MichaelW

Ditto for the driver, and hopefully the two would agree? What happened if they didn't?

Morning all... I'm a bit bewildered, Jeff has cheerfully admitting to not making much progress, yet there's pages of posts to read... Oh well, it fills in the time at work. Interesting to see different approaches to storing stock - all mine is either kept in the original boxes, or have been transferred into large stock trays - no way to see it, but then it is mostly new fangled deseasals, so not that great to admire... Hope you get your track today Jeff, how's the control panel coming along? I managed to get some strip (but no girders) to work on the bridge on Friday night, then OH appeared, closely followed by mum, so we spent the weekend working in the garden. Might get to make some progress tonight - I have my camera on charge to cope with the copious pictures...

The door looks good - you've done a very good job of scribing in the planks. On first sight, I thought you'd done a good job of a weatherbeaten door, but I guess with all the grime on the rest of the layout, it's a bit too clean to be a Bacup door.

Hi Gordon, I've been reading through your thread for the past week or so, and I have to say I'm mightily impressed. Not just with the results of your attention to detail, but also the way you explain your way through what you're doing, and what you are thinking about the project. After a while each new page was a voyage into the unknown - will the layout still be there at the end of the page? Glad to see you've returned to gradients in a plan that you are happy with. I shall keep following to see how you get on now. Glad to hear that the latest outbreak of the black track plague hasn't affected you

I guess I'm still at that enthusiastic state on here, where I want to do something so I do have a reason to post (yes, I know, I don't need a reason, but it's still nice to be able to) - this evening, I have 2 things to post about, tomorrow, probably none. Once you have a number of followers, I guess the pressure is there, and that is not always a positive, sometimes you do need to take the time out to have a think and do nothing till you know what you want to do. Having another hobby gives you time away to do that thinking. Like Jim I'm a member of the Long Distance Walkers, and I find walking all day gives you plenty of time to think and get a distant view of things. I guess the same could be true of golf. Though as the result of my last walk was the destruction of a layout, perhaps this isn't such a good thing Jeff, don't worry about not being able to progress, I'm sure you could spend the time catching up on other things (bailing out the garden?). I think we're more than capable of entertaining ourselves without progress updates. It makes reports on your progress all the better for the anticipation ps. Jim, I'm 35 and I get overtaken by the same people - who are twice my age! Really is depressing when they just storm off up the hill without being out of breath!

Gordon's been quiet today... Let's hope he hasn't caught it again

That does it, I've reported this thread, and asked for it to be decontaminated. Let's hope we can stop the spread before it reaches Bacup...

Yes it was the line on the embankment, but only because I was using a sloppier PVA mix last night, and didn't want to get any on the track. It wasn't glued down, so it was easy enough to lift. I think it does too. May get the track down and ballasted tonight, if I can get the embankment painted and dry quick enough... 009? I think it dates back to when the club I was a member of in Edinburgh started a 009 layout ('Cearedwyn'), which I was involved in the build of (I can remember one Saturday morning spent threading fishing line through about 20ft of fence posts...) As was the way, the layout was stocked using members stock, and I decided to build some things for it. (It helped that they ran on N-gauge track, which I had at home.) So I had a number of locos and rolling stock at home, and at uni one summer decided to build a layout for it (that would be the one I destroyed in the first post). I think the appeal is partly that it's something a bit different, partly that it has to be kitbuilt, and partly that a self contained system is a lot easier to model without looking silly... Edit to say - yes, it can be cute, and that is part of the appeal, but I don't think this qualifies. I want one. Or two...

Rob, I agree with Jeff, that trackwork is looking good. I hope you're pleased with what you have achieved. Jason, I'd noticed that, and I'm worried that it might be catching... I lifted the track on my narrow-gauge module last night too. Maybe I should check the anti-virus on my computer to make sure it can't spread any further Makes you worry what Jeff'll do today when he's fiddling with the wires... Edit: And now he's admitted to doing even more. Quick, isolate him in the Bunker till he recovers!

That's an incredibly neat sketch, but it does capture the look of the prototype. How are you going to deal with the widened 6ft? Stetch it sideways, or make the whole thing bigger? I guess you'll have to be careful to not lose the elliptical shape of the arch.

That's looking good Rob. Did you go with the double sided tape in the end?

I'm sure it will only take a few days. The problem is minimising the number of wasted days of experimentation getting to the point that you can build them in a few. I shall look forward to seeing the result. Bailey Bridges may start again on Friday, I'll be able to get some smaller I-beams at Wakefield, then I'll see what I can do with them. I'm really looking forward to getting to do something like this again.

Well said that man - it is indeed for us to decide what we do with our layouts. Advice is freely given on here, and hopefully our input is welcomed and listened to (of course, that doesn't mean it has to be followed). The problem starts when opinion becomes an absolute... Lights are needed to finish off the scene - working or not is up to the builder of the layout, but a station with no lamps does look wrong. (Unless it's a halt in the middle of nowhere...) How is the other half of the fiddle-yard Jeff? Are you still awaiting points?

So I'm reliably informed... Must say that when I was living in Bedfordshire in the early 80's, we did have that new fangled electrickery.

That's why I like this thread so much too... Now, this is starting to sound like the plot of a 60's B movie. Maybe Jason should put up a few posters advertising it at the local theatre... No, not caves, just that the Yorkshire attitude would make sure that all the light from the candle was used inside the house...

These days quite a few - but then having bought their oversize TVs, I can only guess that most of them can't afford curtains... Seriously, I think Sandside has a good point. And back in the 50s / 60s, would the villages along the S&C have had much in the way of street lighting? I seem to remember from my infrequent trips along the line, that street-lights are rare up there...

Is it me, or from the photo that Andy G linked to, are those channels around the tunnel mouth there to guide the stream that must flow through the valley just to the left of the tunnel away from the track? I hope you include the channels in your rendition Jeff...

Rob, I've had a look at the templot data for track panels and sleeper spacing - for 60ft track panels, standard sleepering seems to be 24, 25, or 26 per length - with reduced spacing at the ends - so from the end, sleeper centers are at 12", then 26.5", 27.5", 28.5", staying at 29.5" till they start reducing again at the other end. Fairly sure that 24 per length uses 31" spacing, and gets there slightly quicker. I don't remember seeing in the track manual I've glanced at spacings for less than 24 per length.

High JCL. Your boards look really well constructed, I like the idea of using a foam top to the board - it will make it easy to get some relief in below the track. For the cork sheeting - work out where you need the cork to be on the plan, then arrange the plan on the boards (you said you were going to put it on at an angle), once you are happy where the plan sits, mark through the plan into the foam with a knife, and then join the dots. This gives you an outline to cover on the board - and you can cut the cork sheeting to size before gluing it down. I do it this way on most of my layouts. You end up with a board that looks something like this: This looks like it could become something special - I'll keep watching Michael

That certainly does - I'm guessing but back in the 60s / 70s it would have been desolate moorland, rather than conifer plantation? And those drainage channels round the portal - it's an eloquent comment on the weather expected round there... I wonder what they look like this evening...

They've even left a gap at the joint... I was wrong to suggest you filled them all! Precisely how many forests have you managed to fit into the bunker now Jeff?