Rossi

Hi Chris, I've always used a bit of portable stuff because of access to track cleaning etc, but some of the boards have been cumbersome so I've now started on lighter pieces. (The tropical storms in the winter months will need them to be removed). Today we received a package from the UK. As promised by some friends they were true to their word. Another box full of that "Village railway" gear.

Bit of cloud cover today, so decided to make a lifting section for the top end of the layout. This is section one. Hides the turn round and spare siding loops. Next part..see if it fits, especially around those dreaded Bougainvillaea trees! Perfect. Girder bridge will be replaced and some type of retaining wall added. Not sure yet. To the right you can see lifting section number 2, complete with over-scale garden centre grass mat. This will be the next project.

Hi Tony, A few answers to your questions. First the easy ones. Our climate is classed in holiday brochures as "Eternal Spring" whatever that means. Mostly dry and sunny (upper 70's, with our bit of rain, which comes in tropical downpours in the winter months) Maybe three weeks all told. Wind obviously with the adverse weather. And yes it can be pretty blowy!!! The grass matting I use is from the garden centre. It is vastly overscale, but can give a pleasant finish to parts of the railway. Now onto the magazine railway. They do have a web site on http://www.modelrailwayvillage.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Friends brought over the first 16 issues and I'm led to believe are still ordering them in the UK. As mentioned before, true friends indeed, as we struggle to have any railway gear over here. Now...be careful with the "discounted steam engine." Dont think it comes with a magazine issue as I remember reading something about collecting vouchers "to ensure your full discount." Apparently they reckon the tank engine (Bachmann) is worth 174 pounds (English), but if you collect all vouchers in certain mags (6 to 20 I think) it will come to you at the discount price of 68 pounds...thus, a 60% saving. Now I really dont want to get in any mud slinging or defamatory remarks but I am pretty sure you can order that type of loco from one of the well known mail order firms for about 60 pounds. (No coupons needed!) But I suppose the product (Model railway village,) obviously has to make a profit. Plus I am enjoying the various bits and pieces in the mags which will be in place on Rossi Railways in the Sun. Level crossing and foliage plus the little wagon. The track is no good out of doors. Signals and platforms also arrived...so well pleased.

Hi Tony, just caught your link on Micks page about the model railway magazine. http://www.modelrailwayvillage.com/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; We've discussed this over a few months. You can check back through my log "Rossi railway in the sun" (page 22 and bottom page 24) for a few pointers on it. Some of the mags are being sent over to me with all the goodies that are attached etc. A lot of us did clamour for the midland style carriage on the first issue. i was quite pleased with it, although recently it's started to derail. Not sure if it's the coupling (which does seem a bit on the low side ) or mis-aligned wheels. Purchased a couple of packs of coach wheels from the Liverpool firm recently, so might have a look at that. Can't grumble for the money though!

Just for you Griff ...Front bit.

Remember the talk some time back about the magazine called "Your Model Railway Village?" Purchasing the first edition gave you the midland region coach. (Third picture down on page 22 of my blog.) Then followed further installments with extra bits of railwayana to build the layout. Well some friends decided to gather a few of the mags and send them over. What a pleasant surprise. Houses /engine shed and other bits and bats to keep me quiet for a few days whilst I assembled the parts. Makes a bit of a change than the usual Airfix shed which is dotted around most of our layouts (See top of page 22) And then another house which I slotted into the top end of the layout. Needs painting etc but thought I'd let the sun have a go at it first. Couple of decent trees as well. So pretty pleased with the items. I worked out that to complete the said "Village layout" it would take a couple of years of collecting the mags...and possibly a fair bit of dosh!

I think my words to starting my second outdoor railway (Rossi Railways in the sun), were on a similar line (excuse pun). The well crafted words were used to get the "nod" so to speak from my good wife Mrs Rossi. "I'll construct it with just the things we find on the beach, etc." "As long as it doesn't cost us anything...off you go." She reminds me on a regular basis of those few chosen words. Especially as she reads out the bank statement featuring such benefactors as Hattons of Liverpool...(and the rest). Such is life. I look forward to the oncoming saga and wish you well. Don't forget...lots of photos. I'm now off to the beach...probably to that nice shack that sells very cold beers! (And read my Railway modeller adverts in peace and quiet.) Good luck.

Doublecee, Two pixs, This one ...linkage off. This one of the other side with linkage attached. very delicate I think. maybe the answer is to just remove the hanging bit!!! (Very technical!!!)

