Lacathedrale

I don't know if you're in a position to do this, but I cannot emphasise how much more effective layouts are when they aren't dead flat - I wonder if you have space for an inch of insulation/etc. on the baseboard to be carved into countours/etc.

Hopefully with a successful second loco I can start to establish known-good baselines. I had a good chat with @justin1985 the other day, and I think while the layout has some pretty obvious shortcomings - not least the trackwork - it is worth trying to complete a layout with all the requisite components in-situ.

The more I keep looking at that photos of the horse and dray (?) I keep thinking being reminded quite directly of the surroundings of Mortonhampstead - I'm not sure if that was deliberate or not, but it does feel very 'right'.

I've got Lenz Gold/Silver/Standard chips in all my locos and a Roco Z21 handset - it's just incredibly user unfriendly. Everything about it makes me unhappy - a curvy plastic controller with a blue back-lit LCD screen, spongy buttons and endless faffing with toggles and scrolling text. Loco doesn't start - is it the track? the wheels? the wiring? the chip? the DCC system? the address? On my OO layout I absolutely will keep it - locos that have plenty of room for lights, decoders and sound, no need to re-chassis anything or hollow out the inside of models and castings to take chips/etc. - but since I've never tried 2mm on DC, I'm only seeing a rosy view of it against my known-niggles with DCC in 2mm. I'm absolutely sure as other aspects become solved problems (such as reliably building chassis, laying better track, becoming more familiar with the DCC system) it will become a moot point, but for now it's adding a layer of complexity and uncertainty that I'm definitely NOT benefiting from at this point...

After more fastidious cleaning, the loco has stopped stalling and sailed through at a slow speed with only minor bumps. It has always sounded like a bag of hammers falling down the stairs, even before I fitted the association wheelsets - but it gave a final groan and I found the front bogie was almost rigid in the chassis - and now the loco won't move at all. I assume something inside the gear tower has given way, and this was also the cause of the mysterious derailments. Rather than troubleshoot that right now though - since it has only ever been a 'let's give this 2FS thing a try' and doesn't remotely represent anything I want to model at this point - before dusting off Hennock I was working on a new Farish Jinty conversion, and other than soldering the crankpin washers, it should be good to go. If in the meantime I could find my missing the whitemetal pannier tank I put 'somewhere safe', I would be very happy /sheepish grin/

Now it appears the medvend controllers are gone, may I ask what the best DC controller for use with 2mmFS is, that won't cost an arm and a leg? As part of the process of massaging my first 2FS layout into shape I am getting well and truly fed up with DCC and would like to try the original method but finding it very hard to spend three figures on a DC power supply whose design hasn't changed in half a century!

Those last couple of shots are really effective. Seeing it at Stevenage last year, it keeps getting better and better.

Yes, I think even if the result is that the layout ends up being binned it's probably worthwhile using it as a lab to find out what's going on. As mentioned most strangely this derailing issue wasn't happening before - trying to diagnose: - Loco runs on the rest of the trackwork without (much) complaint - Happens with the loco flipped in both directions. - If I press down on the front of the loco gently it follows the route properly. - If I push a wagon down the curved route with a pencil, it's totally fine. I'm going to spend an hour or two tonight and have another bash at it - I'm 99% sure all the flangeways are clear and the loco is to-gauge (it's using association conversion drop-in axles), but I will give it another run through and maybe shoot a video incase it's something very obvious that I'm missing. Thank you both! @Caley Jim @Mikkel

The loco needed a thorough clean (despite being in a foam box since the last time it was running), and I went hog wild on the layout with q-tips and lighter fluid - gosh knows how it ends up so filthy so quickly - but the loco is running a treat. All points actuating, no dead rails, etc. although I do need to clean the inside edges of the bullhead as there are areas where grains have settled and the ride is a little bumpy. Two more things have jumped out at me - for some reason wagons push through the layout throat turnout without any problem at all, but when the loco is going from the curved route towards the tie bar the bogie just jumps straight off into the four-foot just after it passes through the common crossing. Also, the bars I use to transmit power to my fiddle-yard stick are causing lumpy movement onto and off the layout. I'm not yet ready to pull the plug, but the feeling that this layout might be a lost cause keeps coming back around - just one confounding issue after another. Who is to say though, that a future layout will be any better? In the meantime, have a shot of one of my SR vans sitting on what would be the platform road, with the new ballast all dry:

Hi @Caley Jim, There may well be - the middle track there is a tiny splice of easitrack between two pieces of PCB pointwork, and definitely the part of the layout I'm least pleased with. I don't think it's as bad as it looks in that picture however - as it's a curve as well. See here for a side view: Smack bang in the middle is right hand end of that splice, whichi s the most egregious. It doesn't (yet) appear to affect running. I was very, very close to binning this whole layout and starting over - my thoughts were that while not quite up to the standard I'd like, it is at least the furthest I've ever gotten with a layout and it seemed wasteful to start from scratch with so little left to do - just some ground cover, a few small buildings and it's more or less complete - that is however contingent on everything so far actually working, and unfortunately, a couple more problems manifested: The throat turnout had a burr (or something similar) on the switchblade fishplate so was jammed, which I fixed - but now while the turnouts are working I can't get my only working loco (the Brush Type 3 elsewhere in this thread) running - either on the layout or on a programming track. It doesn't help that the WLANmaus/Z21 programming so obtuse. I guess it's time to strip it down for the hundredth time!

