Innehållsförteckning för May 2025 från Garden Rail

When Dave Pinniger told me he would be covering some Merlin steam locos in his latest look at visitors to the Ambledown Valley Railway, I looked forward to the article even more than normal. My Merlin Mayflower was picked up cheaply a few years ago and has proved to be an excellent performer, although it’s now in need of some new O-rings in the cylinders, as steam is leaking from them during the first run on a cold day. There is a lot of second-hand steam out there. Visit any show, and plenty of dealers will be only too happy to relieve you of some money to add to your fleet. If you are on a budget, this can be a tempting prospect. Dave’s reminiscences are very helpful here, as…

One of the first gas-fired 16mm locos to visit the Ambledown Valley Railway was Harvey Watkins’ ‘Gordon Bennett’ way back in 1986. This was a Merlin Monarch that had been subtly weathered by Harvey. Tom Cooper’s Merlin Engineering had a complicated and fascinating story, which is not known to many of today’s garden railway enthusiasts. James Ritson wrote a comprehensive account of the history of Merlin in 1997 in an American magazine called Steam in the Garden, but I suspect that there are not many copies of this that reached this country. I first came across Tom Cooper at an early 16mm Association meeting at Withington, where he was running an 0-4-0T called ‘Anna’ around a circle of LGB track. Tom was importing these engines from Beck, a long-established toy…

When we were building up our little test fleet of rolling stock for the planned 32mm layout, we bought almost everything at the Llangollen Garden Railway show, with an intention to purchase from a variety of suppliers to acquire a mix of kits in different media. This was partly for a bit of variety, and partly so we could try all the different materials and see what worked best for us - our previous foray into 45mm gauge had seen us mostly rebuilding toys or using LGB and Playmobil stock rather than building kits. The Build Having acquired mainly freight stock, it belatedly occurred to us it might be nice to have a passenger vehicle. Not least because being larger, it would be useful for checking clearances; most of the…

In the past, I have used Massoth insulated track clamps to make the section gaps on LGB 45mm gauge 332 section track. It certainly worked well and the solder tags allowed me to join or insulate the sections or use diodes to have automatic stops at headshunts. However, I found them annoying for the following reasons: • The screws are slotted • The 3mm hex nuts are supplied loose and need to be forced into round recesses under the plastic body • The solder tags are loose and need to be put between the screw head and rail as the screw is inserted and tightened against the rail This was not such a problem when I was younger, had better eyesight, nimble fingers, and was happy to get down on…

Powering a train, or at least a single coach, with a propeller, or air-screw is a crazy idea, but that hasn’t stopped it from being popular. The Schienenzeppelin, or ‘rail Zeppelin’, appeared on German rails in 1929 as a prototype highspeed railcar. In the UK, the Bennie railplane tried the same trick. Both were ultimately unsuccessful, but we enthusiasts still love them. In model form, Tri-ang produced the Battlespace Railcar, a train that owed much of its design to Saturday morning cinema Flash Gordon films. LGB has had a couple of goes with the Fortuna and Mars Flyers. In kit form, there is Swift Sixteen’s ‘Flash’, another throwback to those Flash Gordon films. Latest on the shelf, and the subject of this build, is Plateway models AeroTram. Initially available as…

My interest in garden railways began many years ago, back in the late 1990s. When I lived at home, my dad had an extensive OO gauge layout, which ran around all four walls of the spare room. For a reason I cannot really remember, he decided to get rid, probably to reclaim a room in the house. I remember going to a long-gone model shop in Wakefield, on Dewsbury Road, with lots of excitement as he’d arranged to part exchange all the OO gauge locomotives and stock with the hope of getting started in G scale. It was a success, we walked out with an LGB starter set, a few points, and extra track. The hobby had begun. My dad’s railway, over the following years, got bigger and bigger, which…

