TheQ

The board you called chipboard is in the UK known as Stirling board, or Oriented Strand Board and comes in several varieties. Versions OSB1 and OSB2 are for dry conditions only, OSB 3 and 4 can take humidity. For a shed I would use OSB 3, however none are waterproof, on any of them edges definately need painting, especially outside. I do hope those wooden bearers supporting the shed are not directly on the ground, if they are, then even if they are treated wood there is a good chance you'll get rot in ten years or so... I bought my first 20ft shed and assembled it myself, I found the quality poor poor and realised i could do better myself so the other 36ft ish I've built myself. Decorator caulk while flexible is probably not flexible enough for a shed as the wood will age, shrink and move. Although OSB is more dimensionally stable than conventional wood. I used silicon sealant, much more flexible, however it doesn't take paint very well. In the UK we can get wooden, metal or plastic sheds, metal has the problem of internal condensation due to our humid rainy climate. Plastic sheds are more expensive. Good luck with getting your shed sorted, time to go out to mine....

Morning, the 3 Rivers Race went well last week, due the state of the tide and wind , we on Hickling Broad saw the first boat at about 14:00 and the last boat at about 22:00, with all but six between 17:00 and 21:00. Due to the wind dying early overnight very odd situations occurred with very slow, on handicap, boats beating very fast on handicap boats on the water!!!! It was overall a very successful race. Today I'm hoping to lay another dozen or so foundation blocks for the wall the railway will actually run on!!!! Something of a milestone this, this is on one side of the patio where the tracks approach the nearest point to the mobile home. A key block was laid last weekend which is the starting point for that particular line of wall, all I have to do now is join the dots/ blocks. Once all the foundations blocks are in then the walls / viaducts themselves shouldn't take too long. I reckon I have another 60 blocks to place, unfortunately in the last year they've gone up 25% to 50% in price ouch.... About £300 that lot before building the actual walls, viaducts care looking more popular more holes less blocks!!!

Morning , Well no garden work this weekend I'll be sitting in a Motorboat on Hickling Broad. This weekend is "The 3 Rivers Race" one of the ten toughest mass participation evens in the UK. Up to 150 boats( this year 90 -ish) starting in ten boat fleets from Horning Sailing club every 5 minutes from 11:00 tomorrow Saturday the 3rd Jun 2017. They have to sail 54 miles, under 3 bridges (twice under each). There are four legs to the course and you may choose to go round in any order you like and it's tidal. Getting the tide right at two key points, Potter Heigham Bridge and the lower Bure Buoy can mean the difference between doing well or even not finishing. I'm controlling a guardship, of which, there are ten scattered round the course each with their own rescue boat. The guardships role is to count all the boats going past and radio each one back to control. Advise control of any retirements and of course provide rescue cover. Here is the website, which includes more details of the race and there are webcams around the course so you can see whats going on.. https://horning-sailing.club/index.php just click on web cams to see the waters, 5 running at the moment hopefully the 6th will be up shortly.

It is sad news from Manchester today. my thoughts are with all those involved. The fanatics of all sides, fail to read the basic rules of their, Bible / Torah / Koran. ie the Ten Commandments, which is in all of them. The prime rule they ignore being. THOU SHALT NOT KILL.

Yet another weekend of concreteing, 1.5 tons laid in the raised patio area, the roof of the corridor between the tin shed and the Railway shed has been completed. Approval had been sought and got so that when I finish this section of the raised patio, I will then finish the path out to the Garden railway and then turn 90 degrees path that will go along side 20ft of it.. Of course the wall to hold the concrete in will need to be built, and it just happens the railway will run on top of that. Back in the political world the ukip Candidate in the Scottish election came out with one interesting comment ( not the exact words), the only thing She (Ms Sturgeon), wants is independance from Britain while becoming subservient to the EU, which is not logical. The green candidate said he was totally against capitalism, which means he's communist, as I have always thought, the Greens are the Communist party painted a different colour.. Meanwhile Corbyn, is trying to buy the students votes, a bit too obviously...

