Garden Rail September 2025

Someone does read these pages! Last month, I mentioned the building system JigStones in Mailbox, wondering if anyone had used it. In this issue, none other than the inventor of the system, Pete Chandler, shows us how it can be used to make some stunning buildings. This makes me wish I had the time to dig out the moulds I inherited, and have a go myself. But before that, there is much work to do on my tiny garden line. Ballasting the track for a start. Apart from an experiment with SBR to stick potting grit together, I’ve not had the time to make any progress. I think I’ll wait until all the plants have died back in the autumn, and I can get at it more easily. That plan…

My passion for railways started when I was two years old, when Thomas the Tank Engine was a big thing! On my 5th birthday, I had my first G scale starter set, and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was given to me by my Granny, who won it in a word search competition, and lovingly gave it to me. Fast forward 20 years, that small circular starter set has outgrown the house and has now become my own little piece of paradise in the garden. I have based my layout on a disused branch line in the south of Oxfordshire, which ran from the Mainline Buckinghamshire station of Princes Risborough to the small Oxfordshire town of Watlington. This ran along the bottom of the Chiltern hills for…

Call it a moment of madness. I don’t buy engines very often, and a Cheddar Samson played no part in my plans for the Beacon Hill Railway, but still – there it was on eBay, and for some reason it was calling to me. OK, I’d done a little homework and knew that Cheddar, which ceased production in 2006, enjoyed a high reputation in the hobby. And as I’ve built up my live steam roster, I’ve realised that I really enjoy the differences between engines – the quirks that make each one slightly different to run. A Cheddar loco – it was clear – would certainly inject a bit of variety into my motive power department. Still, I hadn’t expected it to be quite so different. The Samson is based…

I first saw the new kit on the Brandbright stand at the 16mm show at Stoneleigh in April. I thought it looked quite attractive and that it would fit in well with my Darjeeling stock. Mentioning this to the owner, Ken, he asked me if I would like to review it for the magazine. I happily agreed and the kit arrived in the post a few days later. I read the instructions, always a good idea, and laid the components out to identify the different parts using the useful list. It is sensible to only separate the laser-cut plywood parts for each stage. The bodyshell and plank overlays went together easily with judicious use of clamps to hold the PVA-glued joints. The side doors can be built so that the…

1 | The laser-cut wagon body parts. Note the bars across the gaps for the doors, these are removed during the build. 2 | The somewhat complicated wagon door parts, along with the axle boxes. 3 | One of the trickier jobs, clamping the door hinge straps. 4 | If you’ve not glued everything up solid, the result are some opening doors. 5 | The painted doors with retaining pins and chains. 6 | The completed wagon, showing the Darjeeling coupler end. 7 | Fitted with 20mm wheels, and in a trains of stock built by Harvey Watkins.…

Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway Gala with 16mm Garden Railway Show Date: 30 August, 2025 Venue: Llanfair Leisure Centre, Llanfair Caereinion, Welshpool, SY21 0HW Times: 10am to 4:00pm Web: www.wllr.org.uk/events/steam-gala/ Yorkshire Garden Railway Show Date: 27 September, 2025 Venue: Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Centre, Campbell Drive, Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S43 2PR Times: 10am to 4:00pm Web: www.yorkshire.16mm.org.uk Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition Date: 16-19 October, 2025 Venue: Warwickshire Event Centre, A425, Southam Road, Leamington Spa, CV31 1FE Times: Thurs-Sat 10am to 4:30pm, Sun 10am to 4pm Web: www.midlandsmodelengineering.co.uk Exeter Garden Railway Show Date: 25 October, 2025 Venue: The Matford Centre, Marsh Barton Ind Estate, Exeter, EX2 8FD Times: 10:30am to 4:30pm Web: www.exetergardenrailwayshow.com The National Festival of Railway Modelling Date: 22-23 November, 2025 Venue: Hall 5, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham,…