Garden Rail March 2025

SHOW SEASON As usual, our March issue features the showguide for the Midlands Garden Rail show. Time to head to the outskirts of Leamington Spa to enjoy large scale railway modelling in the warmth of an indoor setting. An opportunity to chat to friends old and new, while watching the trains go by. And of course, we mustn’t forget that this show, and others later in the year, gives us the chance to stock up on materials for future modelling. Of course, you can order through the post, but sometimes it’s good to pick up a sample model on a stand to have a good look at it. I know I like to get hands-on with projects before shelling out my cash. With the price of postage these days, a…

My enthusiasm for G scale started 22 years ago when my wife bought me a train set for £19.99 in Lidl. It was a battery-powered Wild West style, with sound and smoke. The locomotive wore out about 15 years ago but the rolling stock and sound box is still used today on my railways. Twenty years ago, we ran it round the ceiling in my wife’s office, which was a spare room in our house then. My collection slowly increased over the years, sticking to the early American style locos and rolling stock, the kind that you might see in cowboy films, primarily from LGB and Bachmann. A few years ago, we moved to a small holding in Lincolnshire as we were semi-retired. My wife suggested that we run the…

Write in and share your ideas with other enthusiasts Letters are welcomed on any aspect of large scale railway modelling. Please email the Editor: phil.parker@warnersgroup.co.uk or post to The Editor, Garden Rail Magazine, Warners Group Publications, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH. Kent Garden Railways I had been after an Accucraft guards van to complete my grey rake of wagons, so when I saw Kent Garden Railways had a data grey version with SR decals added in stock, this was my Christmas present to self. I ordered this late on Sunday, December 22nd, and amazingly, it arrived on the morning of the 24th, Christmas Eve! The order must have been picked up almost immediately and despatched on the Monday with next day delivery to me. The model was superbly packed…

A pologies to Dave Rowlands for appropriating the title of his iconic article in the June 1981 Railway Modeller describing our first encounters with a ‘Jack’, which we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow for a while. After Stewart Browne’s success with meths as a fuel for his pot-boilered and internally fired locos, he decided to offer a ‘proper’ coal-fired engine. It was a fairly accurate representation of a chunky 0-4-2 side tank built by Bagnall in 1915 for the Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway. Specifications included two cylinders, slip eccentric valve gear, a multi-tube boiler, water in the side tanks with a hand pump and a crosshead-driven feed pump. Standard controls were a regulator, steam blower, pressure gauge, water by-pass valve and a real functioning whistle. The standard…

East Surrey, all day steaming Date: 15 February, 2025 Venue: de Stafford School, Burntwood Lane, Caterham, Surrey, CR3 5YX Times: 10am to 4pm Web: eastsurrey16mmgroup.wordpress.com Midlands Garden Rail Show Date: 1/2 March, 2025 Venue: Warwickshire Event Centre, A425, Southam Road, Leamington Spa, CV31 1FE Times: 10am to 4pm Web: www.midlandsgardenrailshow.co.uk The London Festival of Railway Modelling Date: 15/16 March, 2025 Venue: Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY Times: Sat: 10am to 5pm. Sun: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.londonmodelrail.co.uk The National Garden Railway Show Date: 12 April, 2025 Venue: NAEC Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, CV8 2LH Times: 9:30am to 5pm Web: www.nationalgardenrailwayshow.org.uk Llangollen Garden Railway Festival Date: 7 June, 2025 Venue: Llangollen Pavilion, Abbey Road, Llangollen, LL20 8SW Times: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.lgrf.co.uk All events are published in good…

Once the novelty of having a 3D printer and printing out objects downloaded from Thingiverse and other online repositories of 3D drawings has worn off, you might wish you had the skills and knowledge to design and draw your own models for 3D printing. I tried unsuccessfully to master conventional 3D CAD packages such as Sketchup, FreeCAD and Fusion 360, but then discovered TinkerCAD, which I found to be more suited to my way of thinking. Maybe it’s because it has been specifically designed for use with 3D printers – or maybe it’s because it is designed for children to use. Either way, I have now designed and printed dozens of items for my garden railway, and so wondered if you too might want to share in my experiences. The…