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Allegheny1600

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Posts posted by Allegheny1600

  1. Ahem!

    Hello again, Mick and everyone!

     I see that it’s been some six plus years (!) since I introduced myself on here, heavens.

    Well, I didn’t get my outdoor railway started unfortunately, I did start again in my “big shed” that was just out of view in the above picture but then, so many things happened and nothing was completed.

     I guess first thing was that my beloved mother in law died after a long illness, I had been helping my wife, Bev and her dad, look after MiL but I wasn’t prepared for the deep after effects of her passing away, it really affected Bev. Ultimately it ended up with my wife and I emigrating to Greece.

    This was after our Bengal girls had both passed away but we still had our Peanut to take with us, despite the trip being very traumatic for him.

    We sold the house that is sort of pictured above and left just prior to the major lockdown in November 2020 and landed at our rental apartment just before Greece also went into lockdown! That was much more strictly controlled than the UK ones and lasted until the following April 2021.

    Only after this could we start looking for a property or land and after a few false starts, we finally bought some land, probably around December 2021 when it became officially ours. We had decided that existing properties just weren’t what we wanted so we would have our house built  - as a “flat pack” type of house.

    What happened next was we found that the prices quoted by the suppliers for such houses were only the start of things, the “add on’s” were worse than with a luxury German car! We had to scale down our original plans but it was still feasible, just, but then a certain Mr Putin decided to invade his neighbour and that caused the prices of all raw materials to increase such that we simply couldn’t afford to continue.

    Well, we had also inherited half a bungalow back in England as my Father in Law had also passed away due to complications with Covid and other things and my wife and her brother were the beneficiaries of FiL’s estate. We had the option of starting over in the UK, cutting our losses in Greece or trying to continue there with increasing expenses and almost zero income (for many other reasons) giving us the certainty of running out of cash within a certain time.

    As it was rather a no brainer, we decided to call it a day and return to the UK. We sold our Greek car and the land at a bit of a loss but it was worth it otherwise these things could have been hanging over our heads for years to come. All our possessions were shipped back to England again, most had never been unpacked.

    We landed back in England about a year ago now and tried to settle in but unfortunately, despite the bungalow being Bev’s childhood home, she just couldn’t settle, it is quite small and poorly laid out with no real possibility of changing it to how we want so we have to move again! Currently, I’m working on the bungalow to make it saleable so hopefully, by the end of this year, we may have somewhere that will allow us both to get settled down in and we can take up our hobbies again.

    We will never afford such a large house and garden as we had previously in England and certainly nothing like what we almost had in Greece but if we can get something with a half decent garden and room for a garden room, maybe I can do an indoor/outdoor layout that will give me the length of run I crave.

    Fingers crossed!

    John.

  2. Hello Thomas,

    Oh boy! That would be such a nice bridge, I keep my fingers tightly crossed for you that it does turn up at your house.

    It reminds me of the Chesapeake and Ohio’s bridge over the Ohio river at (I think!) Sciotoville or similar spelling. At one point this was the world’s strongest bridge.

    Good luck,

    John

    • Thanks 1
  3. On 28/10/2020 at 12:38, aussietmrail said:

    That the grade I have on my layout 2.5 quarter inch a foot  gaining 6 inches  on a 24 foot length spiral , wow 4 metre train how many locos did you have to pull that train , 

    Hi Tony,

    I think you directed that to me, if not, sorry Thomas! Firstly, 4 meters is "only" about 13 feet or so and secondly, we usually only operate with single locos but do occasionally double head just for fun though rather than because we have to.

    A 30 foot long train would be about 9 meters and I guess we would need two locos for that.

    Cheers,

    John.

  4. On 23/10/2020 at 17:13, ThomasI said:

    It works with trains up to 7.5 metres (cargo) or 4.8 metres (passenger).

    The "Up" tracks have a gradient of 2.2 % and 2.0 % 

    The "Down" track has 2.4 %

    The heavier trains need two ore more locos, but the couplings doesn't make any problems so far.

     

    That's the advantage of decent mechanisms and reliable couplings as well as . . . .

    Traction tyres!

    I built a folded figure eight layout for my friend Doug, we had to use 2.5% (1 in 40) grades but can still operate 4 metre long trains.  

  5. Hi there,

    I have a small Bosch drill/driver that has a lithium ion battery, must be nearly 15 years old now and is still excellent BUT recently, my brother in law helped me redo my bathroom ceiling and he was using a pair of Screwfix drill/drivers, they seemed very impressive to me!