I'm glad you got to Ludgershall, it's a trip I need to make again soon, as I'm modelling Ludgershall station. Unfortunately there is little left now of the station, the civilian side is under houses, and the military / goods yard has been extensively remodeled. I'd have loved to arrive at Ludgershall by train with my grandfather's GWR pass, J.B.Pointon, Ganger, Ludgershall.

Well the concreting was done till I ran out of supplies. I've since been and got another ton, luckily as I arrived at the DIY shed they were selling 25kg bags of sand and cement off because they were out of date £1 a bag half a ton later the landrover was loaded up!! And I've been back since. Still not much done on the garden railway as I'm pushing one to get the patio and pathway completed, the inside the shed works have continued when it's raining / my back has had enough of concrete.. Well the election continues , I had vast amounts of stuff from the orange team, a small amount from the blue team and nothing from anyone else. Anyone would think the orange team are worried about the loss of their sitting candidate to the blue team. With the Purple team having withdrawn, if all their votes went to the blue team the Blues would win here. Corbyn never seems to not amaze me with his historical version of labour, spend every pound you can and make no credible explanation of where it will come from. He pretends to be a friend of the poor, something he has never been. He went to private school and then grammer school, something he wishes to deny others. Even with two divorces he and his well hidden third wife are millionaires, the average house price for the area where he lives is £800,000. His prime supporter in parliament Diane Abbott sends her children to private schools Event though Blair and Brown pretended to be on the right of their party, they increased the government spending every year until two years before the crash they were spending more money than was coming in. Something labour governments have always done. In times of boom you are supposed to pay off debt.....

Just caught up on this thread, Sorry to hear of your loss, Many people seem to be able to hold on to see someone before they go. There is a similar thread with a railway modeller on another forum at the moment. Minor notes about previous postings, The Russians have their own oil and gas they export it, what they want is the Syrian port which gives them a military harbour in the Mediterranean. The longest journey I've done in the UK is from the Outer Hebridies to Norwich Via Letchworth it took about twenty four hours!!! Though admittedly after the first two hours there was about 5 hours kip on a ferry, which I needed, I'd just done a 12 hour night shift!! My own railway shed, is built with vast amounts of storage under the Layout, the layout itself is being built like a show layout, all the boards are removable to work on. Meaning no getting under to work on the electrics, and all that space underneath is not wasted. Rather than building a lower railway, consider building a removeable / hinged horizontally or vertically, bridge to access your veggie patch, You gain another point of interest and you save your back from grovelling down to clean the track... Hope my textual meanders help Q

Morning, not much has been going on with the garden side of the railway, because a huge amount has been going on inside the shed. The previously mentioned lighting and wiring was completed, ten foot by 10 foot of shed ceiling was installed and another 10 ft of planking has been painted ready for installation. 20ft of layout supports have been installed, one old chest of draws, an old cupboard, and an old box storage unit have been built in so far. Ten slide out plastic trays have their own shelves, the true are just deep enough for a loco and big enough for a dozen carriages. Todays work, weather permitting, is more concrete laying for the raised patio, time permitting, work on the path to the wall the railway will sit on will continue. Back in the shed on Sunday, for less strenuous work putting that ceiling up. We've had a total of 4 rat holes eaten through the shed floor, these have been repaired, breeze blocks have now been dug in all the way round blocking their routes under the shed. I must say I expected UKIPs vote to reduce but this amount of collapse wasn't, neither was the amount of labour collapse. What was also a surprise was the conservative resurgence in Scotland. With the SNP having moved steadily leftwards over the past 20 years taking labours ground. There are many mildly SNP supporters who were on the right of the political world now wondering where to go. This amount of swing to the conservatives will probably go against them in the general election, as more labour will come out to vote as a reaction to the council votes, and some conservative voters won't bother to come out as they think it's a done deal... Right time to put the overalls on, there's a bonfire to light as the wind is away from the neighbours thatched roof, then get the concrete mixer out.

