ThomasI

Hello Tony! So slowly I can imagine how huge your layout will be. As fast as you make progress now, your trains will probably be able to drive there much earlier than mine on my layout. Best Regards Thomas

You're lucky with the weather. Unlike last year, it is very cold, wet and dark here. You put cork in the mix? Cork does not swell when it gets wet and then destroys it?

I also cover some parts of may layout outdoor in Winter, especially where points are and most of all, where peco points with these springs are. I have also covered some stretches against the leafes in autumn

The time I made the post, it was the weather. Inbetween I know a little bit more. I helped some Friends, or now better "friends", with transactions and forget to think about and to ask them for what purpose that transactions will be made. And it seems that was no legal purpose. So I hope the consequences will not too hard and somewhere in the future the court will believe me that my intentions where just to help some friends and not buy illegal ore more bad, to sell illegal stuff.

Hi Andrew, it´s just the first time for me I´m in this forum with a computer with a very big screen. And in that huge size are your pictures really, really awesome.

It's definitely the time for this year, because I was a litte bit too creative with taxes and got some trouble. So they seized my smartphone and laptop and I need a least one to controll my Roco Z21... And of course they seized some Money what I thougt to invest in the Progress of my layout. My husband is also not amused and I engaged a very good lawyer today. But it´s my fault, I know it was a risky game, but it seems I underestimated the risk a little bit. Maybe I also was little bit greedy. So acting as I bad capitalist is not such a good idea. But I will survive that, work will go on but the progess may be a little bit slower now.

If it still fits with the catenary portals despite too optimistic planning .. 😅😅 ...and a class 103 on the last test drive in 2019 (I believe).

Next year the station and the ramp down again, than the fist circuits are finished...

The HST are Shinkansen 300 and Shinkansen 500 series. The third is a locomotive for the new Railway Djibouti - Addis Abeba in standard gauge. As I was there it was still under construction.

I Placed a few trains for pictures on my layout.

Hello Mick, I see, you also turn away from the wood in the outdoor area. For a track near the ground, the method with the aerated blocks is certainly the best, I've already used these aerated concrete blocks, but more as a foundation for rigid foam boards. To make the edge of the route with stones is certainly very useful in two ways: Once so rainwater can seep better and on the other you have no pollution of the tracks by splashing water from the ground. Regards Thomas

Yes that with the crossing of the tracks wants to be well considered. I led the footpath over the tracks in one place (tracks in the tunnel), at my station in front of the terrace, on the other hand, I made a whole segment removable and designed a passage in the entrance to that station as a gorge with removable bridges. I am still thinking of putting the ramp down from the station as a loop around an artificial mountain of quarry stone and to make this mountain so that it can be used to cross the tracks. Alternatively, I consider installing one of these bridges for ponds over the tracks.

I use covers over parts of my layout. I've covered a curve with roof of transparent plastic, but more to keep the leaves of the bushes and trees away from the tracks. In addition, I took a part along the terrace with under the sun roof. The sunscreen keeps even light to medium rain.

I've seen that video. But I'm not so much afraid about my locos when running outside in the wet, I'm more afraid about the DCC chips inside my locos...

As I use Frog Juicer at my switches which need DCC, DC running is limited to only one circuit which is isolated from the rest (but can also be changed to DCC and than connected to the rest of my layout) and has its switches different fitted.