bantam61668

With this and the Piko BLS stock 2024 isn't going to be a cheap year........

and a BLS liveried Re420, my biggest modelling regret is not buying a Roco one about 10 years ago and now they are like rocking horse excrement, I've seen 2 sell on a well known auction site in about 8 years........

Agree with NINA would really like one of those and a Lötschberger too. I like to dream that one day we will see BLS565/566 and maybe some of the other variations on the NPZ that have been used by numerous private operators over the years. I guess there are just too many variations and they are too localised in operation to have mass appeal so unlikely to ever be available RTR.

After using Hornby TT gauge track on my helix and everything appearing to be working well I am considering using Hornby TT points in my fiddle yard as they are about half the cost of Peco hom ones and I'm going to need quite a few. They are a little bit longer, have a larger turnout radius (631 mm vs 508 mm) and are insulfrog which I don't envisage been a problem in the fiddle yard trains should be passing over at a reasonable speed and they will make the wiring easier. I still intend to use Peco electroforg points on the scenic sections to allow slow speeds running, shunting etc. Has anyone tried running Bemo stock over Hornby TT points? Just looking for any experience/comments before I commit to buying some and laying track.

Had a busy weekend, building my helix kit an finally getting the first few bits of track down. I have followed JimFin's suggestion of using Hornby TTgauge 353mm radius track for the helix, definitely saved me a lot of time and effort. I have also followed Vecchio's example in the Kleine Albula thread of using 2mm brass tube for the overhead line on the spiral, I temporarily assembled the spiral then soldered brass rod to brass screws inserted into the roadbed round the half a turn that will be above the lower level. Taking the top half curve off and inverting has hopefully given me a quick and easy overhead for the helix. I used 2x2M brass tubes from a well known DIY store, this leaves me 20-30 cm overhand at each end which I will bend up and solder to a support brackets to make a smooth transition. The helix sits on an 80x80cm baseboard and will be hidden below a hillside village scene with the line entering a tunnel just prior to the helix.

38814 & 38035, both were nice kits to build as always with Kibri. They were both painted prior to assembly then lightly weathered which greatly improved the appearance.

Whilst work on the baseboards slowly progresses I have also made a start on a few other bits and pieces. A couple of Kibri barns recently completed and today I had my first attempt at making tress. Reasonably happy with them as a first attempt, plenty more needed so hopefully they will improve with practice

The background looks good, I'm looking one for my in progress (very early stages) RhB layout been struggling to find a nice alpine one for a reasonable price. This Faller one certainly looks good may well end up going for this

I have bought a dew pieces of Hornby TT gauge R3 track to try, it fits the Peco HOm track really well despite the slightly different track profile. The Peco rail joiners are a bit too long to fit but the Hornby ones fit it onto the Peco rail nicely so no problem. Obviously the sleeper spacing is completely different but as its a hidden section no problem at all. I've tried a few pieces of Bemo stock on it and all seems to be fine so will definitely be going ahead with this suggestion. Thanks once again for the advice, this will certainly save me a lot of time and pain trying to lay smooth curves with Flexitrack.

Thanks for the advice, I had wondered about this as I have recently been building a circular test track with flex track and it’s a nightmare. I hadn’t thought about the TT gauge range an excellent suggestion.

After 2 years of inactivity and yet more stock purchases I have finally decided to get on with building a RhB layout so resurrecting this thread rather than creating a new one. I have decided on a continouis loop rather than the previously planned terminus and a simpler trackplan. I have started building baseboards for a layout planned to run along one wall of my garage and have already built a frame/support with shelving below along the length of the garage on top of which the layout will sit. After far too many changes to my plans, below is the trackplan I have finally settled on, well for now.... The left hand board will be a mountain section with some tunnels/bridges and a river where track will climb from the low level fiddle yard to the station, the line will climb around 15 cm over 5 m with the tightest curves being 36 cm radius. There will be two hidden sidings at a higher level along the left hand edge (not shown) to allow a pendelzug service on the branch. The left hand edge of the station takes influence from Filisur, although somewhat simplified, whilst the yard is very loosely inspired by Zernez. The right hand board will feature a 36 cm radius helix returning to the lower level fiddle yard and be hidden below a village scene. Any thoughts, suggestions most welcome before I start laying track hopefully in the next the next week or so.

