Z-Scale railways

[Stew2000]

Every wip needs a Portacabin and some British Rail men doing nothing..

[richtea78]

Are they driving a 911? fking Bob Crow

[fourwheelsteer]

Treated myself today.



Plus a few other bits and pieces.

[Stew2000]

That's great.
While reading through the new Model Rail mag I noticed that ehattons.com has some good prices on engines.
Like 'Tangmere'. if only I could afford it now. not many left. http://www.ehattons.com/26651/Graham_Farish_372_27...

[richtea78]

My dad must have every Railway Modeller going back 40 years

[fourwheelsteer]

I've heard good things about eHattons service and you can't argue with their prices. Not used them myself but I'm sure I will at some point.

Of course it is nice to support your local retailer too.

[drivin_me_nuts]

Building a model railway has always been a wish of mine and some time soon I will turn a large space of a room into table I can enjoy this hobby fully. My only worry is learning how to wire DCC, which, when I think about it sends shiver up my spine. There is something very appealing to me to see a station throat with a ladder of double slips running from it... One day.

[ChrisW_77]

drivin_me_nuts said:

My only worry is learning how to wire DCC, which, when I think about it sends shiver up my spine.

No need to worry, it's easier than wiring DC. You need to make sure that every section of track has got power to it (as you would with DC), but there's no need for isolated sections and the associated switches.

The only problem with DCC is the extra cost but I think it's more than worth it.

[drivin_me_nuts]

ChrisW_77 said:

No need to worry, it's easier than wiring DC. You need to make sure that every section of track has got power to it (as you would with DC), but there's no need for isolated sections and the associated switches.

The only problem with DCC is the extra cost but I think it's more than worth it.

I have a plan and the boards are currently stores away in a room and a lot of the track has already been purchased. It is a WIP. GWR late steam into early BR and a link to Midland railway suburban as well. A few things to sort out first then my winter project will begin.

[StripeyNick]

Stew2000 said:

Can't wait to see what you got in mind.

Is it my imagination or are N-scale cars a little bit too small?

They could be European N Gauge. European/US/Japanese N scale is 1/160 whereas we use 1/148 here in the UK. It's much like the OO/HO thing. The rest of the model railway world uses HO scale (1/87) but we have always used 1/76. Don't know why that has been the case.

[fourwheelsteer]

StripeyNick said:

Stew2000 said:

Can't wait to see what you got in mind.

Is it my imagination or are N-scale cars a little bit too small?

They could be European N Gauge. European/US/Japanese N scale is 1/160 whereas we use 1/148 here in the UK. It's much like the OO/HO thing. The rest of the model railway world uses HO scale (1/87) but we have always used 1/76. Don't know why that has been the case.

The OO-HO thing is a fudge that came about from commercial expediency, I think. It was a way to allow British engines to be made using the same 'chassis' as German ones. Built to true HO scale British stuff, being built for a smaller loading gauge, would not accommodate the electric motors that would comfortably fit in a German loco. By changing the scale from 1:87 to 1:76 gave the manufacturers enough room and somehow everyone accepted the fact that the scale of the locomotives/carriages/etc was a different scale to the width of the rails. I would imagine that a similar excuse is used for British v rest of world N Gauge.

I think some manufacturers have tried making British outline HO scale stuff but it has never taken off. And some modellers modify OO scale stuff to run on accurate gauge track (which has to be handmade).

[Lubermans]

Well seeing as OO is now welcome here

Layout is approx 10' by 2.5' and fits snugly along the wall in the study and is DCC although as with most hobbies is very much a work in progress! DCC is reasonably expensive (£12 for a decent chip per loco) but the addition of sound and no need for isolating sections to run multiple locos on the same piece of track means it's well worth the extra cost. Most of my stuff has come from e-bay although have also used ehattons and Rails of Sheffield, both offer a quality service.

Hopefully this Christmas I'll get my first airbrush so can have a go at weathering some stock

Happy to upload a couple more photos if anyone is interested.

[fourwheelsteer]

Please do, Lubermans, that looks like an interesting layout. I'd like a shelf railway but isn't practical to go putting up shelves when you're renting.

[Stew2000]

If you can afford the engine you could probably afford the DCC chip to go in it :P
I really want an airbrush so I can repaint my diesel properly.

I'm still playing around with lights.

[Lubermans]

It's the sound decoders (£100ish) that are really pricey, quite often three times the cost of an eBay impulse loco

I'll get some more shots up this weekend - although a shelf layout as such it's freestanding and splits into three sections so should be minimum hassle when we.move.

[fourwheelsteer]

Latest photos from my railway.







I think I need to get some scenery and buildings now.

[Stew2000]

It barely fits on the board

[Stew2000]

£26 off Ebay and it runs like a dream...

[ChrisW_77]

I'm trying to put off getting started on the scenery so I bought another loco. Dapol Class 66 from Hattons with Lenz Silver Mini DCC decoder:

[Lubermans]

N Gauge has certainly come on a long way since I last dabbled with it about 15 years ago - that class 66 looks ace! I also like the look of the Dapol HST