MichaelW

You have executed the idea really well Jeff, your love of woodwork really does show!

Ah, that makes much more sense! Are you making it lift out, or slide out? I guess the latter would be easier to move, but slightly harder to hide in terms of scenery...

Andy, I hope you aren't trying to persuade a fine upstanding member of the community to behave in a way liable to get him an ASBO! They'd probably ban him from here as part of it, then how would we get our daily fix! Sounds like you've got a good plan of action Jeff - are you making the valley floor strong enough to stand on for access to the corner for track cleaning / stock re-railing etc?

That's an impressive piece of joinery Scott. You'll have to paint the far side bright colours so your family don't damage themselves walking into it... Did you manage to solve the transition curve problems you were having? I've been updating the plan for the club layout this evening, and managed to forget my own advice

Looking good there Jason, just the extra bit of paint on the lintels and window sills have really improved it a lot. Did anything come of the threat to borrow you again for BCB?

Viaducts to the left of him, embankments to the right, into the Valley of Lune sawed Master Jeff! It's always annoying when you run out of the right colour of wire. Looking forward to seeing what you make in the valley Jeff.

Ooops... That sounds like the kind of thing I would do. Is it much of a delay to get it and install it?

Hi Jeff, Yes, it was, having been out walking all day yesterday I was in bed by 8 and asleep by 9, so 6 was about right for waking up. That I hadn't reset the alarm after yesterday's 5:30am wake-up was purely incidental The chemical plant is currently planned out at 12ft by 2ft - which is the largest I can comfortably work on in the railway room. The fact the room is currently missing a wall, and there is 28ft between opposite walls is not to be considered...

Morning Jeff, You have had a busy night! What's on the plan for today? More wires? Or are you just going to be running trains? Duncan - finally got round to watching that video, it's good! And not a passenger train in sight!

I've been walking all day, I hope I didn't get lost...

Don't worry Duncan, he won't chase you for it, at least, not today. If you feel like having a day off the wiring Jeff, have one, you have certainly earned it. Go and run some more trains instead!

Wow, that is a good price! Why would anyone suggest you should build your own if you can get them for that much! Erm... Templot will only do transition curves if the two tracks don't cross. Are the bits you are struggling with the platform roads where you have overlaid track? You may find that for the platform roads you need to create the platform track at massive radius, make sure the curves into them don't cross the platform road, then create two transitions. I suspect that your curves will intersect somewhere, I'm sure Martin has said it's impossible to generate a transition for crossing tracks, as there are an infinite number of them to choose between. Station looks good, I like your idea about the loco release, though to make it work you may need to raise the point as well - could you move that a bit further left, to gain you a bit more height on the point?

Now Jeff, what were you saying about staying up all night playing trains? Sounds like you really have been enjoying the fruits of your labours. Shall look forward to seeing this clever design for the valley!

Shhh... Don't mention it to anyone else, but I had been thinking I could do a little shunting plank in 0 with the Dapol 08, or Terrier... Would make a change from mainline N...

That's good progress then Jeff, are you intending to finish the wiring before going back to the hillsides? Just remember to do those missing sleepers before the tunnel mouth gets fixed in place A cold? Yes, I've had one of those for the past week, been deafening people at work with my sneezing most of the week. I wouldn't complain but it always sets me off coughing, and that hurts!

Oh, good, at least I'm not the only one... Did you manage to get your misbehaving piece of track fixed Jeff?

I agree absolutely Jeff - to get a control system running is hard enough (to me at least), but to get it working with proper bell-codes and the like just blows my mind!

Hi Ben, They do look good, and a decent rake of them will look impressive. Only problem though, how much will I need to save up? Do you know roughly what the kits will cost?

That is a challenging goal James, but I agree that it is an excellent thing to aim for. I like the idea of acting as signalman too, though I went the DC route, with train control by block controllers. They do have some limitations though, and while they are simpler to wire, I think you'll end up with a much more convincing setup.

Interesting arrangement for the fiddle yard. Have you got any access to the lower level? Or will you trust to excellent track laying to ensure you won't need to?

Sounds like you are making plenty of progress James, even if I don't understand some of what you are doing with the computer control side. What are you aiming for eventually with the control side? Are you looking to be able to sit back and watch the trains work themselves? Or something with a bit more operator input?

As Jack says, you've come up with a wonderful alternative view for a layout. And your execution is excellent. I do hope you get an invite to a show I can get to, as I'd love to see this in the flesh!

But it was fun! First time in ages that I've 'played trains' and haven't got bored in 15 minutes...

Hi Scott, You're learning Templot a lot faster than I did! I've been playing with it for a couple of years now (I paid for it originally!), and only learnt how to get it to do the transitions recently. As you say, it's not good for initial planning, you have to spend too long on the details (I use XtrackCad for that), but for getting custom turnouts and transistions, I haven't found anything better. Especially now you can distort a background image to fit... Have a try at building your own track, I've just started for an N-Gauge club layout, and despite what people say, it is surprisingly easy. Make yourself a simple template, then build it in the evenings when you can't run the power tools!

Shocking, truly shocking! I'm sure playing with trains will give you a decent break. I've certainly been enjoying shunting wagons around my little yard, to the point that I stayed up way past my bedtime last night...