Martin S-C

Yes, I thought the robots would vanish inside white vans driven by persons of criminal intent PDQ but they do bristle with cameras so the instant you do something illegal near them(*) you are on film (digital video signal sent instantly back to base no doubt) plus the vehicles will also be sending accurate GPS readings back to base as well, so running off with one will be like holding up a big red flag announcing "Here I am, please come and catch me, Mr Copper". Though this all pre-supposes Britain has enough Rozzers actually available to chase after robot theives which is doubtful. (*) Which raises yet another matter of you being recorded in a public place whenever one of these goes by. Even if you're not doing anything unlawful. I guess its just a matter of time before we see delivery robot video footage used in a court as evidence to aid in a prosecution. As for autonomous trains, here is one I prepared earlier:

Superb coal tank. The textures are very subtle. Just curious - are you Kris? He just posted the same image on the LNWR Soc FB group I follow. Yes, Annie, that was what I was thinking. I also thought you might be able to use a darker texture on the wheels so they are less visible and use a mesh behind the cow catcher but don't make it 100% opaque - maybe just 50% opaque if you can so it has the effect of tinted glass or something like that.

Breathing might be the issue. I'll try and cut down on that. Taking that to its logical conclusion, if I never go in there again the problem goes away entirely! Thanks for the input Rob, an especially Cunning Plan to angle the vent holes downwards towards the exterior. The garage is a concrete panel jobbie so we have [concrete panel - celotex sheet insulation - interior plasterboard wall]. The celotex sheet is in contact with the concrete and the plasterboard in contact with the celotex. As the celotex is air-permeable I am not too worried about how tightly packed together it all is. The celotex sheets stand between the vertical studding the plasterboard is fixed to, so at some points its [concrete panel - softwood studding - interior plasterboard wall]. Not a terribly thick insulation layer but the problem I was facing was the narrow width of the structure. Its only 8 feet wide internally and I asked that the absolute minimum of space be lost for the insulation and interior wall and the builders got this down so that its only 2.5" per side giving me 7 foot 7 inches of usable width for the model railway. Still tighter than I'd like but we cut the structure to the bare minimum. I am now sitting here worrying that that may have been a mistake and thicker insulation is really necessary... At the top, the plasterboard interior wall sheeting is screwed to a horizontal batten hung from the aluminium roof trusses. This batten is (IIRC) hard up against the eaves so I am not sure how much air is able to circulate from the roof void via the eaves to the concrete walls although clearly some is as evidenced by the marked cold air flow coming in through the power socket holes. Correct - the celotex lining is open at the eaves though. The eaves are also open to the outside air. I was never happy that the builders chose to leave this as it was. It would be best to have a solution that blocked the open eaves (to ambient air) while keeping air circulation gaps between roof space and wall.

I couldn't help but notice that the underside of the 'not-a-C53' could use more shadow. Seeing its wheels like that doesn't seem right. Can anything be done about that?

Gilbert, are the pale grey skies in your photos the walls of your railway room or are you using some digital skullduggery to hide the 1:1 scale background? Whatever it is, its very effective.

"Now jump in Timmy and I'll send you for a day out at auntie Rosie's. Make sure you close the lid nice and tight." image courtesy of Lawsuits R Us Ambulance Chasers at Law

The driver looks a little undernourished. I know railwaymen's pay was poor in Victorian times but you could at least feed your crews.

Thanks to all for the help. I have ordered one of the Peco units and will try it out (when I have some basebords built, some track on them and it's got ballast and power!). I can at this very early stage now plan for a section of straight track with clear perimeter for the lift to be used on.

Many thanks John, exactly what i was looking for. Also... Gilbert... nice storage arrangements!

Difficult, considering that an ostrich IS a dinosaur.

Hi Rob There is no timber in the roof, so no worries there - its an aluminium frame supporting a corrugated asbestos roof. Below the aluminium frame a plasterboard false ceiling has been hung and within the rafters the space has been stuffed with fibre insulation. Yes, I am more and more convinced that two small vents are needed, one each end to give a constant trickle of fresh air. Over the last week I have been going through a programme several hours each day of cracking the windows ajar about 1.5cm and running the dehumidifier but still moisture (via condensate) is dribbling out of the power sockets and very large amounts of condensate is forming on the air-con exhaust pipe (inside which there is obviously cold air) so there is a moisture issue that isn't going away, even if I allow fresh air in to circulate. Yes, damp proof membrane went atop the original concrete floor and beneath the new wooden floor. I'm assuming its not been ruptured!

