what are people doing on their layout right now

[railsquid]

Anyway I recently saw a dusty layout tucked away in a corner of the Kato HQ shop in Tokyo which implements what I believe is called a "folded dogbone", i.e. a figure-of-8 but which loops round itself on the outside, if you see what I mean,

I do see what you mean exactly as I have a similar folded dogbone which is all Kato Unitrack and it works very well.
I have a couple of plain old loops going round inside of the folded dogbone and I can sit watching three trains going round varying the speed when I feel like it 

I do like the sound of what you are proposing, so I hope there will be some pictures soon 

I've come to realize that watching trains go round, preferably in interesting ways involving tunnels and viaducts, is fun 

Hopefully I'll be able to work in some kind of tram loop as well.

As-is, the layout looks like it was recently visited by an armada of Flying Fortresses, but rest assured I will be posting pictures and even video once it looks reasonably sane.

[railsquid]

I have a similar folded dogbone which is all Kato Unitrack and it works very well.

Just wondering... my previous level-connecting gradient was Kato Unitrak, partly using 381mm radius viaduct sections, which were proving a challenge for some of my British locos. Having basically switched that to Tomix Finetrack 243mm radius viaduct sections on probably an even steeper gradient, the problems suddenly became much fewer (only the BachFar class 40 shows signs of struggling). I wonder if the tighter radius actually helps improve traction?

[longbridge]

Ripping up the track on my new layout, this was my 5th miserable attempt at modelling British N Gauge since 1993, I love British N but sadly it doesn't love me, so its back to the drawing board for an American N scale layout, each time I tried British N Gauge I made the switch to either American or Japanese N scale, I should have learned years ago as I could have saved quids.

[steve836]

, I should have learned years ago as I could have saved quids.

Never fear , he's well and living in Tokyo

[railsquid]

 

I'd just like to point out that I'm not the six quid owed.

Anyway the great thing about this Kato/Tomix track is that it's great for trying layout designs, including gradients etc. and seeing what works before committing to more permanent structures.

[Trainfish]

I'm currently trying to clear my baseboards to start my new layout which means I'm taking pictures of every single item of rolling stock (I haven't decided whether I'll photograph the scenic items too yet) and adding a hyperlink from my Excel spreadsheet to each picture. It also means I can fill up my Bisley cabinets with my stock rather than have to take it all out of boxes when I want to run it. Some pictures...................

[railsquid]

Anyway I recently saw a dusty layout tucked away in a corner of the Kato HQ shop in Tokyo which implements what I believe is called a "folded dogbone", i.e. a figure-of-8 but which loops round itself on the outside, if you see what I mean,

I do see what you mean exactly as I have a similar folded dogbone which is all Kato Unitrack and it works very well.
I have a couple of plain old loops going round inside of the folded dogbone and I can sit watching three trains going round varying the speed when I feel like it 

I do like the sound of what you are proposing, so I hope there will be some pictures soon 

cheers John.

Here are a couple of the provisional setup 

[mark37/4]

Well after a eventfull weekend exhibitng my layout at my local show, im now going to rebuild the legs, & relay the track then  convert it to DCC,

Mark

[steve836]

Well after a eventfull weekend exhibitng my layout at my local show, im now going to rebuild the legs, & relay the track then  convert it to DCC,

Mark

Well that takes care of Monday! What are you going to do for the rest of the week?

[mark37/4]

Well after a eventfull weekend exhibitng my layout at my local show, im now going to rebuild the legs, & relay the track then  convert it to DCC,

Mark

Well that takes care of Monday! What are you going to do for the rest of the week?

& the next few mondays aswell,  as al be garn to look for parts,

Mark

[talisman56]

Sorted out the turntable mechanism and started ballasting...

[DesertHound]

I made a cover for my fiddle yard this afternoon! I have been draping two pillow cases over it until now, but this is a) unsightly / untidy, b) doesn't offer the stock underneath any protection, and c) when you take it off, if you lay it back on the wrong way, all the dust ends up on the inside!

We bought a daybed from Ikea recently, which was accompanied by copious sheets of cardboard. Or, should I say, boxes. I kept all of these, knowing that there would be a use for them in building covers for my layout. The next step is to build one for the layout proper - currently I have a box that fits over it, but it's not tight fitting.

What I have constructed below is only basic, utilising card and PVA glue and requiring a modelling knife, steel ruler and a few other bits. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Dan

[smg id=18722 type=preview align=center caption="Fiddle Yard3"]
[smg id=18723 type=preview align=center caption="Fiddle Yard2"]
[smg id=18724 type=preview align=center caption="Fiddle Yard1"]
[smg id=18725 type=preview align=center caption="Fiddle Yard"]

[scotsoft]

Hi Dan,

Have you considered using perspex for your layout cover?

This way you could keep the cover on whilst having a run with your trains 

cheers John.

[Newportnobby]

Very neat!
Don't make the layout cover too tight or your passengers will asfi asphi stop breathing

[alypar11]

Having bought my first DCC system at Spalding show on Saturday, I had time to " drive " my first N gauge DCC loco tonight. Chuffed ( although it's a 31!). Just got to chip the rest now.