Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Garden Rail

ARE WE DOOMED? In the run-up to writing these words, I’ve spent a lot of time reporting for our World of Railways website, on both the closure of Liverpool retailer, Hattons, and the decision of the Warley club to knock its NEC exhibition on the head after 30 years. Obviously, this means our hobby is doomed. Yes, it’s all over for railway modelling. Except, it’s not. The reasons for Hattons closure is complicated, but the management is at least able to run the business down, not just shut the doors and leave people out of pocket. In fact, the website has never been busier, with people keen to grab one more bargain. Once they finally do close down, there are plenty of other companies who will be happy to perform…

I am always on the lookout for models that can be adapted to run on my British-themed railway. The choices in the marketplace for British locos are really few and far between, apart from narrow gauge, or the hugely more expensive Gauge 1 models. Way beyond my budget, as nice as they are! The History In the mid 1950s, British Railways was trying to modernise its ageing fleet of locos and rolling stock, leading to the eventual scrapping of steam traction. Many new locos were ordered and put into service, most without testing or trial running. There was also a move to import existing foreign reliable railway stock into the country to speed up the transition. In 1958, five railcars were purchased from Germany, a controversial move as it was…

It all started when I was looking at an old copy of Garden Rail, December 2001, where I came across a piece by the late Peter Jones, on the Pilgrim Tradesman. Designed and developed by Barry Reeves, the Tradesman was a 32mm/45mm gauge diesel-electric locomotive that used a glowplug engine to drive a dynamo to power a traction motor. This type of model loco was new to me, so I trawled the internet to see what else I could find out, but as it seems to be a niche branch of the hobby, I didn’t find much. However, I did stumble across a reference to a ‘live diesel’ (LD) group that was posted on the Continental Garden Trains forum (www.continental-garden-t.forumotion.com/f3-live-diesel). Though the group has not been active for several years,…

I got fed up cleaning track, so had Micron fit radio control equipment to three of my LGB locos, and a Bachmann tram. Just as these arrived back with me, Piko brought out its GE four-wheel diesel with factory-fitted radio control, using a key fob control, which I bought. Proving to be a Really Useful Engine, I added extra details, and named it ‘RUE’. This gave me a loco independent of the other radio controller, and powered by domestic rechargeable batteries. Later, Kent Garden Railways offered a Piko starter set for just over £200, including a battery-powered, radio controlled, GE diesel, wagon, coach and a circle of track. This was too good an offer to miss and I felt there had to be a way of using the diesel loco…

When Regner announced a model of the famous locomotives that operated the Guinness Dublin brewery, it was certainly a surprise. These were unusual machines, not something that could be seen on any other line, and yet, the prospect was certainly appealing. The prototype By 1875, horses had been displaced on the 1ft 10in gauge internal railway network, replaced by a couple of diminutive Sharp Stewart steam locomotives. These didn’t satisfy the chief engineer, Mr Geoghagan. They picked up too much dirt and grit from the ground, which caused excessive wear to all the mechanical parts. Starting with a blank sheet of paper, his solution was to mount the 7-inch cylinders, on top of a marine-type boiler, driving the 1ft 10inch diameter wheels via vertical rods. The first example was built…

Where to start? Possibly at the beginning. I was always into railways as a child and a young adult, but then came girls and the distractions that they bring. Two children later and a diagnosis of CMT (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary motor sensory neuropathy) by the consultant, led to a lot more time to do stuff. Get a hobby, he said. What does this mean dear reader? I have a failing nervous system, which means nerves are dying off at the ends. It leads to muscle wasting, so I can’t feel my feet or my fingertips. My hands sometimes don’t work, or I drop things, and I tend to fall over a lot, which explains a lot, but not the sarcasm. I spotted an LGB starter set in the local…

Rail-Road (formerly LocoLines) card kits for 16mm scale locos, rolling stock and road vehicles have been in production for some years, but I’ve never explored their potential until recently. After seeing an article in the February 2023 edition of Garden Rail, in which Andy Young described how he made an England loco in card from scratch, I thought I would try out one of the Rail-Road kits, and opted for the quarry Hunslet style loco. The kit was relatively easy to put together – I followed the instructions to the letter as the medium and methods were new to me. The resultant loco was quite acceptable, if somewhat basic. To be fair, the instructions make it clear that further enhancements might be needed and make some suggestions as to how…

