Garden Rail October 2025

In this issue, we dispel the myth that you need vast acres of garden to enjoy modelling in the larger scales. To start with, Mark Sayer builds a railway that is chock full of atmosphere, in a space 100 by 60cm (3 by 2ft in old money). While this means no long trains hauled by a Garratt meandering through the countryside, it does allow for a huge variety of different little locomotives, with suitably short rolling stock. Mark certainly seems to have built up quite a collection. Disappointing? Not at all. If, like me, you enjoy making things, then having somewhere to run a short train is far more fun than building wagons and hiding them in a cupboard. In fact, being able to give your latest creation a whirl…

From an early age, I was surrounded by toy trains, which I tried to run in the garden whenever possible. Even then, they seemed to look better outdoors. Objectively, wooden toy train track doesn’t work well on a lumpy lawn - no matter how many twigs and leaves I used to level it. My mother’s O gauge Hornby tinplate clockwork trains didn’t fare much better, often flying off corners even on a flat bedroom floor. What did look ‘right’ to me were the local 7¼” gauge railway trundling through an orchard, and the Ffestiniog and Talyllyn railways we visited on family holidays to Wales. Volunteering at the Severn Valley Railway only deepened that connection. All of this made it almost inevitable that one day I’d build a railway in my…

There seems to be an increasing interest in looking back at locos produced many years ago, something I am really fond of. I was at a steam up the other day where an original Pierce Countess was running – wonderful! But, while there is this interest, there seems to be less curiosity about diesel outline models of past years. That being the case, the Editor has persuaded me to tell you something about a model I built in 1982. So here goes. When our first child was on the way, I thought I should make some adjustments to my lifestyle, so I sold my motorbike and visited Stuart Brown in Penn and bought a Marmaduke locomotive, which I still have. My interest stemmed from a visit to the Town and…

Last month, I finished the railmotor, built from a Timpdon kit, and like most of my battery-electric models, control was a simple on/off switch that also changed the direction. There’s nothing wrong with this if all you want is to watch the train go by. But, what happens if you suddenly need to stop the model to avoid an obstruction on the track (I’m looking at you, cat)? Then, it’s time for a sprint along the railway, and a lunge to operate the switch. Since that is hidden underneath the boiler/chimney moulding on this model, it’s not going to be easy, even at the pedestrian pace the railmotor runs at. The solution is radio control, and helpfully, Phil at RC Trains feels the same. Better still, he’s made the process…

Yorkshire Garden Railway Show Date: Saturday, September 27th, 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: October 16-19th, 2025 Venue: Warwickshire Event Centre, A425, Southam Road, Leamington Spa, CV31 1FE Times: Thursday-Saturday: 10am to 4:30pm, Sunday: 10am to 4pm Web: www.midlandsmodelengineering.co.uk Exeter Garden Railway Show Date: October 25th, 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: November 22-23rd, 2025 Venue: Hall 5, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, B40 1NT Times: Saturday: 10am to 5.00pm, Sunday: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.nfrm.co.uk Steam in Beds Date: Saturday, November 22nd, 2025 Venue: Eaton Bray Village Hall, Church Lane, Eaton…

When I spotted a yard diorama in another magazine, it got me thinking that a 16mm scale version could be made using readily available kits. I suspect, like many over time, I had collected a few bits from various shows, etc., which end up on the ‘round to it’ list. I had some Modeltown stone walling, a gate, Plateway models box van, Modeltown steam lorry, several of its barrels, coal sacks and 40-gallon drums and some laser-cut plywood pit wheels, a couple of which were destined eventually for a separate pithead project. I haven’t gone into the build details of each kit as the manufacturer’s instructions are very easy to follow. Firstly, I needed a base. I had bought some 5mm PVC Foamex as a trial for scratch building, and…