Colin_McLeod

grown men wept

Why did the cat climb the tree? Because the monkey was afraid to come into the park. There are lots of posters to this thread which is great as it shows that humour is still alive. For the benefit of the two who did not understand this first post, the joke is that it's not a joke. The answer does not follow from the question. It's not meant to be understood. Regards Colin

Your pic of the overall roof looks very atmospheric. What brick paper are you using?

50 years on from a child's Christmas present, I recreated my first train set, with the original locomotive and wagons, on the original living room table protected with the original airforce blanket! My N2 celebrated its 50th birthday December 2007 with a 250 mile trip back to Lisburn, Northern Ireland to my Mother's house for the celebratory run in its first home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5SemQO3idM Here is the same train on my current layout in Cork.

Fantastic for its size. Now for that model of Tescos you only need to get another 500 trolleys.

I have a span of 11'2" unsupported in the middle and it is quite stable. The secret was to make the whole board and its supports as stiff as possible so that there is very little tendency to sag in the middle. My board is 3/4" ply supported on L girders fixed to the wall. These are made up of two lengths of 2"x1" softwood. This gives support to the rear and each of the two ends. To provide strong support along the length of the span away from the wall I installed two L Girders that run the entire length of the span and that rest on the end wall girders. To make these as stiff as possible I made these from 3"x1" timber for the web and 2"x1" for the top. I stiffened these girders further by affixing two lengths of Spur shelving supports as shown on the photograph. I happened to have these as spare from a dismantled bookcase, but they are not that expensive in the context of the total cost of building a model railway. The width of the board is 3' The girders also provided support for lighting for the lower layout. To hide wiring for the upper layout I made use of cable trunking fitted to the underside of the baseboard.

This is my first attempt at blogging and I'm going to use it to share with you my Hornby Dublo 3-rail layout. This is a shelf layout built above my more conventional layout (which will be the subject of another blog). I completed the baseboards in the summer of 2008 but then work stopped while I concentrated on restoring some railway relics that you can see in the background of some of the photographs. Work recommenced around February this year and I have now finished the basics. The following photographs and videos were taken in April 2009. The layout has progressed since then so I'll take some more photographs and upload them soon. The baseboard is flat and is constructed at a height of 1.6m (5' 3" in old money). It is made of 18mm ply supported with various brackets, L girders etc. With the exception of one stretch of board that supports my Tri-ang "Grand Suspension Bridge" the layout has no embankments or cuttings etc. I have tried to avoid the temptation to cram in as much track as possible, as I wanted to display and run my 3-rail collection without it looking cramped or cluttered. There is a single track continuous run, a three platform through station with turntable, locomotive shed, goods yard and a set of sidings. The wiring is all contained either in the space under the track ballast, or in cable trunking below the board. The layout is DC and controlled by a Codar 2000 twin controller and Hornby Dublo levers. Cab switches and some toggle switches also play their part in the control panel. The control panel and the track diagram were prepared using Microsoft Excel. The print out is protected by a sheet of clear plastic which gives quite an attractive control panel. (photographs to follow) Now for three short videos of the layout. Dublo 2-6-4T with three maroon super detailled suburban coaches. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpubNaDfE04 The same 2-6-4T, this time with a goods train. This video also shows the physical relationship between my main layout (still under construction) and my 3-rail layout. My display cases got in the way of the layout. The video shows my solution: the track runs right through the display case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsTtXDmrh3g Dublo 0-6-2T with a goods train. This is my original locomotive that I got for Christmas in 1957, now approaching its 52nd birthday and still going strong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1vJ8tuoaUQ A big advantage for me with this layout is that I now have the space for my locomotives to haul proper length trains and to have sufficient straight track to provide a decent run. The overall dimensions are 15'4" x 11'2".