whatsatender

Pretty much. The days of an average person on an average wage being able to afford a 2 up 2 down with a decent loft space is well and truly gone in most places. For a lot of us its either get creative, or forget about it - and stick to things that don't take up a lot of space and/or can easily be moved to the next overpriced rental property......... like a playstation.

im wondering if going down the route of having each tile lifted slightly by having another bit of wood might then lend itself to using something like wago connectors in the end pieces instead of dowels. push them together and then it makes the electrical connection between the rail sections.

I don't have any woodworking tools to speak of, let alone a jigsaw so I was leaning towards the CNC route, but it kinda depends on what the quotes start looking like! My very first thoughts was a jigsaw type design. The initial concept was very much 'The ultimate E-Z track system'. The only thing with that is that it would make the ballasting much harder. The intent is to ballast the track have static grass on the edges etc.

Yes that's the sort of thing. The only reason I was thinking around 90cm long sections was to match flexi track lengths. Seemed a bit silly to me to create extra/ unnecessary rail breaks - although some sections will have points. I was thinking if going down the ply route I'd probably pay for someone to CNC cut the pieces for me to get them absolutely perfect, particularly the curved sections. Raising slightly off the floor like that does look like a good idea. I need to give the joining up a bit of thought. rather than having one solid piece underneath maybe something either side leaving a space for wiring connections to run down the middle would be better.

Ply was my first thought, I was just trying to get creative. My only concern with ply was that I'm looking at relatively small thin sections, and was a little concerned about warping since it would just be laid out on the floor rather than fixed to an open frame for the foreseeable future. I'm thinking along the lines of boards that are 90cm x 15cm for double track runs and 90cm x 7 cm for single track runs.

To sit on the floor yes, but ideally which would allow the possibility of raising it up onto an open frame type setup in the future. A good portion of it would remain in place but some sections would need to be packed away when not in use. it would be scenically developed up to the cess area or possibly allowing enough width to allow for a small embankment with some fencing on either side. I was thinking about board widths of around 14cm for double track and 7cm for single track. Idea being that at a later date the track bed sections could be raised off the floor and mounted onto an open frame to allow for a full scenic layout.

I'm trying to come up with a floor level layout but rather than having a solid board like a closed frame setup, use a base board more like one would do when building to an open frame design. I'm trying to come up with a simple cost effective way of doing it and wondered if anyone has any thoughts on using laminate flooring, luxury vinyl tile, cable trunking, or perhaps has another idea.

Maybe its a combination of being partially sighted, the track being grotty and hard to read, and because he didn't stop to ask the owner of the garage he just robbed ;-)

I did think this was an interesting "Very Rare" Item https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-Santas-Express-Christmas-Train-Set-Original-Retail-Very-Rare/333856706583?hash=item4dbb691017:g:vZkAAOSw4shX3AOI I wonder how it differs to this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N8BSFPS?pf_rd_r=GJW15JYMR9T439HMA0JN&pf_rd_p=6e878984-68d5-4fd2-b7b3-7bc79d9c8b60&pd_rd_r=667310fd-31ea-42a9-94b0-810ac9b0caa6&pd_rd_w=yvJhW&pd_rd_wg=ekkaI&ref_=pd_gw_unk

How about this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R1073-00-DCC-Gauge-British-Pullman-Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express-Trainset/333850347893?hash=item4dbb080975:g:73MAAOSwjZFdwsD1 £3K for the train set and £500 for the postage. I'll have two please!

I find on Ebay you have to take 'new' with a pinch of salt. It usually translates to 'as new' condition where someone has opened the box carefully and hasn't damaged the flaps in the process. That particular seller is misleading with the 'new' claims along with their items being part of a 'lifetime collection' I go to the online portals of quite a few auction sites and I've noticed that quite often, that paticular ebay seller puts up three/ four individual lots exactly matching a three / four item lot moments after it closes. Coincidence, or something more sinister!

Maybe. Oxfam seems to have the crazy idea a Hornby Duplo carriage is worth £185.00 !!! https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/Hornby-dublo-4071-restaurant-car/product/HD_200312779?sku=HD_200312779 I saw one of these go for £60 not so long ago and I thought that was mental.

Just watched this auction https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-R2220-BR-4-6-2-Battle-Of-Britain-Class-Locomotive-92-Squadron-Boxed-/303890487650?autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=rHj6H9tnye%2B9kKeVPKqKB6%2FpI7Q%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Can't believe some chump just pushed it all the way to £112 (Well 117 inc delivery) These things aren't exactly rare and can be picked up for a fraction of that, even from traditional retailers. Ebay is becoming a complete waste of time thanks to general stupidity.

A large layout would be a 12.5km x 6km OO scale representation of the UK rail network pre Beeching cuts. Who's willing to donate their back garden to the cause?

Lets hope they don't. Taking kids toys and kit bashing them into something more realistic for an adult seems wrong somehow. Akin to taking candy from a baby. It would be nice to see Thomas models being sold at more reasonable prices so they are accessible to children saving up their pocket money. Its not as if they are highly detailed, hell they don't even have cabs let alone cab detail. When I compare a Bachmann Thomas loco to something like a Hornby Peckett for example, I find it ludicrous they go for the same sort of money. I guess its probably academic now though. With CGI Thomas giving way to the new 2d cartoon version, which looks like its aimed at pre-schoolers, the future of Thomas toys for kids is likely to be trackmaster and the push along wooden stuff more suited to kids of that age.