ThomasI

In the late afternoon I ran out of ballast. So I managed only 14 metres track.

With ballast it looks much better.

Crazy weather. Here in southern Germany today is the first day where it should not rain, but my father who lives near Bremen in northern Germany, just told me that there the highest forest fire danger level was proclaimed.

Hello Tony! I am thinking of building a provisional reverse loop module which I can always mount on the respective railhead and thus make train rides later this year. The curve shown has a radius of 9 feet inside. But the superelevation makes the elegance. My biggest curve will have 24 1/2 feet. Best Regards Thomas

Hello Tony I'm still laying tracks and ballasting. So far, I have only installed the central locking motor once with a Peco switch, as described in the other thread, with the Omega loop.That works pretty well. For my high-speed switches with the moveable frogs, I decided to use servos. Especially with the very long turnouts, I would have to do a lot of work there, both for the frogs and for the switch blades. And since these switches are just at the important and busy track section, that would be too high a risk of default. Best Regards Thomas

I do not use wood as a trackbase anyway, it just makes too much trouble. My substructure will be predominantly Styrodur or Styrofoam, in some cases WPC. Furthermore, the profiles in the slab track as well as in the flex sleepers of Tillig are not fixed but movable in the longitudinal direction. But since Tillig and Peco have already canceled me (Peco funny enough, on the grounds that because of the longitudinal extent of nickel silver is not acceptable) that will probably be nothing anyway. And regarding Roco, I have since learned that they do so, so 2m pieces, but then only as a complete track with sleepers for self-construction and then want to have € 22.90 per meter. That would be too expensive for me though.

Due to the further conception of my garden layout, I came up with the idea that it would be very practical if I could use rail profiles in Code 83 of 2 or even 3m in length. I already asked Tillig and Roco, Tillig has already succumbed. I contacted Peco through their website. Has one of you an idea where I could also ask?

I started ballasting the tracks today. But surprisingly a thunderstorm started, I could not even take pictures, but had to hide everything under a tarp very quickly. The further construction of the route is still a bit stagnant, because I'm still waiting for needed parts to install the first switch. I have now decided to use servos for switching the high speed crossovers. The servos and the PVC hardboard on which the switch and under which the servos are then mounted, arrive only the day after tomorrow. But for ordinary points I will continue to use the central locking drives

Indoor and Garden connected!

More and closer pics...

The pictures in the article are also very good. Since one can be led astray already.

Hello Tony, today it rains, more pictures follows next week. Thomas

Hello! So the first tracks are laid outside. I'm thrown out this morning from one of the three major German-language Internet forums for model trains. Have said the leading Märklin old men to relentlessly that they tell nonsense. I mean, not that I ever really felt comfortable in one of these German forums. I have shown pictures of my project only here. But I've grown up in discussion forums on the internet about politics and there it is very different to the point and yet it is the first time that I was kicked out of an internet forum ... ...crazy world! Thomas

So, all pillars in place.

These are plastic profiles from the hardware store, see photo below in application in my house and fine polystyrene profiles for ship model making.

Hello Tony, the green stuff is once as well as the purple stuff Styrodur insulation boards for house building. If you mean the other green stuff, it's mounting foam, so you can mount and glue windows (more precisely window frames) in house walls. Known that previously only in dark yellow, but that was now green. The Styrodur are remnants of the house construction of me and the neighbor, the mounting foam costs about 4.50 euros for 0.5 liter bottle. Thomas from Germany (cold and rainy today).

As far as I'm still come then the combination of sweating and draft gave me a good cold. So today, on my 42nd birthday, I have a voice like a non oiled steam engine ...

Halla Tony and everyone else! The black is WPC. Today I finished the bridgehead with tunnel entrance. The path in the garden will be raised even higher so that it leads over the tracks behind the tunnel portal. Makes my gardener in 2 weeks. As soon as the mounting foam is hard it will be cut back. Thomas from hot Germany

So, after a new Styrofoam cutter finally arrived, let's go! However, it always takes forever until all the adhesives are so strong that you can continue to build.

These turnout motors that I see in the picture, did you have them mounted outside and did they survive? If yes: From which manufacturer are they ??? Best Regards Thomas

Hello Tony! Italy uses a standardized design for bridges in which style is abundant. No, a railing is not planned, because I have decided for the design with noise barrier. The noise barrier when it is low, is often cast in one piece with the support plate. Mine would be about 2.10m high, so low. Thomas

Hello Tony! At the bridge I was inspired by a typical style we often find on Italian high-speed railways Picture see link: https://goo.gl/images/Cw1eY4 I did a test drive with the first parts. Then you can imagine that better. Of course, the pillar will be changed and "false pillars" will be added. Of course the tracks will still be graveled and of course the whole thing will be painted in a concrete gray color. In addition, the replica of the cable ducts parallel to the tracks is missing. The Märklin 103 series I changed them "to be Hamo" but with DCC. Thomas

Hello Tony. These are the two Class 103 models of Märklin. They are from my childhood. The 103 series was then and is still one of my favorite locomotives today. Most of my locomotives are not yet adapted for DCC, but because I have the two Märklin locomotives for emotional reasons converted for the operation with DC and DCC they are among the few locomotives which already work with DCC. And since they are pretty sturdy, they have to serve now for the test drives. But today I started to build the first parts for the first big bridge on a straight line. I hope by the picture you can already imagine how they should look like. Thomas from Germany

Almost like on a real shipyard!!