The subject matter of this article is a 16 HP Ruston. These small locos were used in a variety of locations, including quarries, peat cutting, construction projects and water works, often working on temporary or lightly laid track. A large quantity in various power ranges, gauges and formats, cabbed and cabless, were produced, and a number still grace various preserved lines. This model had been built from a Saltford Models Kit in the late 1980’s, by the son of a friend. For reasons long since forgotten, the BLR acquired it. However, as there was already one active on the railway (No 9 ‘The Mite’ built in 1986), this new one was moved to stores, occasionally being run, but not allocated name or number. Over the years, it had gradually vanished…

Having a steam locomotive in your collection is a wonderful thing. The sounds and sights of steam power, especially on a nice, crisp winter’s day is one of the best bits of our hobby. However, we all know getting that said locomotive is an expensive thing, especially if you go down the route of buying brand new. Fortunately, buying second-hand gives us options to shave a few pounds off our first, or next, steam engine. Currently, my steam fleet consists of three second-hand locomotives, and each one was under the £1000 mark. Luckily for me, the first two, an Accucraft Excelsior and Accucraft Ragleth, needed no work whatsoever as they both arrived in mint condition. The third one, and the subject of this article, however, needed some TLC, as it…

Back in the early seventies, every Saturday, a younger me would be driven by my Mum to my Grandparents in Hornchurch, Essex. It was the weekend treat and a big day out. We all descended on Woolworths, where I would fill up my Pick ‘n’ Mix bag with sweets. Now, I can’t recall how much this cost, but can remember it cost Mum 30p per gallon to buy petrol for her Mini. Ah – those were the days. Anyhow, I now admit to sweet-scrumping during these visits, as I am sure as many sweets found their way into my mouth as they did into my bag. I sincerely hope I did not contribute to the downfall of the Woolies. I loved those Pick ‘n’ Mix days, but as far as…

TIMPDON MODELS Steam Rail Motor 16mm scale Timpdon Models have teamed up with Boot Lane Works to produce something completely different - a steam rail motor. We are told that, while it’s not based on any specific prototype, the railcar takes its inspiration from the classic GWR Rail Motors Made from birch and poplar plywood with real glass windows, it is a sturdy design, which would be at home on any railway. The powered bogie has been specially developed by Boot Lane Works. The tried and tested four-wheel drive chassis is the ideal power unit. Even in the kit version, it’s supplied pre-assembled and ready to go. On a level line, there should be enough power to haul a light trailer, too. Although it is supplied with batteries and a…

This project, like many others, started when idly looking at a well-known auction website. I put in ‘Echo Classic Rail’ and was amazed to find that these G scale train sets are still available second-hand. They are Chinese made and I think the loco bears a passing resemblance to the LGB Mogul. In the 1980s, two battery electric locos from these sets were the only motive power for our first garden railway, which even featured in Garden Rail. Even today, complete with many modifications, they still push the ‘pathfinder PW train’ round our current line at the beginning of any running session. After all, it hardly matters if they get derailed by a rogue leaf or twig. Unfortunately, years of use have brought on plastic fatigue; which has made the…

Mystery Coach Admiring your coach image on page 3, of the March issue. I am interested in buying one. Can you give me details of where I am able to purchase one? Steve Fry Editor: It’s a Roundhouse coach kit. I bought it second-hand as an interesting little project. My build was as per the instructions, except I added some wooden beading along the sides to add a bit of interest to the model. For more details, visit: www.roundhouse-eng.com/coach1.htm De-idonised water in a boiler Your question about why not to use deionised water in a boiler can be answered in this explanation. De-ionised water totally eliminates minerals in the water. This creates the situation of the water absorbing higher amounts of metal from the boiler than normal. Some minerals are required in…

NEXT MONTH ON SALE MAY 8TH We take a look at The National Garden Railway show, and our ‘Layout in a Day’ project displayed there. Also, in our JUNE issue: • Mark Thatcher loads up his wagons • Replacements for LGB couplings • Plus, much more……