hodgkinr

Hi Iain I was planning on using a Kato 11-109 motorised chassis but I have not made my mind up on what I am going to stick on top yet. I also have a Heljan L&B I could play with. It's not really in keeping with my plans for the layout, but it would be nice to see it running on track. I also have on order the new Bachman Alice class. Regards Bob

well there is only one way to find out. I'm off to order some bits! (Suck it and see) Thanks for your comments guys. Bob

Yep thanks for reminding me. I have had a look at the Tillig products and my plan was to use a 85192 LH turnout. My concern was whether a small 0-4-0 would get across the frog insulator. I'm hoping that I would be able to get a stay alive capacitor but it may be pretty tight.

Ok thanks for that. The tillig track looks very interesting but will a small 009 actually run across the frog isolator ok? Bob

Hi guys A bit of advice please. I have a 00 gauge at the moment and i would like to incorporate a bit of narrow gauge at my harbor. I'm currently using Lenz DCC and was wondering if there was any track available to allow me to incorporate a simple turnout into the standard gauge. I have found a picture of what I mean . Thanks Bob

Hi Guys The new bogies turned up and the cab tops came off pretty easy. I guess its like riding a bike.. once you done it its pretty easy! The existing wheels fit in the new bogies fine. What i was thinking was fitting lights to the carriages while I have them apart. Does anyone know what insulated wheels are a direct replacement for the old Hornby ones please? Thanks Bob

Hi Guys Thanks for that. Looks like the cab is coming off just too be safe. Bob

Hi Guys I have a couple of Hornby coaches R4899 & R4900. I'm going to change the bogies so I can fit NEM 362 couplings. I have ordered some new bogies from shapeways these look like the best option. I have had a quick look at getting the old bogies off which I thought would be pretty simple. I have had a go at pulling them off as they look like they just clip in. I think I just need to give it a bit more brute force or maybe take the top cab off? If someone could confirm whats the best way to do it I would be grateful. I would hate to break them. Thanks Bob

Hi Guys I have had a 58xx sitting in the box for a while now. I finally managed to run it on a rolling road and a short length of track using DC. I don't want to tempt fate but it seemed to run ok. I now want to put a DCC decoder in it and was wondering what one to buy. I have read that the Hattons one seems to be a bit problematic. I did put an ammeter on the controller and it did not seem to draw anywhere near the 1 amp quoted on the Hattons site. I was tempted to try a Lenz 10311-02 "Silver Mini+" 0.5/0.8A with NEM 651 plug or a Bachmann 36-568 6 Pin LOCO Decoder. I'm not really an expert on DCC so I'm not really sure if the 58xx has the NEM 651. I would be grateful if you can help. Thanks Bob

I guess to be fair I did not give people a lot of room to work with Bob

Hi guys I've just looked at the C&L finescale website there's a lot to take in on there. I did notice on DCC concepts web pages they are doing Stainless track. Is it Steel on Finescale site Stainless? and is it worth considering for my new layout ? or should i stick with Nickle Silver? Do I go for plastic or wood sleepers? I knew i would enjoy all this Railway layout building lol. Thanks Bob

Wow loads of good comments I spoke to Martin @ Model Railway Solutions ( those people named Martin are very clever!), he reckons he will make the small board with the dock for me as it will be pretty easy for him. I hate woodwork The boards he makes are 4" deep and he reckons that he could reduce it to about an 1" in the dock area and modify the trestle so it fits in that corner. So that looks like the plan. All I need now is a bit of advice on track parts to buy and where? Thanks for all you help guys..I do ap[appreciate it! Bob

Hi Martin I have been looking at your second plan for a bit now. Utilising a second 4'x2'6" improves the point situation. I'm certainly not thinking of sticking rigidly to the plan. It was the docks and goods area that appealed to me. I'm sure the rest will evolve once i give it a bit more thought. Thanks Bob

Hi Martin They both look pretty impressive. You have made some very important views to me. The only reason i went with those boards sizes was I have already had the 4'x2.6" cut for me by Model Railway Solutions and i wanted to utilise this. It may be better If i have another 4'x2.6" and 2'x2'6" and place the 2'x2.6" at the dock area. Thanks for showing me what the effect the scaling will have on the buildings. The Half relief seems to be the way to go I do propose to use back boards so it will look ok. Thanks Bob

