Brian D

Monster shed Andy, hardly of the "potting" variety. Makes mine look tiny, but I didn't have the room for anything much bigger. I'm not really jealous - oh, all right, I might be just a tiny bit When does the insulating and lining out start and what's the plan? Regards, Brian.

Hi Tony, Thanks for dropping in. Yes, I've been tinkering with AnyRail for several months. I have a couple of options planned out in reasonable detail but am waiting to find out the final internal dimensions of the shed once all the insulation and lining is completed. I'll post them on here in due course but another option is, in order to keep trains running, to adapt my existing layout by adding on a scenic U bend to link the terminus on one side of the shed with the fiddle yard on the opposite side. Ideally, this U section would incorporate a new loco shed and turntable along with a viaduct (which I'm keen to include, albeit a bit tricky to build on a 30 inch or thereabouts radius curve) and would ideally mate to the rebuilt mk 2 layout. There is a lot to think about and plan out. I also want to move from code 100 track to code 75, including live frogs. A slow burner as I said so bear with me. Regards, Brian

Hi Tony, There's a lot more space in Australia than in the UK I guess Regards, Brian.

I've only just stumbled across your layout thread. The layout is really impressive and I envy the amount of space you have. Keep up the good work. Regards, Brian.

Finished off the rear main wall this afternoon so one wall down in terms of insulation and lining out, three more (and the roof) to go. I have measured up the long window wall including the positions of the various vertical and horizontal members so that I can prepare a cutting plan prior to my next "old codgers' day" visit to that well known DIY store. The verticals are much closer together (circa 500 mm) than the rear wall (circa 800 mm) so I may well opt for 9mm mdf board to line it out - much lighter and easier to handle. There is now likely to be a short intermission. Me and Mrs D are off on holiday for a couple of weeks on Thursday next. I doubt whether I will get much physically done before we go but hopefully will have sorted out cutting plans for the remaining work so I can get stuck in on our return. Regards, Brian

Good Evening All, Quite a bit of progress today - three quarters of the long rear wall of the shed is now fully insulated and lined. Progress pictures are as below. First board and Jablite in place Close up of the insulation and lining layers. Second board and Jablite in place. "You can hardly see the join, Ern" All three boards in place, floor to ceiling. I had to cut a slot in the mdf board for the central steel roof beam. Admitedly, there is not much railway modelling visible yet. But hopefully, those contemplating building or relocating a layout to a shed will find the above of interest. I must admit that I did research garden sheds on here and elsewhere in formulating my shed delivery spec and insulation/lining options before progressing with this project. Thanks Andy and the Warners' support. What a fantastic resourse RMWeb is to its membership and all who call in here. Regards, Brian.

I went down to B&Q today armed with a cutting plan for the mdf sufficient to cover the rear wall. Similarly I purchased enough Jablite for that wall (2 no 8 x 4 sheets), screws and more "bubble wrap", etc. I was in there 2 hours! Why oh why don't they get more staff in on "old codgers' day"? Anyway, whilst I was in there, I stumbled across the pipe insulation and picked up a couple of lengths, which, when cut into short 15mm lengths, should make ideal spacers to maintain a void within the insulated and lined shed walls, see below. Looking forward to making a good deal of progress on the rear wall tomorrow. As a reminder, here is a drawing of what I'm trying to achieve. Regards, Brian.

The shed people arrived very early this morning and replaced the panel to provide two openable windows as originally ordered. See decidedly dodgy phone pics below. So it is time to crack on and sort out some cutting plans for the mdf lining... ...and commence work on the insulation. To use the Facebook vernacular of some of my younger relatives, "Excited!" Regards, Brian.

Still keeping everything crossed for the morning but in the meantime this is not a Fairbairn tank, definitely a Concrete Mixer. Regards, Brian.

Just had a call from the shed people. Their truck has broken down and is being recovered so no remedial work will be done today However, it is now promised for first thing tomorrow Keeping everything crossed now. Regards, Brian.

Ooops, just been trawling through my photos. The Cement Mixer is not heading the passenger stock, The correct loco desciption should have been "Fairburn 2-6-4 tank". Apologies. Regards, Brian

Cleared the decks in the back garden this afternoon ready for the shed panel replacement tomorrow Not very photogenic I'm afraid so here's another pic of the current layout featuring a Mucky Duck and a Cement Mixer Regards, Brian.

Looks the business Les. Hope all goes well at the show. Regards, Brian.

Good Evening, A quick progress (or lack thereof) report. I checked with the shed supplier yesterday and my replacement panel is first on the list for Monday morning delivery, about 7.30/8.00 am so that's good. In the mean time I've given a great deal of thought to the means of insulating and lining the shed. At the moment I am planning to fill the 45 mm or so between the shed outer ship lap boarding and the 12 mm mdf lining (that I have opted for, mainly on grounds of cost) with "Multi-layer air bubble film insulation with aluminium bonded to both faces" from a well known DIY shed together with 25 mm thick Jablite polystyrene insulation, maintaining an air gap between the insulation layers and the ship lap. The means by which I maintain the air gap will be by some sort of spacer system that I have yet to devise. I have also done much measuring up of the shed interior framework in an attempt to sort out a cutting plan for the 8 x 4 mdf and Jablite sheets such that I can get them in the car! So, in the meantime I thought I would post a picture of "Happy Knight", which formed part of my retirement gift from LU, posed on my existing layout - I was certainly a Happy Knight when I retired so it was a very appropriate gift. Regards, Brian

Side cutters? Or have I misunderstood?

