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Charlie Bishop of Chadwick Model Railway has built a large layout involving a two helix design, one at each end of the layout. His lower level is non-scenic and comprises a large fiddle yard. The helix design and construction feature in a number of his YouTube videos sometimes as main features of a video or sometimes as an aside during an update on some other topic, having watched most if not all of his videos a couple of take-away points that I have got from them are: (i) The helices themselves take up quite a bit of room (as already mentioned by other posters on this forum). (ii) Necessary to consider access arrangements to rear of helix (adjacent to walls etc) for cleaning, fault finding or dealing with simple derailment (the front layers of the helix get in the way of reaching in towards parts near the wall). (iii) Consideration needs to be given to how to access underside of upper level baseboards, whilst it may be possible to lean/crawl in during early stages of construction, the presence of scenery, buildings etc on the lower level may make this impracticable once the layout is completed. Here is a link to one of his early helix videos

Nothing in spam and e-mail should be correct, I got emails from Accurascale about delivery of some lovely grain wagons that I ordered the other day...these show up on my orders along with the Hunslets and Park Royals.... Have just noticed my Profile on my account and it lists my email address correctly.

Likewise. I have Hunslets on order but didn't get the emails today about them, they are showing up on my orders when I login to the Accurascale website (www.accurascale.com/en-ie......

Saw your plan for a roller door on shed. We had some problems with rodent infestation of our garage (shed) some time ago and got a rodent control company out to look at it, one of their comments was that rats can get in anywhere there's a gap and one such place would have been the top of the roller door (there always needs to be a sizeable gap when the door is closed to allow for the door rolling up onto the roller when opened, also the same gap will allow a lot of air in during winter etc. There is apparently a type of brush type sealing that can be fitted but how good this is I don't know. Also the fact that I'm sure that you'll want some heat in the shed in winter to control temperature and humidity of layout might suggest an alternative type of door which would be easier to seal. Anyhow delighted to see Bantry getting a new lease of life, the more layouts we can have in Co. Meath the better.

Might be as difficult as getting an invitation to Monday nights event! When I got home from work and saw my email (3 hours after it was sent) the application list had already closed, I'm glad for the lads in IRM to have got such a swift and enthusiastic response from the members on here but sad for myself (and I'm sure others) who have missed out. Trying to figure out whether I should dig out the telephoto lens and hide in the greenery adjacent to the Casino or perhaps don a white donkey outfit and return as the "ghost of donkeys past"* and look in the window.... *Folks with long memories of Malahide may appreciate the reference...

Not sure if this is what you were thinking of, it details a modification (soldering required) to make the cab lights directional and to make the shunting lights illuminate at both ends simultaneously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e89UGtzitY8&list=WL&t=23s

Came across some more nice footage of Abrail 2025 on YouTube, some nice commentary on the layouts too. Looks like there were a lot of very impressive layouts at the show.

Thanks for posting this Leslie, that layout looks super. I had actually been toying with the idea of taking a trip over to Abrail as there were a number of things that I wanted to see there, so keep on posting, especially if you have any footage of Faringdon...

Welcome to the forum Fran. When you open that link, although it doesn't state the font used it does say "Glenderg Models", I would guess that this is the same @Glenderg who posts on this forum, he may know the font. Hopefully now he may now spot this question.... Hope this helps you in your quest.

Wow, what a fabulous weathering job...

Oh no! The browny-grey and Norweigan blue I can take, but why did they go for the GREEN version, now we're going to have all the usual controversy over the shade of green and whether they are really Eau-de-Nil grasshoppers etc.....

I should clarify that my "funny" emoji reaction to your last post solely relates to the last line! The rest of that post and indeed this thread is wonderfully informative and interesting, I never had a huge interest in the E401 class...until now. Now they are definitely on my bucket list. Your work on building this model is truly amazing, from doing the artwork for the etches through to obtaining the etches and then onto construction has been wonderful to observe and all done at a pace that even @Darius43 of this parish (who appears to be the record holder for rapid and wonderful construction of models) would , I am sure, be proud of. Thanks for all of this and keep it coming!

Thanks Patrick, I think I've read of some of Gareth's models on other parts of this forum, looks like a super model. That's saying something, he must make outstanding models. Just ordered one, looking forward to getting it. Thanks for the heads-up John.

Wonderful stuff, very enjoyable to look at. Just wondering about the 25 ton brake van, firstly would I be correct in thinking that this is an NCC van, is this also the type that featured (sometimes) on the spoil trains to Magheramorne? Secondly is this from a kit or scratch built?

Stunning work Alan, just stunning.