At the moment my 1/2 layout consists of old boards from wardrobes with 3 layers of black A3 sized foam sheets on top of which the track is laid.
Not all of the track is pinned in place but there is enough space in between platform tracks snd sidings in between them for stock to be stabled without contact.
In terms of railway modelling, in relation to scenery I have not had any experience of doing that part of it, my nain experience has revolved around various projects which at 1 point included fitting peco 3rd rail wired for power collection and then running hornby pullman coaches 2 of which had X942 HST/Class 110 motor bogies fitted of which 1 side was connected into the 3rd rail pickup supply and the all metal wheels on the moyor bogies picking up from the rail. Both motors were fitted the same way round which required the 2 coaches to be the same way round aswell. Currently the 3rd rail project is on hold for now.
About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I purchased some balsa wood from hobbycraft with the intention to build my own platforms, something I have been wanting to try for a while. I have managed to put together 2 sections each roughly 3 feet long although these have yet to be put in place as there is still a lot left to do.
I am not sure if the 3 images above will show but if they do I will post more in due course.
The 1st picture was of the rear bogie of a Lima class 156 with my representation of a 3rd rail pickup fitted in case I ever get to build and operate some class 508 units.
The 2nd picture was a conversion of s Hornby HST powercar fitted to a heavily modified ( in terms of filing ) class 58 chassis with class 58 bogies. It was built during my time as a member of rmweb for an imaginary locomotives thread they had at the time. It was based on a HST powercar converted to run as an all electric co-co locomotive with class 58 bogies geared for higher speeds. The motor was converted to a cd motor and runs well.
The 3rd was another project using a fowler 2-6-4 chassis modified to a 2-6-2 chassis and a kitbuilt V2 locomotive body which gives much needed extra weight and better traction for hauling easily 12 coaches or 30 wagons. This loco recently had new valve gear for the drivers side after the previous valve gear on that side came apart.
I will post a picture at some point of the union pacific big boy and the 2-10-0 + 0-10-2 garratt and put them on here.
Like the co-co HST powercar It too was originally built when was on rmweb and had a 9F loco body but after a few pists which mentioned that a 9F boiler would not have produced enough steam for 2 × 2-10-0 chassis, I rebuilt the loco using a hornby A1/A3 loco body which I was duly informed would certainly produce the required power for a 20 wheel driven locomotive. It certainly hauls anything coupled to it.
Most of my tender driven locomotives are fitted with cd motors including 2 hornby black 5 locomotives, 1 was purchased from eBay as number 5112 but as I already had 5112 as a locomotive driven loco I repainted the body which was badly faded and renumbered the loco as 5001, the other was purchased from my local model shop in Birkenhead and is number 44932 ( of which the real version returned to service recently ). Aswell as cd motors in the tenders, they also have extra self made pickups for 2 rail power collection and now run much better than they did when puchased.
Another recent project was a B17 4-6-0 chassis onto which is fitted a Bachmann B1 body and is also tender driven using a silver seal motor which I also converted to a cd motor before a recently introduced kit became available for converying these motors to a cd motor drive.
Also if requested, I will post a picture of my O Gauge locomotive.
I should also mention that I am an open university student and there may be a gap ( hopefully not too long ) in posting these pictures but I will get them done.
