Hallo everyone!

Very glad I've found this forum - it appears to be rather new? I'm George, I'm very new to the world of battery powered trains so I thought I'd introduce myself.

I'm so new to this I haven't actually got my hands on any track or rolling stock yet - have ordered a couple of pieces that took my fancy on ebay and they should be arriving in the next give days or so. I knew straight off the bat that I'd want to do some modifications so I did a spot of googling around and that brought me here.

So - why I'm suddenly looking at plastic trains.

I'm getting married soon, and in a fit of good humour my wife to be joked wouldn't it be good fun if we ran a railway around the garden for our guests to play with.

Anyway, I'm sure she wasn't serious but it certainly got me thinking on the cheapest possible way one could lay a railway, if only for testing purposes, and after looking at all the options it seems to me that plastic rails of the Thomas the Tank Engine / Trackmaster type was very good value for money. Wagons for a few quid, engines for less than a tenner, and track packs on eBay for not too much money.

I suppose I ought to ask at this junction, am I barking up the wrong tree? I'm sure there's no reason why one shouldn't snake plastic track through the flower beds and across the lawn, especially if it's only temporary.

As much of a fan as I am of Thomas the Tank Engine (no doubt we all enjoyed the Reverends excellent books in our childhoods) I'm certain I'd like to run a more prototypical railway - with boiler doors rather than faces, etc! Is there anyone who makes such engines? Or would I be best getting out my hacksaw and modifying the trains? Does anyone else do this?

Anyway, I'm going to have a read of the forum and see what I can find. Maybe I'll answer some of my own questions. But any suggestions of where to start out and where to look are welcome. Especially interested in what the best means of acquiring large amounts of track very cheaply is - it's a fairly large garden and I'd hate for the lady to clock me around the head for spending £££ on railways.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I'm already getting excited at the prospect of building a girder bridge between one raised border and the other...

George