Hello One and All,
New member from Nottingham, UK. I've looked around a few times and decided to join.

I've been interested in model railways since I had my first Hornby GWR Branch Freight train set for Christmas 1978 and my interest in GWR has continued to this day.

My father and I started to build a layout but got waylaid, mainly me by starting work, college and university and life in general. I inherited the unfinished layout when my father passed away some years ago. Living in a small terrace house meant I was unable to work on the layout and it remained at my parents house and is now in store.

In my teens I built some 00 gauge points using pcb sleeper and code 75 rail which were never put to use but are still extant.

Some years ago I started to collect N gauge stock, I have now amassed a substantial amount covering GWR Steam, BR (western) steam (early and late crested locos) and BR Blue period along with wagons and coaches. The most recent acquisitions being Revolution Trains/Sonic class 56xx locos.

I recently built a soldered N gauge point with approach and exit and branch lines, again soldered construction using pub sleepers and code 40 rail. This is more of a test of my eyesight and technique rather than anything else and turned out pretty well with no wobbles or derailments.

I have an idea for a small GWR BLT layout (not another one I hear you all groan) and have also experimented with home etching for windows; unfortunately not the best result but perseverance will pay off I hope.

I'm not sure what else to divulge so I'll leave it there.

Andy
a.k.a. Hobgoblin

  Hi Andy and welcome,
   
  I could tell right away that you are a man of distinction and taste and you’re in good company here, so pay no attention to any misguided souls in denial of the brilliance of Swindon’s engineering genius (Wolverhampton’s also pretty good of course).
   
  Looking forward to see how you’ll be modelling your branch and I’m sure Alan will be along to also congratulate you for modelling in 2mm. Brave man!
   
  Best,
   
  Bill

Welcome Andy,

Can't have too much of a good thing (GWR) as Bill says.

Colin

Thanks Bill and Colin. I'm not sure I'm brave, more masochistic I think but test bits have gone well so far.

Andy

Hi Andy - welcome to the club.  :cheers

A very appropriate username given the time of year - any "special" reason or are you just small and hairy ?   :roll:

Interesting that you used "N"Gauge to test your eyesight - I find "00" does that admirably for me …..  Similarly,  whilst building points has been on my bucket list for 60 odd years, I've never actually got around to giving it a whirl so well done Sir !

If you don't have room for a full layout, you could always build a plank and, to keep your hand in with point building, take on commissions ……… :hmm

Enjoy yourself on here and looking forward to seeing some of the fruits of your labour.

Hi Petermac,
I wouldn't say I'm tall but I'm not short either in general  the name stems from my favourite tipple, Hobgoblin beer. Preferably King Goblin but Ruby goes down well too 

TBH I was apprehensive of building N gauge points but slowly and surely is the name of the game and it wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be; quite therapeutic and enjoyable, they may not be after I've built a few though 

The BLT I've got in mind would fit on a 4' x 18" plank plus cassettes although I prefer it to be 4' x 2' to allow for more scenery.

I've found some interesting article and layouts, is there a way to bookmark them or add them to a watch list? I've looked around but not found how to do it yet.

Andy

Now that's something I don't know Andy - how to "bookmark" a thread …………………….

I normally add their page to my favourites on Firefox but if there are loads, that could be a problem.

Matt (Barchester) is your man for technical computer based stuff on here - I just press keys on my keypad and things appear as if by magic !!

What I do find is that if you "chat" to the author of the thread, you quickly strike up a sort of virtual friendship and quickly get to know where to go.

Actually, thinking about it further, there is a button somewhere saying "watch thread" - if you click it, it notifies you of any new posts in that thread.  It doesn't however, give you an index of threads which interest you ……..

I'll give Matt a shout and he might be able to help ……………..

Cracked it! so simple too. At the bottom of the page there are 3 buttons under the 'quick reply' box one of which clearly says 'watch topic'. Can't believe I've missed it so many times doh…..:???::???::???:

Beat me to it Andy, yes watch topic is at the bottom of each thread on the LHS

Thank you Matt and Petermac, sorry to have wasted your time sorting this; sometimes I can't see for looking :shock::shock:

A bit more info Andy. If you go into your profile :- just click on your name in the box to the left of one of your posts- and click on 'my account' you will see amongst other things Topics and Forums that your watching. Also if you click on 'Preferences'  one of the options is to tell it to send an email when someone posts in a topic your participating in.You can also access your account from ' My Account' which you will find towards the top, right hand side of the recents page. My suggestion would also be that you go TO this recents page ( click any blue RECENTS link) and then bookmark it as this is the quickest way back to new content

Cheers

Matt

P.S. shout out if there is anything else we can help with

Hi Andy

I love it when someone asks a question you never thought of and then you learn something good that you never thought you needed to know.

That's the forum in a nutshell - welcome aboard!!

Barry

Thank you Matt, there is so much I haven't seen (and found) yet! Just looked at the 'recents' button and straightaway there are topic headings shouting 'look at me, look at me'. At this rate I'll never get any modelling done :sad:
Barry, every days a school day as they say and so long as the information received is good all is well

Andy

Another quick tip ( I should really write a guide but then Alan will promptly change software and banjax it  )
The breadcrumb trail ( thanks Martin for pointing this out to a newbie me many eaons ago !)

At the top of each page just under the blue YMR banner you will see a breadcrumb trail. On this page you will see :-

You are here: Your Model Railway Club > welcome to your model railway - new members area - welcome to all new members > Hello from Nottingham

So you are IN Hello from Nottingham but each part of that trail is a link, so you can back up one level to ' Welcome to all new members' or several levels to ' your model railway club'  ( which is the home page) simply by clicking on each part of the breadcrumb trail. So if you were say in 'members personal layouts'  looking at Granby Junction, instead of going right back to the homepage and  then back in to members personal layouts, just click on 'members personal layouts'  in the  breadcrumb trail and you go up one level  :thumbs

HTH

Cheers

Matt

Hi Andy and welcome to the club.As you can see by your replies we are a friendly place and to model N gauge and the GWR as well speaks volumes. Enjoy yourself.

Thanks Matt, I've learnt something today…never knew it was called a breadcrumb trail.

Thank you Alan, it's been a long held interest in the GWR. As I get older I'm finding more interest in rolling stock too, 20 years ago I wasn't too worried if locos and wagons didn't match or coaches were the wrong era etc. I guess its down to buying reference type books. I still have a lot to learn though.

Welcome aboard Andy, 
You are in good company here and will find many helpful people and resources.

Start a layout thread or planning a layout thread and share your thoughts on what you want to model. I, for one, will be happy to share my “lessons learnt!”.

Looking forward to following along with the story.

We like pictures too.

Rule 1… it’s your railway and you do what makes you happy.

Did I mention we like pictures? 😄

:hi Belated welcome to the club Andy.  I don't think its possible to tire of the GW branch line theme.  There is always something rather quaint about them.  Go for it!  Don't forget to post your progress on a new thread with lots of pictures.
Best wishes,

Terry

Hi Andy
Welcome from Canada! Its good to have another GWR modeller on board. I look forward to watching your layout develop

Best wishes

Hi Andy,

Welcome to the club.

Nigel