Garden Rail May 2023

Steam engines, even little ones, don’t travel light. Once I started running on other people’s tracks, I quickly realised that there are many bits and pieces that need to travel in support of the engine. Fuel, two types of oil, water, lighters, syringes, a selection of tools – forget any of these and you are likely to be standing at the lineside trying to look appealing to all your fellow enthusiasts as you try to borrow the items you forgot. Garden railway people are the nicest you will meet, but even they will lose patience with someone who is persistently on the scrounge. Carrying all this lot requires a box, and I’ve been using a rather nice ‘flight box’, which, as its name suggests, is designed for model aircraft people.…

The Stella and Corglass Light Railway (S&CLR) is a bit of a mouthful, and like many over-promoted railways, has taken time to develop. It started in a hospital bed, loosely that is, as recovering from a serious illness gives one thinking time, a lot of it. A good friend brought me a copy of Garden Railways, by Ray Tustin, and I started planning by thinking I needed garden walls and devising the garden railway name. Despite missing a visit to a large-scale railway exhibition, I spent my time planning while recovering on holiday. During this period, I realised I would have to give up working, since my processing and concentration had dropped below what I thought acceptable to continue treating people and believe them to be safe. The NHS agreed.…

It took me a while to summon up the courage to build my Barrett Steam Models Ltd starter kit. Around seven years, to be precise. Initially, I wasn’t particularly interested in the kit for an L.N.E.R. J38 locomotive, but when Steve Barrett offered to make me a set of loco frames that would take the larger wheels to make a J39, I had to buy it. The version purchased was the electric one, and it came complete with wheels, motor and gearbox, plus over 60 pages of notes, drawings and instructions. I purchased an Isinglass drawing of a J39/1, in 10mm scale, as this would be needed with the conversion to a J39, supplemented by Yeadon’s Register of LNER locomotives, Volume 11, Gresley J39 Class for additional information. The kit…

The layout baseboards are made up of a series of plastic trays, through which the track runs. Around the railway are planting pockets filled with a mixture of John Innes No.3, with added horticultural sand and grit to make a very free-draining mix that never becomes water-logged. After planting, the surface between the plants was covered with small slate chippings. Not unsurprisingly, most alpines are sold by advertising their flowers, not for the size of their leaves, so I scoured the alpine sections of many different garden centres and online sellers. Generally, I considered the flowers to be a disadvantage and out of scale. Over time, I have added additional plants as I find them and/or replaced those that failed. Most have spread throughout the layout and have intermingled so…

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.uk Date: 26 to 19 May, 2023 Event: Aylsham Minor Running Weekend Venue: Bure Valley Railway, Aylsham Station, Norwich Road, Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6BW Times: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.bvrw.co.uk 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: 5 August, 2023 Event: East Midlands Large Scale Model Show Venue: The Maltings and the Memorial Hall, Wicksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4FB Times:…

Thanks to everyone and anyone who read part one, and before I conclude this build, I have to say there were several matters arising and a snagging list that needed to be sorted. So, the only option was to approach the Government and ask for an emergency meeting of the COBRA committee. No, not that one, but the Cornish Old Buildings Restoration Association. Here is the summary of the agenda and their findings. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice there is a gap in the bargeboards as they appear to be too short. That is because, rather than fitting them under the roof section, I mounted them to the ends of the roof. While the error could have been avoided had I studied the instructions more carefully, it just felt…