Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Garden Rail

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…

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 PEPPA PIG RAILCAR May I thank John Dunford for his kind mention of me in March’s Garden Rail, and congratulate him on his well-thought-out Peppa Pig bus conversion to a PW rolling stock item. I think his model gives a more realistic and practical use compared to my own. And sorry, no, I won’t be the one to take on a tram conversion! Eddie Lund PLATELAYERS HUT Where you got the barge boards wrong, a second one in the right place, slightly deeper than the misplaced originals, should make things look OK. There’s no need to worry…

My wife and I are both Scout Leaders, and last summer we were planning our activities programme for 2022/23. At about the same time, I’d been asked by an online model railway journal to write about a 00 gauge Ivor the Engine-themed micro layout that I’d built back in 2020. It occurred to us that doing something Ivor-themed might be a good basis for a project to undertake with our youngest members in the Squirrels Section, who are all around four years old. We were looking for subject matter for a few weeks worth of meetings based on a story, with games and crafting activities thrown in too, so they could get a couple of different badges. Our plan was to combine reading an Ivor tale together as a group,…

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.…

Times are hard on the Tramway, and it has been necessary to look for other markets to replace the lost tourist trade. Over the years, I have been given various side tip wagons varying from a rake of Tri-ang Big-Big Tippers, bought at a swap-meet in the 1980s, when they were worthless, to a Tom Cooper chassis, which had been left out in the mud to mature for 10 years. These side-tip wagons were made mostly for use in mining and quarrying. From the South African diamond and gold mines to the slate quarries of Llanberis, the Hudson side tip wagons are ubiquitous. I wanted to find out more, so my attention turned to my 1915 Robert Hudson Catalogue, which had been reprinted by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society in…

GARDEN RAILWAY SPECIALISTS 16mm scale live steam 0-6-0 Peckett GRS has now received the initial batch of its latest Peckett locos. Manufactured by Bowande to 16mm 1/19th scale, models are available in both 32mm and 45mm gauges. There is a choice of four liveries: ‘Jurassic’, ‘Triassic’ and two versions of ‘Liassic’, Specification: Poker burner Full Stephenson valve gear Suspension Water gauge and filler system Lining and nameplates are also included Cab-mounted R/C available as an option Price: £1995 (manual version) Rail Bender Manufactured in the UK and available with rollers for four different rail sections. LGB Code 332 Tenmille Code 330 Peco Code 250 Peco Code 200 Price £199 Rollers only are also available, priced at £20.00 per set. Garden Railway Specialists 6 Summerleys Rd, Princes Risborough HP27 9DT www.grsuk.com…

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…

In 2016, I had been invited to exhibit at a local model railway exhibition. There was a problem though, I didn’t have much rolling stock, and I needed a rake of coaches. The price of, say, five coach kits had me saying ‘How mmmmmmmmuch!’ I had only recently returned to 16mm scale after a time in 4mm, and a recent house move meant funds were needed elsewhere. Having read about making rolling stock from card, I decided to give it a try. The Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers has a good set of resources, and the e-Group had Ffestiniog Railway ‘bug box’ type drawings available. These looked ideal, with their short wheelbase, as due to the need for tight curves, I had to think small. My major influence in…

On sale 11th May The future is bright, the future is orange. It’s also encouraging young modellers, which Mark A. Greenwood does, with a detailed new Simplex build. Also, in our June issue: You’ve seen it at the National Garden Rail Show, as well as many other events, but what’s involved when Much Grumblyn goes on tour? Robert Hannaford lets us in on the secrets. Empty wagons? Dave Skertchly carries on looking at goods stock with some ideas to fill them up. We are building another ‘Layout in a day’ at Peterborough. Find out how we got on.…