Baimor

Ooops! Thanks for the advice guys. I never thought of leaving the felt sides longer to allow water to drip off!! Was just trying to make it look neater. Advice heeded and my new (replacement) sections will be done as instructed. I'll consider myself educated. Lol! Mark

Hi Mick. I know I'm a relative novice to our hobby but in all my years of 'tinkering' with cars etc I find any 'mechanical' means of joining wires should only ever be regarded as a temporary fix. We all lay our track in the hope it will last a long time so I would say solder every wire. Mechanical means of connection will always fail at some time mate. Not trying to teach you to suck eggs or anything that's just my opinion. Regards. Mark

It'll be well worth it when it's up and running Mick. I staple my felt underneath the baseboards. Saves having to be as neat with your cuts and looks a bit more 'finished'. Buts that's just my opinion. I don't know what kind of stapler you have but I have a stanley stapler that takes 10mm stakes and I find my local wilko store have them at the best price if that helps mate. I think I pay about £2.39 for a pack of 1000. Regards. Mark

Looking good Mick! I can see a running session imminent. Your APTe is going to look fantastic running along there and crossing your viaduct mate. Mark

Thank you all for the kind words and well wishes. That means a lot. All he w ants to do is play trains and I've pulled a fair bit of the layout up to modify it!! Oh well! I'm off to Rails of Sheffield now to buy him a large oval of track so we can have a set inside. ( purely for 'medicinal purposes only'!!)

Our 6 year old is home!!! He was taken into hospital on Wednesday night. We've had a few hectic days and sleepless nights with worry but he's on the mend now! I really can't believe how much ive missed him!! Its been far too quiet at home even the tiny amount of time I've been at home! He's taken absolutely everything that they've done to him in his stride and has been a proper little trooper so with the risk of a bit of ribbing I'm going to put on here "mummy and daddy love you lots and lots Bailey and we're so proud of you"!!!

Hi Shaun. Yes, I've got to say these are great for the kids. They have forward, stop and reverse and even some sound effects from the base unit which, whilst not very convincing to us adults, does keep the little uns entertained. I've fitted a variable resister between the base unit and track so I can limit the top speed of whichever loco he's using as he seems to prefer my new Mallard now to his Thomas the tank engine and we've had a few ' scary moments' !!! And for the cost if they do happen to get damaged it's not the end of the world. Regards. Mark

thanks Q and Jimbob! And no ladders involved Roddy! !

Looking really good mate!! Great progress on your railway.

I think the problem is the same with everything these days Mick not just our hobby! There's that much cheap Taiwanese crap on the market today that people are selling as good quality and there's so many people hoping to save money by buying the crap that it's allowed most markets, be it railway, motoring, electrical,etc to become flooded with inferior products! Time being as valuable a commodity as it is today, lots of people are either of the opinion that if they buy something and it's rubbish it's often easier to buy another rather than complain, or they think it's to be expected as it was cheap in the first place. This just allows those selling the crap to make money and some unscrupulous individuals to pass the junk off as quality. I'm not saying for one minute, by the way, that you've bought cheaply, I'm just saying that we, as consumers, have allowed this to become the norm for the most part. This seems to be giving some retailers the " if you can't beat em, join em" attitude which doesn't help us, the consumer! While people are not returning goods they aren't happy with the traders are getting away with selling inferior products. We all need to return absolutely anything substandard and stand up and be counted so to speak. Rant over. Anyway, other than that, how's things Mick? Hope you're well. Regards. Mark

Well I've decided that the best way forward with the Baimor Line is to take a few steps backwards!! Although it's all running really well with no derailments or power loss issues, etc I can't seem to think I've built what I really didn't want to build!! I've built a trainset in the garden rather than a garden railway, so much of the track is going to have to be modified and/or relaid. It's been a good learning curve tho so at least this time round I will know some of the pitfalls and how to avoid them. Going to take time as we now have a very poorly 6 year old!! He's been vomiting after ever meal for the last 6 weeks. We've had to bring him home from school every day due to him being sick at school. Doctors don't know what's wrong with him and hospital are taking forever with their tests!!! We're getting really concerned now but it just seems like water off a ducks back to the doctors!!

I'm just hoping my modelling skills improve next time round!!! I've layed the track where I wanted it and how I wanted it and it all runs well now with no derailments or power issues but all I was ever trying to avoid was it looking like a train set in the garden and I can't help but think that's all I've achieved!! I want a garden railway!!! Lol!

Thanks Riddles. All of mine have the pancake motor. I wasn't trying to run 2 different types together mate. Mark

There's no such thing as a stupid idea mate!! I'm sure the wheel, mobile phone, steam engine, internal combustion engine, et al, all seemed like stupid ideas at one time mate. Not just in our hobby, but in life in general, we need new ideas. That's how we evolve mate. I too took a sort of early retirement a few weeks ago, ( I've done a few little jobs whilst er indoors was at work but she doesn't know!!! ) and I have to admit at times its hard to know what to do with your time!! I think I've come up with a plan that will keep me busy for a while. Tearing up much of my railway and redoing it!! The more I look at other people's garden railways the more I think to myself I have only achieved what I set out NOT to do!! I look at other members' garden railways and they are what they set out to be! I see mine and think all I've done is put a train set in my garden!!!

Thanks Chris. I've tried it and failed!! I was having lots of derailments regardless of which way round I did it so it's back to one leading power car and a trailing dummy unit. Incidently I have a 225 as well and it seems to run and pull so much better than the 125. Could be the use of a different motor or the fact that my 125 is getting "tired"!

thanks guys

Hi Purbeck. Warmest welcomes from south yorkshire mate. It's been said before but ill say it again anyway. Never be afraid to ask questions matey. Someone on here will have done what you're trying to do before and worked out the best/easiest/cheapest/most effective way to do it. Enjoy what you're building and spend time doing it right first time then you'll have something that lasts a lifetime (more or less)!! Oh and don't ask me for photography advice, don't ask enginedriver (Nige) for planing advice and don't ask our leader (Mick) which box is best for amputated fingers!!! Welcome mate. Mark

Glad you got it sorted fella. To answer your last question yes on dc one DPDT will control break. On DCC one will control break and polarity reversal.

thanks guys!! Yes Nige you missed the aerial photography this time mate!! And as I seem to recall Nige it was you that planed your fingers matey!! I too don't like the colour of the log roll Roddy! It was just an experiment as that's the colour of the fence round the garden. I think I'm going to do it dark oak. I like the natural wood look better but log roll seems to get dirty and grubby looking in no time at all if left untreated.

p fixed now tho Roddy mate!!

Reading your post again Jimbob I think I may have misunderstood. Are you fitting a crossover or points? Mark

Wey hey!! I think I fixed the photo malfunction before a certain enginedriver saw them!!

WOW!! Going to look amazing that Tony!! Top work matey.