Oh is 4464 Bittern ilikd that model

Sulzer

Nice update again Michael. Looking forward to the next.

Hi Michael, very rewarding to see your train do that very first loop! Even more so when you have painstakingly put the track together yourself! I must say the track looks absolutely superb in those running shots! Cheers Gary

Really good to see trains running. How long has it been since you could last do that? The benefit of all that hard word building the track really showed with the train being propelled at speed over the curved points. I am hopping that the Buggleskelly Dad's Army wagon gets made in N. My figures of Laurel and Hardy delivering a piano were from that company. Good luck with the curved single slip - you don't make things easy for yourself do you? Stephen

Nice update Michael. I'm glad you decided to go about it this way mate. Hiding it would have bugged the hell out of you in the long term.

Like the video and it has helped in my first time use of this point. Do you have a video of fitting the other wires? Thanks

Ooof yes.. I'd go with the alternative mate rather than try and hide it. It'll bug you knowing its there. I'd rather you fix it now than later.

Smooth transitions are difficult to map, but far more realistic. I wouldn't worry too much about having a transitional at the end of the platform, shorter trains wouldn't be affected by it, while a full length train would likely have the guard/luggage car at that point - which has fewer doors to worry about platform access. As far as end of platform scenery, with a side access station building, there are frequent examples of road bridges at both ends of the platform (with no platform access), and you could even use a footbridge to hide unsightly curve transitions. Or there's the option of many a suburban station where there is a roadbridge, with the station building and step access down to the platforms, which can make for a large scenery break, if needed. Finally, you can have a road bridge, with a short open air track section, leading into a tunnel, creating multiple line of sight breaks. I don't know what you're considering as "extended scenery" section, but a wide bridge with buildings, or a narrower bridge with row-shops or an hotel on the near side would hide the exit just as effectively as the traditional tunnel or bridge end of scene. Anyway, look forward to seeing how you approach this.

There are always compromises. It really comes down to which irritation you can live with the most. Plainly you're not happy with what you have now, and there is no point in soldiering on and always thinking you should have done something different. Of the two options I preferred the second. It is a pity to have to take track up, but better now than later. The curve of the platform will not really show and having the scenic break of the road bridge nearer to the start of the fiddle yard is plainly better than having it sooner to disguise the sharper curve. Stephen

Hi Michael Interesting system, certainly be good to see how it all works. Cheers Paul👍

excellent Video of the the Lodi System , Geoff

Always nice to see another update Michael. Looking really nice mate.

What centre line spacing have you used, as it looks a perfect compromise between real life and enough clearance for the oversize of oo?

Good to see the progress Michael. The coaches ran beautifully along the line. Good that you can now think about getting trains running again. Stephen

Really nice update here Michael. Having that loop in place must feel good, least you can run something and build upon it now mate. Great job.

Hi Michael. Well done on the promotion. They are not easy things to achieve. Great to see so much done on Dexfield too. The handmaking of track is painstaking work, but when you showed the track level view over the curved points you can see the benefit of doing so. Stephen

Bet its been mad hot up there again Michael. I had to go in my loft for something yesterday and I made sure I did it at 8:00am Lol. Just think, one day you'll be sat in here chilling out with a brew and dim light just watching the system run. Cant wait to see that one day mate, love the updates as always.

Quite a quandary there Michael. I agree that just having the branch and the main line follow each other round on the same level would be odd. The immediate thought was the branch needs to descend rather than climb. I see from your reply to Neil that you have thought of that but it would require significant change to the baseboards. I am not sure if this idea just makes matters worse, but you could have the mainline climb slightly and the branch descend slightly. That would require change to the pillars under the trackbed, but looking at the shot at 7:21 that might not be too difficult. It would also help lessen the problem of limited headroom. I agree with you that you do not want a hidden section which would create an area which would be difficult to access in case of a problem. Your options for scenic work will be greater if you can keep both lines in sight. The main line or branch disappearing off into a tunnel isn't going to give you that. Stephen

I agree with your "follows" issue, there needs to be some relief to create a little more of a visual gourmet. The issue is that raising the branch obscures the mainline behind it, a descending branch would work better allowing more opportunity to watch all the trains going by (plan#1). Plan#2 gives you access issues to the main, But you could incline the branch to a higher level - maybe resulting in a branch terminus above the fiddle yard - and if you gain enough height, you can swing the branch wider and have access panel to the hidden main underneath the branch. Plan#3 allows for a country industrial (milk? flour?), and would dictate some specialist freight to support it. The problem with #3 is you don't have much variety at the branch departure, and you probably need a geographical impediment as a reason for having branch traffic running on the main for so long (and I'm not sure I really like the point layout!! - but then it's your layout). Something I'm considering for my layout is clusters of points with a signal box local, then longer tracts of "straight" lines through the countryside. For plan#3 there would need to be a signal box for the branch turnout, if you're in a modern (electronic) era, then the box may be abandoned by now.

Love these updates Michael, its great to see more videos and progress again.