Hi Mick, Double slip gone completely. Replaced with one point. It is does obviously curtail some of the movement I had at the front of the station, but in reality. it wasn't in operation that much. it enabled a passing from up line to down line. I still have a crossover (opposite direction)further along the junction, so no real hardship, and if it makes the railway run better...so be it. Griff, "Textured platforms?" We have an abundance of sand blowing from the shore in our direction, so, if you cant beat them join them!. So sand on the platforms (now in a permanent situation) got the go ahead. I'm pleased with the overall effect anyway. Whether the downpours obliterate the good work we'll wait and see...hopefully not until November!!! Another little problem arose last evening. Derailment in the cutting/tunnel area due to some workmens shed (miniature!)having blown onto the line and pushing a loco onto its side. The delicate mechanism of the motion (not conducive to outdoor running me thinks) came adrift. In the picture you can see the hanging bit near the front driving wheel, behind the cylinder.

One thing always leads to another. It started with one of the double slip points malfunctioning, part of the underside plastic had cracked away and the rails went adrift causing the odd derailment. Then I decided that the recent station platforms didn't look right. (I'd used wood that was slightly over size, thinking it would be ok. But the more I looked at it the more I knew it needed to be uprooted). See previous pixs. Then one of those Eureka moments. How to make the new platforms fit the trackwork in place. (Even if there was a bit of juggling after shifting the double slip.) First I placed sheets of A4 paper beneath the track and traced a pen line along the sleeper edges. Using theses as a template I managed to trace them onto the new wood. So far so good. Then one of those inspirations from Mrs Rossi. "Why not paint the wood then sprinkle sand onto the wet stuff and see how it looks." Mmmm.... So off we went. Then onto another brain wave. Platform edges. A couple of hours later and we actually had trains running. Good stuff! As can be seen, and i think if you look at the previous platforms, there is a big improvement. This one is a close up of the texture on the platform. A couple of yards of new track also installed, replacing stuff that had done its job for about two years. So no grumbles there. I now accept that it is an ongoing job with railways out of doors, that we have to accept this regular maintenance scenario.

Yes Chris, Completely forgot about the Hornby syndrome. Re-read the actual article and there is no mention of supply dates, and the well known Liverpool suppliers do not have any listings either. Still, gives me a bit of time to drop hints to Mrs Rossi about the delights of whistles and horns that could pierce the shrubbery in the Canary Isles!

Having just flicked through BRM (February) magazine, I came across this snippet of info from Hornby. Apparently they seem to be concerned about the prices of sound locos (me too!) and have... "Tornado" with sound is about 150 pounds, but they now have (in the RailRoad range)... Flying Scotsman at 99.99 pounds. Class 40 "Empress of Canada" and Class 47, both at 69.99 pounds. Now those prices seem much more comfortable. Anyone got round to trying these? I could think about re-rigging my DCC unit back up for a "play" with a couple of those diesels.

Nice to see you back on the forum Griff. You've been missed. Just read one of your posts about the drains. I get this cartoon picture of you digging feverishly away under your house and living a sub marine style of life. We've decided to push Christmas back to New Years Eve when our grandson flies in from university in Kent, plus a few more friends. So we aim to have a massive opening of pressies then. (Hope Hattons have been active!!!) Any plans on the railway for you? Best wishes over the festive period. Plus, don't know if you saw a mention of you on page 22, (my blog) but any unity with my last project could be fun!

Thanks for the well wishes Mick, although after reading your recent post my problems pale into insignificance. Christmas can be a time of great joy and yet certain circumstances can make the festive season difficult. Hope the New Year brings a little more comfort.

All I can say is...MERRY CHRISTMAS to all on the forum. And A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well...hospitalised for the second time this year! This body is getting too old!!! Friends and son and son in law (and myself) who all have birthdays from 26th to the 30th of November arrived for our usual massive party/BBQ/trains etc but had to be cancelled. Fortunately, now back on the road to recovery. And then the last few weeks this... Rain and more rain. The picture is directly at the back of the house (estimates of five foot deep). Torrential onslaught from the mountains and bottom garden washed away. Hopefully the covers on the railway will shelter most of the track and boards. Fortunately, no high winds like last year which ripped the covers to shreds. Today, still some rain but it looks like it might be on the way out. Four weeks without trains running. I'm getting the shakes!!! Pity I didn't get time to finish the alterations (previous page)..or maybe not if there's any damage.

jon, I reckon when the rain stops you'll be out in the garden....Post Haste. this will run and run..unless of course the rain continues and it will all be post-poned. Oh dear!!!

