The UK’s only magazine that’s 100% dedicated to outdoor railway modelling. Expect to see stunning garden railways from the UK and abroad, expert advice to help you create one of your own, show reports plus product news and reviews.
A discussion, after a recent exhibition, saw a few complaints that model railway shows aren’t what they used to be. Once upon a time, table after table would be filled with kits. Eager modellers would snap them up, head back to their workshops and spend pleasant evenings constructing new rolling stock for their layouts. No more. I spotted a well regarded kit for a 4mm scale Wisbeech tram locomotive, which sat untouched all weekend. 10 years ago, it would have been grabbed by the first person to see it, especially since the manufacturer retired and sold his range. Now, no-one wants to know. They have bought the ready-to-run version. (And before you ask, I wasn’t interested either. I have two examples in the kit stash already thanks.) Hold on though.…
I always loved steam engines. As a boy, I would go to Paddington station to watch them and take down the train numbers. My first layout was built in N gauge. Since there wasn’t a lot of room, I built it on a series of separate boards, so I could pack it away when I wasn’t working on it. After a few years, and a move to a house with a bigger garden, we thought we could build a layout outside. I bought an O gauge train, and some track, but decided it was too small. Worse still, you couldn’t get all the different types of track, including the crossings we needed at the time. Then we looked at G gauge, which was a good size. I built a complete…
Obviously, I’m not to be trusted reading what my step-daughter some years ago christened ‘train porn’. Yet another flip through Garden Rail, and my eye rested on a photo of The Lineside Hut’s new four-wheel brake van. I immediately thought, “Hmmm, that has great potential for adaptation. A bit of a tweak here and there, and you might have a passable narrow-gauge GWR Toad brake van”. Pausing only momentarily to check the bank balance, a van kit was ordered. Sadly, the makers have recently retired, but, hopefully, my ideas will still be of interest, and kits still appear second-hand… Scope of works One end of the van has large picture windows. I thought that if these were omitted and a new wall fitted in the middle of the van, a…
Regular readers of this esteemed journal might remember I have previously shared my experiences of scratch bash bodgelling rolling stock for the Peckforton Light Railway. My approach involves keeping costs down by utilising cheap motor blocks or wagon chassis, and either converting off-the-shelf models or constructing bodies from Plastikard and ‘found’ materials such as bottle tops and Biro tubes. I have even turned my hand to mass producing parts using resin castings for a rake of identical open wagons. From time to time, fellow modellers have generously volunteered to produce bespoke parts for me using their 3D printers such as, a set of layshaft pulley wheels for driving various pieces of machinery in Peckforton sawmill. I constructed an ex-Clogher Valley railcar and needed to equip it with seats. Rather than…
Saturday 15 April marks the ‘return to normal’ of the National Garden Railway Show at the East of England Arena near Peterborough. After two years of running a show under the constraints imposed by lockdown, now the Show can celebrate all things garden railways without abnormal restrictions, back on its traditional April date, and with a full array of traders, layouts and other exhibitors. The Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers, which runs the Show, is very excited to be hosting 18 layouts, 70 traders and narrow gauge railway associations such as the Isle of Man, Corris, Talyllyn and Fairbourne. All of the layouts represent what can be run in the garden, and a mix of scales, gauges, motive power, and themes. Some, like Modular, Dixon Green and St Gennys…
Date: 11 March 2023 Event: Narrow Gauge North Venue: Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawsons Corner, Pudsey, Leeds, LS28 5TA Times: 10:30am to 4:30pm Web: www.narrowgaugenorth.org.uk Date: 11/12 March 2023 Event: Midlands Garden Rail Show Venue: Warwickshire Event Centre, The Fosse, Radford Semele, Leamington Spa CV31 1FE Times: 10am to 4pm Web: www.warwickshireeventcentre.co.uk Date: 15 April 2023 Event: National Garden Railway Show Venue: East of England Arena, Peterborough PE2 6HE Times: 10am to 5pm Web: www.nationalgardenrailwayshow.org.uk Date: 13 May 2023 Event: Llangollen Garden Railway Festival Venue: Pafiliwn Llangollen Pavilion, Abbey Road, Llangollen, LL20 8SW Times: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.lgrf.co.ukv Date: 8/9 July 2023 Event: East Midlands Large Scale Model Show Venue: The Maltings and the Memorial Hall, Wicksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4FB Times: Sat 10am to 4pm. Sun 10am to 3.30pm Date:…
