Going Japanese!!!

[Pauljag900]

Always mate,just the way I am I guess mate

[serotta1972]

Guys,I ve just had the most humbling experience ever.the problem as to where the glacier express would end up has been solved.i sold it earlier today.i was sad to see it go to be honest,I was really pleased with the way it turned out and was pleased with myself.the guy who bought it was buying it for his son who was with him.He is 28 years old and has autism,the mental age of a six year old.

When they arrived I had it set up in the garden having cleaned the whole layout and track,his face when he saw it was like I remember my children on Christmas Day,unbelievable,he just turned to me,smiled and said thank you,kissed me and hugged me,I had tears in my eyes.i ended up knocking £100 off the price and giving him half the stuff I had bought for my new layout.He was so pleased with it.we have vowed to stay in touch as they only live 50 miles away and will be invited to see the new layout as it develops.

Just makes you realise how lucky we are.

Sorry guys,not really train stuff but just thought I d share it with anyone that's intrested.

Thanks for sharing Paul.  I think we all love that Christmas Day feeling of receiving a gift when we were kids - look at the most popular topic / thread here, it's "What the Post Delivered."  We are constantly recreating that feeling fairly frequently, I know I do for myself but to do it for someone else spontaneously - that's a beautiful thing!  Good good stuff. -Junior

[Pauljag900]

You re so right mate,every time I place an order I m like a big kid waiting for it to arrive,and I m 56!! I m waiting now for Kato s viaduct station,extension plates,and 2 Kato v1 passing loops to complete my track plan,every morning I m waiting for the post to come and I know it ll be a few days before it arrives!

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

Hopefully your good karma now will make the post show up faster! I would have loved to see the look on that guys face, bet it was great and his father must have also been ecstatic!

 

My wife constantly says has a husband and a 10 year old but only lives with one person! But she is always jealous of my packages showing up in the post!

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

Ha ha,my wife says I love my model making more than her,tell you what mate,I seriously hope I never have to choose!!mind you ,she s coming around slowly,she suggested I put heaters in the shed to stop them getting ruined in the winter.

[Pauljag900]

Sorry Jeff meant to mention about the dad,the two of them were like best mates,the dad idolised his son,you could see that.He d recently taken redundancy to take care of him full time,he said they go everywhere together.The father was almost as pleased as the lad,not with the layout but because his son was so happy.it was a strange feeling really,I was sad but happy I d brought some pleasure to them both.I do nt know why I felt sad,because they certainly were nt.I guess sad is probably the wrong expression,I was humbled and realised how lucky I was to have three healthy children and that it could happen to any one of us I guess,that sounds a bit patronising but best way I can explain it really.

On a train and layout note,my track layout is almost complete and tomorrow I m expecting the viaduct station and extension plates to arrive so I ll get them in situ on the layout and post an update.

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

No it's always good to count on all the good stuff we have in life, it really helps remind us there are folks way worse off and thus when you get the opportunity (or even better yet go out and make them) to do the most with them and be generous! Life here has been tough for all my family health wise the last couple of years (except me, but I'm in the full time caregiver mode now and have to watch out for my health with others depending on me) and at times things have felt overwhelming, but I try to always then remember things could be a lot worse and that helps me pickup and move forward and remember not to get wrapped up in my own little world and forget others that need a hand.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

I agree with you totally Jeff,giving is way way better than receiving.As for the caring and health issues I know just where you re coming from,we nursed and cared for my father in law for 17 years after he had a stroke,sadly he passed away 3 years ago.My mother in law,his wife,is 80 this year and we take care of her now too but not to the same extent as she s fully fit for her age but just needs help with certain things.It all comes with age mate,and whilst caring for others is good there comes a time to say I need to look after number one,we re all getting older mate and we re no use to anyone if we re I'll too.just as you ve said.

The world and life can be cruel sometimes,like my father in law used to say,do nt let the bastards grind you down,

Old age is a curse mate

[Pauljag900]

Hi,I ve now added the viaduct station and some of the road plates to the layout,I ve fitted some LEDs to the buildings and I ve ordered two island platforms and a signal box,also some extra road plates to complete the station area.I ve also managed to fit in a single loop for a tram and bus using the tomix tram and tomytec moving bus systems,track is also ordered.

 

Now,to all of you who advised me against mirrors,it pains me to say you were right!

[katoftw]

The back mirror to me is fine.  Sure I'd want the ability to cover it though also.  But the side mirrors is way too much.

