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My cobbled together layout


traingeekboy
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The Brambly Line video on you tube by "Craig Owen" is now defunct. He is in Wales and I think the weather got the better of him. It was a wonderful line and must have cost him a pretty penny to install. Grumpy Grandad's railway is wonderful too and has been around since 1971. I also know of a gauge O line in the Kettering area by Don Neale which has a concrete viaduct based on the viaducts on the S&C. He wrote a book that was published by Peco Publications in 1978 called "Railways In The Garden" and his line was started in 1960. He appeared in the Mark Found DVD "Garden Railway" and according to a bloke I wrote to Don is still with us as is his railway. His locos are hand built by him and use stud contact.

Roy.

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Just an old link I found for a guy who uses paint on his track. I tried the method on a small shunting layout and it was very time consuming. I think it was part of why I lost interest in that layout.

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/4x8/weathered_track/

and his wood weathering for structures:

http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/weathered_wood/

Must head outside as the weather is good and sunny for final construction.

Oh and another link for ballast.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ballasting.htm

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Meh! I couldn't get on here for a bit. Missed the upgrade notice on the forum so I thought my account was wonky.

Funny you mention war gaming. I have been selling off all my old 70's 80's dungeons an dragons and medieval war gaming miniatures on ebay. Just don't do that anymore so am re-purposing the funds toward trains.

I finally closed the gap and have a wood structure that is nearly ready for track. I will try to post some photos.

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Oh cool. what mag is it? do you have a specialty as to what historical setting you prefer?

I was into everything, but loved sci fi games. I still have a copy of the original black and white Ogre game somewhere around here.

I think the biggest issue with gaming was how much time it takes to play a game. As I got older most guys me included couldn't dedicate a whole day to pushing pieces around on a board anymore. I do have a bad addiction to an old computer game though. It's pre internet on a system called PLATO.

Used to play it in the 70's when I was a kid.

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Well... I almost got the final leg done. It's so close. It's so makeshift. Soon though it will have track. I think waiting to get it all built to lay track is the hardest part.

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The long piece will have ply on top of it. I decided to cut the ply narrow so that I can simulate a bridge here. I also need to drop another support leg so that the middle can be a lift out section. I am waiting for a friend to bring over a gun to drive nails into cement for the base of the extra leg.

I had a can of black spray paint around. I decided to seal the edges of the ply with black spray paint. I also painted the cross beam black so it will be less obvious when I mock up a bridge there. Good thing I used the spray as it rained last night. I guess I will need to seal the tops of the ply with something as well.

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Being partially employed means lots of time to fiddle with the layout. My buddy came over with the nail driver. We were just about to set the nails when my neighbor came out holding his arm in pain. Had to stop building to take him to the hospital. It turns out he has either had a heart attack or a blood clot. He is a nice middle eastern man with an accent. He kept apologizing for inconveniencing me, I am so glad I was there to be inconvenienced by him.

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traingeekboy said:

It turns out he has either had a heart attack or a blood clot. He is a nice middle eastern man with an accent. He kept apologizing for inconveniencing me, I am so glad I was there to be inconvenienced by him.

Well I hope that he's okay.

Give him our best wishes for a speedy recovery...

regards

Duncan

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I asked the neighbors but only the young daughter could come to the door and speak to me. Different ways Which I respect. I hope the guy is ok. I don't want to be intrusive.

Yesterday was tidying up the back stair in my house; it is where I considered building a layout after I put a loft platform in it. There is still the possibility for something in there, but outdoor is my focus right now... One Track Mind he he he

I had used up my last wall stud. It's smaller than a 2x4 and makes a good upright for my platforms. All I need is a 3 foot section and lo and behold If I don't have a 4 foot chunk squirreled away in the back stairs. Getting so close to completion!

I also visited the garden and took photos so I can show my Chaos Garden off on here. Pics soon.

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Since we've been discussing the garden aspect I thought I would post some of my garden pics. My veggie garden is in the back yard while the train garden is in the front. I didn't do any actual gardening in the "layout room " this year, but plan to have pots with thymes and low creeper type plants for layout foliage. Between construction time and adult beverage time in the layout room, we also planted some things ion the back yard.

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This is a wide shot of some of the Chaos garden. We planted lots of tidy rows of things but volunteers kept showing up and we just let them do their thing. it made for a nice mixture of flowers and veggies.

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A flower that kept getting stepped on so it got a cinder block pot to grow through.

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this is a plant that is indigenous to our climate. Many consider it to be a weed, but I occasionally allow some to grow because they are so sculptural. this year it attracted a small white and black red crested variety of woodpecker that I hadn't seen before. As you can they make lots of seeds. Next year I'll be killing them as they come up so or Ill have a garden consisting of only these plants.

That's just a start, but it gives you and idea of the chaos garden. I really do need to don my clogs and start working on the windmill project ;) Or maybe finish the layout platforms.

