MiniMan64

Thanks. I’ll send them a message too

Thank you, I’ll drop them a message

Morning folks, firstly apologies as I think I posted this in the wrong place this morning. I have a pair of Hornby locos that need some TLC, a Pannier tank and a blue City of Chester tender driven tank that don’t run properly. The Pannier was a present from well meaning in-laws as a ‘Duck’ for my boys and seems to run but incredibly slowly. The City of Chester holds sentimental value as it was purchased ‘for’ my Dad in the 90s and was our first proper train set. The tender on that whines when it tries to run and the runninggear jams. I don’t have the skills and more pertinently, the time, to take them apart to sort them out. Does anyone provide a reliable postage service where I can send them off for sorting out, repair and service? Thank you very much

Thanks

If anyone can direct me to a better part of the forum to ask the question that would be great too. Thank you

Morning folks, firstly apologies if this is in the wrong place, wasn’t sure about the best sub-forum to post in? I have a pair of Hornby locos that need some TLC, a Pannier tank and a blue City of Chester tender driven tank that don’t run properly. The Pannier was a present from well meaning in-laws as a ‘Duck’ for my boys and seems to run but incredibly slowly. The City of Chester holds sentimental value as it was purchased ‘for’ my Dad in the 90s and was our first proper train set. The tender on that whines when it tries to run and the running gear jams. I don’t have the skills and more pertinently, the time, to take them apart to sort them out. Does anyone provide a reliable postage service where I can send them off for sorting out, repair and service? Thank you very much

Love it. My two boys would be very jealous if I showed them this, especially if they spotted Toby! I’ve had to mention several times about how expensive all the Hornby Thomas trains are to ward off very expensive requests! We’ve got a little more space to play with than you (8x8 with a well) but we are completely lacking in gradient or scenery so far. Great work, thanks for sharing!

So an update. Life has got busy and trying to build a proper layout, especially with the raised section, has proved difficult especially with the new lockdown and working from home. With the arrival of Thomas and Percy at Christmas (very popular!) I’ve decided to simplify things for now, two larger radius loops, two smaller radius loops and we can add a few sidings along the way so everyone gets to drive trains. keep it simple, have some fun, and maybe add some interest and scenery along the way.

Oh wow, that’s great, lots of driving options there, makes me want to expand my baseboard and I’ve not even really got going yet. I’m afraid mine has not advanced this month, life has been too busy. There is a proper Thomas and Percy under the tree for the boys though, time for an upgrade!

I think I’ll definitely have to do this. I had a little mock up with some cardboard this afternoon and took a go at running some locos up. It was a bit hit and miss because the track was loose and my cardboard was a bit wonky but the small stuff was fine. I do really like the up and over look though.

I'm thinking of raising the 6x2 piece of the baseboard that the top right corner sits on, the main station, by just a few inches, might make the incline a little less heavy.

The loops may be linked somehow, I’m just playing around with a basic track layout before adding the extras, there’s no sidings on the plans either. I’ve got some card and polystyrene kicking around somewhere so I might have a little play around with inclines and see what the smaller engines can manage. We don’t run massive trains anyway.

Now that is an interesting idea! I've had a brief play around in SCARM this morning but it's tricky getting the inclines correct. You need 75-80 clearance for a bridge right? I think I can make it work if I keep the double mainline flat with a station in one corner (as it already is) and the the inner 'branch lines' are the one that have the incline to go up and over the mainline and back down again into the 'main' station. The small 0-4-0 tanks pulling smaller trains should have a much easier time climbing right? I could build a little station/yard area on the raised corner for them to go and then return to the 'big station' down the hill. This is a very rough first play needing a bit of flexi-track to make it work, there's probably a far more elegant way of doing it! I think tunnels & bridge > turntables and they are a bit of a hogger of space anyway. In the long run it might go on an extra board which can become a bit of a shed/yard area in the bottom right.

I have got some extra bits of wood kicking around, I was thinking of filling in the corners so to speak with triangles pieces as I would imagine that would help make use of the usable space. I do like the up and over bridge on the layout picture above, there's something about a train crossing a bridge that just looks great!

Wow, fantastic, what a response! Thank you all. I see so many amazing proper modelling on here I thought the idea of something very train-setty might be ignored. You've got the board shape spot on Keith, it was somewhat dictated by the size of wood available from B&Q and the size of the loft hatch if I'm honest. The loft space is good, boarded out and everything, it's not a room per say but we've been using it as a 'play' space for a while, we used to just set loops of track up on the floor. The rolling stock is a motley collection of steam, a large contingent of GWR but also the ever present Scotsman, a treasured but awkward to run City of Chester (first model) and a collection of speedy Hornby 0-4-0's. We don't run massive trains, probably 4 carriages max. This is the layout as it is now:

Well that’s a good start, I’ve explained my board size incorrectly! Apologies. The shape is right but hole in the middle is 4x4 not 2x2. Sorry! The board width is 2ft deep so reach is not an issue and we actually have access around 3 sides. The board is in the centre of a loft space with access down the sides to access storage. I suppose in the future there may be scope to extend perpendicular with a board for a terminal or fiddle yard or the like.

So this ones a bit of a what if/where do we go from here one. There’s some very creative people here when it comes to track design but maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree. An 8x6 baseboard was created back in March/April for me [-]and the kids[/-] to play trains on. It was quickly modified into an 8x8 with a square 4x4 hole in the middle. Much better for watching trains going around the outside. We’ve had a variety of layouts over the summer and currently have a 2nd/3rd radius mainline double loop on the outside and a 1st radius loop on the very inside. This inside loop has occasionally become a double track to facilitate “races”. The next step is to make it a bit more permanent and start creating scenery. Except three/four loops is a little plain, I know the answer is less is more but we like watching lots of trains go by! So with this guidance: - DC control - not prototypical - 95% Hornby set track - continuous running - at least three ‘running’ - sidings/turntables/tunnels welcome - bridges/inclines (but recognise probably not due to size limitations What would you create on a baseboard like this? It’s probably too trainset-y for most here but I’d love some help and inspiration please!

Any track progress on this one? i know it’s a bit ‘trainset’ and not to many on here’s tastes but it’s right up my street! Four sets of continuous loops and an attic space is exactly what I’m aiming for. Although mine is D.C.