U.k. Trip

[Tdm]

Currently in Chester.
Dissapointed with Chester Model Shop - went in to ask for a couple of Setrack points and hadn't got any lh points  - all their small collection of Setrack  track was thrown into a cupboard and I was told to rummage through to see if I could find what I wanted! 
looks like it is back to hat tons even though I only want 2 lh points.

[MikeDunn]

Get the train down to Hereford ... let your wife have a wander around the city & cathedral while you go "Oh look !  A model train shop !" on your walk into the centre 

The hospital is quite local as well, for when she stops beating you up 

[Yet_Another]

Currently in Chester.
Dissapointed with Chester Model Shop - went in to ask for a couple of Setrack points and hadn't got any lh points  - all their small collection of Setrack  track was thrown into a cupboard and I was told to rummage through to see if I could find what I wanted! 
looks like it is back to hat tons even though I only want 2 lh points.

The N gauge is pretty stagnant in there. If they've got what you want, then fill yer boots, but don't hold your breath for any new stuff. I think the fact that about 80% of the floor is given over to 00 shows where the sales are.

Having said that, I've made a few nice purchases from there.

[Tdm]

It seems Chester Model Shop have little interest in N gauge when it comes to track and accessories.

Whilst in the City though I did call in Argos to pick up a catalogue as I need an external CD/DVD drive for my Laptop, and whilst scanning through it noticed a Tornado Pullman Train set with controller and track for just under £100 which I thought was a very good price, but then realized it is a Hornby "00" gauge set!

Everything concerning the trip appeared to be going so well - Flight landed early and got a free upgrade on the hire car (had booked a basic Corsa but was given a top of the range almost brand new Astra CDTI - SRI), but yesterday had a problem.

Drove from Chester to Chorley to visit more family relatives, and just as we were pulling off the M6 at Coppull, got a warning bell and display on the car's dashboard saying the engine was low on oil. The car has only done just over 6,000 miles from new, and checking the dipstick found virtually no oil in the engine at all, and it wasn't leaking oil as the driveway where it had been parked was clean, and there was no sign of any leak anywhere!. A new car cannot have used all it's oil in just 6,000 miles and I suspect that "Hertz" who provided the car had had it serviced before we picked it up (at Liverpool Airport), drained the oil and forgotten to put new oil in! I know someone had been under the bonnet as the water cap for the windscreen washer reservoir had been taken off and not put back.

Bit worrying as the engine could have seized on the Motorway at speed with catastrophic consequences! Will be having another word with Hertz when we return the car, having already contacted them over the phone about the problem. I had driven less than 100 miles since picking the car up and I shouldn't have needed to open the bonnet during the initial inspection of the car to check the oil level.

One good thing about the trip model railway wise was that spare parts and new B12 locomotive I ordered from Colin at Union mills on Monday, arrived at my son's Chester house less than 24 hours later and is now in my suitcase ready for the return journey. Colin even rang me to confirm I had received it O.K. - now that's what I call good service.

[Tdm]

Just a quick question before I fly home tomorrow.

When I had a spare moment here I started "doodling" and planning a larger layout for if/when we ever move and I had more room to play with for a layout.

I have a Peco Setrack plan book, but wish to use more streamline points on any future layout, can anyone recommend a good n gauge layout plan book or website that I could get some more ideas from to supplement my own?, I am not talking a really large layout but most probably another "L" shaped sized one with at least 2 trains operating simultaneously - say something like 8 feet by 3 feet + the bottom of the "L" and a continuous running layout.

Regards

Terry

[Newportnobby]

@Tdm
Such a shame you'll miss our Meet Up in Bamber Bridge next weekend, Terry

I have a Peco Setrack plan book, but wish to use more streamline points on any future layout, can anyone recommend a good n gauge layout plan book or website that I could get some more ideas from to supplement my own?, I am not talking a really large layout but most probably another "L" shaped sized one with at least 2 trains operating simultaneously - say something like 8 feet by 3 feet + the bottom of the "L" and a continuous running layout.

Regards

Terry

I have a copy of 'The Railway Modeller Book of N Gauge Track Plans' (Peco Publications) which contains 3 x 'L' shaped layouts but beware - they are all Cyril J Freezer plans and are 00 gauge ones incorrectly scaled down
They might give you some ideas, though.

[railsquid]

I have a Peco Setrack plan book, but wish to use more streamline points on any future layout, can anyone recommend a good n gauge layout plan book or website that I could get some more ideas from to supplement my own?, I am not talking a really large layout but most probably another "L" shaped sized one with at least 2 trains operating simultaneously - say something like 8 feet by 3 feet + the bottom of the "L" and a continuous running layout.

Regards

Terry

I have a copy of 'The Railway Modeller Book of N Gauge Track Plans' (Peco Publications) which contains 3 x 'L' shaped layouts but beware - they are all Cyril J Freezer plans and are 00 gauge ones incorrectly scaled down
They might give you some ideas, though.

I have the 6th impression of this work, published in 2011, with a foreword written in 2006 by Mr. Freezer himself which makes much of the differences between OO and N track plans, particularly: "From the earliest days of commercial N gauge we have taken a track plan drawn for OO gauge and halved all dimensions to arrive at a suitable layout for the smaller scale (sic). Up to a point this works, but there are several snags". Looking through it, most plans look doable but I'd want to implement them in SCARM etc. first to check.

FWIW I think I read on another forum that the classic OO book was drawn up during a time when it was assumed one would be scratchbuilding one's track, and are difficult to recreate in e.g. Hornby track.