bazzanoid

...and yes the track is compatible / same code. Peco actually recommend the Marklin turnouts since Peco don't make any, and they produce foam underlay to support them as well!

Very interesting....... This is my first foray into Z, and I was thinking about doing a forced perspective cityscape (all illuminated of course) to the back half / quarter - i've never seen it done before even on a N or OO layout of any real size.... I've got 36" x 17" to play with, so i'm going to do a double track loop of some description, and a single station, which for operational interest will be four platform, two of which will be passing loops for the main track. I'm going to use Marklin electric points so once in place i can control everything from outside the layout, especially if i do go with a city getting my hand in to flick a lever might be a bit tricky. I'm also wondering if Marklin track is the same code as Peco, since Peco do 22" flexitrack in Z, and it's a damn sight cheaper than buying lots of static Marklin....

I've just placed a bid for a glass-topped coffee table, and I'm going to put a Z Gauge model inside it. I'm currently awaiting the interior dimensions (it has a slide out drawer the full width and depth of the table) so I can work out the plan..... What should I model? I know I want a double continuous loop, probably a multi-level convoluted spaghetti lol... For those not familiar with Z, there is no UK outline stuff available, so it'll be Euro. Flexitrack is available from Peco, but they don't do points, so i'm trying to find out if it's compatible with Marklin's track system. If not, then it'll be marklin fixed track all the way.

Kind of puts things in perspective - you're holding out for a cool, non-sunny day, while over here in the UK we're holding out hope that the sun hasn't gone on vacation for the summer!!!

I am loving the terminus, we are looking to doing something similar on jaybee's railway after the major earthworks (removing the redundant hedge) are completed, although it would be permanently out.

And it will fit on the windowsill Oh, you mean a model tram.....

Having let the glue settle, we returned today to that most important task: Testing the fresh track. After some electrical teething problems and a short time bashing the track with the soldering iron later, we had success, and encouraged by this, hooked up the second track and ran trains back and forth on both lines at the same time. Very satisfying... and we even managed to get the 4-6-6 hauling 6 carriages comfortably. Now we can't wait to get the loop completed so they can just run around to their heart's content! http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/bazzanoid/P1050215.jpg' alt='URL>'> d-yfj9XCjv4 The ballast has held nicely in place and is set fast, so more of that to be done as time goes by.... http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/bazzanoid/P1050211.jpg' alt='URL>'>

There's a lot of unused space in the middle there - seems a shame to let it go to waste Looking good, would be great to see the spur lead off to a big terminus or a loop round the front garden!!

Looks great! Only one problem though - it will spark off a debate on new vs old sleepers - yours is a new one, many would argue that the 'best' kind of sleeper is an older one that's a little worn around the edges! As long as it looks natural I don't care - wood or concrete!

Two foot of wire is quite reasonable and they are quite sensitive panels, it's possible they are programmed to read a voltage drop of x amount as "it's dark, we need to turn on" since most solar lights come on a little after dusk. Try unsoldering the wires from the solar panel and the board entirely and use a single thick piece instead of what is now effectively three sections for each wire, it is more likely one of your joints is dirty (electrically speaking) for whatever reason causing a fluctuation in the voltage and falsely telling the light it is night. Just take care not to damage the board or panel when you unsolder and re-solder, and be sure to 'tin' the wires before soldering them on to make life easier. And most importantly, make sure you connect the right wire to the right terminal! I take it the wires to the battery are all intact ok?

It's an algae - our weather is sufficiently damp that algae can green the surface of wood given a little dampness and a lot of sunlight!! Left untreated, the repeated soaking and drying of wood either rots it if it is a softwood or warps it if it is a hardwood (or both in some cases), both are not great for garden railways! The only way around it would be to use solid oak planks of more than two inches thick and already 'cooked' in a kiln to make them completely solid and un-warpable, but the cost of a single length of around 5 metres is about the same as 100 metres of pressure-treated decking board AND the felt to cover them. Decking boards are designed and treated to be long lasting but they still require painting every few years to maximise their life, hence why we cover them with felt as you can't very well spray or brush on boards with tracks attached to them! Of course it's also arguable that the felt provides a natural ballast style look to the trackbed

The way we've discussed is light filters cut to fit over the windows on sealed buildings but that's an excellent suggestion - i have a healthy supply of humbrol translucents from painting up various clear parts on my model starships, sure i'll have something suitable May well get some more solar lights to use as platform lights, this would likely involve creating an array of charging panels and batteries in serial or parallel so one unit conveniently disguised as something like a gas storage cylinder could be put nearby and one set of cabling run to the platforms. Our bricks were laid on a thick bed of sharp sand, but of course it still moved a bit - concrete would definitely be a good way to go especially on longer sections, our only real trouble is up the back of the bushes on the gradient curve as one brick had dropped on one edge, and we used the excess mortar from correcting that to smooth over slight imperfections elsewhere. That said, the ballasting is taking care of any gaps under the tracks to provide an excellent, and realistic running surface

It's definitely a good way to go - we've been using it successfully for months now. The only thing we've found is that it's a little reluctant to bond to paving block, but this may well be because they are very porous, and since you are supposed to dampen each surface before gluing, it may be drying before it can 'catch'. Every other patch of concrete seems to be perfect however, including in reasonably fresh mortar as we found out yesterday! Echoing traingeekboy's sentiments, we need photos!!

As it was largely an experiment, a handful of solar garden lights from the local pound shop were picked up for the purpose, and it would seem they do the job very well! The engine shed is lit by just the one bulb, so we will be able to do the same for the other buildings

Thought I would go into this in a little more detail, should anyone wish to have a crack themselves. Solar lights operate on a simple principle: When the battery is receiving a charge (i.e. daylight), the light circuit is off. As soon as the battery stops receiving that charge, the light circuit turns on. You can see on the little circuit board the terminals are marked B+, S+ and S- B-. Completely logically, this is Solar and Battery, they share a common ground. Simply removing the existing short wire from the solar panel and replacing with a longer one (remembering which way round the wires go on the panel as it is not marked) is all that's needed. No More Nails Sticky pads to hold the circuit and battery in place where it's wanted, and pva to fix the wires out of sight. In our case the engine shed is Skaledale so polyresin, so I filed a small channel out of the bottom edge where the wires 'go outside' so the shed will still sit dead level and the wires can be buried out of view once the solar panel is re-painted (maybe a small storage tank of some sort?) and permanently housed. Do bear in mind that the terminals are now exposed on the solar panel, albeit under cover - for peace of mind it would be best to put a blob of non-conductive sealant on the terminals to protect them, and similarly with the circuit board - but do not cover the board or battery entirely as it will cause small heat problems and potentially blow the LED's diode. As an aside, if you need a daytime only light rather than night for whatever reason, simply disconnecting the battery and attaching the solar panel to B+ and B- will provide permanent power while their is available daylight, although this would be best on the larger more expensive solars with higher Wattage as the light produced by these small LEDs is a pinpoint of white, and short of seeing it on during the day, there's no noticeable glow or ebb from the bulb.