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roddy

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Everything posted by roddy

  1. I too remember the "Paper trains" that ran from London into Kent. I can't remember the make up the stock, but they always included coaching stock which were ideal for late night revellers to get home. There were also the "Milk trains" that went to London in the wee small hours and were good for early morning shift workers who needed to travel. Again, I can't remember the make up of these. Several times in recent years I have landed at Heathrow just after 10.00 in the evening. By the time that I cleared customss and got into Victoria, the last train to my parents in Sussex was gone. I had to try to get my head down in a corner of the airport terminal until about 05.30 the following morning to complete the journey. Had the Paper trains still been in service, it would have been much easier.
  2. It's funny how just writing something can make it all seem clearer. Forget the Zero1 idea. It's not repairable. It seems awkward to operate. It's not really so much cheaper to purchase all thins considered.
  3. Yes I understand it that far George. I'm quite happy with manual control of points and any other bits, and as sure as eggs is eggs, nobody can control more than 2 or 3 locos at any one time. Modern decoders are close to £20 each times 5 locos (so far) plus the cost of the controller, but I do like the idea of just pressing a number for that train to move. My main tracks will just be a double track, but I'm wanting to put a through station plus goods yard plus engine sheds onto the removable boards. I can do this all in about 2ft of board width if I'm careful and use maybe 16 or 20ft of length. I like short trains too so a 4ft station is enough. No plans for a viaduct or windmill I'm afraid. I have been doing a lot of reading on layouts and baseboards, plus what I see here. I appreciate too the thing about Zero1. It is really too old to be compatible with modern stuff and there is still the danger of it breaking. Decoders seem to be fairly available and a lot cheaper too. However, there is a lot to do first, and I only need to decide before I start wiring. Perhaps I can convince the powers that be that DCC for my birthday is the way to go, even though I will have to wait for 6 months. Track alone will cost me an arm and a leg, and I still need to increase my coaching and goods stock.
  4. I'm still here. The remaining brain cell has been giving a lot of thought to what I'm looking for, and I think I have a plan. Next step is to get it down on some paper, and when I'm happy go out for the materials for baseboards. I am still keen on the idea of making what would be considered an indoor layout on folding boards. These boards will slot into a gap left in an outdoor track running round three sides of the garden, but can be equally enjoyed in the garage in poor weather. Before starting though I have a tricky repair job on the car. An ongoing door lock problem that has been ignored since my stay as a guest of the NHS. Puzzling a bit over control. Should I go with DC (cheap and cheerful) or attempt the intricacies of DCC (expensive) or even take a chance on an old Hornby Zero one unit that is cheap but irrepairable should it break? But first I need to sharpen the pencil and draw some lines on a bit of paper ------------.
  5. Better hurry up George. Despite last night's good snowfall, it's all supposed to thaw today and get washed away tomorrow.
  6. Thanks for liking the garden. It's not looking good at the moment. Last year I cleared a lot of overgrowth out, and put the greenhouse in. The little fire pit certainly throws out the heat. The small back garden is the price for living on a corner. The front garden is too big really, but you can't have it all. Front is really the place to run a railway, but the scrappies round here would be lifting the track as I was still trying to lay it. They would have the laces out of your boots just for the metal bits on the ends.
  7. Yes George, certainly plenty to think about. Thanks for the recommendation. For those that don't know-----George and I share an interest in bigger toys.
  8. I have no intentions of teaching Grannie to suck her eggs, but can't help noticing the problems that some are having using roofing felt. It is being used as a waterproofing for the base timberwork mainly, but as it has the mineral addition it is hopefully providing a ballasted look. I notice from most photographs that the wraparound is giving a wrinkled appearance, and I have seen comments about under track lumpiness. It needs to be remembered that this stuff was never intended to bend around sharp corners. Chris has the right idea with his bevels. It can be improved by warming with a blowtorch or hot air gun which will soften it. Preferably, wait for a nice warm day, and unroll the felt to warm in the sun for half an hour or so. I have seen no mention of Sarking felt. This is a roofing felt that is much thinner and pliable that is applied to a roof before the slates or tiles are fitted. It will wrap around a sharp corner easier, and not "move" as much in temperature extremes as the mineral stuff. It will give waterproofing to the timber, but not the ballasted appearance. Perhaps a ballasting strip of mineral strip at track width on top of sarking felt would be an improvement in appearance, both to baseboard edges and realism of ballasting. Just a thought.
  9. As stated in my introduction post, I am unsure if I should be thinking of an indoor or outdoor layout. If I can make the attachments thingy work, here are some poor pictures of my garden. Obviously it isn't, because I'm being told about the pixies being too big or something. Problems problems. Anyway, my garden is roughly triangular. At the house end, but beyond the yard and greenhouse, I have a width of about 18ft which needs to be removable. Both garden fences running from here (approx 20ft each) have been planted. Heavy ivy on the one side and climbers on the other. These fences narrow to a garden width of not much more than 9ft, and again I need access through into a pergola area. The middle of the garden is overlapping circles of decking. The track on the side fences could easily be pretty well straight down the fences so that it ducked behind the bamboo and hydrangea and some other tall plants. Then I need a removable bridge to give access into the pergola seating area. The biggest difficulty is the wider greenhouse end of the garden. My cunning plan is to make a long indoor layout that is portable and reasonably weatherproof. If this was the sort that disappears off both ends to form a hidden loop to storage sidings, it could be enjoyed inside in the Winter months, but moved temporarily outside in good weather to form most of the required bridge for the 4th side of the garden layout. This is so difficult to explain without pictures, but I think I know what I mean in my own madness. So it's off now to try and reduce the number of my pixies and let's hope I get somewhere photographic later on.
  10. I have not yet introduced myself but need to do that in the proper place. I do however have a word for enginedriver. Last September, I thought I had the flu. This was made worse by constant tummy cramps. Less than a week later I was in a hospital bed with scepticaemia. Three weeks later I was home again, still with tummy cramps, and clutching hospital laxatives amongst the other pills. An uncomfortable week at home and I'm again at the hospital undergoing emergency surgery for a ruptured bowel. Life is still uncomfortable with a colostomy bag, but I'm slowly improving. Santa was kind to me with some locos and rolling stock and bits and bobs to start a layout which is why I'm here. The only question is should it be inside or outside. More of that later, but meanwhile enginedriver and all others should please be careful with your health and not just shrug things off as we usually do.
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