TheGreenGuit

I want to order a couple of items total value about £40. Has anyone experience with Modellbahnshop-lippe regarding additional charges e.g. VAT and how this is paid? I understand there should be no import duty.

Thanks everyone yet again for the great advice, just what I was looking for.

Could someone point me towards specific static grass products or alternatives, suitable for TT120? I only really need to model a village green and a few green fields. However I might add a hill with a tunnel later. My layout is 6'6" x 4'. I have no previous experience. A friend has a static grass applicator I could borrow.

I'm looking forward to receiving the four wagons I've just ordered. Are the Hunt magnetic couplings easy to install (i.e. just clip in and out)?

The Hornby R920 insulated rail joiners work very well and can be used on both Peco and Hornby TT120. They just need trimming to length.

They might go totally OTT and cough up some fishplates.

Hi. Look up the previous discussion entitled "Track screws". I've found the 6mm N gauge screws perfect. There is a guy called Alan Robinson who sells the screws and appropriate screwdrivers on Ebay. The Hornby track has pre-drilled holes which are the right size. You need to drill pilot holes in the sleepers if you use Peco track but not the baseboard. I found 1mm diameter to be just right. If you do go with screws don't screw them down too hard as the sleepers can be squashed and they bulge sideways. The screws are a lot easier than pins. The great thing is you can take them out and adjust the track easily. Also you are not ruling later gluing as an option when you have finalised your layout or when ballasting.

I've added a "stone" base to raise the height of a Metcalfe N gauge engine shed.

The ballast may be medium but your responses are a fine gold dust. Thanks again.

Just great! Can I ask what ballast you use? I also notice you don't overwhelm the track with it.

Solid advice.

By coincidence my Flying Scotsman started stuttering in a similar fashion at specific points this afternoon. It turned out the front pair of wheels of the front bogie were sticking on the piece of black tape which had curled up and was dangling above the wheels.

Thank you for the comments. The quarry sidings are terminating at what will be a near vertical quarry face as in a local photograph. It would be great if they extended across the hall and round the sitting room. It's been fun fine tuning the positioning of the break in the rail so the wagons stop dead only millimetres from the end.

I'm making very slow but steady progress with my first ever layout. There is a double loop with sidings and a platform loop. The outermost track is end to end automated with a Gaugemaster shuttle device. A quarry face will be at top left eventually. Locos are from the Easterner set together with the Flying Scotsman and the worthy Kof ii diesel. I will add a small steam loco when they become available. The board is 6'6" by 4' and sits on top of the dining table. At the moment there is a hotchpotch of mainly out of scale buildings. Next steps are buildings, lighting, scenery and ballasting. I would like to thank everyone on the forum for their help so far. I've learnt how to solder, basic electrics and much more.

I sympathise Tom. I'm a complete beginner and the relevance of the various radii, relation to points, etc. were not immediately obvious at the outset. For example, the R6 curve brings the point curve back to parallel. That information is there but not something I would have spotted or even thought about. Track centres are 43mm apart, again easy to deduce by subtracting the radii but not obvious with no previous experience. Everything is written down somewhere but poorly collated and the forum search engine is pretty hopeless. I agree it would be helpful to have a comprehensive online description of the track functions or perhaps an article in the magazine and, not least, a track plan publication. One thing I have found invaluable is keeping a notebook as I keep forgetting or losing information sources. The pages I've devoted to accounts are a bit sobering, however.