Innehållsförteckning för October 2025 från Garden Rail

In this issue, we dispel the myth that you need vast acres of garden to enjoy modelling in the larger scales. To start with, Mark Sayer builds a railway that is chock full of atmosphere, in a space 100 by 60cm (3 by 2ft in old money). While this means no long trains hauled by a Garratt meandering through the countryside, it does allow for a huge variety of different little locomotives, with suitably short rolling stock. Mark certainly seems to have built up quite a collection. Disappointing? Not at all. If, like me, you enjoy making things, then having somewhere to run a short train is far more fun than building wagons and hiding them in a cupboard. In fact, being able to give your latest creation a whirl…

Last month, I finished the railmotor, built from a Timpdon kit, and like most of my battery-electric models, control was a simple on/off switch that also changed the direction. There’s nothing wrong with this if all you want is to watch the train go by. But, what happens if you suddenly need to stop the model to avoid an obstruction on the track (I’m looking at you, cat)? Then, it’s time for a sprint along the railway, and a lunge to operate the switch. Since that is hidden underneath the boiler/chimney moulding on this model, it’s not going to be easy, even at the pedestrian pace the railmotor runs at. The solution is radio control, and helpfully, Phil at RC Trains feels the same. Better still, he’s made the process…

I’ve grown up watching my dad (Neil Sayer) building and designing kits and having lots of garden railway locos, but never really starting large-scale modelling until a few years ago. He taught me everything I know, bolstered by growing up around the Leighton Buzzard railway and visiting the much-missed ExpoNG show. Once I had seen the Loco Remote 3D-printed track, I asked the owner of the firm, Chris, if he would print me a little oval with a few points. The board is 100cm x 60cm, as I don’t have a lot of room in the house. The plan was to run a few PS Models kits, as we don’t have a garden railway. The baseboard is made of marine ply with a custom surround, painted using fence paint. The…

Is bigger always better? Well, that is a question I often ask myself and later on down these pages, I will delve more deeply into my own thoughts on scale. I am not a rivet counter and certainly adopt the opinion that if it looks right to me, it probably is about right. For example, I mix and match scale tools to adorn my rolling stock from 1/12th (dolls house) scale, all the way down to 1/24th scale. Same goes for my road vehicles; placing the larger-scaled ones at the back of the line, with smaller scales at the front. Estate locos seem to be very de rigueur for me at the moment: You wait for one for ages, then three come along at once. This review was borne out…

I recently received a gift of five railway container wagon models from Japan, along with enough shipping containers to fill them. The plastic bogie wagons were either made or marketed, by a company known as Yamada; the model was quite well detailed, as were the Chinese-made tin plate shipping containers. It was thought that it might be possible to modify the wagons to run on a garden railway and a 32mm gauge chassis was tried underneath one. This showed that it certainly should be possible to make working models of them if the bogie part of the container body was removed. Before making a start, it was decided to try and find out about the product. After an internet search, this site was found: www.notebook.hauyashi.com/archives/2696, which seemed to answer a…

From an early age, I was surrounded by toy trains, which I tried to run in the garden whenever possible. Even then, they seemed to look better outdoors. Objectively, wooden toy train track doesn’t work well on a lumpy lawn - no matter how many twigs and leaves I used to level it. My mother’s O gauge Hornby tinplate clockwork trains didn’t fare much better, often flying off corners even on a flat bedroom floor. What did look ‘right’ to me were the local 7¼” gauge railway trundling through an orchard, and the Ffestiniog and Talyllyn railways we visited on family holidays to Wales. Volunteering at the Severn Valley Railway only deepened that connection. All of this made it almost inevitable that one day I’d build a railway in my…

The earlier railway buildings on my garden line were built from kits, but when I wanted to start a village under the shade of the willow tree around which the track runs, no kits took my fancy, and in particular, I wanted to start with a church. Somewhere about that time, I must have read about these moulds, probably in this fine magazine. Memory does not serve as to where I learned of Maragon casting plaster, but as described, it seemed ideal for buildings that would live outdoors. Together with some Isopon P38 for the more delicate items, such as windows and doors, and PVA adhesive as bonding these materials have proved both flexible and durable. Some practice is needed with the Maragon. It is easy to add more water…