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 Living Vans Your article on the Bole Laser Craft ‘travelling van’ as you called it, was spot on. I think they are referred to as living vans, or Showman’s caravans for the more ornate versions. There are a few options to find a steam engine to pull these. Tag Gorton wrote an article many years ago about his Maxitrack Allchin, which seemed to fit 16mm scale. I have this engine and also three similar models from DR Mercer. They are quite hard to come by now as I…

We’re travelled from Exeter to Yorkshire this month for our pictures. Don’t forget, if you’d like to see your models on this page, send a photo to phil.parker@warnersgroup.co.uk. NEXT MONTH On sale March 14th Inspired by time as a driver on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, Phil Clarke has fitted the delightful Willow Brooke into a cottage garden. Also, in our APRIL issue: • Michael Duffy shows us how he created the amazing buildings seen in this issue • David Bancroft builds an estate railway train • plus, much more……

Perusing the 16mm Association Facebook site one weekend, I saw the latest model from Sixteen Mills – a bogie fish van kit for SM32 scale. I am a firm fan of these MDF-based creations, having built several kits, so this was a must-have. David Mills puts great thought into the method of construction so that everything slots together ‘just so’, with some wonderful detail to boot. I contacted David and two kits arrived very promptly. These wagons are so new, that David hasn’t had a chance to provide specific instructions for them yet. However, as they are based on a Ffestiniog bogie ballast wagon, which he supplied as a guide, and are like the four-wheel fish van I’d built previously, I figured I’d be in safe territory when building. Instructions…

It is getting a bit chilly out there at the end of November 2023 as I write this, and although I plan on running light services throughout the winter, I thought it was time to take stock of my locos that I have in …er… stock, and to get them all working properly once again. Like many, I am guilty of having too many locos and too little time to run them all! But I was strict with myself this year, and while there are a handful of locos on my wish list, I wanted to get everything I currently have ‘on shed’ tidied up and working before I start to add more. What I thought was be an easy task, actually took several months, and involved sourcing several new…

A railway without line-side details is not so much a railway as a test track. We all start off with good intentions, which means that we will buy, make and install those details that will both charm and impress the visitors. There are hundreds of possible details, and while each individual item purchased may be of low cost and undoubtedly good value for money, the total cost soon mounts up. Making, modifying and scrounging lineside accessories from scrap has worked out well, but after some 10 years, most now require maintenance or replacement. So, here is the story of the lineside updates. As I sit on my rustic Park Bench outside the Sheep Shearers Arms, I sip at my pint of fine Auld Phagbutt and now appreciate the effort that…

As I type this missive in early January, there is no snowfall at all. But the late 2023 sugar beet harvest, combined with the wettest December that I can remember, resulted in an unholy mush along my single-track road. I swear there is more mud on the road than there is on the adjoining fields. At least I can get my long lens out to photograph the flocks of Canada Geese who have made a short stopover on their way to a warmer climate as they waddle through the standing water on the water-logged fields. But, I like to plan ahead, and the thought crossed my mind that eventually the cold snap that we have been promised will eventually come, yet my patio railway is particularly ill-equipped to cope with…

LGB Mallet Locomotive G scale The Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railroad Company (NWE) placed a series of 12 Mallet locomotives between 1897 and 1900, of which nine were built by the firm Jung in Jungenthal, and another three were delivered by the Mecklenburg Car Factory Stock Company in Güstrow. These locomotives were very reliable, and with performance of 255 horsepower and maximum speed of 30 km/h/19 mph, the 34 metric ton machines fulfilled all of the requirements expected of them. However, in World War I, six units had to be handed over to the Army Field Railways – they never came back from this service. Another locomotive had to be retired after a serious accident, and the remaining five were taken over by the DR in 1949 to be rostered as road numbers…