Garden Rail November 2025

I am not happy. On page 27, there is a competition to win a fantastic Gauge 3 14xx tank, worth an astonishing £2495. And I am not allowed to enter. You can, though, so don’t miss out on the chance to secure what must be the most impressive prize offered in this magazine ever. Gauge 3 is normally considered the largest model railway scenic scale. As our lead layout, Warton Road proves, it can be railway modelling, rather than model engineering. A trip to the annual AGM, or perusal of adverts in this magazine, shows that while the range of products available is smaller than you find in other scales, it’s supported by an active trade and enjoyed by a reasonable number of modellers. Of course, you can also employ…

http://www.nfrm.co.uk/ Warton Road is an exhibition standard railway modelled to Gauge 3 standards. It depicts a ‘might have been’, where a preservation society has taken over the running of a branch line closed as part of the 1960s Beeching rationalisation programme. The layout was inspired by the late John Witts, a prolific and skilful model builder in O gauge who was asked in the early 2000s to construct an open wagon to Gauge 3 standards for a television programme. John was so taken with the scale that he decided to build a short (12ft) demonstration shunting puzzle to take to shows to help publicise the scale. This consisted of several sidings built on planks of timber, but did not satisfy John, who wanted a scenic setting for his models. With…

Most readers of Garden Rail will be familiar with the recent 0-4-0ST Festiniog England locos made by Roundhouse Engineering, but less well known are some earlier incarnations of these iconic small engines. ‘The Prince’ was the first live steam England to be produced by a very skilled model engineer called Robin Gosling, way back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These veritable jewels of 16mm were modelled on the very early version of the locomotives, with a simple tender, before they were rebuilt with saddle tanks and cabs. In 1975, a basic B and a more detailed A version of the engine was offered fitted with outside cylinders with inside valves, slip eccentric valve gear between the frames and springing on the driving axles. On the backhead of the…

With the space available for the garden line, about 6ft by 4ft, established, and the plants purchased, the matter of how to build the line was next to be addressed. This was surprisingly complicated and took a bit of a run-up when it came to designing it. Our experience with the old 45mm line heavily influenced us in this regard; that had been a ground-level line, laid onto plastic boards on the gravel. As we rocket into middle age, the prospect of scrambling around down there appeals less and less. Getting down to rail level is fairly easy, getting back up, less so, particularly while trying to maintain dignity. Therefore, we planned to have the layout raised up. It would also make it a bit easier to see, whilst we’re…

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, B40 1NT Times: Sat: 10am to 5.00pm Sun: 10am to 4:30pm Web: www.nfrm.co.uk Steam in Beds Date: Sat 22 November, 2025 Venue: Eaton Bray Village Hall, Church Lane, Eaton Bray, LU6 2DJ Times: 10am to 4.00pm Web: www.bag16mm.org.uk Steam At Rowington Date: Sat 13 December, 2025 Venue: Rowington Village Hall, Rowington Green, Warwick, CV35 7DB Times: 10am to…

Write in and share your ideas with other enthusiasts 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. Quarryman’s Coach I have just read the article by David Pinniger on building a Brandbright Eliptical openended wagon in Garden Rail no.373, and noted that he had to change the wheels for a smaller diameter, finding difficulty in removing the axle guards. There is a simple solution to this, albeit incurring extra cost! I have just completed two Brandbright 4-wheel coaches and used its brass trunnion sets to install the wheels inside the axleguards, which is now only cosmetic. I had occasion to change one set of wheels,…