Oh yeah, the neighbor is well . I saw him last night as he was coming back from mosque. He looked so dapper in his long black robe.

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What I did to avoid any sort of media coverage of the whole confusing mess. Hid out in the front yard away from Tv's and radios. My buddy came over with a cement nail gun thing. Cut wood. Drove screws. This is what resulted.

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Then we sat out this evening and sipped wine and chatted. All that is left is some paint to seal stuff, then it's onto track laying and train running. :)

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Looks and sounds a great way to spend the day. It seems that you spend a good deal of your time out in the garden? What's the large building behind you - is it a school or something?

Youy've got some nice greenery in the back yard too - even if some of it is inclined to be a bit intrusive. Some of the wild flowers/plants are fine in the garden providing you can keep them under control. Here it's wild poppies and when in bloom they can put on a real show but if allowed to seed themselves (or if your good lady likes to go round sprinkling the seed from the dried poppy heads) you've got a right job of keeping them in check.

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Mick what I'd give for some poppies. They can grow here but if you neglect watering them they really suffer.

The building is a school. Lots of screaming kids year round. I've learned to tune it out.

I went to the habitat for humanity store too look at their left over paint and discovered a rack of spray paint cans. It seem the only thing wrong with them is that the labels were torn off. So I bought some that had this grey blue paint on them for 2$ each. I tried one out tonight and discovered it was clear finish, so I used it to seal some of the planks in natural wood color. Curious to see what the others are.

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traingeekboy said:

...I went to the habitat for humanity store too look at their left over paint and discovered a rack of spray paint cans. It seem the only thing wrong with them is that the labels were torn off. So I bought some that had this grey blue paint on them for 2$ each. I tried one out tonight and discovered it was clear finish, so I used it to seal some of the planks in natural wood color. Curious to see what the others are.

It's to be hoped they never let you loose on the interior decorating :D

traingeekboy said:

...The building is a school. Lots of screaming kids year round. I've learned to tune it out.

Oh dear... :? And I thought I had problems... I'm just happy that the kids have now gone back to school - I guess you'll notice the difference when they are on term break?

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Oh I have been let loose and it's not pretty ;) ha ha

Yeah I live in a marginal neighborhood. It has gotten better, or has it? I used to complain about the low income kids; they unscrewed and smashed all my xmass bulbs while I was at work the first year I decorated the house for the holidays. Now I am more worried about the higher income folks moving in. They have ideas about how one should keep their yard. I got a notice a couple years ago and had to throw away a bunch of "clutter"/"building materials. I know how to ghetto proof my stuff, but this using the city ordinance is another thing and it PI**es me off.

I am worried someone will notice my layout and the city will come out and harrass me over it. If they do I will have to go to court over it and try to defend my right to model railroad in my front yard!

Tested the other paints = CLEAR! I guess I will seal all the wood with clear spray.

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Soooo... decided it was time to go to the train store. With my new passion for British outline they really don't have anything for me. But then an old passion appeared in the form of this:

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Bachmann HO scale DCC and tsunami sound. OMG!!! I had been pondering early short lines a while back but there was nothing like this available then. So anyway it's a dream I will hold dear, perhaps in a few years I'll get oneRight now I am eyeing a LMS 2-6-0 to go with my coaches or if it bids too high maybe a class 55 just for kicks even if it looks wrong with the LMS. he he

I looked at most everything in the store. The store is big. It took a while. I finnaly started heading for the door with my flex track in hand and I stop briefly to look at the Z scale stuff. It's cute but not my thing really. Well I ended up talking to the guy sitting at the counter and it turns out he did ho scale out doors, so he gave me some advice for my track. Paint it with tinted matte medium to block UV rays. Ok will do it sir!

Then we keep talking and after a while it turns out he grows all his own food in a green house. A pit green house. So now I'm looking at building a small pit green house sorta like this:

http://greenhouseglimpses.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

Now I have track and a reasonable process for protecting it. I should be laying track soon. Oh yeah I measured where the track would go and the outside loop will be about 41 feet around. I think 41 feet should be ok for a decent sized train.

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Well... Just an update on progress but no photos.

I have been using spray paint to seal the surface of the platforms. I had left one platform unsealed under a plastic cover for months. Despite that there was enough ambient moisture to warp the ply a tiny bit. Lesson learned for future layouts. Seal everything as you go. Despite the warping things look good.

New stumbling block. I was going to use Atlas track nails to hold down the track.Having used the nails before I am not too crazy about driving tiny nails through the track ties. Sometimes the nails bend and then the sleepers get damaged. I may have to ponder this a bit, but I don't want to get bogged down by this issue either.

I now have 42 feet of track so I am ready to place the oval and start running. I have never had a layout with a 42 foot mainline. This should be just wonderful to see when it's in place.

I may go look at the how to section for inspiration.

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