Innehållsförteckning för April 2024 från Garden Rail

McEwan Pratt began manufacturing internal combustion locomotives at the beginning of the Twentieth century and was taken over by Baguley Cars in 1912. During the First World War, they produced the 10hp 0-4-0PM, and supplied over 50 of these to the War Department Light Railways, for use on the narrow gauge railway system. In 1919, an order was placed by the Board of Trade for six bigger, more powerful, 20hp locomotives that could be used to haul timber/logs, and it was one of these that found its way to the Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn, via the Oakley Slate Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Another one was reputed to have worked the Kerry Tramway but was eventually scrapped. It is this 20hp model that the late Pete Farley was commissioned to…

Greetings from North East Hampshire, home of the Brambles Light Railway, a 5” gauge line around our house. I mention this as it looks like it is becoming the home of the Brambles Extra-Light Railway as well! In Garden Rail 347, there was a picture of Phil Sharples’s new Estate loco, and my quirky mind decided I had to have one. I always like things that are a bit out of the ordinary and this was it! I duly received permission from the director of domestic affairs that this, and a couple of trucks, should become my anniversary present. I sent off for the kits, which arrived very quickly, but were promptly ‘disappeared’ by said director, as I had to wait until our anniversary. In the meantime, I had looked…

It was the generous gift of some 3D-printed cable drums from Mark Thatcher that inspired this project. I was discussing these with Phil and he made one of those throw-away comments, which seemed so innocuous at the time, but led to all sorts of trials and tribulations, ‘why not build a low loader’. I searched through my narrow gauge reference books for a prototype, and there were none. There were plenty of wagons with a dropped centre well, but no recognisable low loaders. Now, as so often happens, I was at the time I was reading Tracks to the Trenches, the story of Colonel Pechot by Sarah Wright. While Pechot was still at Staff College, he realised that fast-moving mobile warfare required fast-moving mobile logistics to keep the troops supplied,…

BOOT LANE WORKS ‘Varsity’ Dinorwic Hunslet kit 16mm scale Inspired by the Dinorwic Quarry Hunslet 1895 Mills Class ‘Vaenol’, later to become ‘Jerry M’ and released for the Midland Garden Railway Show. ‘Varsity’ is Boot Lane Works’ first venture into outside framed models and comes complete with an ‘idiot-proof’ method of quartering the outside cranks. Peter Binnie wheels on stainless steel axles, brass bearings and a Boot Lane Works gearbox, the kit includes a 3/6 volt motor, and a second gearbox for those who wish to upgrade to a 12-volt MFA 385. Supplied with laser-cut acrylic frames, cab, filament-printed frame stretchers, motion, boiler, and resin-printed detail parts. Please note, the model in the photos is yet to be fitted with sandboxes, but these are included in the kit. Also included…

My interest in railway modelling began many years ago when our father brought me and my brother (David) a Tri-ang train set for Christmas, this set us off on a whole new world of adventures. We became avid trainspotters, and modellers, encouraged by our father. Considering he had spent three years as a POW, building the Burma Siam railway for the Japanese, this was quite a surprise. David and I spent the next few years travelling far and wide in the pursuit of steam engines before they were all scrapped. Over the years, I began to look at reigniting my interest in model railways, and with the introduction of Lima O gauge models, I constructed my first outdoor garden railway. This was only partly successful, due to the difficulties of…

The garden railway show season has started and the biggest, the National Garden Railway Show, will take place at the NAEC, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LZ, on Saturday, April 27th. We’re back at the NAEC for the first time in 12 years, which gives us an opportunity to revamp the show. Except for Member-to-Member Sales, which is in the light and airy Foyer, all other attractions are in the one massive hall, so no worrying that you’ll miss something. We have 71 exhibitors from across the garden and narrow-gauge railway spectrum, plus a whopping 17 layouts, big and small, some new to our show, and some old favourites. 16mm scale, G scale, Gauge One and Gauge 3 will all be present, showcasing what can be achieved in these scales. If…

One of the things that drives my garden railway, Lazy Grange Bay 3, is that there has to be a reason for everything. I like to ponder things while my wife watches TV. I ponder stuff, mostly about the railway, the village, what to do next, and why. One thing that stood out to me was the need to replace one of the original resin buildings, which had started to revert back to kit form after 10 years outside, with something more realistic, and unique. After looking on the internet for images, I found the Greyhound Coaching Inn in Lutterworth. Perfect, it ticked all my requirements. There is a waggon archway, it had mock stone frontage and the rear was very interesting to model. Having found an image to work…

After last month’s look at my Quarry Hunslet, now is the turn to sort out the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes loco from Roundhouse. This has a special place in my heart as it is one of three locos that my wife and I bought together. It is gauged to 45mm, although for around £80, Roundhouse can supply converted 32mm leading and trailing bogie sets for the loco and four sets of 32mm wheels for the tender. The driving wheels are gauge-adjustable, just by loosening the grub screws on the wheels and moving them to suit. We bought this locomotive at 45mm to suit the previous gauge of a railway we had in the garden from Glendale junction back in the day. It is a lovely model, but really does…

My Grandfather had a number of great qualities, many of which I have inherited. Sadly, frugality was not one of them. If I gave you £50 to spend on something garden-railway related, what would it be? A small lineside building or a modest wagon kit maybe? Whilst I will often defend this hobby as not being that expensive compared with other pastimes, I have to admit that a ‘Bullseye’ in East End parlance, does not go far these days. Yet this range from DT Scale Miniatures is truly trouser-money purchases. In fact, under £50 will get you five items from this relatively new company, and I will take a look at them all. Apart from being great value for money, what impressed me about this range is that, rather than…

Not that many years ago, I married my best friend, and to add an individual touch, I came up with a way to sneak a bit of train into our special day in the form of a cake topper. This was a Hartland Locomotive Works ‘Woody’, with a few wedding additions I made, including trailing cans, a Just Married sign and a white ribbon. I purchased the Woody specifically for the day, and the pilot was missing when it arrived from the shop in the USA to me in Australia. The missing pilot didn’t worry me because I was not too fond of the look of it, and I had enough time before the wedding to build my own. The funny part of the story was that when I was…

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 Moving Garden Rail It seems the power of my letter in February’s GR is very strong indeed. I went to my WH Smith yesterday, and look where it was! Although interestingly next to Boat mag as well – I guess even the grandest Roundhouse looks cheap compared to a superyacht. Mick Blowfield Excelsior I enjoyed Dave Skertchley’s article in Garden Rail 354, where he detailed how he rebuilt his Bagnall Excelsior, and this got me thinking that I may have something similar. I had no idea of the…