover but at least I have a way forward. Tomorrow morning's forecast is mainly dry so should get some more work done in the shed, fingers crossed. Regards, Brian.

Made a bit of progress this morning Jabliting and lining to window wall just to the right of the window as you view it internally. This wall is I guess 75% complete which leaves the two ends and, of course, the roof to complete. Some more dodgy phone pics follow. Firstly a view of the part of area to the left and below the window which neatly shows the phases of work. The left hand panel shows the internal surface of the T&G shed wall with my pipe insulation spacers, the centre panel shows the double layerbubble wrap stuff stapled into position and the right hand panel is the completed mdf/Jablite. Secondly, a view of the end wall already "bubble wrapped" and awaiting Jablite and mdf - Old Codgers' day at B&Q tomorrow beckons. Sorry about the flare from the slver bubble wrap. Quite sunny here this afternoon - some cheap venetian blinds are planned over the windows. And finally, a new acquisition, £29.99 from Screwfix - couldn't resist. Enjoy the rest of the evening folks. Regards, Brian.

...and all the best to you too, Andy. Just about to hop across to your Bitton thread. Best Regards, Brian.

Today's progress report is "there has been no progress" This is because Mondays are spent with our 4 year old grandson who is heavily into Thomas the Tank so plenty or railway related fun today. Feeling completely shattered though, as is the norm on a Monday evening. Tomorrow, I have the dubious pleasure of attending our local NHS hospital Hearing Centre - the first step towards hearing aids, an "Old G*t" fashion necessity these days. So I'm not sure how much I will get done tomorrow. That's all for now. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for your kind comments, Brian. I initially started looking at the B&Q sheds but they really weren't substantial enough to my mind. Trawling the internet gave me a better idea of the sheds available and the (various) recommended means of insulating and lining them. I'm taking a bit of a chance with the mdf but it is so much cheaper than exterior grade plywood but it is inside the double layer bubble wrap stuff which should keep it dry and it will be sealed and painted internally. The Jablite is so cheap (£6.98 per 8ft x 4ft x 25mm thick sheet) compared to the Kingspan stuff. I have mixed feeling about B&Q wednesdays. Fine you save 10% but the place is very busy and you are in there hours, especially if you want your mdf boards cut. I went on Saturday to get some more mdf and odds and ends, the bill came to £40 odd so I missed out on saving £4 odd but I was in and out in minutes. It depends how you value your time I suppose. I am fortunate to be retired so have the daytime to preferably work on the shed rather than spend half a day or so going out gathering materials. The shed is located within 18 inches of my precast concrete garage which is already served by electricity, put in by an electrician when we had our kitchen replaced. Hopefully an electrician can just extend the juice to the shed to provide say two double socket outlets (one for the railway and one for heat, tv, music, etc) or maybe three and strip lights in the roof. I want to get the insulation and lining out finished and painted before getting an electrician in to give me a quote for the work. At current rate of progress I guess I'm still a few weeks away from that. Thanks again for your kind comments. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for the suggestion Les. It had already crossed my mind to put a beer fridge in the shed, purely for Mrs D's lagers of course Regards, Brian.

Thanks ever so much, Matt. Positive feedback for both the original article in RM and this thread - as they say "priceless". I am humbled sir. Love Taunton - not a million miles away from the West Somerset Railway which, despite being an apparent anathema for an old LNER/BR(E)/BR(NE) fan like me, I found an absolute joy when me and Mrs D had a return trip from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead and back a year or so back. Steam hauled by the ex-S&DR 7F 2-8-0 (hope I got that loco description right) to Minehead and front row seat in the DMU on the way back - happy days. Oh, and all those Ratio kits in full size I see your reference to AnyRail in your signature line. Expect some AnyRail plans here sometime soon. Regards, Brian.

Yes indeed, Andy. I plan some sort of thermostatically controlled low level heating. The thing is, as soon as you heat your shed, the police helicopter thermal imaging picks it up and you get a knock on the door from the boys in blue who think you have a marijuana farm in your shed hahaha. Regards, Brian.