When we ripped up our 45mm line and moved house, the plan for the new, smaller, 32mm model railway was basically for a rockery of sorts, covered in alpine-type plants, with a loop of track weaving through it. Beyond that, concept-wise, we hadn’t gone much beyond thinking about something vaguely ‘Top Left Corner of Wales’ and slate-related, thanks to our shared past of holidays in the area. We’ve got very lucky with a nice big house that we’ve moved to, but one of the compromises, alongside the slightly alpine-scaled steps to get in at the front door, and the somewhat antiquated electrics that needed replacing, is the small-ish yard. Smaller indeed than the garden at the last house, smaller still than the one at the in-laws that our previous model…

PIKO Deutsche Bundesbahn BR 221 locomotive G Scale PIKO has released one of the most popular diesel locomotives operated by the German Federal Railway. This well-detailed model features opening doors and windows in the drivers cab, and engine details visible through the side windows. The digital version of the model has a matching PSD XP sound decoder, which can be used to operate the lighting in the drivers cab, engine room and running gear area, numerous sound functions as well as two pulsed vaporisers at the exhaust outlets and boiler steam. Fitted with to traction tyres, the 696mm long model will operate on curves larger than 600mm radius. Details Gauge: G scale Price: 850€ Website: www.piko-shop.de TRENARREN MODELS VoR coach door details 16mm scale Recenlty added to the Talisman Range, these…

There seems to be an increasing interest in looking back at locos produced many years ago, something I am really fond of. I was at a steam up the other day where an original Pierce Countess was running – wonderful! But, while there is this interest, there seems to be less curiosity about diesel outline models of past years. That being the case, the Editor has persuaded me to tell you something about a model I built in 1982. So here goes. When our first child was on the way, I thought I should make some adjustments to my lifestyle, so I sold my motorbike and visited Stuart Brown in Penn and bought a Marmaduke locomotive, which I still have. My interest stemmed from a visit to the Town and…

When I spotted a yard diorama in another magazine, it got me thinking that a 16mm scale version could be made using readily available kits. I suspect, like many over time, I had collected a few bits from various shows, etc., which end up on the ‘round to it’ list. I had some Modeltown stone walling, a gate, Plateway models box van, Modeltown steam lorry, several of its barrels, coal sacks and 40-gallon drums and some laser-cut plywood pit wheels, a couple of which were destined eventually for a separate pithead project. I haven’t gone into the build details of each kit as the manufacturer’s instructions are very easy to follow. Firstly, I needed a base. I had bought some 5mm PVC Foamex as a trial for scratch building, and…

Situated in West Somerset, the BVR was originally a 32mm gauge 16mm scale line, but when Harvey Watkins started to build small steam locos in the larger 7/8ths scale, Chris decided that this was the way he wanted to go. 25 years later, the BVR has matured into an extremely attractive and truly Somerset red sandstone narrow gauge railway. The buildings were made by Chris, with the exception of the splendid disused Cornish engine house made by Cornwall Garden Features.…

Fire is generally a good thing where live steam locos are concerned. Without it, they simply don’t work. However, too much fire, or fire in the wrong place, can be bad news. Sitting on the track over a tiny amount of burning oil for a few seconds obviously wasn’t good for my locomotive, as the regulator control immediately stopped working. I tend not to perform repairs at the trackside. Better put the model back in its box, take it home, and investigate on the workbench. Disappointing on a running day, but more sensible than risking losing small components in the lawn. Anyway, you will be pleased to know that despite my lack of steam knowledge, I managed to repair the model, and although not everyone’s loco will be set up…

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. Mamod Burners In my July article, I said I’d used the Bix 019 burner in my Mamod, but it’s actually a Bix 013. I was able to get it from Milbury Models (www.milburymodels.co.uk), though it’s hard to find in stock. The burners work really well, but they will outlast a full boiler of water, so you really need to stay on top of it, or you’ll melt the soft solder on the steam dome tube going into the bottom of the boiler, or melt the plastic sight glass.…