moawkwrd

Same, I upgraded my soldering iron a couple months ago to a Yihua branded model with temperature control and its miles better than my old cheapo one. It takes the same tips as Hakko etc too. Think it was £30-40. Regarding DC controllers - definitely worthwhile investing in something better than the Hornby one included with the sets. If you want a handheld one you’ll be looking at the likes of the Combi, or Model W but that requires an AC transformer so I’d go with either the Combi or Model D (non handheld) to make life simpler. You can pick either up on eBay for less £50 and still benefit from the lifetime guarantee too. On your point power issue - I’m actually experiencing something similar with my points that were painted and ballasted and since removed and cleaned and relaid - on some I have to hold the blades against the rail to maintain the power. I need to do some more cleaning I think. Could also be that the blades have bent out of shape slightly.

Ditto, no real interest in modern stuff for me. I’ve no interest in capturing what I see now on the railway. It’s too boring.

Bad timing with all the models incoming! I’ve just seen that they do a different single/twin track fiddleyard now which matches the depth of various baseboard kits of theirs. When I bought mine they only had one kind which only matches the height of one of their baseboard kits - looks like they realised that it didn’t make much sense and have now listed which ones they work with on the respective pages.

Progress this weekend - Wiring plan done and SPST switches ordered with some more wire. 5 isolated sections to hold locos should be enough - likely the 2 in the fiddleyard won't be used that often. However, as it turned out I was able to reuse much of the odd lengths from before. Could definitely be better but it works. And now in situ above my desk with the Model D close to hand. 😁 One thing that annoys me about the baseboards is that they're not the same depth. I don't understand why so I had to jack up the fiddleyard with some spare bits of wood for the time being.

One era 6 and one era 8 makes sense if they're only going with 2 to begin with, ties in the other available rolling stock assuming it comes out next year. Alternatively an era 6 and a more modern one makes sense too.

Yeah, and my aversion to all things GWR. I kid! Midlands to me is just more suitable a setting for a crammed in, built around station than the West Country. In all likelihood, it’ll end up being set everywhere and nowhere depending on what rolling stock appears in the future. I am aware that picture of the Class 50 hauling the Mk3 and Class 43 is from Penzance though. I just really liked it.

Thanks, yep that’s the aim. There might be only the slightest sliver of sky in the backscene or none at all depending on what building kits I can clobber together.

Paul made a neat timelapse of a schedule being run on Shelfie3 which is what appealed about this kind of end to end layout. Hopefully we get a DMU in the next few years.

Didn’t want to clog up the first post - So I imagine the setting to be somewhere in the midlands as a likely place for a HST and Class 50 to meet while a Class 08 trundles by. I came across these photos whilst researching the setting which I definitely intend to recreate - But this is the kind of vibe I’m aiming to capture - The plan is almost identical to Shelfie3 which Paul Marshall-Potter has documented on his excellent blog https://albionyard.com/. There’s heavy influence from Ian Futers 3 point layouts there including Victoria Park and Fisherrow. I’m not sure I can in anyway hold up to their excellent modelling but I’ll try! Total length is 190.2cm x 22.1cm Control will be DC I think, to start with at least. And the progress so far! Just spent a few hours tidying up the baseboard with some new cork covering, and then placing the track and adjusting some of the lengths. Not sure yet on the scenery options but seeing all the card kits being used with TT has given me some ideas. You can see my sketching of Vulcan Foundry from the original plan still there… one day maybe! Got a couple of shelf brackets and more cork coming tomorrow and I imagine I can get the wiring done this weekend with any luck.

Hi all, As mentioned in the track plan thread, I’ve been working on this alongside my other continuous layout to make use of the Scale Model Scenery baseboards I have and Peco track from my first attempt at a layout. Basics used are the BB017 and 2 of the BB039 kits. I have two left hand medium and one right hand small point from Peco and some flex track.

These are the plans for the two layouts I'm currently building: 1. Bretton (5ft x 2.5ft) based on the OO classic Bredon by A.C. Wood and since featured in the Peco track plan book as plan 7 in a slightly different form but with a fiddleyard area instead of being fully scenic. 2. Unnamed shelf layout (6ft 2 x 9" roughly including the fiddleyard) - this is one I've been thinking about/working on alongside the above. My first idea for a TT layout was based on Vulcan Halt which I thought I could make work using one of the Scale Model Scenery's BB017 baseboard kits with a couple of the twin track baseboards as fiddleyards on either end when operating. However that quickly ran out of steam (😁) when I realised just how much scratch building would be involved and how it was more of a diorama than a layout. However I came across Ian Futers' layouts based around just 3 points, as well as those of Paul Marshall-Potter and this plan is essentially a reversed version of his Shelfie3 layout in TT making use of the 3 Peco points and flexitrack I have leftover from the original plan. As my other layout is firmly end of steam era based, this new layout can be a home for my BR Blue Class 08, HST, upcoming Class 50 and whatever else comes.

Think that’ll work better operationally rather than needing an excuse for awkward operational moves to take place.

Would a tender loco fit on the single straight in the engine shed though in order to then make it out into those sidings? I’d be tempted to swap those sidings to the other side of that track layout, so basically swap the R6 curve off the first point into that entire arrangement with the point and have two more sidings there. Or have the points start one piece earlier so they’re horizontally aligned and can fan out more.

Might have been delivered yesterday, I sometimes forget to check the postbox. IMG_0638.mov Happy 08 running nicely over 3 points, one Hornby and two Peco. Think the Gaugemaster HF2 helps a lot. I could never get it running this nicely with DCC with the old set of pickups without the stayalive fitted.

Little bit of hyperbole there surely? This forum does not have nearly 1m active users. The vast vast majority haven't posted in years, if not decades, mostly after posts in the single digits. Presumably all of Hornby Magazine's subscribers are actively opting in to receive it.