Ighten

What do people use to do this - My first thought after looking at various layouts was Sculptamold or just a plaster skim material but Im a little concerned it will be too wet (though it says its a moisture resist product).... Would just a few sheets of Mod Roc do the trick?

Boards built up in the traditional fashion with glue and screws - I wont put the cross pieces in until I'm totally sure where the point motors will be (though a small board like this is quite solid anyway once the gorilla glue and screws have pulled together). My usual method would be formers for the landscape filled with newspaper and something like Jarvis wet bandage but its too messy and I dont need much height on this at all so Im having a go with foamboard. Using the same stuff we use to foam out the wings on RC planes. Comes in various thicknesses and is waterproof. Didn't take to long to get the idea of a slightly raised goods yard bed in the countryside in place with a small culvert/stream at the front of the layout with reedbeds.. I'll coat this in something like sculptomold to keep it light and give everything a more rolling moors feel. Track plan fits fine which brings me to my first question. Is the general consensus that its still better to give the trackbed a cork bed or thin ply on top of the foam or do you glue directly into the ply.. Second thing I have realised is the point motors - Is it ok to have the shaft reach up so far from the motor (wont that introduce too much flexibility to the point of it snapping). Getting a little in front of myself I couldn't resist seeing how much room I had with a couple of pieces of rolling stock. I have yet to decide on an era or even a location to be honest (I think a lot of rule 1 will apply) though I could not resist this 7 plank model as I had an older uncle who lived near and worked in Bank Hall pits. I think its now a park. I see my Trunk orders are starting to fill with flexi track and one or two other items but the darn RH points are still going to hold up this project though - I really need to check my drawings do match reality (they seem to do with the one LH I have) but it would be nice to check clearances in the sidings with real track and how the (small and few) buildings fit. I'll pass the time trying to work out the electrics and if it should be DC or DCC (so much has changed)

Just on a side note is Hornbys web site doing a moment of madness again - I cant get it to show any items in the catalogue at all pre - or now.... Or is it me and some cookies

Beautiful and very inspirational.... Cant wait to hear some details of the construction and operation as Im in the middle of my first small 00 build for a long time... Little did I know how hard it would be to get basic things like - code 75 track though

Turn the Page - Rush

HAttons are saying they are getting weekly deliveries but its basically pre orders then out first - I have started to trunk everything though I did get lucky on some unused code 75 on ebay

Sounds just what I need - especially when it comes to advice on DCC

Goodness didnt even know a shop existed in Nelson - I often have to drive through that way depending on work. Will check it out

Having just had the rayburn serviced the whole house smells lightly of kerosene - I should be safe getting a few days inside modelling done whilst its freezing outside and hopefully no one will notice Superb work Squatch

A little progress in the fact that some track (good to see my printing plans are correctly scaled) has arrived and the woodwork also; however it also raise a couple of questions - I always wanted to keep this compact and I have already seen the plans move from 1000mm x 300mm to 1100 x 300mm (the 250mm width was just pushing it I decided)- However blow me I forgot that a sheet of 4mm MDF comes in a 4ft length and it seems a shame to have to make two cuts rather than one (as its 60cm wide) - So we now have a new size of 1220 x 300. In a moment of madness it did send me back to SCARM wondering if those extra few cms could allow me to return to my original ideas, but on looking at it I have decided I want the overall picture to have a sense of space in the countryside and I think I will stick with the original plan and simply give more of those mm to the single line to the yard.... Apologies for the awful pic as the MDF is the same colour as the carpet in the image - bonus points though for the source of the cover of "Blood on the Tracks" my temp paperweight. If it ever stops snowing its out to cut the wood tomorrow and start playing about with foamboard to get some idea of how high I want to elevate the layout above board lvl

mmmmm - weathered Pecketts

Nice, I like how your keeping the almost theatrical stage exit disguise with the angled bridge- quick ? what are you using for the structure on the pillars

