Robatron86

You have lost me Dan...

Is this better Dan?

Nicely done

Well done Ray. Well deserved.

Prototype for everything....

It was fantastic to see it in the flesh. Top job!

The plan originally was to replace all the plastic code 83 on the Walthers stuff with Peco code 83 and run the loco on to the float, but I then found that wasn't hugely prototypical. The float apron and float contains a switch as part of the kit, but you need a further #4 wye to complete the track coming off the apron to the rest of the world. I have all the necessary bits, but when I laid it out and ran it, I found out I ran out of room at the fiddle end.

I know it seems simple, but I attacked the design over and over, and in my mind none of the designs really made me happy. If I am being honest, using the Walthers kit as intended does require a lot of room, at least 2 reacher cars, plus a sizable fiddle yard and I think I would have had to extend the layout by another 3 feet. If I had made my own float like you did, I could have made it my own and not had to use reacher cars.

Sorry chaps for confusing you...ahem 8ft by 17.32 inches.

244cm by 44cm, split in two.

Hi Soapy Sam, I am going to leave the float in the bath...

I know, I should have some SP.... I had the points handy, code 100 medium left and a wye, found in a box in the loft. The track is not fixed, so I could swap the the middle 3 and 5 over. Using code 100 rules me out of playing with the Freemo boys....maybe you should build it

I do wonder sometimes Jordan if you are on commission Well stretching out an inglenook is easy to do with NA stock. I was talking to a chap at the Guildford show and he had built an UK based inglenook with 4 wheel wagons. Obviously that could be fairly compact, but with our long and shiny boxcars (especially with 89 footers) you could stretch a simple inglenook out over quite a few feet. Well, five 89 ft cars is nearly 6 foot! When I am running it properly, I will be running at scale speed, with correct pauses for switches to be set, brake tests, etc. How very Mindheim!

If I find some that take my fancy, I don't see why not.

Don't worry. Just because I am doing an ATSF inglenook doesn't mean you can't

So, I have thought about the car float over and over and over, almost to the brink of insanity, and it isn't inspiring me at all. I don't know why. And the roundhouse idea didn't do it for me really either. So, I have been doing some more experimenting and have hit upon what I enjoy most, and that is inglenooks. I present the latest idea, a full 5-3-3 inglenook, which have just spent the best part of an hour switching, and good god it was fun! Sorry for all the dithering. I'm sure I will come back to the float one day.

I always say it is a marathon, not a sprint. Had a great time at the Astolat MRC show yesterday in Guildford. Layout ran with no faults. Next show is the Newbury MRC show on the 11th of Feb.

So after a joining a Santa Fe modellers Facebook group, I discovered that the exhaust stack that comes as standard on the Alco S4 is incorrect. This is what it should look like (image courtesy of RailNet/Google) This is how Bachmann supply it. And this is my ham fisted attempt to replicate it. It's a bit rough round the edges, but I like it. I have also removed what appears to be a small walkway(?) from over the grill at the front on the top. Again SF units didn't have this. I know! Some actual modelling!

Yes that does make sense Jack, but the car float isn't being used as the basis for the extension to Tilley Yard. The car float is going to be a completely separate layout.

Well that is good to know. Cheers for that.

So, it has been a while. Been off the radar a little bit and not been doing much modelling sadly. Just some new pieces of rolling stock. Athearn ATSF single dome solvent tank car and an Accurail CNW 50ft boxcar with 8ft Superior door. Allegheny1600 (John) should appreciate that one. The tank probably won't see service on TYS, but it goes with my ATSF single dome water tank car nicely. I was also by good fortune able to source some more 1.5volt, 1mm bulbs. I had spoken to Joe at Kyte's Lights (usual disclaimer, happy customer etc.) and he said that the manufacturer had stopped making them due to the popularity of LED's, but he check his workshop and found 44 clear bulbs! Very happy with that!

The biggest difference that I didn't spot straight away is that the DS4 has a shorter wheelbase.

My DS4 arrived today: DS4 on the left, VO on the right. I know, they look almost identical!

Thanks Jack

Thanks mate. I think that is going to be the limit of my extensions for TYS. I'm already pushing the limit with the amount of space I have. I think for the extension I will remove the backscene on the left and continue the buildings onto the next board. I can't see a convincing way of having the trains disappear through a hole in the sky. In other news, thanks to Nick (Northpoint) I now have the car float apron for the new layout.