Mountain Goat Waggon & Carriage Works.

[Walkingthedog]

I love working on a lathe. Might get one would be nice to use one again.

[Mountain Goat]

The advantage with this is that it all fits in a small space, and it does other things like milling etc. If you want something a little more powerful as a lathe the Axminster C1 may be more suitable. For my 7mm narrow gauge needs, this Metalline kit is very suitable, especially for a beginner like me, who wants to use something that is less likely to get them in trouble if they make the odd mistake.
I can see you making lovely parts or even a whole loco WTD.

[Steve M]

The only thing I can turn is an ankle.

[Mountain Goat]

Aww. Try not to turn ankle.
Been helping brother sort out the barn. It does not leak so much now.
Actually, if I keep whatever I make portable we do have a little modelling space after all, though it has to be portable as we need it for a few different uses. Makes my little limited space layout look small. Having said that, with he uncertainties of life it is a good idea to make something small as in the past with permanent layouts it is a great shame when the need comes to relocate for whatever reason as needs arise.
Thoughts of a garden railway from this barn to the outdoor world.... Maybe not. Too much track to keep clean.

[Mountain Goat]

Something fun.

[Mountain Goat]

And also this... Makes me want to find something that I can mill....

[Mountain Goat]

I have just had a little go at the miller with a piece of wood which I cut using the saw. It is interesting. Very precise in the side to side, depth and back and fore cuts one may want to make. I have thought of a way of milling curves as well but may need to re-arrange things to get that to work.
So far, the only main limitations are in the reach of the slides. The main slide on my Metalline tool has a great range to it, so I could use this if I need to, or I can just reposition the work. Repositioning the work does risk a small movement in where the work has been clamped so could cause uneven results.
I am enjoying this.

[Mountain Goat]

Just to give an idea of what can be done, and for the benefit of my own practising, I made a hole in this... Well. It was going to be a hole but I stopped as it looks good as a form of box. Maybe a plant pot? All it is is made from annold scrap of pine wood that I cut with the little Unimat jigsaw attachment (I had to test that as well!). It looks OK for a trial.
This experimenting can be fun!

[Mountain Goat]

A few pictures of the layout which is on two boards to make an oval of track in 7ft x 2ft.

While my track was kinda scratchbuilt, the use of Peco 00 flexible track for the curves and straights, with Peco or Hornby settrack for the points (Space saving) will work fine, though try to make the 180 degree curves from a single piece of flexible track so it does not have kinked joints. Specific Peco 7mm narrow gauge track is available which has the right sized sleepers. (00 gauge sleepers can be hidden under ballast or left as they are, as a few lightly layed railways did have thin wooden sleepers which would have needed less of a gap between them to compensate).

[Mountain Goat]

I use little bridge sections of track to go over the baseboard joins. I had previously brought the track to the edge of each board but when we had the warm summer last year I found the rail heights had slightly altered. I could have filed them to match but just incase, I decided to cut the track short and make short sections which are easily removeable to bridge the gaps.
I made my track using Peco code 100 rail soldered onto home cut PCB sleepers. The controller was scratchbuilt (It is not quite finished) using parts recycled from an old Triang controller. It is made to be powered from a 12vDC supply rather then a more conventional 16 to 18v AC supply.
The points are controlled from scratchbuilt levers. Nothing too elaborate. I juat enjoyed the challenge of making things myself. Probably easier to use electric point solenoids.
Most of the holes are to make sure the boards are not too heavy after I add the scenery to the layout. A few will be used to alter the height of the board for scenic effect.