Yes, I'm no expert at all on these things but to me creating a fully sealed cell with insulation (by pumping in some foam under the eaves) is the way to go, then make some controlled vents via a few drill holes to the outside concrete panel walls and cover these with plastic grills, then control it all with a sensible air-con/dehumidifier/heater unit. In my mind's eye I saw the air-con unit as very much a minor piece of equipment, not used at all between (say) March and June or September and November and then used only to bring the tempertaure up (or down as applicable) during the winter and summer. I realised during the conversation today that this building firm is actually not qualified at all to install the kind of environment I wanted. I do wish they'd told me that before we started and I spent X 1,000s of pounds.

One wonders what the Tasmanian National Hunt was like, in full cry. Did they use wombats instead of hounds?

I think actual gravity working in model form would require a great deal of prior design - in track layout, track gradients, the specific coach that will run, any form of faux braking system, etc. Also models do not behave correctly to gravity vis their full scale counterparts. Using DCC negates the need to worry about most of this, but adds the expense of a motorised coach and the need to match the (digital) speed and (gigital) gearing of its motor bogie to the loco that hauls it, so a dedicated consist is still needed. When its done well gravity working looks superb, it is though a great deal of work whether in DC or DCC for what is, in effect, a gimmick, much like a working crane that picks up and deposits loads on wagons. A big modelling project for something that might make a viewer at an exhibition say "oh, cool" but only once.

DCC would make gravity shunting and slip coach working fairly easy. "Fairly" being relative vs your wallet depth and modelling skills. Certainly "fairly" easy vs DC control. The coach(es) would be a loco with a power bogie.

I have a photo of St Ives just after conversion to narrow gauge and its pretty apparent that an ECS gravity shunt was being carried out when the photo was taken.

Hi Gilbert. I'm not a regular reader of your thread but I do dip into it now and again. Over on St Enodoc's thread there is currently talk of cassettes and loco lifts and other moveable storage devices and your solution got a mention. I've had a quick skim through several parts of this very long thread but no luck finding the references or any pics yet - could you, or any of the regulars here possibly direct me to the approxmate pages the discussion was on? I'd be extremely grateful for any pointers. Many thanks.

Thanks. Can they be placed over scenic trackage on the layout to drive a loco into? That is what I need as I do not have a fiddle yard.

I just had a very positive meeting with the boss of the building company. He agrees the power sockets need to be moved inboard of the plasterboard walls and have the celotex and further insulation reinstated behind then to eliminate the temperature slope that presently exists between their aluminium backs and the fronts. he put his hand near the plug sockets and was surprised at the torrent of icy air coming out of them. The new sockets will be mounted in boxes and not flush-fitted. He will undertake this work as his own expense. He agreed with me that the current air-con/heater unit is too noisy and also showed surprise when I informed him that the eaves had been left open as well, with cold air pouring in and OVER the celotex insulation so that its effect is minimal. He is going to consult an engineer friend of his whose speciality is dealing with moisture and mildew in older (often council owned) properties so for now any more changes to the ventilation are in abeyance until that is resolved. He intimated that his engineer friend can visit before Christmas. He will investigate sourcing an alternative air-con/heater unit that will suit my spec (much quieter and programmable with a thermostat so I can have it switch on at leccy cheap rate periods to give the garage a boost of warmth to maintain a modest temperature in there of 10-15 degrees C). He agreed to take the existing unit off my hands and offset its price (new) against any other unit he supplies. He agreed with me that the room is too humid but had no answer as to why. All in all I am in a happier place now.

The lamps on the front are nicely textured. View forward out of the cab is nicer for it.

This is what I have decided I will need as well. A loco cassette with sides and handles but a very thin base (perhaps even one with cut-outs in the underside to accomodate the existing track) that sits on a piece of straight track on the layout with a ramp up to it from the layout track - a Hornby re-railer in reverse with power to it. I think it would be possible to get power to the loco cassette/lift tracks simply via contacts on the bottom of the lift itself. You then just drive the loco in or out like a car using a garage. The unit provides more secure storage and protection for the loco and saves handling the models. Mine will be full height with handles of some kind and might be stackable or might slide end-wise onto a storage shelf under the layout so just the front of the loco is visible.

Was he German? I thought he looked English, in a dodgy sort of way.

For some reason his head looks photoshopped onto a different body. The whole image is... disturbingly suspicious. (though I do offer sincere apologies if I am disrespecting the dear departed of someone, which I probably am)

Quite right. When I saw the Oxfrod Rail 6-wheel brake van I thought "from the solebar down this has potential".

No sir, in the colonies he'll contract malaria and be dead before a year has turned.