Hi there lads,
Well I am off work at the moment as I have pulled a muscle in my back. Not too bad, but on the mend. So I have had a bit of time to take a long look at my N gauge layout and sort out how I want to finish it off. I did go out this morning to get my Dapol 2-6-2 Ivatt which I ordered when I got back from India.
The 00 gauge layout will not start until I have retired in 5 years, but as I know what I want to do with it, I have started to get some bits together. It will be a point to point main line in modern times, but with an agreement with the Area General Manager (Me) for the running of preserved stock on the line. This way I can run what ever I want to on the track.
Trev, I must still be doing something right as the wife has stated that when we retire and move away from Bristol (Devon or Cornwall) we will have to have a 3 bedroom house or one with a large dry garage for my railway. She has already given me The Venice Simplon-Orient Express + the add on 4 coaches (all coaches lit and DCC ready 35020 Merchant Navy class Clan Loco). Then she got me the The Royal Train with 6233 Duchess of Sutherland. I am thinking of a BR Standard preservation group and hope to run a lot of different BR standard locos. I am now saving for a Bachmann Ivatt 2-6-0 MT and a Black 5.
Syd.

Was that lot for Christmas then Syd? I can only say...wow!! :)

Anyhow, assuming the local model shop has got some track underlay in stock, I'll be giving the credit card a last bit of exercise until I find another job. The £40 birthday money (thanks for everyone's wishes, btw) will go toward a small steam loco...possibly a 4F. The motive power committee of the South Holderness Railway (me) thinks that some steam power will increase the tourist potential.

More news as it happens. :)

Was that lot for Christmas then Syd? I can only say...wow!!

I think she was just glad to have me home from overseas Trev. She sure as hell had a long list of things to be done by the time I got home, which were all done before Christmas. It could be her way of keeping me from going off again. I did tell her that the RAC wanted me to do another month over in India again. Then again if I come home to gifts like that , well maybe I should think about it a bit more before I say no.
Syd

Unfortunately the local model shop had very little to offer in the way of six coupled N gauge steam. Plenty of pannier tanks in stock but there is no way that the motive power committee will allow that sort of stuff on the line :D . So I have decided to wait awhile until the shop gets new stock in.

On a slightly tangential note, has anyone any experience of the 'Union Mills' N gauge engines? The firm is from the Isle of Man (I think), and offers a few ex LNER 0-6-0's in its advertisements. Does anyone know if they are any good?

Trev,
It just shows how out of touch I am with British N-scale. Until I read your post I had never heard of Union Mills so I decided to do a quick search. What little I could find was good and I was surprised to see that they (or should that be he?) build complete locos and don't just stick a new body on a Grafar/Bachmann chassis.
Don't forget, if you get tired of waiting for a small British loco to come along there are any number of good-running Continental locos out there. I know you hate the idea of running a Swindon-built loco on your layout but surely something from Munich would be acceptable.:D :D

I think Union Mills have been around for three or four years or so. I did read one letter in the Railway Modeller which extolled the virtues of their products, so I thought I'd try to find out a bit more about them. Unfortunately (or perhaps that should be 'fortunately' :D !), they don't accept credit card orders over the web. I might give them a call and ask about ordering once the financial situation eases.

I finally got around to ordering the track underlay today, so expect a call for help in this thread at some point in the next week! I've never used track underlay before, but I've heard it's virtually 'idiot proof'. They ain't asked me, obviously! :D

If I can use track underlay Trev, then anyone can. Just one tip, don't pin the track down too far or you will squash the underlay as I did the first time I used it.
Syd

P.S. Bet you never thought when you started this thread, that it would run to 77 postings and still be running.

Thanks for the tip Syd, but as I'm using Setrack only, will I need to use track pins at all? I thought that I would be able to just use PVA.

Trev,
Personally, I would recommend using the tiny Peco track pins, although this could be a problem if the baseboard you are using is too hard.(are you still planning to use the door?)
If you use PVA it will be much more difficult to make alterations and you could end up damaging some of your track.

Trev,
John beat me to it, but I have to agree with him. You would be far better off using tiny Peco track pins. It would be to your advantage to use a pin drill on the sleepers if there are no holes there. One pin in each setrack will hold although I used two on longer or stranded track. Be very careful with the points as you can upset them and cause derailments. If you use PVA, you will not be able to reuse the underlay again as it rips when lifting it, and it is not that cheap.
Syd