MikuMatt81

That is very interesting also, because in the two years my layout has been in the summer house, I too have had an issue with the sleepers going bad. I think being in a summer house / shed its akin to an outside layout, because although fully protected from the rain, the moisture in the atmosphere makes things damp overnight. and of course when its hot everything bakes.

That is very interesting, I have a sneaking suspicion the damp atmospehre is a big factor in creating a natural weathering effect..... oh and LOL at the Hp sauce! XD

Hi Johnster, My layout is at the end of the garden, in the summer house (a glorified shed then!), so no grease or aerosol in the air that I know off. Because of this location, it is cold and damp in the winter time, and hot and dry in the summer time.... this rightly or wrongly led me to belive it might be a kind of oxidation that was going on with what I assume is nickel silver track. I should note that Ive spent so much time doing modelling over the last couple of years, that I very rarely get to actually run my locos for more than 5-10 mins a month, so its not like the track has had any heavy usage to date. I certianly think the crud theory holds weight, but im still not entirely convinced due to the lack of running sessions taking place.

Hi, thanks for your reply. Do you think any residue scenic cement plays a role in attracting the grime?

Hi Everyone, Please see the attached photos, the track on far left approx 2 years old, and the shiny track on the right a couple of months. The old track has *never* been painted, simply ballasted and left. And yet it has a pleasing and dare I say natural non-reflective look to the sides of the rails. When I went to paint a new section of track, I found I didnt personally like it anywhere near as much as the naturally aged track shown in the photos, which also pleasingly looks lower in profile when viewed in persion. So my question for the experts is, what exactly causes this phenomina? Is it natural oxidisation of some kind? or is it to do with residue scenic glue collecting dust etc from the atmosphere? or perhaps something totally different? I would love to know as id like my shiny new pieces of track to have the same look. I look forward to hearing your thoughts :)

Thankyou very much to everyone who replied - I really did learn something from you all! The general consensus is that the sleepers/timbers are indeed thicker on real life points, which makes sense. So my follow up question is then, what is the difference construction wise between regular sleepers, and "timbers" on the points? Are plain track sleepers not made of timber also??

Hi everyone, I purchased a yard of Peco sl-108f bullhead track, and an Peco sl-u1196 left hand turnout from Hattons ahead of a new project planned for next year. This is my first time ever handling anything from Peco's bullhead range, Im still relatively new to the hobby so please forgive my ignorance, but is it me or is there a mis-match on the sleeper width between the two products? The first thing I noticed on taking the items out the box was that the sleepers on the yard of track looks noticeably skinnier than the chunkier sleepers on the turnout? I cant have been the only one to notice this surley, or does the real thing have different sized sleepers on the points as well? Please note I am not talking about sleeper spacing, rather the width of the actual sleepers themselves! Thanks so much for your input, maybe I am being too cricitcal here....

Ahhh i see, I will get myself a few burrs then. Do you know of any hole saws that dont have a pilot drill bit in the center?

I love the idea of the plywood guide - I will definitely make one and use it! And do you think the diamond hole saw would work ok on the wooden baseboard, or would it be better to try something else? btw what is a burr please?

I would prefer not to use a surface mounted one as I dont look the look of them, and also I have a bunch of Gaugemaster PM2's already in my toolbox read to be used :)

I quite like this idea!! I was also wondering about using a Diamond hole saw intended for tiles etc, as it wouldnt have a pilot drill bit in the centre to worry about.....

Hello everyone! I am two years into building my first layout and I am really pleased with my progress, however when I first conceived the idea of building a layout, I had only ever planned to switch the points manually by hand, and so regrettably I never pre-drilled any holes under the track. I actually have a single point motor installed inside my hill / tunnel out of necessity, so I already have a CDU and all the wireing ready to add motors to the rest of the layout... but there is still that issue of no pre-drilled holes. So my question is, does anyone have any ideas or tips on how I can drill the holes from underneath the board without damaging the delecate point mechanism? Perhaps some form of hole saw? or maybe its just not possible to drill the holes at this late stage? thanks for any help! Matthew

Hi Paul, thanks for your message. On this occasion I used WS Deep-Pour (Epoxy resin based I belive), which is quite different to the re-heatable EZ-pour product. Id prefer not to polish this small area with any of the products mentioned by members above, as Im 90% sure they will all further cloud the area, and I dont want to worsen things as its really not that noticble from regular viewing angles. I actually tried a special plastic polish on a previous pour, and that too clouded up the resin - it doesnt seem a very robust product at all. What I was really wondering is if there is an Oil based product I could just pour over to restore the sheen - maybe even something like baby oil? Im also considering doing a thin pour of Deluxe Materials "Aqua Magic", used like a kind of surface water... Im currently just trying to work out if it would be safe to use over the WS Deep pour product.

Hi everyone, Ive used Woodland Scenics Deep Pour water, which I belive to be Epoxy resin on my lake Diorama section of a Layout. When I was working on my lineside fence this afternoon, I got regular old sweaty finger marks on a small area of the lake surface, and to my horror I found I couldnt easily get them off. Honestly I couldnt belive the resin was so fragile!! I tried to polish them out with a bit of IPA, but it left the area looking cloudy compared to the rest of the glossy finish. Now my question is there anyway I can return the glossy look to the effected area without resorting to sanding and / another pour which I have no room for. Any advice or tips deeply appreciated!

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone with knowledge of GWR sempahore signals would be able to tell me what signals I need, and where exactly to place them on my little double oval layout please? Obviously its not a model of a real railway, so im really struggling to know what would be appropriate here. I only really want signals along the Front of the layout, especially around the signal box area on the right, and also around the as of yet unfinished platform area (and possibly the fan of sidings in the middle). Would something like the Dapol "GWR Junction RH 2 Arms" sku be suitable for just before or after the signal box? Any input much appreciated!