DVIR

Hello Weekenders - how's it all holding up?

I'm the same as Roddy and Mick above - Mobius is brilliant.

Wonderful - I'm guessing that is all taken with a Mobius camera?

Thats roughly what mine looked like. I was given a motor set in blue like the one in your photo, it came with road wheels and rail wheels. I bought loads of lego rail track including points and cross overs and could build quite a large layout - but nothing like as big or as good as the modern lego railways featured in the youtube videos - especially the one that goes around the house then in the garden.

...and then there is the underwater tunnel too:

This is what I wrote on the Lego Forum topic:

Oh yes - I had the old style lego train that had white sleepers and blue rails - it was fantastic. Had two locos, one was made from a lego motor and the other was a black steam loco and tender set that stopped and started in response to a black lego whistle - it was brilliant and must have annoyed everyone else in the family. The sleepers and rails were brilliant for making large structures like bridges, jodrell bank telescopes and loads of other things. Sold it all and wish I hadn't.

But I do still have my Big Big Train set (made by Tri-ang and then Novo and others) - A "Blue-Flyer" Hymec in O guage and a Ruston 0-4-0 diesel shunter all operating on red plasic clip together track. I have over the past 3 or 4 years been buying more of it over the internet to get more track and spares to keep the locos going. I run it in the garden and it goes great.

http://www.bigbigtrain.org.uk/

The above website could be better but gives you some idea of what it is all about.

Perhaps we need a Big Big Train section on the forum.

Thought I would start a Big Big Train Topic.

Oh yes - I had the old style lego train that had white sleepers and blue rails - it was fantastic. Had two locos, one was made from a lego motor and the other was a black steam loco and tender set that stopped and started in response to a black lego whistle - it was brilliant and must have annoyed everyone else in the family. The sleepers and rails were brilliant for making large structures like bridges, jodrell bank telescopes and loads of other things. Sold it all and wish I hadn't.

But I do still have my Big Big Train set (made by Tri-ang and then Novo and others) - A "Blue-Flyer" Hymec in O guage and a Ruston 0-4-0 diesel shunter all operating on red plasic clip together track. I have over the past 3 or 4 years been buying more of it over the internet to get more track and spares to keep the locos going. I run it in the garden and it goes great.

http://www.bigbigtrain.org.uk/

The above website could be better but gives you some idea of what it is all about.

Perhaps we need a Big Big Train section on the forum.

Thanks Roddy for putting the link in

and thanks to Iain for making the film.

The APT-E looks amazing.

Just the box looks great - must be huge.

Missed the York Model Railway Show last year so didn't get to see the APT model there.

Didn't buy one in the end as I didn't have the cash.

But will enjoy seeing the ones that were bought being displayed on layouts this year.

Hello Weekenders,

I also use a Mobius Action Cam in the car and the "DVIR Film Unit" uses it on model railway filming.

Techmoan is an excellent web site where lots of action cams are reviewed by Mat. Very interesting site - worth spending some time having a good rumage around:

http://www.techmoan.com/

The Mobius can be removed from its case, the camera module can be replaced with ones with different lenses and a longer lead and all of that could be mounted very neatly in a wagon or even a locomotive - all well within the loading gauge specification:

http://www.techmoan.com/blog/?currentPage=7

There is also a software interface available for updating the camera's settings and updating the camera's software (provided by the radio-control aircraft community who make a lot of use of them):

http://www.mytempfiles.info/mobius/index.html

It could be good-bye Kellog-Cam.

I think the Weekenders' approach to permanent way civil engineering is superb and very much look forward to the updates - keep up the good work.

Cheers

David

Mick,

This is going to look superb doing a full circuit of your garden.

I think the APT-E will be at the York Model Railway Show April next year - so can't wait to see it there.

David

The first CAD images of the model have been posted:

http://rapidotrains.com/aptnews.html#scan

VERY IMPRESSIVE

Great subject for a freight train - it looks really good. Are you going to make a rake of them? If only we in the UK and Ireland had kept Brunel’s broad gauge.

Can't help thinking about how big the final bill will be for that de-railment and the wrecked fuselages. I hope they weren't under insured. The cost of the fuselages and wings and tails and the loss of earnings from the lease companies or airlines that were expecting to get them would be huge - it will probably take a few years to find another slot in the production line to make the replacement ones - they will have to get to the back of the queue. Boeing may be contractually obliged to source alternative aircraft and cover any increased costs over the lovely new more efficient ones.

It seems to be a re-occurring theme especially on the rmweb APT-E forum:

Lots of people are saying "not my era", "got no space for one", "can't afford one", "Wife won't be happy", "what if its no-good"

and then they say "er... but I’m ordering one", "I need one", "I can't miss out on one".

Imagine a OO APT-E running over Mick's viaducts.

This model is asking to be run on the long and graceful curves of a OO garden railway. Indoors will not do it justice.

http://www.rapidotrains.com/apt1.html

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/87114-the-official-rapido-apt-e-thread/

Another gem of a viaduct. Well done Mick – it’s a delight to see. The physics of the bridge means that it definitely needs a support column – as it is two separate girder spans - in effect it is two bridges. Without a support, the joint between the two spans is trying to be a hinge and wants to fall in to the gap – in the real 1:1 scale world you would struggle to make the joint strong enough to resist the load and if you managed to do it - it would cost a 1000 times more than a column to build and would be a pig to maintain. I look forward to the inaugural crossing – it will need flags and bunting on the loco.

I've got a railway - it’s indoor and it's in the environs of the Derwent Valley. I hope to show some pictures of it - perhaps some videos too. One day I'll get round to doing the garden thing. I'm inspired by the conventional magnificence of Mick's work - especially the bridges - but I am also inspired by the craziness of the Weekender method of doing things.