chris

Landscaping around viaduct ends was what I was thinking of. I'll see how I get on using traditional methods (plywood and roofing felt) and my give the filler a go.

The progress on viaducts elsewhere is giving me the shove I need to get on with my own. I finished painting it today. I need to work out how the abutments will look, and then how I'm going to have a section of baseboard 300mm lower than the rest. My play with some of that while watching the Olympics on TV tomorrow.

A great viaduct and an excellent record of how you've achieved it. I love that you've inspired Mick to get cracking on his. Good effort all round.

I"ve been thinking about using this stuff on my railway. http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_expanding_foam_polyfilla.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I'm thinking mainly for embankments and cuttings. Although it's not beyond the realms... to use it to make a smooth top surface to lay tracks on. Any thoughts on pro's and con's?

Did I use a router, no I used a Jigsaw (Sabre Saw [uS]) set to 45º.

My guess would be a locking washer. I've never heard of the term, but google has shown me images that look like what you have described.

I"ve dabbled with bevelled edges and found it to much hassle on 18mm boards. I thought wrapping the felt round would be easier, but it wasn't, I had to use twice as many staples.

No problem with the accommodation. The hotel I use when I'm working in London put its price up from £99 to £105 for a double room with breakfast. Nice hotel, half way between Euston and the British Mueseum.

Andrew, Are you using peco's brass track pins? I've tried a few different pins but the brass ones are the only ones I use outdoors now. I also have a cheap small Archimedes drill with a 1mm bit in which I use exclusively for drilling holes in sleepers.

Two Sundays missed due to events (Hartlepool Show and parents Golden Wedding) so it was good to be back in the garden with the sun on my back, a little too much in fact A week or so ago I came up with an idea for making platforms and discussed it in the relavent thread. Electrical cable trunking is 16mm high, just about right for platform bases and their clip fitting lid makes them a doddle to install. I had to pop into town on Friday (my wife's birthday presents weren't buying themselves) so picked up a couple of 2 metre lengths from the hardware store. For once I'd planned ahead and taken a junior hacksaw with me, even so 4 lengths at 1 metre will still fun to get home on my bike. I glued some brick effect plasticard on one side and then screwed them in place. The procrastination over the exact location and length of the platform was longer than the construction. I've not finished it yet (yesterday was Sarah's birthday) but I'm pleased with the progress so far.

I'm going Tickets to the Hockey and Greco Roman Wrestling. We are staying 3 nights in London. While we are there there are two free events that have caught our eye, the women's marathon and the mens triathlon, both of which could end up with gold medals for GB. I'll have to give up a Sunday in the garden, but it should be worth it.

Love that I'm now seeing ads on this forum for the product I linked to in this thread.

That's an hour well spent. It's a real showcase of what can be done outdoors. I've shamelessly copied the K&WR and I listen to IanR's advice above all others.

always nice when someone notices. Far too humble to mention it myself

Tom, yes it does look the business. Spotted a length of it while I was in the loft. The only annoying thing is that I didn't notice it a few months back when I went up there to look for just such an item. Could have saved me a lot of messing around with cassette, CD and playstation cases.

Having previously used old cassette cases as base supports for platforms my supply has dried up so I'm thinking about using cable trunking. http://www.screwfix.com/p/mini-trunking-25mm-x-16mm-x-2m/81974 It's height, at 16mm, is about right and I'll top it with floor tiles which have worked quite well on top of the cassette cases. I'll trim the front with brick plasticard. The trunking comes in two parts which will make it easy to screw it in place and then snap the top in place.

Saw a finished version of this at the weekend. It's a very impressive model.

My only question would be what about expansion and contraction? Some materials expand far more than you would imagine they would and garden railways can get rather long. A couple of millimetres gap between boards would probably prevent any issues.

No sign of the 2nd quarter release of Northen Belle from Hornby… Trip to Loch Lomond is on Friday and we've just got confirmation of the itinerary, or to put it another way, confirmation of the itinerary change. When we booked it was a 09:00 dept York with a 09:30 Leeds. Return was 20:30 LDS and 21:00 YRK. This was the only information given and beenning the curious type I tried to work out the rest of the schedule. If you are familiar with train services in the North of England and Scotland have a go yourself before you read on. This was my take on it. York first then Leeds meant we were going down the Settle to Carlise. From Carlise I would have guessed a charter would be kept off the West Coast Main Line and be routed up the Glasgow and South Western, quite how it would get from there to the North Clyde network was anyone's guess, but then we would alight at Helensborough Central or Dumbarton, Balloch station being far too small these days for a charter. We then get a boat trip on Lock Lomond, some time in the pretty little village of Luss and the a coach back to the train for the return on the same route in reverse. Having worked out the route I'd did the maths and concluded that you'd be very very hard pressed to do York Dumbarton in less than 5 hours, you couldn't do it in 4 on service trains doing 125mph via Edinburgh. 5 hours each way leaves 2 at Loch Lomond, it turns out we will have 4 hours there! So our new itinerary has arrived. And now we are departing at 06:50 and returning at 00:00. Now I'm all for an extra 6 hours on one of Britains most luxurious trains and the extra food and drink they have promised, but I really don't like the way they have gone about this. Apparently the reason for the increase journey time is because we are now going along the Settle to Carlise route (England's most scenic), but York then Leeds meant we always were (would the Little North Western, the Calder Valley, or even Manchester been any quicker?). I can't help but conclude that we have been lied to. The original timings were impossible, but getting people on a train that departs at 06:50 and returns at midnight must be a hard sell, much easier to fib about the timings and add a caveat that "itinerary is subject to change". One more thing. Our friend, who is treating us to this very expensive trip, mentioned that "it also says that we may not have a steam loco". A steam loco? This was news to me. The Northen Belle is top and tailed by a pair of DRS 47s usually the ones painted in Pullman livery. I had no expectation of steam haulage, but Orient Express Group have given that expectation to their punters. We are going to have a fabulous day, but this is literally a "once in a lifetime trip" and I don't like being conned by a company charging £325 a ticket.

At Hornby magazine live I spoke with one of the top guys at Hornby. I quizzed him on delivery dates asking "where's my Northern Rail Pacer, it (Hornby.com) says 2nd quarter" His response was "I think I said 1st quarter for that one" After mentioning Scots Guardsman and the Grand Central debacle he admitted "we just guess" Great stuff Hornby. May be its time you take back control of production rather than guessing when your suppliers may get round to making your products.

This is my kind of idea, mainly because if it doesn't work I can simply return to tension locks. I may give it a go. I wonder how long it will be before someone brings out a range of these. A set that look like a modern DMU coupling would be very attractive to me.

The weather was on the edge of a shower all day so could really make much progress this Sunday. One of my backdrop boards appeared to have one less coast of paint than the others so I took it down, gave it a sand and then put a couple more coats on. I"m very pleased with the result. It fits in the category of preventative maintenance, something I'm not good at, but after this success I'll be motivated to do more. Otherwise I was dry brushing the viaduct.

Thank you for your kind comments headmaster. I'm actually rather busy at the moment with our local Carnival which is taking up a lot of time on evenings, but Sundays are a day when there is no work to be done, even when there is work to be done, so Amblethorpe marches on. Not decided what to focus tomorrow, something will catch my attention.

oooh, that's a bit good. Not my cup of tea, (yet more stream/diesel transition) but the attention to detail is excellent. The lighting, through wiring and close connections make this a step-up on what has come before. and at 6 coaches long it lends itself to a garden railway.

Roy, the station is shaping up nicely. Those buildings are great, shame Bachmann have stopped making them I could do with a couple more.