New garden layout

Hi Guys,

          Thanks for keeping the guys informed Craig. Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a while but  because of a very late spring and pretty rotten weather up untill a couple of weeks ago I'm afraid progress just wasn't possible.Plus I have been tied up with work and am also heavily involved in political activity here in Scotland right now as we have a very important referendum coming up in 2014 to decide the future of Scotland ,ie ,in or out of the Union with England and the rest of the UK.

 I am also just back yesterday from a trip to Bermuda where I was playing at a function related to the Bermuda Highland games. Spent four nights in this top-notch hotel over there, beautifull place and a beautifull island too...

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVvRe50daZs , there were also great Royal Canadian Mounted Police pipes and drums, and highland dancers from Nova Scotia and Hamilton Ontario,Canada there. So really enjoyed that.

 Anyway all those things have meant not a lot garden railway progress.  However theres better weather here now and I have had a day tidying up after the winter so hopefully I'll get back into it shortly. I have had to do some work on the old fence between myself and my neighbour too and am still working on my side before I can complete the trackbed on the final stretch.So thats the state of play. As for the track method retaining water electroliner,

it will depend on the underlying nature of the ground. clay/sand/rubble whatever.

 It may not suit every ground type or climate. However I reckon that on well drained ground water retention shouldn't be a problem. At least I have never found it to be. Anyway guys, no I haven't lost interest and fully intend to get back into things as work and time allows.  Cheers   DAVY

aye Davy, I have very found memories of Bermuda and the Princess Hamilton Harbor. After 5 trips to the island since 1968, I still can't get enough!

Next trip, try the Southhampton Princess (Fairmont), or for a more intimate locale the Pink Beach Club.

Hi Davy,

I hope all is well. Any updates on your outdoor 2 rail empire?

Hi George,

          I'm fine, just been totally pre-occupied with other things. As I said ,the  very late spring here was the first hold up,  since then I've been really busy with work etc.etc., , also been travelling quite a lot too with my work which has involved  me in being away from home for days at a time at times,so I've never really had a right chance at getting back into the railway. I have however still been buying  some locos and rolling stock including a B&O EM1 Yellowstone which is winging its way from the states right now. Been slowly but surely working on converting  some 3 rail engines to 2 rail and re-painting engines  and stuff as and when I;ve had the chance. Also have new track and switches ready for laying but its just getting the time. I'm still hoping to get something done with the line before winter sets in again but the way things are going I'm doubtfull I'll get much done before the first frosts arrive and that'll probably not be long now. I'm very much hoping for a short winter and early spring next year. Anyway thats the situation George, thanks for gettin in touch,...as soon as I get back into the railway I'll be posting the progress here as before. All the best  DAVY   

Hi Guys, just took delivery of a B&O EM1 , posed it for a couple of pictures. Can't wait to get this railroad running !!    Davy

Nice Big Mallet Locomotive! Looks like beautiful weather in Scotland. Rain here in New England as I type this.

Hi Davy, Hope your well and have had chance to expand your railway empire throughout the summer months, Ive decided that 3 rail isnt for me as i cant seem to get my head round that middle rail, I'm going to sell all my lionel stuff which is a lot and go for 2 rail, What power pack do you use on your layout?.

Chris

I peek in every once in a while to see what's up. With the weather heading into the colder months do you feel challenged about getting out and working the railroad, or are you an all weather guy?

Hi, I'm an all weather guy as long as it isnt wet, Unfortunately i'm giving up pn 3 rail as i cant get my head round that middle rail so all of my Lionel stuff has to go.

Hi Guys, Chris , well i was going to use my old Aristocraft stuff but as I've got nothing done with the layout practically this summer at all I haven't tried it. However Aristocraft have bitten the dust and cease trading in December. So thats the end of the Aristo story. I'll probably go for a suitable gaugemaster set up eventually . I was really dissapointed that I never got anything much done with the layout his year, a very late spring, a lot of travelling with work and quite a busy schedule generally kept me back. However hopefully next year I'll get on with it.  Currently my latest interest is the railways of Ireland past and present and I've been collecting stuff for that interest in OO scale (4mm to the foot). Really enjoying it too. But all indoors stuff as the weather is now back to wet and wild !  Good to hear from you guys. Cheers   DAVY  

Hi Davy, Thanks for getting back to me, As you have moved on to oo gauge for the time being please bear me in mind if you require any weathering, detailing, re-numbering as i do this full time, please take a look at my work, https://www.facebook.com/csmodelsweathered?ref=hl

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all my pals here. Hoping to get back into the garden railway come the spring. 2013 has seen virtually nothing done to the layout but I do NOT intend this to be the case in 2014. I have no Xmas layout round the Christmas tree but I like this old picture of my G scale garden railway from a few years back, my B&O 5308 and two heavyweights one snowy morning.There was only a light dusting and it made things look almost scale.All the best from Scotland guys     DAVY

Beautiful picture Davy. Merry Christmas to you as well.

