Marcus

Hi Mick, Thanks for the congrats! You're definitely right about space (or lack of it). The nice think about my garden railway (Work in progress) is that it's also very hard to see it's there, and I also get a full 26 metre loop of track, much more than I had in my spare room. It will be interesting to see what challenges I have to look forward to (track cleaning, good electrical current etc.) But that's all part of the fun! Also, I was thinking of using very small screws to fix the track (as opposed to track pins). Any thoughts on this? I'll also be leaving some small gaps in the rail joints to allow for the hot summer temperatures. Best regards, Marcus

Hi Mick, let's just say, it wasn't very popular with my lovely wife (of 27 years today!), and to be honest it was starting to take over the spare room in our new extension we had just built. So I decided to dismantle it. I've kept everything though, even some of the scenery, baseboards etc. Luckily only a few sections of my track were ballasted, so I have a good supply for my Garden railway project. Suprisingly though, my wife half doesn't mind the garden railway at all!! Cheers, Marcus

And I though I might share some pics of my indoor railway I had (unfortunately now dismantled). Maybe this should go into another separate post, if so, please advise! The overhead catenary was scratch built and used finishing line!!! It was an absolute labour of love!!

Hi Mick, Many thanks for your comments. The Station Kit is a Faller one (plastic) which I built. I'd like to get a few more buildings and try to create a mini town scene, although they are not cheap. I'm also looking to get a nice British Station building and building which I can use when running my British trains. I think Ratio make a few plastic kits if I'm not mistaken. I've got some Superquick buildings and a Station, but being card, they won't last long in a shower!! Regards, Marcus

A quick update on the layout. I finished the reverse loop at the far end last weekend, and I've started to lay the bitumen felt as a track bed. I'm hoping to get the track Layed in the next couple of weeks, but it seems that track pins are hard to source at the moment!! I'll be using the sandstone tiles for the station platform area, which will look pretty realistic. The German station can be swapped for a UK station depending on what trains I'm running, and I'm looking to get some more buildings in the future. 'till next post. Cheers, Marcus

Hi Mick, Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. I've used a mixture of Treated pine fence palling (screwed directly onto the timber retaining wall) and Exterior Plywood for certain sections, painted in good quality undercoat and a top coat. I've decided to cover the whole track in Roofing felt (very inexpensive) which should look better and hopefully keep a lot of the water off the timber. I'll try to upload some more pics tomorrow. Cheers, Marcus

Hi, and thanks for your comments. The Warship is actually a really good runner, considering its age, although I did modify the bodywork when I was a kid, as it didn't come with Yellow ends! And yes, I have been into model railways since childhood, although this is my first foray into an outdoor railway. As far as stock is concerned I've got a collection of British - Hornby, Lima, Bachmann, and even an old Airfix Royal Scots Fusiliers 4-6-0 loco plus a large collection European (Brawa, Roco, Trix, Jouef etc.). I'll try to post some more pics soon. Also, I was wondering if Its ok to just pin the tracks directly onto the timber, or use roofing felt as an underlay (if my wife approves!). Any advice most welcome. I'll hopefully be finishing off the other return loop this weekend! Cheers, Marcus

Thanks John, Yes, the Warship is one of my old locos from when I was (much) younger!! I spent yesterday doing the return loop under the conifer trees, so I'm making progress. I'm trying to make the layout quite generic so I can run UK, European and even North American and Australian stock with subtle changes in buildings etc.

Hi All, just thought I'd share my new project from Sunny (well actually it's been raining all day) Sydney. Still in the planning/build stage. Im using an existing retaining timber wall for most of the track bed. it's a simple single loop of track with a relief section for the station. I've got all my OO British Rail rolling stock, plus lots of German Swiss HO stock, so will run them all.