Innehållsförteckning för July 2024 från Garden Rail

Our main feature this issue centres on the National Garden Railway show, the biggest show aimed at large-scale modellers in the UK. When you wander around the event, it’s easy to forget that the whole thing is put on by volunteers. Alan Regan is the man who had to juggle all the various elements of the show – backed up, of course, by a team from the 16mm Association. He’s the one who has to remember to tell exhibitors that they can’t wear open-toed footwear during the setup (yes, really) and try to sort out how to cram everything into the new hall. Up and down the country, the doors open on shows because of the efforts of unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours work for the love of…

It won’t be that long before the nights start to draw in and running trains as the sun goes down becomes part of the fun. We’ll certainly be entertained by photos appearing on social media, and hopefully in Garden Rail, as keen garden railway owners eke the last few running sessions out of the year. Those photos look a lot better if there are working lights in the coaches, but fitting them can be a fiddle. Fortunately, at the NGRS, Coach & Wagon Works pressed a new kit into my hand for review, which should make fitting illumination a whole the bag lot simpler – at least all the bits are in, which is a help. The kit is sensibly generic, containing the components required to do the job, but…

Like many narrow gauge railways, the Newton and Southlands Tramway (NST) has, at one end, an interchange with the standard gauge mainline railway. In my imagination, this is conceived to be at the Northumberland market town of Newton, on the North Eastern Railway’s section of the East Coast Main Line. From the start, I have had a fiddle yard in the shed containing almost all the freight facilities, so modelling an interchange did not matter, it could be imagined, but I had admired various Gauge 3 items, and the advertising of a ‘standard gauge style’ open wagon by Red Star Steam Packet led to an exchange of correspondence and the development of actual standard gauge wagons - not Gauge 3, but proper, 16mm scale, 75mm gauge vehicles. Thus evolved a…

My modular garden railway, ‘Lynton’ has evolved over 25 years, and a recent change to add a straight section in the reverse curve has moved the station and loco siding too close to the house to be comfortable for steaming up. I had planned the station modules to be in line, exhibition style, so I used a righth-and point for the goods sidings. Running anti-clockwise around the left-hand curve into the platform loop immediately runs into the right-hand point of the loco release, and this has been the cause of many derailments. The right-hand siding has blocked any straight extension of the main platform road, so I decided I needed new modules reversing the goods yard point, permitting a future straight section on the main line into the station. The…

New venues always throw up a few interesting challenges. Moving the NGRS back to Stoneleigh Park from Peterborough might have seemed like an easy move for the team putting on the 16mm Association show, but there was always going to be some fun and games. The first hint was an email informing me that I couldn’t bring my van up to my stand. It seems Stoneleigh is funny about vans in halls, and so everything would have to be carted in from the car park. That’s not a long way, except when you normally bring in about half-a-ton of material to build a garden! Plan B was required. Earlier this year, for the Midlands show, I installed a circle of LGB track on some tables, piled up a bag of…

Every so often, something different appears on my doorstep, and this biplane is certainly that. Modeltown tell me this model is loosely based on a Sopwith Pup. It is a fair rendition of the original, but a basic kit, which you can personalise if you wish to. A quick search of Google Images reveals the breadth of paint schemes available, so you can’t really get it wrong. The Pup was originally called the Sopwith Scout, but was nicknamed ‘Pup’ as it was the smallest aircraft in Sopwith’s hangar. There are so many variants of the Pup too. A twin seater version for training or observation, single seaters with various machine guns, some even mounted on top of the top wing, the aircraft was even adapted to carry a bomb load.…

These brake vans were used on various South African Railway 2ft gauge lines and came with either a quarter or half window. I ordered one of each variant in plywood. Each box contained a comprehensive set of well-detailed instructions and numerous parts that use the tab and slot principle found in all the Resurgam kits. Couplings and vacuum pipes were ordered from Andrew Giffen at Custom Model Rail (CMR). These are 3D printed and, like everything else from him, a quality product. Decals are a mixture of DECadry and Letraset rubon transfers, yes they are still available via eBay and Amazon, but are becoming harder to get. Although the kits are well detailed, I decided to enhance them further with angle iron, using Plastruct, rather than the wooden sections supplied…

I must have seen three or four of my own Roundhouse Lady Anne models, including a Silver Lady, come and go over the years, but I still keep coming back to them. It could be argued that Lady Anne is one of the most popular live steam locos for beginners and experts alike, and is very reliable too. You can buy RTR versions of these, or if you fancy building one yourself, grab a chassis, boiler and a body kit and DIY. So, when I spied ‘Arthur’ in 2021, I could see that this was a different take on the standard Roundhouse offering. The boiler and chassis are standard Roundhouse products, topped off with a metal and brass ‘Arthur’ body kit from Mike’s Models. Most of the bending of the…

MODEL ENGINEERS LASER Ruston 10HP ‘Keyhole’ locomotive kit 7/8th scale This 45mm gauge kit, launched at the NGRS, includes a pre-welded chassis, bearings, axles, motors, gears, body panels, fuel tank and axlebox 3D prints. The model is four-wheel drive from two 12v micro motors, and there is plenty of room within the bonnet for a variety of batteries. MEL’s test model uses 3S LiPo batteries, with a LocoRemote controller. Plastic, plywood and brass versions are available to suit modellers preferences. To complete, the modeller will need to source wheels from Walsall Model Industries and some 3D-printed parts from Dean Goods. Details Price: £125 Website: www.modelengineerslaser.co.uk BOOT LANE WORKS Penrhyn Quarry Railway, Port Class Hunslet kit 16mm scale ‘Cariad’ uses 3D printed parts from filament and resin, and laser-cut acrylic. The…

NEXT MONTH ON SALE JULY 11TH GARDEN Rail From Germany, Werner’s balcony layout for field railway enthusiasts. Also, in our AUGUST issue: • Simon Atkinson builds a superb Tallyllyn viaduct • LGB ‘Otto’ to realistic Kerr Stuart • Plus, much more……