mick

That's one heck of an helix Thomas. If it gets any higher then it might be something I could use to allow trains from my attic access onto my garden layout! I had considered a helix myself, not for the reason I wryly suggested above but as a way of adding additional storage tracks on the attic layout but it's not really something that would be suitable for me as I just don't think a helix and scale length trains are a suitable match. Even if the loco was powerful enough to haul them up the gradient I think it would tear the couplings to pieces. For shorter, lighter trains, then I'm sure i

The blistering paintwork looks good Griff and although the Bic method might seem a little extreme the slight deformation to the right of the wagon adds a touch of realism too. I'm not sure what type of paint you're using but with enamels I like to paint little bits on and allow it to go slightly tacky before dabbing it with a piece of foam sponge to add depth to rusty panels. Those nice flat panels would maybe benefit from something like that. It's the type of wagon crying out for some rust!

Thanks Griff. After all the years I've been collecting them I'm just happy to be a stage where I feel able to get locos out of their boxes and onto the tracks. Moving on, I'm sure we've all heard the old adage about testing a loco to make sure it runs perfectly on DC before moving on to fit a decoder? Well me too but I rarely ever take notice of it. All my locos appear to run just fine straight out of the box so what's the big deal? Well yesterday I decided to fit some spare standard non-sound decoders to the two analogue Hornby class 60s above. 60090 Quinag was okay and ran perfectl

Getting more loco's out brings with it the realisation of just how much work there is still to do but with a hobby that's currently taken up in excess of 11 years of my life in garden railways alone, looking on the bright side it means I've got plenty of things to keep me occupied for many more years to come. Yesterday evening I took a look over my class 60's in an effort to decide which ones to concentrate on next. It appears they are all equipped with 8-pin decoder sockets so I'm not able to swap things around with any that are currently on the layout so with regards to sound installati

My Hornby class 60, 60048, has been operating on Skew Bridge for a few months now and first featured on the old Selby Garden Railway back in September 2009 but today, after only 11 years, I've finally managed to add the bufferbeam deflector and air brake pipework! Here's 60048 alongside sister loco 60007 - both of which could really do with driver figures adding to the cabs. I'm setting up the majority of my loco's with detailing at one end and a standard Kadee coupler on the rear meaning they can only be used in one direction. 60048 and 60007 are just part of my col

I've run out of large pieces of seafoam so I'm unable to make any more trees right now but I've been left with a lot of smaller pieces and trimmings that I've been able to form together into small bush like shapes that, when covered with some fine scatter material, really do look the part. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to shake off all the tiny seeds that are invariably attached to the Seafoam pieces but when left on they resemble tiny fruits so I'm happy to leave them as they are unless I learn differently. The trouble is that these latest examples are in many ways superi

Installing the signal on the up main at the tunnel end of the layout proved to be slightly more difficult than installing the one on the down line near the bridge end. It was my intention to place it just before the tunnel entrance but the arrangement of baseboard cross members and strengtheners meant it was going to be extremely difficult to find room for the MAS-sequencer. In the end I decided to place it further back on the approach to the tunnel where there was better access and more clear space beneath the boards. It's amazing how the addition of a couple of signals suddenly br

Today I've been fitting two MAS-sequencer's to the 4-aspect colour light signals that I'm fitting on the mainline - one on the up line and one on the down. The MAS-sequencer has built in infrared train detection which operates the 4-aspect signal sequence automatically so there's no need for me to add switches or long lengths of wiring to get them working and there's no additional input required to operate them once they've been installed. This is the side of the module that fits against the underneath of your baseboard with the infrared emitter and detector protruding upwards. It is nece

Just been looking through some of his other videos and I'm not so sure I'd recommend this but I suppose it answers all those questions about 'what happens when it rains?"

The base coat alone has completely transformed that wagon. I'd be wanting to rust it up now.

Good find - really enjoyed watching it. Sure, it must take a fair bit of maintenance and cleaning but the results are worth it. Ground level layouts just look so natural.

Oh that's good to hear...I'll get on with weathering them now then!

They're Berko signals Andrew, and yes, they do look more authentic than the Train-tech ones I installed in the shed. The two 4-aspect ones on the mainlines I'm going to couple up to MAS sequencer's so that they change automatically with the passage of trains. The 3-aspects I'll just use manual switching.

I've already been 'reprimanded' on YouTube for running a loco with snowploughs when it never actually received them and so I hope this one doesn't stir up more trouble for me. I know nothing about class 50's (and very little about other classes) but I fully expected them to have been fitted with snowploughs while in service. Alas it seems not to be the case and the only photo's I've seen of a 50 with ploughs have been taken much more recently. Still that doesn't have to stop me fitting ploughs to my sole class 50 loco as it is going to be used only for excursions and in the preservation

Have you heard that Accurascale are doing likewise? Strange old world isn't it but I'm still sticking with my Hornby versions.