This week I start my weekend tale on Friday or actually the previous weeks Thursday 23rd April night at a friends house while I was not there. Late in that evening Harry was getting comfortable in his reclining armchair in the living room, which by now was his bed. He'd had cancer for several years and 3 months before the hospital had stopped all chemo etc as there was no more they could do. His wife covered him with a blanket, said good night, and got no reply. He had slipped into unconciousness, half an hour late he had died. So last Friday they were not at the Model railway club, but this week she came, she is actually the railway enthusiast. I spent 3 hours chatting to her which I think she needed, shortly after she gave me a bottle of Laproiag whisky from his collection knowing I drink malts. We also discussed the fate of Harry's railway, Harry had got bored at the model railway club while his wife was involved with the railways, and he got the opportunity to buy one. This model railway was built on the Isle of Tiree, just 60miles from the Islay distillery of Laproiag. It was built by a retired electronics engineer whos sister lived next door to Harry here in Norfolk. When the engineer died it was extracted from being built into an upstairs bedroom, down some narrow stairs across by ferry and driven the long journey to Norfolk. For the last 2 years I have been simplifying the electronics, so Harry could use it and removed over 30 circuit boards from the underside!!! we had it running at a club show last year where, because the layout is called Tiree I was kilted up appropriately. Since then we have cut the boards in half to fit their car, and I divided the still considerable wiring underneath with plugs and sockets. Harry did the woodwork this entailed and they both started restoring the landscape. I asked Hazel what she wished to do with the layout and offered to buy it if she wished to sell, saying she could take her time with a decision. But after a few thoughts she GAVE it too me. Her own interest is the London overground railways of where she was brought up and so a Scottish fictional layout didn't really fit in with her plans. Next week we will sort out the pile of stuff under the railway on the table at the club, so she can have Harry's tools and anything personnal, I'll then sort out what to do with the rest. Half of the railway will come home to make more room in the clubhouse and I will work on board by board restoring the model swaping with those at home where appropriate. when restored. the model railway sign will say TIREE, In memory of MR D.H. Clark, and MR H. Nudd. Since then I've opened the bottle and raised a glass to Harry...whos funeral will be April 11th their 40th wedding aniversary.

That looks a neat Job I'm impressed!

I've not used them for a railway, but have used them on a fence, never again. They just don't give you the strength of a post directly in the ground. If I was going down the post route I'd use downpipe (as in coming down the side of your house to take rain water away). The reasons for the down pipe are no Rot at ground level and no need to keep painting to preserve them, although you would still have to dig holes for them. Simple round wooden plugs cut from thick ply / wooden planks inserted in the top give you something to screw the track boards on to.

Just a heads up if you happen to be in the area, It's a well organised Show that I like. Norwich Model railway Show, http://norhams.org.u...ess/exhibition/ Address: Hellsdon High-School, Middletons Lane, Norwich NR6 5SB Day 1: 08 Apr 17 Opening time : 10:00 Closing Time: 16:30 : Prices: £5 accompanied under 16s Free : Disability access: Yes Car parking: Yes Layouts Bassington Garden N Bastogne Rue De Clervaux HO Bedford Road O Blackshaw Road/ Coopers End O Brankstone Junction N Charlston N Horndale OO Norwich MRC Test Track Various Roydon Road OO Sefton Yard O Shepherds Mine N That Dam Railway OO9 The World's End OO Thomas and Friends Tolzdorf N War and Peace OO Traders Bob Pearman Books http://www.pearman-books.com/ Bure Valley Model Shop http://www.bvrw.co.uk/models Caistor Loco David Rowland Art Great Eastern Films http://www.greateast...ortfilms.co.uk/ Great Eastern Models http://www.greateasternmodels.co.uk/ Layouts 4U http://www.layouts4u.net/ Squires Tools http://www.squirestools.com/ Train-Tech http://www.train-tech.com/ Terry Durrant Model Railways The Railway Photoman Train Terrain Model Scenery Supplies Joe Lock Demonstration Norfolk Mardlers- O Gauge Modelling Advent Modellers- Scenics

Sadly many people wil not build kits let alone scratchbuild, hence the popularity of Bachmann and Hornby ready to plonk buildings, which I find very expensive. IF they could sell them as kits they would, Dapol I think had a go at carriage kits but how successful it was I don't know.