[cteno4]

Wow those mirrors make it look like it huge! But you are right it is a bit of hall of mirrors horror! I've seen a few time mirrors have been very effectively used, but like mentioned before they require a very limited point of view to work really well w/o confusing.

 

Looks like things are really coming together! Is the slide system working well to work on the back side?

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

Thanks guys,the main problem is there s just too much reflection with the back mirror,tho it makes the layout and the shed look bigger.

I ll sort something out in time.

Slide system works fine Jeff,tho it's getting quite heavy now so I ve put a Center rail in where the two pieces of base board join just to help support it.I don t lift it up anymore tho,it's high enough to sit on floor and also I m not fixing anything down on this one,then if I want to re do any or all of it I can without any risk of damaging anything.

[Pauljag900]

Mind you Jeff,you should have seen the grandkids faces,they all came for dinner yesterday,they thought there were about 100 trains running! Wish I d had the camera going!

[cteno4]

I bet, was like a hall of mirrors with trains going everywhere, especially from their lower pov! cheap way to increase your train collection and track! then its which one is the real train!

 

jeff

[Bruno]

perhaps use the mirrors in an angle to reflect only the backgound

[Pauljag900]

Hi Bruno,thanks for the post,as I said in the original post the two side mirrors were really effective as you could see the trains from different angles and only see the actual layout,the problem with the back mirrors is that there s too much other stuff reflected in it aswell,like the rest of the shed,the garden and worst of all,ME!!We tried angling them down but to eliminate the views not wanted the angle became to great and they looked stupid and would be difficult to fix securely.I m still thinking of alternatives and will probs just go for a mountain scene poster but I ll be leaving the side mirrors as I liked the effect they give.

[Bruno]

Hi,

 

No worries. As non native english speaker I can be very brutal :)

 

But here's goods link in order to help you to manage the mirrors :angel5:

 

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/5009

 

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/10313

[Pauljag900]

Hi Bruno,sorry if that sounded a bit off,no offence taken by me I can assure you,I was just explaining what I d already tried.I m a relative novice at all this and any comments,good or bad are always welcomed.No point at all in putting posts up if you can t take the advice offered,good or bad,after all people are only trying to offer help.I ll take a look at those links tomorrow,thanks for sending them.Where in the world do you live?

[Bruno]

Hi Bruno,sorry if that sounded a bit off,no offence taken by me I can assure you,I was just explaining what I d already tried.I m a relative novice at all this and any comments,good or bad are always welcomed.No point at all in putting posts up if you can t take the advice offered,good or bad,after all people are only trying to offer help.I ll take a look at those links tomorrow,thanks for sending them.Where in the world do you live?

No worries to have ;)

 

Keep us informed with your work

[Pauljag900]

Will do Bruno.I ve fitted the lights in the viaduct station and I m just assembling the road plates,the platforms should be here this week,once they re all done and in place I ll post an update.

[Pauljag900]

Hi,with the station area almost complete I thought I d post an update.I m just waiting for two road plates to complete the run in front of the station.Platforms are fitted with lights and I ve replaced the platform lampposts with working ones.I m just waiting for some accessories to finish it off,buildings,cars and trees,then I won t the need to pull the board forward as I can reach everything from the front.I wanted a single loop of tram on the layout but could not use the Kato track or road plates as there just is not enough room so I ve used tomix track and I ve had to use the best roadway I could find and I ll custom the road markings in due course.Next step will be to fit two passing loops on the ground level track at the front of the board with two island platforms which means I can have four trains on the inner loop,two running and two parked at the station.I ve also pre wired three looms and mounted them on boards which will be screwed under the base board to make connecting lights etc easier,2x12v and 1x3v for the streetlights.

Sorry Jeff,the mirrors are still there,I am going to leave the side ones in but I ll cover the back one with a scenic poster.

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

Hey looking really nice! No worries different pavement,map pens all the time when one area resurfaced and the other not! Even marking can be a tad different with time.

 

Hey if the mirror work for you that's great! Makes more rr cheap!

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

Edited October 21, 2015 by cteno4

[Pauljag900]

In the summer I plan to extend my layout down one side mainly to park extra trains that I plan to purchase.

I intend to remove the two bends on the right hand side,drop the viaduct down to ground level then back up again,then just loop it around to rejoin the tracks at the front of the main board.

[JR 500系]

Oh wow this is looking nice! I like your layout plan~ Complex yet simple, large yet compactly good for parking trains ~~ :)

[TheNicofabi]

Nice, i'd like to see that when you got it done o. o