Great to see your working hard on your layout .. just some tips from a middle aged leicester man.. think twice build once.. keep looking at your plan make sure your happy with it and remember you will be tweaking as you go along.. as for restrictions of size and enjoyment i think you need to have a long think about either double tiering your layout for length or N gauge for getting more complex and longer running loco sets etc both ideas will give you room for a decent fiddle yard but also plenty of running area.. also industry.. i see alot of layouts where ppl just have trains running but no operation and get bored so consider industry especially steam era ie coal steel aggregate a 2 and from like aggregate from quarry to plant its better to sit and plan plan plan b4 deciding to add later what u want from layout etc hope this helps not a criticism just an observation to help you not waste time and money all the best need any help advice i'm happy to help 👍

Can’t watch this video anymore. You have lost me after the first two minutes you take too long to get to the point. Sorry, do you want me to tell it how it is don’t you?

Great update

Hello Michael, I’ve just come across your video. Your old layout appears to have been OO/HO scale/gauge. I then recognised that the templets you were using were generated by Templot, a great application to use if you are going to build your own track. I believe that you are considering making your own fine scale track, so I was wondering if you intended to go OO fine scale, Eighteen Millimetre (EM) or Protofour (P4)? Best, Jason.

Hi Michael, looks like an amount of intensive track laying but should look great when completed. Cheers Gary

Another great but painful update brother. All that hard work! Anyway, onwards and upwards. Cant wait for the build to start.

I said in one of your first videos that you would end up with more lines, I have gone with 4 lines, but I have 60ft to play with 15ft each side I have 2 stations a fiddle yard and a scenic side with a 10 arch viaduct.

Its one thing when you told me this is what was going on, but to see it... Keep at it mate and keep us updated.

Well it is good to see Dexfield in one sense, but oh! deary me what a mess. Look forward to seeing what Dex2 is going to be like. Happy New Year Stephen

Oh no! But on the other hand it's good to know you're still there after all this time. Was really looking forward to seeing your layout progress, still am! All the best for the New Year and beyond Michael, Nick

Cool

Cool

what i mis on all the systems is you cant choose with wiche loco's you will be driving.i have over the 40 loc's but i dan't want to drive with all of them at the same time.iff all the systems had a sd cardslot then i could set the loco's i would use onto an sd card and just drive with those who are on the card .or in the menu a list where i could choose the loc's and disregards the rest . i drive more then 10 loc's at the same time but when i would shange the speed of one off the i have to roll through all the programmed loc's in the mouse or program

Well done you now that’s what I would call a labour of love I would have launched myself out the window by now, fabulous dedicated work 👍

What gauge is it Michael?

Ah, you progressed I see. Well done mate!

I wouldn't give up entirely. I haven't touched my project for about 3 - 4 years. I know it is extremely pain staking work, and therefore it is sometimes advisable to do a much smaller layout in the beginning that can at least be "finished" to the point where it's enjoyable and you're able to run some trains on it. Like a shunting yard for example. Visually as I'm sure you know, nothing mass produced even comes close.

Excellent video mate! Been there and done it numerous times with 21mm 5' 3" Irish rail. 00 gauge is only 16.5mm wide. Makes a huge difference when working with Irish models. At 4mm = 1 foot. A difference of 4.5mm translates visually in real life to 13.5".

Nice video! Do you have problem with the Ipad? Seems there is bad contact by touch on the screen.

Tricky one. If you can manage with the reduction in storage and want the extra scenery then do it If you're just doing it because you feel you have to then I'd leave it as it is for now and revisit it later once you've had time to really think it through.

Entertaining channel just subscribed

Hi Michael, To me the scenics are the thing with a model railway. To you it maybe different. I’m a novice at this sort of thing but perhaps a balance could be made, with reduced storage in the fiddle yards and other storage actually contained in the scenic areas, i.e a TMD area or sidings .around your station. With some careful planning and creativity you may come up with a decent plan. Hope that’s helpful John

Hi Michael. There seems to be a consensus of opinion here that you should concentrate on the layout as it stands and see how your mind takes you in the future. I am in agreement with that. You will then have found out how much stock you have collected and how much you actually like the layout as it is. You will also have a great scenic railway to play with! .......................John

That is why I made my storage yard on a lower level maybe its something you could think about that way you could have more storage sidings and more scenery...it also depends on how much u intend to run in the future i wouldn't sacrifice storage if it was me but at the end of the day its your layout and u do what suits you

Umm personally from my own experience I wouldn't sacrifice storage space until you've built the layout, I actually wish I had more storage and it is a future project to add more. Certainly less handling of locos means less chance of damage etc and if like me you occasionally add a rake to your stock it soon fills the yard up. Cheers Paul

Nice upload again Michael. I'm loving the amount of track on show mate and I think it would be a shame to sacrifice the view. But, I also like the scenic stuff too. So I'm not much use here mate, sorry. =)

I'd much rather have more scenic space you can box stock worst case scenario

Personally I would focus on the rest of the layout and when you complete it then play around with the fiddle yard as you will have had time to see Wether or not you atualy use the space or not and if it's worth it

For myself, the most enjoyment I get out of this hobby is doing the scenics. That could be woodland or farms or scrap heaps. When all my scenics are done it is time to plan a new layout while running trains 'til I'm bored with what I have. My completed layout generally lasts about three months and then I've been inspired (mostly from watching youtube) with new ideas or products and off we go again. Long way of saying I vote for more scenics. lol