I'm still planning my next layout with far too many ideas and potential layouts in my head and roughly sketched out and I'm still not decided whether it should be standard gauge or RhB. Whilst researching possible ideas I came across some photos of the former station at Les Convers near Le Locle in the Jura. https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1AVWN_le-creux-les-convers-une-ligne-oubliee?guid=b8097d7c-f769-44c5-8a88-d07f9ac7a687 This was a small junction station squeezed between two tunnels, looks like it has great modelling potential and would fit in a relatively small space. Looking at Google maps the site is visible along with the former branch although a motorway now passes nearby, the distance between the two tunnels is only 130 meters so would easily fit in 6ft space in HO gauge. I'm thinking of a what if layout, bringing it up to date, possibly an L-shaped scenic section featuring the mainline on one side and the branch on the other with the hidden area completing an oval. From the photos I have found it looks like it was originally a passing loop with the two turnouts just within the tunnel portals but was later simplified to a single track, whilst the branch had a couple loops and sidings. A map form 1921 shows the trackplan as it once was, I'm starting to think this could make a nice layout with quite a bit of operating potential.

Thanks, that's about the same size as the space I have, was wondering if I could fit a spiral in 3 ft was thinking I might need to stretch it out to 3'6 or 4ft

Great model, I really like the spiral section, how wide was the layout to fit this in and what radius were the curves were on the spiral? Thinking of taking some inspiration from this for my next layout which will be RhB

True, I remember when I moved back to the UK after living in Switzerland for a few years going through the goods to declare channel at Heathrow. When asked what I had I showed them a bag full of HAG locos, all of which had receipts in the boxes. The customs official laughed and said that they didn't worry about toys........ Saved a bit of money there, you win some, you loose some

Ive just received a card this morning from Royal Mail to say I need to pay £20.70 (£12.70 tax and £8 handling fee) for a couple of the new Liliput BLS EWIII coaches I have ordered from Wemoba (Chf 143.50), these aren't available in the UK so had buy them elsewhere. I was going to get them delivered to my sister-in-law in Switzerland and pick them up next time we visit but as we haven't been able to visit for over a year and no idea when we will next be able to do so I decided to get them shipped here, I wont be doing that again......

I quite like the suggestion of keeping the curve in view, hadn't really thought about doing so previously. Originally I was thinking of having this end based more on Disentis and putting the turntable and small depot inside the curve, I guess the idea of straight into a tunnel was a hangover from this idea. I guess having the curve in view might let me use a curved point too and spread out the track plan on the station approach a little maybe a bit more like Bergün in the last picture. I'm still not that happy with how this bit looks, its all a bit cramped at this end of the plan.

Good point, my current thinking is masts and wires on the main lines (platform roads, rear loop and the 2 sidings on the right) and the rest unwired. This seems to be how Scuol is set up since the rebuilding. I’m finding this Swisstopo maps fascinating for seeing how the layout has changed with time and of course the Google maps streetview which gives an excellent view of the station layout in more recent times. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out there this year for a bit more research...

Here's modified version, I've taken out a platform road and brought the bottom siding in a little to narrow the layout by 10 cm. I've also slightly tweaked the RHS to try to capture the curved feel of Scuol although in the compressed space I still don't think this bit looks quite right.

I'm still not sure about the terminating line in the nearest platform, maybe it would be better to remove the loop around the island platform and just have the one terminating line between the platforms as at Scuol-Tarasp post modernisation. The flipside is that the extra loop gives a bit more operating potential and allows 3 trains in the station at a time. I also feel that maybe its all a bit too straight, parallel lines etc but both Scuol and Disnetis which have inspired it are pretty much straight stations. Of courser the headshunt at the far right is much longer and curved at Scuol and the platform lines are a bit more curved too at this end, maybe I can slightly modify the plan to catch this better.

It’s 90cm wide on this plan. Originally I had it narrower but it felt too cramped. I guess removing the front siding would allow it to be narrower without compressing the rest. My current layout is 60cm wide and reaching the back is comfortable, not sure if 90cm is too wide

After building a couple of micro-layouts over the last few months I've decided its time to move onto something bigger and its time to get that box of Bemo stock out the attic and finally give it somewhere to run. Planning a fictional RhB terminus, started a few plans, this is the one I'm preferring at the moment. Although fictional it is inspired largely by Scuol-Tarasp with a few bits of Disentis/Mustér in there. It will be set around 2010-2015, I have enough stock to run a service similar to Scuol with longer terminating trains which will run round in the island platform and pendelzug with steuerwagon which will use the bay platform. I also have quite a bit of freight stock so want to include some facilities to run a few different wagon types. Anyway here the plan I have in mind, any thoughts, suggestions most welcome. The curve will be hidden under a town/village scene and the layout will be L shaped with a fiddle yard to be added. I had considered putting the turntable/small depot at the other end inside the curve to have the station approach looking like the West end of Disentis before the layout was updated in the 90s but think I prefer it as is here, similar to Scuol.

More or less finished the layout now, took about a month, mostly at weekends

I have a Rivarossi Bm4/4 with exactly that problem, can I ask which gears/wheels you used? I have been trying to get hold of some Rivarossi spares but to no avail

Now finished building kits for the layout, maybe a bit more weathering with dry powders to be done then its onto the track and ground cover