"Ingle" - think your getting inglenooks on the brain --- liking the plan though

Sprry slight misterm - I dont mean cheap as in value Im simply referring to this idea that people (and some popular newspapers) see them as just a few pence to fritter a way (in cost per share - the idea of I can have a piece of that and take advantage) rather than a few £ and they should see something in return for any ownership - If you look at the daily trading volume its quite suprising how many trades are done.. Im not sure Hornby since 2012 have ever offered a dividend or are even considering one this time - though they are just about to offer a long term incentive plan

Hornbys shares are relatively cheap though so you would need quite an amount for them to considerto offer an incentive - on the other side as an investment unless your holding a lot the % growth that shows is a little meaningless - I do use them on my ISA platform to scoop up any loose change from regular trades in my portfolio but even when they shoot up as they did your still only talking a relatively small monetary growth when you sell ... The opposite of this is that if you did sink a lot of money into just Hornby you would have to be very lucky or possess a crystal ball on when to sell - your money is sort of stuck in a non growth share as they dont pay out a dividend.

Being very picky I know but Is it just me (or is the it the way the pics been taken) but the 24 always looks like its crying out for some much finer wipers - they seem to have been like this for so long now

Yes the plan is to use all Peco 75 fine

LAyout seems to change on a daily basis (but sadly only on paper) as I could do little this weekend other than sit over Scarm and print out peco track profiles due to the woodshed being devoid of any 2x1 to start the baseboard building. There is a local woodyard in the next village who can drop some off next week. However laying things out properly does (and would have) indicate(d) that the size of the layout and the loop is simply crushing far to much into the space - . So a more simple version without the loop has now evolved with the headshunt still in place for a little more operational interest. The idea of raising it up still remains and I now have the space to perhaps include a little bridge over a culvert or some sort of lane.

Thanks to you both - think I have grasped the logic of it, finally

I need a little help to see if I have got the principals of this correct as its been a long time. If I am using the simple approach of the electrofrog code 75 point blades directing power - is this basic diagram correct, in that I only need to isolate (green) the loop and the end section so a second loco can remove wagons from a stationary first that has reached the end of the line. And are the isolated sections simple on offs or do I have to wire them in reverse in the loop?

Any Northwest Middleton would be of interest to me Sam particularly Manchester to Bacup/ also Branch lines to Windsor as mines dropping to bits ...

I like the more openness from the "center stage" area now the sheds been moved - seems to add more breathing space to everything (not that it wasnt superb before)

Thanks TechnicArrow and Andrew (for the Hattons tip) - the measurements are suggesting to me that my third effort is probably the one to go for but with slightly extended board from 1050 to 1100mm (not a lot but all the difference I seem to be finding when I lay it out) - I have printed out all the plans and have laid them out - I can actually reduce the depth from 300 to 250mm which may stop the lady of the moors noticing I have extended the length a little ;).... Fingers crossed I can actually get the wood for the weekend to make start to make a start on the main board which will be one piece.. Traditional build of 2x1 framing and MDF - I am wondering about foamboard to raise the level as if the whole yard area is on a higher sort of embanked "plateau" on the moors/fields purely for scenic reasons... By the way this may all take some time...

Thats a good point Andrew - I want to keep the eelctrics as simople as possible though I can call on others for skills -- However Im off to look at the pdf instructions for instructions.. I have slightly simplified the trackplan now though it still involves the threeway to save on space. I first decided the original plan left me tight on space in too many areas so came up with this (still using a threeway point) at the entrance. After looking into the threeway complexities I do wonder if I can simplify it more by taking another left point on the run around section. This will shorten my storage but as I was never aiming to run long trains anyway it is not that big an issue as this was always more of a small scenic layout with operational interest.. Fiddle yard or cartridges is now to the left. The run to the left of the bottom of the runaround allows larger trains (not much larger) to be split and run around in sections to the storage.. Still some head scratching though as I want to keep the electrics as simple as possible. One thing I need to know though and google is not helping here (nor any manufacturers websites of rolling stock). Is it possible to find lengths of your typical 0-6-0 and 4 wheel goods vans and wagons anywhere in cm.. ?

The more I keep looking at it the more I keep thinking my layout is a little overcomplicated - I want the idea of a inglenook but I also want something that looks a little more like a realistic simple country yard and I think I have got muddled somewhere trying to allow every shunting possiblity to have a solution.