Marcus

Hi, Yes, extremely sad news. It came as a huge shock. We had built up a really good friendship and we were in touch with him virtually on a daily basis up until he was admitted to hospital. Her really was a truly wonderful human being. We even swapped some of our rolling stock, one of which was his beautiful Flying Scotsman and 12 coaches. I will cherish these for ever. It's also so sad that he never got to finish all his big projects that he was working on. My condolences to Desley and his family. RIP Tony.

Hi All, here's my Network Southeast EMU on the garden railway

Hi Mick, Yes, let's hope Tony gets well soon. My thoughts go out to him and his family

Hi!, Thanks for the comments. Yes, the O gauge track is old Lionel tubular track (which is rusting). It's for a live steam railway (under construction) and I am quite careful when walking around it. My main concern is actually falling into the pool when filming (which I have almost done on a few occasions!). And yes, our little Jack Russell is quite a character, although luckily he doesn't go mad with the trains running!

Thanks Mick, I waited until the wind had dropped a little to be on the safe side. The timber supporting edging I put in place also gives peace-of-mind that they can't fall onto the ground from the raised track, either through wind gusts or derailing! Regards, Marcus

Hi All, just thought I'd share some pics and video of my running session today. It was very windy so had to be careful with debris being blown on the track!

Hi Tony, Thanks for your comments! I've Been looking at your layout progress which looks amazing! Great to know there's at least 2 OO/HO garden modellers in AUS! I've decided to keep this layout pretty simple and so that it doesn't sand out too much (need to keep the wife happy on that front!). I'm trying to really keep the exposed track covered up when not in use. The ply I used is only in a few places, and I painted it with two coats of exterior paint and covered with roof bitumen, so it will hopefully last a while! I've been doing some landscaping work on the tunnel/return loop section of which I'll post some pics. I've also decided to get some US/Canadian stock and have just purchased a CN Athearn loco and 10 freight wagons! It's a railway that covers many continents! I wanted to get a Japanese HO bullet train set, but they are way too expensive! Speak soon. Cheers, Marcus

Hi Thomas, Thank you for your comments. Luckily a lot of the track on my layout is under cover of the conifer trees, so it doesn't get much sun. I try to keep the rest of the track covered up when its very sunny - especially the 3 Peco points. Re my old indoor layout, I used fishing line for the contact wires, so it obviously didn't run electricity, but it was under tension, so the pantographs actually contacted them. The posts were a mix of scratch built and Peco ones (the older plastic variety). I'm actually now playing with some old Hornby/Tri-ang catenary on my indoor test track setup. It works pretty well, although it's not really scale looking. I'll put a video up on youtube. Regards, Marcus

Hi Mick, Many thanks for merging the videos! I'm not great when it comes to uploading things in the correct place! Also, the name of the layout is 'Killarney Junction' - named after the street we live in! Please feel free to change the title. And yes, I was pleased with the day's running. I also have some video of my LMS steam 4-6-0 pulling some maroon stock. It's not a great runner though, as it's an old Airfix model. I think it's time to get a newer British steam loco! Regards, Marcus

Hi all, I had some fun today running a selection of my stock. SNCF and Swiss. All went well with smooth running. The track seems to be holding up well after all the rain we had last weekend!!

Thanks Mick, Many thanks for your comment, It was a great moment to have the loop completed! I've got loads of stock to play with (lots of European and BR stock). I just hope the track work holds up well in our harsh Australian Summer!! I'll be covering the exposed track to keep the sun an UV from doing too much damage. Luckily most of the track is in shade from the conifer trees. Regards, Marcus

Hi All, I've now finished the track work (just needs final pinning down). Ran my Turbostar set to test it out. All seems to work well!