artizen

Wonderful how men are more creative with a power tool in their hands! Looking forward to seeing this incarnation happen.

Insertable modules are the way to go. Build as much as possible in the comfort of your work bench and then add to the layout. This is the way I am working on my layout so that I can reach all four sides and inside and underneath etc while I build and add lights and details. Once the building is glued down onto its base then it is blended into the scenery and it is done!

Looking good. Looking even more gooder after I had a go in Photoshop to correct the colour. Man, is that green bright! If you add some autumn tints or spray it lightly with dirt colour it will create a whole new vista altogether. Have to say, the grassmaster grenade creates a good looking crop of green with very little effort.

This layout has all the mod cons. Where in the 15 metres is the kitchen sink and the cappuccino maker?

The simulator seat looks very prototypical!

I think George is on to something. The real railway didn't have fiddle yards or storage lines hidden somewhere - they had sidings and shunting engines. If you bring some of the storage lines around to the left and make them a place for storing passenger stock and move some existing storage across to the right and incorporate the loco shed and turntable for loco storage that will give you just as much track space for storing your collection - it is just on display at all times (just like the real thing!). This would then give you the flexibility to have a bigger space to model the goods lines and branch. At the moment, the area of storage is too deep to be able to deal with stock and it is a very large area of hidden track (I am a scenery builder). Maybe George and I are trying to say that moving some of the track from the bottom to the sides will actually make this layout far easier to operate. Just a thought.

I like the way the carpark is coming up. Good to see someone not afraid to change the basic bright green MiniNatur strips to a more realistic shade of hedge. The tarmac is looking good too.

I hope someone took videos!

So the peak of the roof is at the top of the plan (running north/south) or does it run across (east/west)? I might have been confused by the actual location of the room fittings when I commented on the lack of space for a backscene behind the station. After all, we all know you build a pretty fine layout so it would be a shame at the end when it is all completed that there is no adequate backscene to enhance the realism.

The way Martin has placed the layout in the space looks to me like a potential for trouble with the pointwork over the stair well. Rotating the layout 90 degrees then places a lot of the storage roads over the stair well. Either way - do you have a Plan B in case of derailments or even simply reaching stock on the line over the stair well? Remembering some of the early photos (page 2) I would perhaps tend to rotate Martin's screen grab 90 degrees to give you more height behind the station for a backscene. The way it is now, the sloping ceiling would kill any attempt at realism over the station. Just my thoughts.

You're back! Reaching for the roof - one way of setting the bar higher! Groan - I'll get my coat now (or go stand in the corner).

Just do it! You have obviously made your mind up and you seem to be getting total support from all of us on here as well. Just don't build it on the table again!

I'm glad Les made the comment that the glazing was to be left out for visibility. Imagine going to an exhibition and being blinded by the flash from many cameras off the glazing while you are trying to see down into the concourse! Hopefully I am just joking about the blinding flashes! With both roofs added across all roads, this will rate as one of those epics of modelling that deserve all the credit, magazine articles, photos and souvenirs (T-shirts, mugs, jigsaws, postcards, etc) possible.

Where will this building fit in the grand scheme? From the earlier photos, I thought this layout was complete.

You mean etches like these? http://www.jknowles.com.au/shop/home.php?cat=334

Is that wooden planking I see going over the top of the roof? And the colour looks different as well - have you started painting the structure? Makes me want to go and make more bricks and start a building!

If I had the money, this layout would be worth the airfare to come over and just droooooooool (!!!)

As my kids would say - OMG! :good: :good:

I check this thread about three times a day for updates - no pressure Ron! I missed your reply with the archive photo on the previous page. Now I understand just what you are building and its scale. Time for a bit of expletive deleted!

The wind bracing is similar to what is used over here in Australia for steel roofs. A strap of perforated galvanised steel is nailed across the roof at 45 degrees so when the long-run corrugated steel is screwed down, the two combine to create a incredibly rigid structure and one that the average builder can understand. I take it the windows are individual panels that sit in the frame but under the wind bracing strips?

Have you tried using dental floss? Some brands are a flat tape that might work when stretched over or do you have to have a more steel cable look?

Hope you speak German! http://www.buntbahn.de/modellbau/viewtopic.php?t=6691&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=300

Certainly not fed up with this level of quality. More photos please! Pretty please, with bells on?

You definitely need your Man Cave!

Are all the locos you used for the test identical? That is, similar age, exactly the same weight, wheel back to backs, etc? Even though they are all Hornby locos, there is probably small differences in pickup contact tension, weight or number of hours running time etc. I have four identical Bachmann Davenport 0n30 critters for future bashing into something worthwhile. Only one can handle a speed of less than 8 out of 128, two can handle 12 and the fourth is a rabbit. They all have different light intensities and motor noise. At this point they are all as they came and have been run straight out of the box but part of the bashing upgrade will obviously have to include a serious look at rolling resistance, wiring, weight and decoder settings. Do the kit built coaches weigh more or less than the Bachmann coaches? Perhaps you also need to look at making all the coaches identical weight as well.