Your prolly right it may be prudent to allow for moving. I'm pretty gobsmacked atm just sitting here looking at what you have done! I really can't wait to get started. Thanks again Bob

Hi Martin I'm really impressed with that. I have been messing with Templot all day and I have got absolutely nowhere. My board sizes are from left to right 4' x 2'6", 2' x 2'6" and 2' x 5'. So its six inches wider on the top part of the "L" I think that can be seen on my Anyrail drawing it has 6" grid lines. Once I have joined all the parts of the boards together I don't plan on moving it so it should not matter putting a turnout over the join ( I think?" Thanks Bob

Hi Martin I'm happier to build it in 4mm scale and those are exactly the kind of Derrick cranes I want to use. Although I have never built my own tracks I would be happy to give it a shot. I like to think I'm still an engineer having built a few 5" gauge steam loco's. Also I think I may be able to find my way round a soldering iron. Hi Pete Thanks for your ideas. I did guess I would have to move things around a bit. That's why i started to try to put things down on Anyrail. By the way the board i'm using is 6" wider on the top bit of the "L" I have allready made that one 4' x 2'6". I was going to make another 2...1@ 2' x 2'6" and the long one down the right side @ 2' x 5' Thanks Bob

Hi Guys I should have guessed that there is no simple answer Perhaps I should explain my thinking a bit more. While I was browsing the web I came across a small layout plan for 0n30 and i thought "That looks interesting " perhaps i could adapt it to my needs. The scale was 16.5 in O gauge but i may be able to change it to 00 and fit it in the small bedroom. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the plans here, but I'm sure i will get told either way. I did make a mirror image of the plans so it fitted in the room easier and would give me a bit of room to work. I planned on making a small fiddle yard that was going to have 3 tracks about 3 foot long that could be removed and the door shut when not in use. I planned to use my Unlined GWR tank engines so 1942-47 era ish. I did not plan to use any long passenger trains ..maybe a tank with 1 or 2 coaches ..if i could get it to fit that is. But because of the dock I was going for small goods trains. I first drew it up in anyrail using the C&L finescale templates and thought this looks like it may work. With a little bit of rejigging I may be able to use it to be able to finally run some of my trains. I'll post some of the pictures I have. I suppose I was trying to be a bit ambitious trying to build my own track on my 1st model. And perhaps i should stick to keeping it as narrow gauge. I do have some O narrow gauge engines. Thanks for all your comments BTW it is appreciated. Bob

Hi The room is very small typically 11' x 8'. The Fiddle yard was going to be a temporary attachment as there is a door on the left side which does not give me much more room otherwise. On the bottom right I was going to build a dock with dock buildings and loading cranes. I did look at the run round look and think it was a bit tight. I think there may be some room to move it a bit to the left to give me a bit more room to run a small tank engine around. I was planning to have a small station there. I suppose i should really have put a bit more detail on the plan as to my thoughts. I was more interested why there was such a difference between Anyrail and Templot points. Thanks Bob

I was planning on a fiddle yard on the left side?

Sorry I probably did not explain myself very well. But I still don't really understand why my original drawing using C&L fitted on my Anyrail baseboard plan but would not fit on the Templot one? Thanks Bob

looks like i forgot to add the file properly

Hi Guys This is my 1st post on the forum. Although I have been around reading the forum for a while now. Over the years I have collected a few trains in various gauges. Anyway the wife has just agreed for me to take control of the small bedroom for my layout. I have pondered a lot and finally decided to go for 00 gauge as i have more stock in that. I must have changed my mind so many times on the design. Anyway the attached one seems to be favourable at the moment as it has a small dock on the right side. I really wanted to make my own track so I started to draw the track in Anyrail using C&L finescale track options. This seemed to fit on the board ok (Board Grid size 6" square). The next step was to try to build it all on Templot. Here is my issue I used 00-BF track but it does not seem to fit like it did with Anyrail? I have redrawn it now using Peco streamline Code 75 which is what is shown on the attached plan and this fits as well. I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what I have done wrong and why my Templot did not fit? Thanks Bob