Bonjour and belated Happy Birthday, honorary scouser Barry,
 
Good choice of drill, as I too treated myself to a new all singing and dancing Dewalt combi last year and I am very impressed with the increased ease it handles itself over the old unit and that the more sensitive progressive trigger even handles tiny drills with assurance and delicacy when working with resin kits.
 
So good to hear you have again started on Yarslow and obviously delighted to be fitting 25.4mm thick insulation boards. Long may the fun continue.
 
Enjoy the new build process and I’ll be following along with interest with everyone else here.
 
Best,
 
Bill

:Happy :Happy :Happy  :doublethumb :doublethumb :doublethumb :cheers :cheers :cheers
                                          :chicken :chicken :chicken :chicken :chicken :chicken :chicken

Hi Matt.   Could you please advise me on these “Hieroglyphics “ messages , then I could keep track of what is going on.. as I know that it is not my thread but I would like to keep my hand in. Best wishes Kevin

[user=1814]Longchap[/user] wrote:

……
Good choice of drill, as I too treated myself to a new all singing and dancing Dewalt combi last year and I am very impressed with the increased ease it handles itself over the old unit and that the more sensitive progressive trigger even handles tiny drills with assurance and delicacy when working with resin kits…..

 
Bill

Hi Bill,

I'm sure it's a fine drill you have but I'm interested in your comment on fine bits and resin kits. I find most use from 0.3mm to 1.5mm bits on OO Kits and aside from very top of that range I'd find it impossible to use a power drill. My little hand Pin Vice bought years ago in a rare moment of useful foresight has seem much service and I recently added in a fine set of micro drill bits to my modest collection.

Surely the drill weight with even smallest battery becomes an issue? Puzzled in Melbourne.

Colin

I too am surprised you can use a hand drill on anything this small Bill …… :shock:
Amongst my drill arsenal, I have a Dremel which is normally mounted on a stand.  Even on the slowest speed, it's far too fast for drilling plastics.  I always use a pin vice for that job - slow but it does the job.

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi Matt.   Could you please advise me on these “Hieroglyphics “ messages , then I could keep track of what is going on.. as I know that it is not my thread but I would like to keep my hand in. Best wishes Kevin

Its a simple celebration Kevin, After five long years of planning, and after a marathon to get building/ renovation works complete, Barry will soon be ' Taking possession' and has finally FINNALLY been able to make a start on his Layout, well the Layout SHED anyway, I'm sure the actual Layout build itself will follow smartly along !

Thats once the Clark of works (SWMBO) Releases him from urgent tasks on HER list  :pedal

Cheers

Matt

Woo, good luck on the build!

Hi Bill - just a few thoughts for what they're worth as I 'went large' a few years ago.
Firstly, I would say carpet in the railway room is a definite 'no no'.  Carpets create dust.  You will drop small components that disappear from the face of the Earth on a pale, tiled floor.  On carpet you'll have no chance. No matter how careful, you will spill liquids - tea/coffee/glue/paint/solder - a nuisance on tiles, serious on carpet.  Creepy crawlies like under carpet!  One of my better decisions was to have the railway room tiled (there's a pic at the beginning of my thread).  I would say tiles or tough linoleum would be the way to go.  You will also find you spend a lot of your time cleaning so the easier the floor is to clean the better.

Baseboard height.  I arbitrarily decided on 1m.  It seemed a nice height for working on when standing & was eye level for viewing when sitting down.  Big mistake.  I have a 'duck under' as I had nowhere to put a lifting flap & I find it increasingly difficult (especially with the baseboard being 1m wide) to crawl under (p.s. whatever you need at any given time will always be the other side - this rule is immutable).  In hindsight I would have made the boards higher then used duck boards for when working on the layout.

Try & do as much of your wiring as possible before fixing down your boards.  Although somebody else did the bulk of my wiring for me, I've spent many hours with crooked neck & sprained back working on wiring.  Again, 1m is too low as you can't sit up straight underneath.  I had to acquire a hard hat for working under as my head started to look like a Corona virus.

Never under estimate how much work you'll have to do.  I'm 10 years in (admittedly with a 4 year hiatus) & only just showing any progress.  You will need to do a lot of ballasting!

Cats.  I too am a cat lover - we have 2 rescue cats.  They have a penchant for chewing scenic work, especially trees, & of course dangly wires are game on.  It's best not to run trains when a cat is in the room. A 5 Kg cat suddenly appearing out of nowhere & landing on your latest DCC sound fitted loco & train is not recommended.  They are learning by the ensuing howls & screams that being on the baseboards is not a good idea but their fascination for small moving objects is obvious.

It's easy to get disillusioned & disheartened with a large project when you've done a lot of work with little to show for it (& your wife continually asking "any trains running yet?").  I've just made 40 trees & used most of them on one small corner of the layout.  However, like you I had 50 years of planning & collecting so when the opportunity presented itself I had to take it.  You will see that the plan for Ottersford was chosen in 1979 but was for 'N' gauge!

I wish you the best of luck & will be following your progress with interest.  BTW where have you settled in Liverpool?