Yves

Great picture Davy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas Davy, Hope you and your family have a good one

Indeed. Merry Christmas Davy..

Aye,  happy Christmas lad.

Rick

That's a beautiful winter shot, Davy!  I hope to see an O gauge version by this time next year (or sooner).

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Hi Guys, well spring turned up today in the form of a wee bit warmth and some long awaited for sunshine. So after  pretty much missing out on any garden activity in 2013 I'm determined to get some progress made this year.Anyway ,I cleaned off a bit of track and linked up an old controller and stuck one of my recently obtained Atlas F9s and gave it a spin. Just took this wee bit film .The film quality is lousy but never mind its better than nothing eh ? So hopefully I'll get back in the garden groove this year and fingers crossed for good weather ! anyway better things to come I hope !!  good to be back   DAVY

Hi guys, heres a wee shot of a french diesel and coach .These are LIMA models. Not much to show but first burst of spring . Vive la difference eh ?   ha ha   

Hi Guys, well I'm back into construction after a long period away due to being busy with other things. I've been trying to post pics along with this post but for some reason the file loader isn't playing ball ???,has something changed while I've been away or is the fault at my end ? Cheers   DAVY

well mate, It'll be good to read your updates again.

yes, this forum has changed technology where older browsers cannot post photos.

I recently had to add Firefox so I am able to post photos, versus when I used IE8, SP3. Apparently Chrome and Firefox are the preferred browsers.

there's a discussion about this topic at the ' Suggestions' header.

Looks great! What kind of track are you using?

Hi Chris good to hear from you. Right...well I'll get one of my buddies who understands computer things to sort out whatever I need to post pics ASAP. In the meantime I'll just keep taking pics as I go and post them once my PC has been sorted out. Matt, I'm using Peco streamline nickel silver track throughout.  My whole garden has been neglected for months so I have a lot of weeding and pushing back nature to do,however a few good days work will make a difference. As long as the weather stays good I'll get pushed on.  Cheers   DAVY

Davy, hope all is well. I know its the winter time but I would be interested in seeing your photos from last summer on your outdoor 2 rail layout.

Hi George good to hear from you, made a bit of a start to getting back into the layout ,however the year turned out very busy with work plusI was heavily involved in the political referendum here in Scotland which took up most of my time,so I'm afraid the layout has languished another season. However , spring is just round the corner again ! 

  All the best   DAVY

Spring is just glimmer in my eyes living in Northern New England. Ahhh, the political referendum, Interesting.  Anyways its always enjoyable to see your 2 rail O layout its very different from the typical G scale layouts I have seen around my area.

Hi Davy,

Any news on your Garden railway? I hope all is well.

Hi George, nice to hear from you. Well, I'm afraid that the whole back garden and railway project ended up severely neglected for a variety of reasons. One real major problem was my big pond. The pond started to leak badly,so after draining and inspection i found that it wasn't just one leak but that the butile liner had failed in many places and was beyond repair. Anyway, the upshot was that I've decided to re-build the whole garden from scratch. I have just begun the demolition work in the last couple of days. As for the railway ,there will be very little left of the original track route .The turntable and loco servicing area will remain though the track layout will also need modified. the new route though will go right to the extremities of the garden and I plan a station right in front of the big window at the back of the house. So I'll can sit and eat meals and have the trains run close by.

I haven't been idle though , I have completely re-built the front garden at my house over the last few months . Started last October but unfortunately injured my shoulder quite bad so that halted progress for a good few weeks. However I got back into it in the new year and its now finished. I'll post a couple of pics tomorrow. Anyway, like I say the back garden and all that work i did before is now gettin ripped apart .So theres a lot to be done before I get to track laying again .Right now its like a bomb site. Major reconstruction ,new pond ,the lot then finally the trains.   davy