It's been threatening for a while and I've now taken the plunge. Main station and approaches being re-laid. I think it's something we have to accept over the years of our hobby being kept outside awaiting the force of whatever Mother Nature throws at us. Pictures below show the stripping down of a big part of the railway due to track disfigurement and warping woodwork. The underpass was creating the odd derailment on the hidden curves so I decided to straighten a section of the cutting. Then out with the girder bridge section as well. New board put in place (and yes...Its chipboard, but with a formica type topping) and I know that this will have to be replaced in two years time, but it does the job if looked after. And as always, the job gets bigger. I just had to uproot the "tatty" station and the old warped wood. Heartbreaking! The next few pixs show the new cutting (minus the old curved track) and the new station approach work. The old track and points had started to change shape and I was forever placing bits of cork base to give even running. Following pixs are the Deltic using the approach work and the new western side of the station with new curved platforms. this last photo gives an idea of the platforms with tank engine etc.and realigned sidings. Still a massive amount of work to be done, but at least the bigger jobs have been sorted. All the electrics have been re-wired and everything is running as it should. There is a forecast of rain after all these months so I'll be primed and waiting with the covers. Hopefully more will be done this week as we have a number of friends arriving over the next two and three weeks. I sometimes think they only come to "play trains!" So...can't disappoint!!! PS. this work took just over a week to dismantle and rise again to fruition. Just shows what we can do. And it feels good to get back to the railway as I've been snowed under with the latest project which has been taking my time up. Not sure whether Mick will allow a quick advert but my last fiction book is up and running on Amazon Books.co.uk under the guise of PATRIOT ISLAND. And for Griff, it's on Amazon.com in America.

Dave, i think its mostly trial and error regards the underlay. Lots of different methods on here. My recent go with Peco underlay (about 18 months ago...see earlier pages of my "Rossi Railway in the sun") looked ok for a while, and then (as others have mentioned) it deteriorated bit by bit. I've now dug it up as I found it made the track sit up and lost its firmness, and although we get little rain, when we did it tended to hold the water, and I'm not sure whether this was good for the track. Now relayed a good quarter of the layout (see next post) and not sure what to do for a scenic effect. Maybe roofing felt has more plus signs.

Now, That looks like a tunnel! Maybe I missed something in another post, but is there an access for cleaning the track/clearing windswept foliage/animal droppings? All my hidden sections have a removable top. We have lizard droppings that form into hard pellets... One cause of the broken drive shaft I think on a derailed class 47 (mentioned in an earlier post). Or maybe I'm missing the perspective and it's all reachable at arms length.

Friends from England arrived a few days ago. "Picked up this new magazine, wondered if it was any good for you." Now, I'm sure we talked about this a month or so back, but I can't remember who brought up the topic. This is the free gift in issue 1. The magazine is called "Your Model Railway Village." For the price of 3.99, you cant go wrong. There is no marking underneath the coach to say who manufactured it. I plonked it on the railway and away it went. No derails and looks pretty authentic to me. No numbers either, but runs well. I seem to remember the last mention of this mag, where (still cant remember who) our member ordered ten issues, thus getting a reasonable fleet of cheap carriages. Looks the part.

I have used Budgie grit in some places. I found a really fine composite, although the three or four so yards have now been lifted, but it did look alright. It dis coloured after a while and did start to flake away,(maybe a year later) but I put that down to the holding agent which was a clear varnish I found on my paint shelf. Dabbled with foam underlay (see page 10 on my Rossi Railway In the Sun blog). At the moment (after a years running on it) it seems to not want to stay firm, unless really screwed down tightly. I'm about to redo all the station approach,(again) so I think the foam will be discarded.

"Any tips?" AndyR, Keep saving the pennys and reinvest! A few years back (see earlier logs) I dug out my old stuff which was Zero 1 gear. It ran ok for a while. Then I invested in Dcc. The only trouble was the ancient locos (Lima especially) wouldn't take the gradients I had done. Then reverted back to analogue (see earlier blogs) and purchased a couple of new Bachmann locos. I couldn't believe the difference in performance. Excellent. And (like you say) the weight. I still haven't cleaned any of the new loco wheels after many many sessions of outdoor running. The Lima locos will do an hour or so, but any new session needs wheel cleaning activities. Whenever we have visitors around, I always put on a couple of Backmann 25s first and formost. Never let you down. Also worth having a look at the Hornby Railroad models. For the price you can't knock them. The only problem I find with the new stuff is the fine detail which is now added. For us "outdoor geezers" you have to "handle with care" as a lot of the under carriage stuff can break away quite easily.

Steve, Loving all this hi tech engineering. By the way...All those trees are deceased I take it? Just an observation! My butchery with my own Yuka Trees (viaduct build) keeps me on observation duties for expansion.

Ian, Getting the shakes just looking at your "building Bricks." Takes me back a few months when my viaduct was in IKEA mode !!! At the end of the day it will be worth it. Trust me!