I've tried ontop of my now green test piece with a thin layer above and it's worked out really well from a tone perspective: Of course, I wasn't very focused on ensuring the ballast was in-line with the sleepers/etc. so it's a bit over the place - but from a colour and texture persective it's a million miles away and I couldn't be happier. Now all I have to do is very. very. carefully. reballast the layout and fix with Pledge instead.

Somehow, despite my use of a test piece, this was the result of the above Treemendus + Ballast Magic: Very much not what I was intending! I can only assume that there was or is something in the ballast magic that's caused this reaction, as @TomE's use of the product with Pledge seems flawless. I've got myself some floor polish too - and i am debating whether to add the thinnest of layers ontop of this one here and fixing with pledge to even out the colouring, or to wash/drybrush, or to use powders. Answers on a postcard, please

I would be inclined to shorten the siding off the double slip in the top right - running the tracks in shallow curves at an angle to the baseboard (as you have done) will give some very pleasing visuals - particularly if you bow out the front of the layout (rather than having it flat. Parallel and symmetrical lines are evident in lots of real railway locations, but it 'tires out' the eyes I think! If you did bow out the front, you could have a goods shed (either used or derelict), or a transhipment shed for a canal ( that could be right up against the front of the layout).

No picture for this update, as it's very much more of the same, visually - but all dropper wires are now fitted. When folding it up, I realised the two baseboards weren't closing squarely, so had to re-fit the hinges - and now it's looking nice and square, I just need to establish a method for holding the boards in place. My gut feeling is a pair of carriage bolts should do it. I've also renamed the topic to better reflect the more direct inspiration and theming of the layout.

That's wonderful, thank you both - OMWB post shortly!

Very interesting - along those lines, I now have the components required to convert a modern Farish Jinty to 2FS (in addition to the chassis for the older model, which is to be tackled again, next) - i.e. the conversion bearings, muffs, and a set of wheels and rods - is there anything untoward I should be aware of before cracking on? I'd have thought someone would have put together an article or guide (even as simple as I get the impression it can be, I'd rather not make an easily avoidable mistake on an expensive new model.

In my opinion you'd be better using that space for a different structure and losing the line at the front - now all four quadrants of your layout are tracked with very little space left over for any kind of meaningful scenic development. Unless that's what you want, of course.

I don't suppose anyone has one of the modern Farish 4F's they might be willing to sell or trade? I'm looking for an easy conversion to go with a Jinty and they're out of stock everywhere!

Thank you Andy, that's very helpful - dredging through my old conversations with Shop3 / Steve D. I can see that thread of RTR LMS conversions - and given that I now I have multiple Jinty 'sets' laying around probably gives me good reason to get going on that, and gird my loins for a fourth chassis attempt

Is there a list (or obvious inference that can be made) for Grafar models which are compatible with the association conversion muffs? I'm thinking of restarting my 2mm efforts but I really do need to get a running steam loco under my belt and after a significant number of failed chassis builds, this would appear to be a good option to at least set me on the right foot (and make it possible to properly test my track!)

Good to know @37Oban - I'm going to be using butanone to melt the styrene chairs - apparently this is fine on ply sleepers so I can't imagine limewood will be a problem. Of course, we'll have to see. Thanks to the tips from @Harlequin @Nearholmerand @chuffinghell - I used a razor saw to slice the rails, so we go from this: to this: Just a tiny bit of wiring and some braces to support it in a closed position and this is basically done!

Though this probably looks alot like the previous shot, the rest of the track is now soldered and glued, being weighed down to dry: Should I be using a dremel with a diamond cutting disc, or rail cutters to sever the gap between modules? The plan is to place some home-made rerailers either side of the join either way.

I'm sure they're doing due diligence and realisticaily I don't think anyone would prefer them to be released if there were problems -but I agree it's a bit of a pain in the neck.

Rather than paying through the nose for laser cut wooden sleepers, I have decided to experiment with limewood strip, used by model ship builders: Twenty meters of 4mm x 1.6mm limewood for £15 Meanwhile, the fiddle yard trundles on - I have got the second board built and bolted in place. The first hinge is also in-situ but I figure it'll be easier to solder up the PCB sleepers at the board joins without the other attached. Rear view of the fiddle yard

Blackfriars if it's the one I'm thinking of is a wonderful layout - really fastidious and lovely to see on the internet, I haven't seen it in person yet. I'm not yet decided on those descending lines - it my mind it makes the layout a direct homage to Holborn Viaduct and probably likely to incur unfavourable comparisons with the real thing (or other layouts that have done it better justice) - but it does seem to sit quite well. For the train shed I am expecting automatic uncouplers to do the gruntwork, but fixing the roof to the walls and pillars using something like rare earth magnets - I'm a fair ways away from that yet, though! Much like the original HV station, the 'forecourt' is tiny, only an abbreviated walkway at the end of the platforms, with the remainder of the station accoutremont underneath the hotel building that will form an endcap.