Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Garden Rail

Here on the Upper Redcroft Light Railway, I take great pride in knowing that the majority of my locomotives are at least 10 years old, or unique. This afternoon is a humid day after the first hot days of August and I’m sat in a camping chair that has only been used for camping less than half a dozen times, but creates a comfortable base for holding any transmitter and jottings for an article. My locomotive of choice today is a Pearse Genesis class number 145, an 0-6-0 side tank arrangement consisting of fully flanged wheels with outside frames and a cheeky whistle, in gloss black with red and white lining sporting the name ‘Angela’. Inside the cab on this version, the regulator opened three-quarters of a turn, the steam…

A garden railway had been very much on the wish list since childhood; trips to model villages and the like left a desire to have a model railway with trains rattling around between the flowers and plants. After constructing various trains in the larger scales, mainly to create props for art and photography projects, we found ourselves with a somewhat eccentric collection of stock, but nowhere to run them. Our own garden definitely didn’t suit a railway, apart from anything else, you could get from the back door to the rear wall in about seven or eight steps, but after a chat with the in-laws, they offered an unused area of their own plot. This roughly L-shaped patch of land was covered in gravel, with raised beds on two sides,…

If you can fire up a live steam loco, then you will have no issues in running this superbly built model from Maxitrak, as in principle it is the same technique. Fill the boiler, add gas to the gas tank, steam oil to the lubricator, which is located in the cab, oil up the gears and driving rods, and away you go! This traction engine has been produced for Maxitrak by Accucraft (as is attested to on the maker’s plate) and is offered in several colourways and variants. The basic model is an open-cabbed agricultural engine. Other variants include a steam crane, road roller and Showman’s engine. You can either purchase these variants as RTR models, or buy the basic model and add various parts to turn it into the…

Model Railway Clearing House Graham Langer may have retired from Accurascale, but he’s still very much involved in our hobby with ‘The Model Railway Clearing House’, established to act as an intermediary between those with items of garden scale model railways to sell and those looking to buy. He specialises in Gauge 0 and Gauge 1 narrow and standard gauge locomotives and rolling stock from 1:32 to 1:13.7 scales, usually selling on a commission basis to ensure both vendors and buyers get a fair deal. Graham also keeps a list of items customers are searching for and handles estate sales of suitable models to ensure they find good homes. For more details, visit www.mrc-h.co.uk Bowande Live Steam Simon and Elaine have now retired from the Gauge 1 business. They would…

Dixon Green started life in 2007 as a simple circuit just 5m long and 2.4m wide, joined to a small terminus via a triangular junction. The name was chosen in memory of the garden railway built by a recentlydeceased member of the Yorkshire Group of the 16mm Association. Perhaps the layout should have been named ‘Topsy’ because, since 2007, it ‘just growed’. Today, the layout comprises 37 baseboards, which can be configured into a number of different floorplans, such as a U-format, an L-format or a long, straight format. As you’ll see from the floorplans, the trackplan is now a dumbbell, with two return loops joined by a long-running line. Along the route there is a drift mine and a mine shaft, a dockside scene, two large stations and a…

I’ve always said that non-enthusiasts understand large-scale models more easily than the small stuff. Present someone with a couple of OO gauge diesels and tell them these cost £300 each because they have lights and sound, and they scratch their heads at the amount you pay for your ‘toys’. Show the same person a live steam loco, and even though it might cost four or more times as much, they ‘get it’. The model is made from metal. It doesn’t need fake sound as being powered by steam, it will chuff properly. More to the point, it is BIG. Big, impressive models should be enjoyed. Not just on your garden railway, but back at home too. No one should feel their hobby ought to be hidden away. Not this hobby…

As it’s meant to be the summer holidays, despite the constant rain, I thought this might be of interest, it’s a cheap build of an interesting scenic item. How did this build come about? Well, before kids, in the days of having money, I used to own a plywood-built teardrop trailer, which we used to take on holidays to the Isle of Wight with my wife. Two kids later, and incidentally now living on the Isle of Wight, I started to build a garden railway with the following limitations; money, space and time to do it. The resulting layout is small, so I won’t be running anything large on it, especially with the radius of some of the curves, but it was very much in need of some little caravans…

Your Editor has always had a soft spot for 2-4-0 Bagnalls, I blame the Groudle Glen Railway for that, so when the chance came to give Accucraft’s new Rheidol a test, I eagerly grabbed it. History Originally named ‘Treze de Maio’, the engine was built by Bagnalls for a sugar cane plantation in 1896 but never delivered as the order was cancelled. The locomotive was then re-gauged from 2’ 5 ½” gauge to 2’ 3” gauge and sold to the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway, renamed ‘Talybont’. In 1903, after the failure of that railway, it was purchased by the contractor Pethick Brothers for the construction of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, regauged yet again to 1’ 11 ¾” and renamed ‘Rheidol’. In 1904, the spark arrestor chimney was replaced with…

Armed with your checklist from last month, you should now be able to identify a good Bachmann anniversary loco and tender on the secondhand market, be it online or at a railway show. If, like me, you hate getting down on your hands and knees to carry out the laborious task of cleaning tarnished track – time that could be used to actually run a train, then a conversion to batterypowered radio control is the way to go. Just a quick walk around the garden to spot and remove the obstructions like acorns, twigs and stones the size of scale boulders, and you’re good to go. Now, all you need is a loco to run. So, how do you convert your lovely new 4-6-0 loco to radio control without destroying…

Write in and share your ideas with other enthusiasts Letters are welcomed on any aspect of largescale 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. The Archangel ‘Taw’ runs again The 40-year-old meths fired Archangel ‘Taw’ repatriated in bits from Australia, and written up in the September issue, has now had its first run on the Ambledown Valley Railway. It was carefully rebuilt by Nigel Town, incorporating a new meths tank and burners. After a few setbacks with loose cranks and unsatisfactory radio gear, Nigel kindly retrofitted a manual reverser and a long regulator arm. The first run with the new set-up was very successful, with ‘Taw’ happily pulling a short L & B…

ACCUCRAFT UK/MAXITRAK LTD Mini Planet locomotives 16mm scale The Planet is based on the 2ft gauge light industrial locomotives manufactured by F.C. Hibbard and Co at its Park Royal works in London. These engines were common in industrial service, both narrow and standard gauge, and were found at many naval dockyards. This model features an all-steel bonnet, chassis and full cab and incorporates the distinctive Planet radiator and makers plates. Constructed with moulded and 3D-printed parts to give an enhanced level of detail. Details Specification: Length: 192mm over buffer beams. Width: 99mm Height: 158mm over roof Wheel Dia: 30mm Wheelbase: 62mm Weight: 1.5kg without battery Geared: 12v motor with bevel gear drive to rear axle. Delrin chain drive to adjustable front axle Powered: 12v Battery Three pocket coupler, this can…