Brexit in this case is only a minor but contributary part of the price increases, a much higher effect has been the Chinese government's decision to raise their minimum wage by 20 per year for five years. Since the majority of workers in China are on their minium wage it makes a significant difference. It's also a consequence of both Bachmann and Hornby using the same factory in China to produce their models. That factory owned by Bachmanns parent company has 100% of the commercial market and can charge what it likes, until or if Hornby can manage to extract their moulds from them and move them elsewhere which would also cause disruption to the market..

Thanks for your comments, i sit with 3 of these on my bench at work, it would be little over the top for anything at home!! My own home DMM only has 4 digits not the 9 on the one above!! How long do you reckon it will take to assemble your layout for a running session? Will you leave it up for several a days ? if you wish to run it on consecutive days. Although modular i will be able to leave my layout assembled. Time to do some more wiring.....

My layout is a long, long way from running anything, thats the problem with building such a large layout. I am working on a section of the indoor part of the layout which is removeable and therefore I can work on it down the Model railway club. That will form part of a 12ft by 8ft roundy layout for exhibitions. Tomorrow Now next week, I was going to get 8X4 sheets of Foam but with tomorrows forecast of gusting 40mph winds...... I'm wiring the mains supplies and electric lighting in the shed for the main layout at the moment, when that is completed, I have to line / insulate the shed in the last 20ft by 10ft area and then build the supports for the layout. After that I finally can start building the layout itself. Meantime outside the ground has been too sticky to continue working on the foundations for the viaduct wall which will be 3 to 4 ft high where the line will come out of the shed. I'm an Electronics Technician / Engineer. Originally on radar, but later on installation and commissioning of radar test systems. These days I sit in a lab at 23+0.5C, I measure test equipment, for instance I'm at this very moment I'm measuring three 1 Giga Ohm resistors to an accuracy of 1 part in a million, although we only certify to 18 parts in a million. The readings take 20 minutes to settle, during which I can't move much or the readings change, giving me to have a quick look around the net....This is a break from what I've been doing over the last couple of days, which is writing the software to test and creating the spreadsheets to process the results, of testing, a new test equipment, testing station. We have stormy weather forecast for this weekend as well, just as the ground was looking dry enough to work on, my garden is very exposed to the North Sea!!! It's looking very windy for my winter sailing club's end of season event on Sunday as well....

That type of wire stripper is the best to use for the size of wire we use on model railways. I've had one for years but then it is part of my job to wire things, so I've gathered the correct tools for the job over many years... Unfortunately they are a bit small for the 100A cable I was working on last week end.... Nice to see you making progress...

A bit of a gap, but I have been busy. The tin shed has been entirerly lined, and one wall shelved / work benched. The other side is being left clear for the moment to store wood for the main shed. An L shaped corridor was built between the two sheds and a new doorway cut through, much clearance of the model railway workbench area has been done which revealed two more dead rats and a hole they had eaten through the floor. An old sash window has provided a window and and old front door has been fitted . The corridor has been completely built of left over decking, wood, fittings, doors /windows left over from other works. Just screws were required, lots of them... The roof as expected was a pig to build, and is complicated hence, the roof of the corridor is temporarily covered with plastic until the weather is good enough to finish the roof properly, the Plastic survived Doris OK Some thought was put into the wireing, when I realised that we were in danger of overloading the shed mains on a garage distribution unit . So a new larger distribution unit has been fitted to allow two ring mains and as a byproduct two lighting circuits. The Electrical thought was 32 Amp ring main, 3kw Heater her art end of the shed, = 12 Amps-ish, 3kw Heater my model railway end of the shed = 12 Amps-ish, then SWMBO turns the kettle on and another 12A , This plus 3 fridges and a dehumidifyer on one ring was just little too much!!! There is just a 20ft straight cable to fit and one ring main will be complete, the other ring will cover the model railway work bench and the tin shed. The Second ring main should have six or seven Double sockets on it. I have a dozen 4 ft fluorescent light units that have been waiting ten years for me to reach the point of fitting them. This should occur on Saturday, giving more light to fit the second ring main. Further surveying has been done outside and work will soon recommence for building the railway wall / viaduct.

