Update to the crazy idea

I had a quick pace about the garden last night to see approximately how big it was. I must have looked quite the sight "heel and toeing" across the garden, deck and the three season porch...
Anyway the upshot of this is that a model of my back yard will comfortably fit in 3'6" x 2'. A bit smaller than I expected.
Another bonus is that my wife is looking forward to modelling some of the plants and flowers in the garden in G scale....

A crazy idea

The other day I got a very nice letter from Ed Olson organiser of the Granite City train show, thanking me for my participation and inviting me to attend the Christmas (thats the December 11th) show.
Now a tradition has developed that I attend with some T scale. So I could attend with Gonou as Eishindo have bought out some new trains and stuff lately. Or I could build a new layout...
This is where things got crazy. Trainaidsa the US stockist have the garden train locomotive for advanced order so I ordered one thinking that the diesel outline loco could be converted to work on Gonou.
Then I thought well why don't I build a model of a garden railway?
It has already been done by a member of talking T gauge and very well too, in a cutlery drawer no less. So I wouldn't be breaking any new ground. Perhaps I could put a different slant on it.
It was then my brain went into creative hyperdrive...
I've always wanted a garden railway in my back yard, so why don't I model that!
No backbreaking earthmoving or anything. Just regular modelling. I don't have to go far to measure the buildings to model.
So what scale would I model this garden railway in?
Well I already have lots of G scale materials from my Gn15 days so that's a no brainer really.
Now here's the complicated bit. There are lots of different scales associated with "G" 1:20.3, 1:22.5, 1:24 and 1:25.4
I myself like 1:25.4 which is conveniently 1mm equals 1 inch. So my T scale trains would be models of 3" gauge trains in G scale. Which is nice and easy to explain to people. If I was to model G scale trains in my garden I'd have to use a scale approaching 1:12 or a dolls house scale of 1 inch to the foot. This would probably make re-creating my house prohibitive which is the ruling factor in the layout.
So I thing the first thing to do is to go and measure my house and garden and see what size works best for the space I have. I'm thinking that a size of 4' x 2' would be adequate.
We'll have to see what transpires...

'Ello

Sorry for not being on the ball. But "Hello" to anyone checking in on this blog as a result of my letter to Railroad Model Craftsman and mention of this blog. In my defence, the email was written back in March, perhaps even the end of February, so I'd given up on seeing it in print. Anyway a big thanks to the RMC chappies for printing it and sending you here out of curiosity.

So now you're here you should take a look around at all the things I've done and follow the links to all the other good T gauge stuff out there on the internet.

Keep checking back and I'll post more for you all later.

Things are happening too fast...

There's way too much going on in the T scale world right now. To start with I took delivery of my packs of cars and my Hankyu 9000 set yesterday. I'll write more about them later. The cars I can't comprehend at the moment. Suffice to say some of the cars have open doors! I need top look at these in more detail before I report back on them.

Even more interesting to me is that one enterprising T scaler has started producing his own range of T scale US outline buildings though the 3d printing service at Shapeways. I've ordered some of them and will report back on them.

Exciting times. No excuse not to start a new layout now...

Here in my car...

CARS ARE HERE!
Today I received an email from TrainaidsA the US supplier of T.
At long last the cars (road vehicles) are available. We've been wating for cars for almost as long as we'd been waiting for the Hankyu 9000. Until now I've made do with 1:400 scale aircraft vehicles on Gonou.
I placed an order for both sets immediately and coincidentally a Hankyu 900 set as well.
I look forward to seeing them. My magnifying glass id at the ready

Tempted (by the fruit of another)

So goes one of my favourite songs of all time by Squeeze.
The song ran through my head as I reviewed this website.
http://www.electrarailwaygraphics.co.uk/
T scale UK outline overlays for your Hankyu 9000 body shells!
They look great. They really do.
Being a Brit I'm always looking at ways of building a UK outline model railway.
Perhaps this would work.
Just as I'm getting set to start work on a US outline layout that would involve a lot of scratchbuilding this comes along and makes building an English layout a lot easier.
Temptation indeed. (Temptation by Heaven 17 there's another favourite song...)

p.s. I could always build TWO small simple layouts, one UK outline, one US. I do like to make work for myself don't I?

That didn't last long

So after a weekend messing around with drawings for the Northstar commuter rail coaches I decided that perhaps this isn't such a good idea after all. Each train is a 4 car set that's 8 sides that I have to cut all the same. Plus the fronts and the roofs. At the moment I just don't think I have the skills unless someone has a lazer engraver they'd like to lend me...