As some of you may have realised, I have not done any modelling for some time - unusual for me.

Sandra has been unwell and is now on her 4th hip replacement - greedy? No, not really, she keeps getting infected, the same hip.
Fingers crossed this time.

So before I started modelling again, I decided to sort out my modelling room.
In doing so, I have given lots of stuff away and sold some.
I am intending to build something almost in-situ, yes you have probably guessed what it is.
No, not a coffin, but a model railway of sorts.

While sorting out the room, I find this very difficult, as I am not one for throwing anything away, I have been building baseboards.
The tops are ply and supported on 2" x 1" PSE timber.
Some old repurposed and chopped about shelving units will be used for the supports,
I have opted for a height of 40".
Photos, track plan and more later,
That's all for now!!!

A decision was made regarding scale and gauge.
In the past I have modelled OO and O-16.5 (NG7) gauge railways.
OO are to a scale of 4mm = 1ft, O-16.5 is to a scale of 7mm = 1ft.

I wanted to pack a lot in my layout and so decided to go with OO9. This is modelled to a scale of
4mm - 1ft.
Lindsay will be pulling his hair out by now, I did try to explain scale and gauge to him.

So to clarify:
OO9 has a track gauge of 9mm and the scale of the models is 4mm = 1ft.
So, for you non-railway types, this is 1:76 scale, no not 1/72 in reality, but it may be as near as makes virtually no difference.


1:72 scale means the model is one seventy-second the size of the real object, commonly used for aircraft, military vehicles, and figures. So 1 inch represents 6ft. (4.233mm represents 1ft)
1:76 scale means the model is one seventy sixth the size of the real thing. This equates to 4.01 mm to the foot.
Is your head hurting now?
So scale is the size of the model.
Gauge is the distance between the tracks.

So OO9 has a gauge of 9mm and this will be 2.25ft(3ft 3inches) on the real thing, in actuality kit is used for a lot of different narrow gauges.
Hopefully you are still here.
Here is the first baseboard on its support - in the garage, oh and the model room chaos!

I joined the OO9 Society and received my joining pack and a free kit and three magazines, you get one every month, cost £20.

Dave,
Your ability to model all sorts of subjects never ceases to amaze me!
You can literally 'turn your hand' to ANY subject/genre...
... and long may you continue to do so.
As for me, I'll stick to 1/48 scale aeroplanes...
... assuminmg I can still whip up enough enthusuasm as the old 'mojo' is a bit dormant at the moment!!!
Neil

I think this is something you're quite comfortable with. You can bamboozle all you like with scales and guages, but we all know how much of a resourceful modeller you are and what pleases you is rewarded with superb results.

'009' eh only 2 steps away from Mr.Bond.

Quote from: Bigkev on September 18, 2026, 06:09:44 PMI think this is something you're quite comfortable with. You can bamboozle all you like with scales and guages, but we all know how much of a resourceful modeller you are and what pleases you is rewarded with superb results.

'009' eh only 2 steps away from Mr.Bond.

Very amusing!

I've always been amazed at the variety of things you have in your collection and how you 'store' them never mind know what you've got and where to find it (most of the time, lol!!).

Quote from: cph64 on September 19, 2026, 08:15:26 AMI've always been amazed at the variety of things you have in your collection and how you 'store' them never mind know what you've got and where to find it (most of the time, lol!!).

I lose interest once I have built something, I then tend to sell it.

So the track plan is courtesy of Peco, from their OO9 booklet.
I flipped this horizontally and then vertically for a better fit in my room.

This is only the start and things may change as I progress.

Each board will be 3ft x 1ft 6in.

So, after messing about with actual track on the board I decided to swap round the quarry and the station.
Board 1 will now contain the station and associated buildings.

On this board the points will be manually operated, by simple rods under the baseboard.

Nice one, Dave. That will be something fresh that can accommodate almost any subject that catches your interest, plus you'll be able to swap individual models in and out as they get built. The research and planning process has obviously caught your interest, which is good to see. I've also had a tidy-up (although not as drastic as yours) as, like Neil, my mojo has taken a bit of a dent; I've put the two 'in-progress' vacforms well aside and decided to clear some of the steadily-accumulating injection kits for a change. In fact, one of your kind donations is on the hobby desk right now!
Jon

Blimey, you're certainly making up for your absence!
Looks like you've got your teeth into 009 stuff. This will be a very interesting and working layout, with all sorts of possibilities.
Watching with interest.

Some of the boards in place and testing clearances and how things will fit.

Well Dave, yoh're certainly back into the modelling with a bang. I think you've pinched everybody elses mojo.

All I will say is - will the train driver be a zombie          and will the train bring you drinks in your super clean and sorted model room