andi4x4

Superb pictures, Bob ! You just can't beat live steam in a snowy landscape ! Itching to get started on my own garden railway, but, need to get a garden first - a minor detail !

It's a nice pic, Jack looks to fit well with the I.O.M stock. I had a garden railway when I lived in the UK with a variety of stock and locos, both live steam and battery, but sold the lot before we moved to the island as I knew we would be in properties without gardens for several years. Regret it now, of course, especially as one of the steamers was a "one off" , custom built by a friend who is sadly no longer with us. Still, it all went to people who I know would have been using it, whereas, if I had kept it all, it would have languished in storage for over ten years !

Nice to see some I.O.M stock behind that, Neil ! Is it a Roundhouse "Katie" ? I have some of the matching "Pairs" coaches and an Accucraft "Viking", but, as yet, nowhere to run them ! I also recently took delivery of one of the new Mamod battery diesels "Bolton" - placed my order as soon as they were announced, and it was delivered within a couple of weeks. Have to say, I am very impressed with it so far - Build style/quality is typical Mamod - simple but effective - easy to dismantle for modification, etc. It was supplied as manual control, but, I will eventually be converting it to RC and adding some detail. Looking forward to the release of their new Stirling loco early next year, too. Hopefully, the new year will bring better luck with house purchases and will see me with property which will lend itself to the construction of a garden railway !

See my comments in post http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/120051-kings-moreton-wr-through-oxfordshire/page-97#entry2895422 I was impressed then and still impressed now ! Congratulations on winning - it was well deserved ! Did it sell ?

Snow Go ?! Or Wrong kind of (tea) leaves on the line !?

That is already turning out to be a very photogenic little layout, Andy ! Superb use of a very small space !

Thanks Bob, That's exactly what I keep telling the missus - she is deeply disappointed as she fell in love with that property the second we walked in the door. Still, Hoping to go an view a couple tomorrow, one with a 35 foot loft room, all insulated, powered and ready to use !

Well, I thought it was about time for an update - - Having had to extend our mortgage offer TWICE due to delays by the vendors, things suddenly all seemed to start moving very quickly towards the end of October. Eventually given a completion date of 17th November, solicitors called me in on Friday 9th November to sign in readiness for exchange ( everything done my end ) with an expectation of completing on the 14th - I then get a phonecall on Monday 12th November informing me that the vendors had pulled out and removed their property from the market ! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!! So, since that weekend, we have been living out of boxes and suitcases (apart from the last week where we were away in the motorhome) and are now back to square one - looking for a house and about to start the mortgage application process all over again ! So far, it has cost us solicitors fees, mortgage arrangement fee, survey fees totalling about £5000, with nothing to show for it and no way of claiming it back. FUMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the plus side - Daughter number two has asked "Grandpa" to build a railway for Grandchild Number One - so, railway modelling has recommenced in the form of a "Trainset on a board" with a couple of sidings and a passing loop. Not quite my thing, but, at least I will be able to run some of my own trains until I hand it over in January !

Not bad, Bob, Not bad ! Careful positioning of the rake so that a coupling stops at the mid point of the curve would further reduce the 'apparent' gap at the doors, as the opposite end of the coaches either side of the coupling would be on straighter track, thereby lessening the associated angles a little. Give it a try, you'll see what I mean ! I think that is a job well done, and once all the buildings and canopies (if any) are in place it will be far less noticeable. Definitely better than my last effort !

Jump on Google Earth and take a look at Sutton Coldfield station in the west midlands. It has an interesting history, being ex-LNWR and the track layout there has changed dramatically over the years. It has an "overhead" (of sorts) station building with a road way that runs down from the upper level where the station building is, around the outside of the former goods yard (now carpark) down to track level, then continues past and down further to a road under bridge. The topography alone would make it an interesting build, however, for operational interest as a layout, you would need to either combine the former LNWR terminus station and goods facilities and current through-track formations, or just model the the LNWR terminus as it was.

Bob, If you are looking to go the Mercontol route, here's a link I found a couple of days back while browsing 3mm scale stuff..... http://lytchettmanor.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/lytchett-manor/mercontrol---point-control And.... www.3smr.co.uk - find it under TRACK and eBay too - often get lever frames popping up on there. Edit: I ought to say, no connection, never even used Mercontrol or the suppliers listed - Just coincidence that I happened to remember where i saw them a few days ago !

Stunning paintings, Andy, especially the first one ! I agree with the comments about prints, I would be tempted with a print of the first myself ! I think I have said before, regarding your hand painted backscenes, that you should do prints - I am sure they would sell - both artworks and backscenes ! In fact, the top half of that first painting of Bala Lake would make a cracking backscene itself !