Keep well

Mal

[user=380]Kaiser[/user] wrote:

I would say carpet in the railway room is a definite 'no no'.  Carpets create dust.  You will drop small components that disappear from the face of the Earth on a pale, tiled floor.  On carpet you'll have no chance. 

I like my carpet in the garage, it feels warmer in the winter with it there. I have on a few occasions been left rummaging around for the smallest item which while picking up I said to myself "Do not drop this"!

  Ah, you dismiss modern cordless drill technology too quickly chaps, as it’s this remarkable progress since my last purchase, which enables the new generation drills to accomplish so much more.
 
My choice whether to use a pin vice or my new Dewalt to create door and window openings though 12mm thick resin walls was a no brainer, as the drilling process for all the work I needed on the station building with a pin vice would have taken over an hour and given me blisters, but was completed in just 5 minutes with the right tool for the job.  
 
Just like in model railway locos, coreless motors make the drill smoother in operation and combined with super responsive and progressive triggers, delivers precise slow speed control, while the balance of the drill in the hand, even more so when I use the supplemental wafer thin 2Ah battery, makes safe precision work with small scale workpieces easily achievable.
 
I use small drills all having a constant larger shank size to fit larger chucks for perfect centring and happily drill with 1mm and above in the cordless and used a 2mm drill on the station for perforating, followed by the largest bit which would safely fit the opening. Job done 😊
 
See post 276 on http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15841&forum_id=21&page=14
 
Best,
 
Bill

Hi Mal

This layout will have a baseboard height set at 48 inches to the top surface.  This provides me with a suitable duck-under.  I am not quite in my bath-chair just yet but my previous layout had a baseboard height of about 3ft 6 inches and it was ever so slightly low.

I am well aware of the amount of work involved and, luckily, have a wife who is fully on board with the project.  I don't do "lads weekends", nights in the pub, betting shops or similar.  Although we have bought a fair-sized house (and spent a few quid on it), it does not need to look like the centre-spread of House and Home and we are happy camping or having holidays every few years rather than every few months.

Lockdown and delays with the house have allowed me to collect a large pile of useful bits like wire, switches, heat-shrink, track, pointwork, polystyrene, track pins, rail joiners, insulation, screws etc etc etc.  I had an original idea of being able to build the layout from a "kit of parts" but that has proved to be a bit niaive!!

My biggest asset is a healthy dollop of bloody-minded obstinance  :lol: :lol:

btw - I too have a Dremel 4000 with a flexible drive which I find essential for small driling jobs when the archimedes hand-drill proves under-powered.

You will appreciate that, for security reasons, I am keeping the exact location of the railway to myself but we have settled within sight of the sea not a million miles from from a rather famous golf links.

Thanks for your interest and support.  Stay safe

Barry

Sounds like you're in the posh scousers resort of Formby (where my Mum lived!).  In sight of the sea - mmm Birkdale but not really Liverpool!

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

……………………………………………..

 You will appreciate that, for security reasons, I am keeping the exact location of the railway to myself but we have settled within sight of the sea not a million miles from from a rather famous golf links.

……………………………………………………..

Ah ha, St Andrews - and dare was me tinking you were slightly closer to the Mersey……… (said with Irish accent …….)

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

……………………………………………..

 You will appreciate that, for security reasons, I am keeping the exact location of the railway to myself but we have settled within sight of the sea not a million miles from from a rather famous golf links.

……………………………………………………..

Ah ha, St Andrews - and dare was me tinking you were slightly closer to the Mersey……… (said with Irish accent …….)

That’s Hillside then? I think it’s great that there are people on this forum are from
Southport. I’m from Ainsdale but my family are in Birkdale and Hillside! 

We lived in Ainsdale in the late 70s early 80s before moving to Southport.  Our house backed on to the beach - we could see the sea but it was a 2 mile walk to get there!  I'm now thinking Blundellsands - posh end of Crosby but still Liverpool.  Nice houses with views of the sea.  Spookily enough my great grandparents on my Mother's side were Holmes the builders who built a lot of houses in Blundellsands in the 20's.  That would be some coincidence if you've just renovated a house built by my relatives!

Hi all

Funny to hear all of your "posh bits of Merseyside" stories!!

I'd better put you out of your misery and confirm that we are, indeed, in the seaside town that had a couple of LYR stations and a CLC one as well - I'm told it used to be Lancashire - sore point apparently.

In other news, I get jabbed on Friday.  If some of the conspiracy theories are true, I might be modelling the GWR by Saturday  

Barry

Hi Barry.  The CLC has been replaced by the “ Footballers Wives Committee “ as I have been led to believe.  Best wishes Kevin

The Gods have transpired to ensure that we are will be moving into the new house during the first two weeks in April.  Thereafter, I have a few jobs to complete BUT

I have set May 4th as the date when I will get into the shed and make a start on the railway.

In case you miss the reference, May the 4th be with me!!

:Happy :Happy :chicken :chicken :chicken :Happy :Happy

Hi Barry.  Let us all hope that you can keep to your time table, better than BR or Not Work Rail. I would like to say that I haven’t heard that one before?   Best wishes Kevin