    This was it: https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msdd18-li-2-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-drill-driver/873fx

    I can't vouch for the longevity of this as I can for the Bosch, I see the modern equivalent of mine is now about £65 - WITHOUT battery! Similar again for a battery but as I always say, you get what you pay for. Plus, I always say, always buy the best tools you can afford.

    Hope this helps,

    John, just a DIYer, not a professional of any kind.

    • Thanks 1
  6. Hi Mick,

    A great thread, thanks. I've been using a pair of the Trix wheel cleaners clipped together for quite a few years now, I find them excellent. However they are only good for driven wheels! For non-driven wheels, I have used an American tool called a Bachrus "Wheel Doctor" - expensive! Not that great to be honest, it's okay but not that easy to use, not that effective. A much cheaper and simpler solution sounds to have been described here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/171971/1888899.aspx#1888899

    Post number: 3 by "Allegheny 2-6-6-6" - quote: "

    I've never seen that particular wheel cleaner work but a while back I had the pleasure of visiting Ken McCorry's Conrail layout which in itself is a marvel of HO railroading but while touring the railroad I kept noticing these metal clips here and there that seemed to be holding a wiper of some sort.

    This has to be one of the most ingenious pieces of model railroading I have ever seen Ken fabricated small wire clips that hold down yup, you got it small pieces of parer towel. As the trains pass through the fixture the wheels are wiped clean of any gunk that may accumulate on them. Every once in a while the clips are removed and new pieces are slid into place and the old one's discarded. Having them placed in various places places throughout his 5000 sq.ft. layout he told us he has zero problems with dirty wheels I can't imagine it cost Ken all of maybe a few cents worth of material to solve a problem. If the rivet counters or railroad purist among us are concerned with how it looks you always have the option to put the wipers on hidden trackage or possibly inside a removable portion of scenery etc. Real modeling genius "

    If that were me, I may occasionally dribble a tiny bit of Limonene, IPA or similar onto the pieces of paper, certainly to start with but it does sound an excellent and cheap way of cleaning wheels.

    Cheers,

    John

  7. Hi Thomas,

    Please excuse all the "likes" - I have been reading through your whole thread from the beginning! I have to say that it is all completely fascinating and I really admire what you have done. Did you have a vision for how everything would be from the beginning? I recall that you have simplified some aspects earlier this year (sorry about what happened with the rocket and the "cat?").

    I had just about worked out what I wanted in a layout when I came across this website so everything is up in the air again with me. My wife and I are soon moving from England to Greece so an outdoor layout will be perfect for me to enjoy the decent weather. As you suggest, an indoor section will be perfect as that can be run independently of the outdoor lines for extremes of weather.

    Now, I really can't wait to get started!

    Cheers,

    John.

  8. Hello Thomas,

    I followed your link in 'Stummis' and was surprised to see that I am a member on here already! I am very impressed with your plans and especially with your extra long points. I too, like high speed trains, along with my friend James who has one of the CR400s from China also! I don't have these yet, just the usual ICE 1, 2, 3, T, TGV, Acela etc - all in H0 scale. I was planning a large layout with an LGV but now I might have to consider going outdoors - as soon as I am settled in my new house.

    Cheers,

    John.

    • Like 1
  9. Hello All,

    I just happened upon this forum by chance earlier today and thought "00"? "in the garden"? That sounds interesting, what a good idea!

    So, a quick look around and here I am! Some of you may have heard of me before as I am on quite a few forums, all "indoor" based jobs though. I have many times contemplated an outdoor line but always in the larger scales. I do like to chop and change my interests and it gets stupidly expensive to do that in the big scales, which is why I had settled on 16.5mm gauge track. I run a mix of 4 and 3.5mm scales as I like trains from all over the world.

    My name is John Edge, I am about 50 y.o. married with no kids but three cats! The wife and I are both big cat lovers, we have two Bengal girls  (sisters) who are now 13 and one Greek boy who is three and a bit. The cats may actually make it easier for me to go outdoors as they have a large cat pen and associated run, this is due to an adjacent busy road, far safer for the cats!

    28853788534_083bd5cd24_c.jpgUntitled by Allegheny1633, on Flickr

    This is the main part of the cat run in an uncompleted state, last summer. It is now finished and has a connecting "tunnel" that is about as long again and reaches back to the house. The "tunnel" is actually a mesh covered walkway that is between 3 and 4 feet in elevation. I have been thinking that it would not take much to attach a slim "plank" upon which to run a model railway, to the outside of all the feline constructions. In fact the cats would probably chase the trains! Everything would of course be physically separated by wire mesh, paws cannot reach through to cause any derailments. 

    What do folk think, please?

    Cheers,

    John.

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