The Maidenfield Railway - OO - Modern, Diesel, UK

[rmg1919]

Notice
The railway is, I'm afraid, no more.

[m.levin]

Looking good it is a nice start. Like the idea of you costs.

[Lofty]

Interesting little site, looking forward to watching your progress

Never been to a swap-meet so I can’t help you there

Not personally into the ‘South East’ but I have seen lots of other layouts in the model rail press to suggest it’s a popular theme

Lofty

[dr5euss]

Looking good

I have never done swap fairs either (isn't that what Trekkies are into?), but I suspect eBay would be just as good.

[m8internet]

1. Are swap-meets and club fairs the best (value for money) place to buy?

Traders tend to swap meets to offload their unwanted rubbish...
This can be very good for picking up very common second hand items
However, always ask them to show you any motor working
With non-powered rolling stock carefully inspect the item for damage and missing parts

Prices for new items will be pretty much the same as you would pay for Mail Order (adverts in magazines, etc) and online
The advantage however is no waiting for delivery and no P&P charges
Ironically though by the time you wait for a swap meet to come around you could have placed your order and the goods would have arrived

I tend to visit them VERY early (the same with exhibitions)
I then scan all their tables very quickly keeping mental notes of any specific items, and compare these if there are identical items I am interested in
If you declare a note of interest with the trader they will normally put it to one side
If two traders have the same item (pretty much in the same condition) then HAGGLE HARD, you could save anything from 10%...
Remember to return back to any reserved items and unreserve them!

Finally, if you want to get a bargain, revisit the traders near the end of the swap meet (exhibition)
About 30 minutes before it ends most will be starting to pack up (and this even happens at exhibitions, although the organisers really hate it and take notes of any traders that do this!)
This is your time to strike
Most traders won't want to take the stuff home, so again you can pretty much walk up, wave some dosh, and get the item you are after

An old hagglers trick is to know what item you are after
Place the money separate from your wallet (say your right pocket)
Lets say the item is marked at £15
You then tell the trader this is your last £10 before you go home (although this does work best if you have a bag full of other items already purchased!)
You will be amazed, I would be very surprised of they don't give you the item

[Lofty]

Cracking advice m8internet

Lofty

[Class 60]

i usually go to exhibitions and swap meets and i try and get a great buy, the last exhibition i went to i bought a lima Crab mogul loco for £20 and a Mainline Manor Class (lydham Manor) for £30 and both where in new condition !!!!

[rmg1919]

Thanks for the feedback and tips on going to exhibitions etc.

I've spent today clearing off the old track (and realising that I may as well replace it all with the latest stuff). On this point, as I will be running an HST, I'd quite like for the sleepers on the track to be concrete - and I'd also quite like to 'weather' the rails so that they look rusty/brown from the side.

Can anyone offer any advice on how/where to buy (and how much to pay) for concrete sleepered track, and how to 'weather' it?

Thanks in advance, will be posting some pics of progress soon.

EDIT: Just been googling some more and came across this interesting post (http://www.ureader.co.uk/message/50691.aspx) - the best method seems to be the one outlined by 'Uncle Wobbly':

Mask from the inside so one rail is entirely covered and the chairs on the
rail to be painted are exposed, mask the otherside in similar fashion. Don't
be tempted to over-adhere the masking tape - it only has to stay in place
while you paint, not survive a gale. And remove the tape as soon as you are
finished painting - I prefer to do it before the paint is dry. Spray with
red primer from halfords (don't do a thick all over... just good coverage is
enough). I then gently dust it with dark grey primer and matt black to take
the uniform look out of it - but again, don't over-do it... there should be
more rusty brown than anything else. Keep the nozel well away from what you
are painting or you'll put put a thick coat on before you know it. Once it
is dry, I go over the tops and insides of the rails with a fine file
(abrasive paper clogs too readily). The end result is very passable. Don't
forget to stain the centre of the track (i.e. half way between the rails)
with a light dusting of whatever you like - usually a subtle black streak
looks good, but I have seen white shading from chalk slurry dripping from
trains... You won't be able to do this with a spray can for N coz the spray
is to wide for delicate work like this... buy a good spray gun *** and
practice well first *** lots of air and little paint is the key! Also,
notice that in stations and regular stopping points, the entire track can be
covered with several millimeters thick of black grease and dust/dirt. this
can be simulated very effectively by filling (plaster) the ballast and
sleepers lightly in these areas to remove some of the relief - a very
runny paste smeared in with a paintbrush works well Then a spray wth satin
black... fade it on either side of that track section and again, tone down
with a dark grey, you get a nice weathered look... the rails will not be
rusty at these places... also around the blades of points will often be
black and greasy. It is a long process but persevere and just try one bit at
a time.

Would others agree with this?

[rmg1919]

Just an update on progress: have decided to replace the 6x4 board with an 8x10 board, with a large station at one end, and a smaller station at the other. I'm currently considering having 4 lines round the board - but am not sure whether UK railways always operate as follows

LINE 1 - UP - FAST
LINE 2 - DOWN - FAST
LINE 3 - UP - SLOW
LINE 4 - DOWN - SLOW

Am I correct in thinking this is how the majority of 4-wide lines in the UK operate, or is it just the GWR that runs like this?

Should be building the baseboard on tuesday, and hopefully be able to get some track down by the end of the week... and perhaps see the first loco running by the weekend...

Watch this space.

[dr5euss]

Yeah that's how it works when you have 4 lines.

I will be watching this space

[rmg1919]

Thanks for the quick reply. Will be posting the 'final' (yeah, right!) layout plan shortly.

[waz]

Yeh !! sounds good. great work.

Regards

BILL.

[rmg1919]

Hi,

Well, I'd finally got the station how I wanted it... but that now leaves the rest of the layout which I can't quite get looking right. See below for the layout as it stands:



I have set aside space (about 2.5ft x 4.5ft) for a TMD/freight type yard, but am not sure how to lay it out...

I'm also not entirely sure how to make full use of the board. On the one hand, I want as much track as possible - on the other hand, I want to have room for some scenery too.

Arghhh! Advice/pointers etc. welcome.

[cold-ash]

Well the one thing that sticks out to me is that none of the tracks have crossovers. Effectively you have 4 continous, seperate, loops.

[Lofty]

- but am not sure whether UK railways always operate as follows

LINE 1 - UP - FAST
LINE 2 - DOWN - FAST
LINE 3 - UP - SLOW
LINE 4 - DOWN - SLOW

Am I correct in thinking this is how the majority of 4-wide lines in the UK operate, or is it just the GWR that runs like this?

It is also possible to get:

Track 1 - Up slow
Track 2 – Up fast
Track 3 – Down fast
Track 4 – Down slow

Lofty