A quick progress report. I spent a couple of hours in the shed this morning and managed to jablite and mdf line a good bit of the window wall so I'm slowly getting there. By the way, I bought one of these things a few weeks back. It has a min/max feature on it which told me that it got down to 5 degrees C in the shed last night. No electrics or heat in there yet but this little device will be a useful monitor when there is and the cold weather draws in. Regards, Brian.

Wow. Railways in the blood indeed. I look forward to see your layout progress - please drop me a line when you start your thread - it is so easy to miss good stuff on here. I too moved away from my roots when I was small. My family originated from the Easington Colliery area of County Durham and we moved down to Essex when I was 3 years old. So I have lost the Geordie accent, accept when I return to the North East - do you do likewise with the Scottish accent? My railway connections are quite recent. I tried and failed to get a sandwich course apprenticeship with British Rail in the late 1960s but was accepted by a London Borough and had a long Structural Engineering career in local government before applying for an engineering (infrastructure protection) role with London Underground about 8 years ago and spent the final 6 years of my career with LU before retiring in 2012. All electric multiple units, of course, but exciting times with a lot of new investment (new trains, signalling systems, etc to increase capacity) although my role was non-operational. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for your comment Ed. As I said earlier in the thread, it is a somewhat strange thing posting stuff on here, not really knowing whether my waffle is of any consequence, so it's nice to get some positive feedback. Regards,

Thanks Andy. Your shed is coming along great. I hope to emulate your achievments, albeit on a slightly smaller scale (by scale, I mean shed size not model scale )

Thanks, Jock. Would that be a Scottish layout you are planning? Regards, Brian.

Dear Andy, It's great to see the progress that you have made on your new railway room - keep up the good work, but see my comments below. In the meantime I'm still slowly getting there with my own somewhat smaller shed (insulation and lining out), I guess still a few weeks away before I can get an electrician in. Biblical rainfall today in Essex so it was a relief that the new shed was dry throughout, but the rain was a bit noisy on the roof Hopefully the roof insulation and lining out will reduce that noise a lot. I hope you and your good lady wife are both well and I sincerely hope that you are not pushing yourself too much. It's good to have a project to work on, as I have, but please, please, please take it easy. It's a stay at home layout (I assume) so no exhibition dates to meet. Fine, have your own deadlines to meet but don't publicise them too much - stress related issues will arise. Great to see the progress you have made and are making but there's no rush. Best wishes, Brian.

Hi Wireman, I have only just stumbled across your thread as you can see by the number of "likes" just posted. What a great looking layout you have housed in such a small shed. Love it. As I am currently fitting out an 11 x 7 feet shed which will give me about 10.5 x 6.5 feet once I have finished insulating and lining it out internally, I am also intrigued by your track plan. Can you tell me what minimum radius you worked to? Regards, Brian. PS Love the hill, trees and shoops.

I really couldn't be bothered (jet lag?) to drive the 8 or so miles to B&Q and back yesterday to buy more mdf and Jablite. However, I did get in the shed for an hour yesterday and staple gun the bubble wrap stuff to the end wall. Feeling more invigorated this morning, B&Q was duly visited and 1 sheet of 9mm mdf (including cuts) and a sheet of Jablte purchased, along with a shed alarm (noticed by Mrs D whilst heading for the checkout) and a couple of handsaws (2 for £10 - couldn't resist). Got back home in a biblical downpour so didn't get all the stuff out of the car and into the shed until just now. Anyway, I have now got enough mdf and Jablite to treat most of the shed windows wall which I hope to do tomorrow. The forecast is good so I can drill, cut and otherwise work the mdf in the fresh air. The dust from this stuff is toxic if inhaled so best done outdoors and not in the shed. Hopefully more to report tomorrow. Regards,

Back from Crete today (I miss the island already) but can't wait to get back in the shed. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to get some more mdf and Jablite and crack on.

Still on holiday folks but dipping in to RMWeb when I can, hindered somewhat by a less than smart "smartphone" and intermitent wifi. Back home on Thursday so will be in the shed soonest thereafter :-) Edit on the laptop for duplication of text - stupid phone! Or was it "pilot error"?