Welcome to the site, I'm sure this site will give you many ideas, and assist with help where needed. I'm pretty sure juniors of that age will be more "HELP!!!!" than help

Personally I suspect the prototype HST would not have generated the sales required anyway. The increases in costs to the UK purchaser both through brexit and I remember reading the Chinese government ordered a 20% per year increase in factory workers wages for 5 years will not have helped. Many things, not just model railways became cheap over the last 20 years, see the rise of pound shops and Primark. As China gets expensive, companies will move production elsewhere, but finding stable countries, that are cheaper will get harder and harder. Once no more can be found prices Will rise.

That show went well, the owner of the layout had several prospective buyers, he's selling it because it's too big for his new car... There were a couple of very nice layouts there and some I didn't like so much. The biggest problem was cold feet... every time someone opened the outside doors a wave of cold air blasted in, the numbers were probably down a bit on last year due the cold wet day.... Suprisingly SWMBO didn't spend that much, and neither did I just a couple of books. Since then the lining of the tin shed has been done, clearing of the old shed has commenced, another dead rat has been found... Humans like popping bubble wrap...so do rats, there wasn't much left of the roll that was in there. A couple of old large glass TVs have been evicted, they were put in there some time ago for me to fix, but technology has moved on so much it's just not worth it... I've been using up a lot of old bits of wood in an effort to clear the pile so the tin shed is not as pretty as it could be. But it's just the dirty workshop.. All the ceiling and the wall linings have been completed, shelving is all down one side, and the future electronics work bench is in place, the other side of the shed for the moment will be left for storing construction materials for the railway. Much planning has been done and some electrics are now the main task, lighting first, 8 Flourescent tube units each 4ft long which will daisy chain along the ceiling of the railway shed. The fuorescents were from when I was a maintenance man for a supermarket. A team came in to completely replace all the light units in the main shop, they brought too many units, so a dozen left over units were going into the skip new boxed with tube, So I intercepted them for the shed. When the lighting is done, I can see what I'm doing to fit... 4 more General purpose sockets in the railway shed, then a circuit of the tin shed with 6 more general purpose sockets and a RCD spur to a specialist workbench set of sockets. Then it's take the cable all the way back to the main door to complete the ring main.

Welcome to the site, To me it appears you have a choice; Low level winding through the the plant life, possibly with raised garden beds as part of the build. High level with scenery made by yourself . One possible option in a small garden, is not to have a walk in shed, but to build a garden cupboard where you lift up the roof and open the door . Then you can have a station / fiddle yard to park up your stock without dominating your garden with a shed. Your knees and back may take building very low level now, but if this is a long term build and you are not likely to move. Then I would consider 18 inches+, if domestic authorities require, much of that height could be made with the raised beds. You could for instance do 18 inches of raised beds and then 18 inches of raised railway height to make the railway height less visually imposing. My own choice, has been to go for around 3ft off the ground as that is the height it will be coming out of the shed. Although I'm lucky as my shed is about the same square footage as your garden, this gives the problem of too much time shed building, not enough model railway building... Time for breakfast then out to carry on fitting out the shed.... Good luck with your railway.

Welcome to the site, that looks like you've got a good area to work with. How are you going to stop the soil around the rubarb getting washed down onto the tracks? What have you got in terms of layout in the garage?

I too have been passed on the family tree investigation of the family. Dads side that is, Mums side of the family is being done by her brother. The direct male line we've got back to about 1500, via Scotland, Ireland and Scotland, with branches in America, Australia and New Zeeland. My Grandmothers side, Dad had traced back to Ireland in the 1700s but like you hit a dead end, a combination of the troubles and historic paper work not surviving in damp old Irish churches has stopped further research in that area. My main problem at the moment is computerising, the reams of paperwork Dad has accumulated, it's all scanned in now, but I have to call up each sheet and try to fit them into a computer family tree file.