After much thought and counting of pennies I have decided to keep the Hornby track, I had been a subscriber to the late lamented Model Trains International magzine, and it's ethos seemed to champion modelling on the cheap, so I will go with that. And not just because I am parsimonious. Mostly it is though.... I do have question over the signalling though, would there be 3 shunt dollies and 1 signal to control exiting onto the main line?
Is that a formal request for a Scottish passport then .... Anthony, especially for a first layout, using what you have is a good idea. Keeping it simple, allows you to get tangible results. Also your skills will improve greatly within this first build, and you appreciation of what you think you want now, and what you actually want by the time you finish the layout may be totally different. Paul
Oi who let mi goat out? Very funny Anthony...! ...ref the layout the fact you've got the bridge mocked up is a great start, I've seen some fantastic layout using the 'cheap and very cheerful' formula. Have fun and don't forget to milk the goat (his name's Fox) Ian vt
It's a good feeling when you start placing structures about the layout as it gives it some life and you can really see where it's heading in 3D, not just in your head ! Looking good Anthony, keep up the photo updates. Cheers, Gary.
Carefull, Fox the goat has a waspish demeanour. You've got a head start on the plank competition to boot. Paul
Yes I remember now. A mammoth. The matador was slightly earlier and had a more pronounced radiator. Looks good all the same. Cheers Toto
Oxford diecast do a couple of nice examples of the Matador. The Mammoth needs toning down at some point, model vehicles look too shiny out of the box.
Airfix used to do a Matador as well, came with a piece of field artillery as well, but a nice kit from I can remember from over 40 years ago. Paul
Just had a look and they still do, not a bad price either, you may very well see one on here in the not too far distant future.
After reading Gormo's post about panoramic photo's I took my camera to a local field and snapped away. I used photofiltre to remove the wind farm masts and was quite pleased with the result and emailed the resulting panoramic photo to my local printshop who produced a 74" x 8" banner for £20. It has caused me to change the location of the layout from an urban factory yard to one loosely (and I mean very loosely) based on the Wisbech & Upwell tramway. Here are a couple of shots I took to try out the backscene (it isn't fixed yet) and a couple of buildings that will go on the layout. (The coal office will be built again using a similar brick colour to that of the cottages and the bargeboard will be properly mounted!) Attached files