These shots were extracted from the video I took in June on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. A great LNER day out!

I have "expressed interest" on the appropriate website, Les Regards,

Well, not a lot is happening about the new layout at present until.... 1... the shed dries out. I reckon that its various components were loaded on to the delivery truck on the Friday, it rained cats and dogs most of the Bank Holiday weekend and the day of delivery and erection (Tuesday just gone) and was fully exposed to the wet all of that time. Despite the fact it has been tanellised, this treatment does not keep the water out, it merely discourages timber munching bugs and wet rot. So the dehumidifier has been brought out of retirement and is running 24/7 at the moment via an extension lead from the adjacent garage. 2... the replacement panel has been fitted, this with the missing opening window. I'm promised this will happen on September 8th. 3... the shed has been insulated and lined. I can't start this until the shed has dried out a bit more or finish it until the panel has been replaced. But I'm planning on making a start and have bought some materials and identified others I need. A slow burner as I keep saying. This state of affairs has prompted thought of interim arrangements and the need to get trains running in the shed as soon as possible. I have checked whether my existing layout will fit in the shed and it will, just, on the slant as shown below. As a reminder, this is the scenic layout plan... ..and some recent shots showing some of the new stock that I have accumulated over the years. A fairly catholic selection of BR Eastern Region RTR locos (with the exception of the J52 which is a hybrid Lima body on a Bachmann GWR Pannier Tank chassis) I think you will agree. The new layout will therefore likely be based much further south than the Durham coast between Sunderland and Hartlepool which, I'm sure never saw any of these locos, or will be a "dual personality" type layout, depending on the stock I run. Anyway, I still have a lot to think about including how I might metamorphose the existing layout into the new one in order to keep trains running as long as possible. Thanks for popping in. Regards, Brian.

The shed arrived yesterday and I'm very pleased with it despite a couple of issues. One of the issues is that despite ordering and paying for two opening windows, it has only come with one. No problem I'm told by the supplier, a replacent panel is on its way. The other issue is the awful weather we had (non-stop heavy rain) over the Bank Holiday Monday and yesterday here in Essex. The supplier is based in Northampton and it came all the way down from there on the back of their truck before being delivered and erected in the pouring rain. The shed is very wet and needs drying out so a small 800 watt oil filled radiator is currently gently warming it up. Until the replacement panel has been fitted and the shed has dried out, I am loathe to start insulating and lining the shed. Instead, I need to concentrate on providing a decent all weather path from the patio to the shed door! A slow burner this thread as I think I've already said. More in due course. Regards, Brian.

Not much of frequenter of pubs these days. It strikes me that you need quite a bit of cash on you to feel the vibe as it were. Supermarket bottles at 3 and sometimes 4 for a fiver such as Tangle Foot, Fursty Ferret, Abbott Ale, Doom Bar and Tribute hit the spot for me. For a decent cooking bitter try the 4% version of Parkins Yorkshire Bitter from Sainsburys.

I've mentioned above what I call "acceptable curvature". It was becoming clear to me 2 or 3 years ago that I would not have the luxury of a large space in which to build my new layout. This ruled out modelling an actual location with sufficient interest and this also leads on to the use of relatively sharp (compared to prototype) curves. I really didn't want anything sharper than about 36 inch radius but was forced to the reality that that is exactly what I would have to do. So, how to decide on the minimum acceptable curvature? In the end I used various software to print curves and parts of a 4mm scale layout full size on A4 sheets, stuck the sheets together and "plonked" (there is no better word) on to the resulting patchwork quilt various trains or parts of trains to see how they looked. The main concern was with the longer passenger stock. Some photos of this exercise follow. Apologies for the photo quality, especially the dmu image, but hopefully you can see what I was trying to achieve. The upshot of all this was that I eventually compromised on a down line minimum radius of 30 inch radius and a corresponding up line minimum radius of 28 inches. Any parallel goods headshunt inside the pair of main running lines would by necessity therefore be 26 inch radius which I could tolerate in terms of appearance for general shunting 0-6-0s and 4 wheel wagons. So, the main outcomes of this exercise were that (1) I was not modelling a real location and (2) I had settled on the radius of the main running lines which were tolerable in terms of appearance. Hopefully this does not smack of grandmothers and egg-blowing. It is always slightly odd exposing one's self on the internet, if you'd pardon the expression, in this way in the anticipation that the audience finds all this waffle interesting. Oh well, here goes, uploading now. Regards, Brian.

Hi Les, Yes indeed. Once the shed is up, there will be an 18 inch "maintenance" gap between the existing garage and rear fence. Enough room for me to get into the gap and sort out any problems. I need to do a lot of work on the shed once it has been erected before I can start layout building. More news on this later. Regards, Brian.

Thanks, Andy. I opted for an odd size shed, namely 7 feet x 11 feet, giving me about 10.5 x 6.5 once I've lined the shed internally - this forced on me by the size of the garden. I've been experimenting with "acceptable curvature" to arrive at a workable double track layout and will reveal more about this later. I could not get a circular layout to work, meeting my "acceptable curvature" criteria so will be pursuing an end to end U shape or possibly a spiral! Again, more later. I am firmly stuck in the BR steam and diesel transition era favouring the North Eastern (tangerine totems) Region but the layout will probably end up Eastern (blue totems) Region following the merger of the two BR regions. Regards, Brian.