Hello from Durham - totally new to G gauge: building a 'Sodor' garden layout for Bachmann Thomas trains

[notofthiscenturyTim]

Welcome to the forum! Great to have another Dad of a toddler on board - I also have two under fives.

The Bachmann Thomas range look ideal for children but I haven't been able to track any down at reasonable prices yet. My approach to rolling stock has been to buy models which are mechanically sound but cosmetically beaten up. It means I don't worry about the inevitable additional cosmetic damage by children.

Another item that I've found good for kids to play with is the LGB Flyer. It's a powered by a propellor like an air boat and is really fun to drive because it's quite hard to control and will easily fly off the track if sent round a corner too fast.

DCC is definitely more expensive with the main benefit being the sounds to play with - the cheapest I've been able to do it is £90 per loco for a 4A+ decoder, 16bit 3W sound module and quality speaker.

 

[Paul M]

Welcome to the forum! Great to have another Dad of a toddler on board - I also have two under fives.

The Bachmann Thomas range look ideal for children but I haven't been able to track any down at reasonable prices yet. My approach to rolling stock has been to buy models which are mechanically sound but cosmetically beaten up. It means I don't worry about the inevitable additional cosmetic damage by children.

Another item that I've found good for kids to play with is the LGB Flyer. It's a powered by a propellor like an air boat and is really fun to drive because it's quite hard to control and will easily fly off the track if sent round a corner too fast.

DCC is definitely more expensive with the main benefit being the sounds to play with - the cheapest I've been able to do it is £90 per loco for a 4A+ decoder, 16bit 3W sound module and quality speaker.

Unfortunately, no one can say this is a cheap hobby! But then again, for what you actually get for your money, it's probably cheaper than the smaller gauges

 

[ThomasDadDurham]

I'll eventually move all my progress to a dedicated thread when my 90 day 'new' limit removes this.
Anyway - we're in! The new place! With months of rain before and it seems, more after, I grabbed the first 'clear' day I could to start scrubbing old track clean on the patio. Setup a double loop - gave our little boy the choice of what trains to pick - Toby, James? Answer was PERCY PERCY PERCY. I think its because Percy looks like the Tanfield Railway trains - a little green saddle tank. Heres us. I trust him with the speed controllers, especially as poor connection and the half-amp starter controllers dont really do much even cranked up to max (Percy did come off once, but only when reversed at full speed). 'Gentle' is a concept he gets growing up with cats and filling a watering can from a ridiculously high pressured outdoor tap.

My gardens previous owners loved patio. Theres a LOT of paved area behind the house. I may even trim the edge off by 50cm or so along the edge and use the hardcore thats there to lay ballast, rather than rob anything from the lawn. The entire left hand of garden side behind my workshop/shed is free for track of whatever I decide, and the rest will be a loop around the garden. Early tests on SCARM (which Im finding fiddly but its a learning curve - its more to visualise gradiants than have a neat and exact representation) - as you can see Im trying for a loop under a bridge and up to a station, just like Keiths, albeit double tracked. - This wont be quite to scale as although you can import a google maps aeriel shot to trace, I think Ive scaled it under, as I only measured the grass. Ive got about 10m down the left if some plants are moved.