Same thing, but cheaper - and postage is included ! Figure out how many you need and get them all in one go - and don't forget to add a few extra, just in case ! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Qty-10-x-Miniature-Toggle-Switch-125v-6A-on-on-SPDT-/263208957647?hash=item3d4879f6cf:g:SV0AAOSw-iNZku5K No connection to the seller - I am just a serial ebay browser ! Pays to shop about ! Andi

Would help to know what type of switches you are using,but, assuming you are using either on/off or on/on sub-miniature toggle switches it is fairly simple. A single pole On/On switch will have three contacts (six if it is Double Pole) so you need to connect the incoming supply from the bus feed to the centre pin, then either one or the other of the outer pins to the track. If using Double Pole (6 contacts) then you need to be using the pins on the same side of the centre line. Usually an Off/On switch will only have two contacts (or 4 if Double Pole), so that speaks for itself. Andi

Some nice modelling of a very interesting prototype ! Looks like a brutal piece of kit - I thought they just blew everything up, didn't realise tools like this existed ! Looking at the B&W image of the prototype, it looks like it has derailed itself (nearest rear wheel to photographer) - or is it an optical illusion ? I would imagine that derailments were quite common judging by the way this thing works, but then, I don't suppose anyone would notice it much behind two large engines, and with track damage being the whole point of this tool, they wouldn't be too worried about any damage done by the wheels being off the rails !

Flood prevention measures, maybe ? Looks great Andy ! Sticky buns are obviously doing you good !

Bob, You might find this useful - I found it simply by googling "00 platform clearances" I have posted a link rather than poach from the originators website - you might find some other useful info on there too ! http://www.elginmodelrailwayclub.co.uk/2010/articles/advice/standard-railway-modelling-dimmensions.html Coming on nicely , and , as slow as you may think it may have been, you have made more progress than me in the last 3 months !

Having been photographing motorcycle racing as both a spectator and as an accredited photographer for many years, I have found my most useful piece of equipment to be one of these :- KM looking really good now, Andy !

That is an image I really wish I could 'Unthink' !!!!!

I nearly bought one a couple of years ago - there was one for sale in a local second-hand shop for £200 - but, I backed down as I couldn't see a printer that cheap being of much use to me at the time ! The horns and other details are not a problem in the CAD software so long as you can draw at high resolution, it's the limitations of the printing process that cause most of the issues with detail due to the resolution of the printer. Generally speaking, from what I have been able to glean from 'tinterweb, if buying your own printer, the more they cost the better the resolution, and therefore, the less tidying up will be required on the final form. From what I have seen recently, there are some really good 'hobbyist' 3D printers around now, but, they may not be big enough to do your centre cab loco in one shot. You may need to split it into 'panels' or at least 'modules' (chassis/footplate/frame, front bonnet, rear bonnet, cab, etc). There are a number of sellers on eBay selling 3D printed kits for locos and rolling stock, in various gauges, might be worth a look to see what is available and what the printed, unfinished items are looking like.

If you are going to use Shapeways for printing, you could market it through their website ......

That looks superb, Rich, it's going to make an impressive little loco ! Only thing I would suggest ( and I have no experience of 3D CAD or 3D Printing) is that the smaller details such as airhorns and handles/handrails, and possibly, the exhaust stack and buffers, may be a problem to the print process. If I was building this myself, I would prefer these be left off the finished print and let me fit them myself from brass wire, etc or the infinite range of parts commercially available for detailing. May even be able to scavenge some of these parts from the original model. Are you planning to have the body and footplate printed as a single piece ? Might be an idea to print body and footplate as separate parts - would make getting into the cab for detailing and painting a lot easier ! Metrocar looks good too ! You're really getting the hang of this CAD malarkey ! I was looking on Shapeways the other day at G scale stuff, and noticed that some of the kits on there for the larger scales ( 0 gauge and upwards) can be really expensive, presumably due to the machine time and volume of plastic used - just a note of caution ! Some of the LGB sized loco kits were several hundred pounds ! Best of luck with them both, looking forward (whichever way is 'forward' ! ) to the centre cab being finished !

Hi Des, Thanks for the good wishes, Back is all better now ( Touch wood ! ), but the house move has hit a snag We were told 4 weeks ago that the searches had commenced and that we should be all done and ready to exchange by the end of August. I rang our solicitor yesterday to find out what was happening as no-one had been in touch with any updates, and was told that the searches, in fact, have not yet started as our solicitors have still not received essential documents from the vendors solicitors, who in turn, cannot send out said documents until they have received essential documents from the vendors themselves ! So, from having been told 4 weeks ago that we should be in by first week in September, we are now actually no closer to moving than we were 4 weeks ago !!! P****d O** don't even come close ! As for a 'blank canvas', the current plan is to continue with the existing modular layout and simply modify existing boards, or add new/extra ones to fit the available space - once the Man Shed is built ( if we ever move that is ! )

16 x 8 David ?! That's a little small for a Man Shed, don't you think ! Lol ! Planning regs here on the Isle of Man are a little confusing, but, I have figured out that there is a big difference between a Shed/Home Office/Outbuilding with a max size of 15 sqm (16'x8') and a "Garage" with a maximum size of 36 sqm(20'x20') ! Neither of which require planning permission ! All I have to do if find out where they draw the line in the definition of Garage or Shed, and whether or not a "Garage" must have access to a road, or just enable a vehicle to enter the building ! Still haven't moved yet, waiting for searches to be completed, but should hear something soon, now !

Hi Johnster, Thanks for your ideas, definitely worth looking into, I think ! The beauty of the modular method I chose to use, is that, I can just build a new board to replace an existing one without having to do a major rebuild of the railway. However, as I am sure you have discovered yourself over the years, nothing is ever set in stone !