Musquodoboit, Eastern Shore & Sydney

[Anonymous]

hi you responded to my question about my BLI. i saw the pictures of your layout, amazing looks great. how big is you table? i only have a 4x8 right now but im going to expand it to 7x8 in the coming months; thats about the limit to my avaible space. do you collect BLI? the heavy mikado is my first BLI model, and i would say so far it is an incridble model. what is your opion of BLI? i am considering a BLI 484 Niagara to replace my bachmann plus niagara that is not DCC compatible.
p.s. how much operational expansion will i get my expanding my table by 3' in width?

[Fergmiester]

Welcome to the Forum AJ. At present I have only one BLI, which is the Heavy Mike in CRRofNJ livery. Love the sound and quality and yes it can swing an 18" curve.

Not knowing your experience with DCC I'm surprised your Bachmann Plus cannot be converted. All engines given the time can be switched over. I've done this with a Mehano Premier 4-8-2 and it took me about an hour or so and It was my first DCC retro-fit.

I have also installed a Soundtraxx DSD system into a P2K Berkshire, which was a bit more trickier but doable.

As far as Layouts go and depending on what your running width is determined by the minimum raius of your Locos. For instance the BLI UP 4-8-2 has a minimum recommended radius of 22" so 4' is a tad too tight. The BLI C&O T-1 has a rcommended minimum radius of 24" and according to some Forum members "your're pushing it" at that.

So look at what you want before you design or you'll be doing a lot of ripping and tearing. I call it "Rail Rage" and it ain't pretty!

By widening your layout be sure to allow for centre access as you'll find your reach to the centre of the table a long reach unless you're over 7' in height or using a scaffold[:D]

Hope this helps

Fergie