Garden Railway Forum

When I first started out with garden railways about six years ago I thought that I would make my own points for my line and accordingly purchased a lot of the components to do this. After examining all these different bits and pieces I very rapidly concluded that life is too short to go down this ro...

In my experience 2mm diameter mild steel will easily bend cold, providing the bend radius is not too tight. However this does depend on the quality of the steel and I have found that some of the rodding sold for servos may have a higher carbon content, which makes for a stronger steel but it doesn't...

David, I do like your technique for getting the curve on you roof panels, it looks to be very controllable. Do you find that there is any relaxation in the curve when you remove the assembly from the work mate? In the past I have usually wrapped my roof panels around a suitable curved object e.g. dr...

I always thought that the majority of kit manufacturers had the right idea with their simple slab sides, easy to produce and easy to build. Now seeing your build l have completely revised my opinion.
Tumblehomes are a definite must.

I'm currently planning an extension to my garden line which will be a terminus area with shunting and loco turning facilities, this will be an area roughly 3.5m x 0.5m raised on a platform around 0.6m high. A very common method that l have seen of doing this would be a timber platform covered with r...

Jim, Thanks for your very informative reply, two possible methods for me to consider - spoilt for choice as I could incorporate either (or both) into my proposed ground frame that I intend to make. One further question, did you make any provision for lubrication of the Bowden cable during its life o...

Hi all, Has any one attempted ro remotely control a set of points mechanically at a distance of around 4 - 5 metres? I'm thinking of some future extension to my garden line and one set of points will be in a difficult access position. In addition it will be based around a terminus so remotely contro...

I presume you mean the signal post kit? I have built one of the home signals but have not illuminated the lamp, although with leds this would be quite easy to do and the wiring could be hidden in the post during the course of construction. The kit itself is very well detailed but from my point of vi...

Nicely made video with no nausea inducing camera shake and more importantly, trains running at prototypical speeds.
A pet hate of mine is that so many modellers in all gauges insist on running their locos at a scale 100mph plus speeds!

I had a very similar issue with my Billy a while back which seemed to have suddenly happened. There was me thinking total rebuild or returning to R/H for complete overhaul etc. Turns out that I had inadvertently knocked one of the trim tabs on my transmitter and even when the stick had been moved to...

As the two whistles are from the same manufacturer I think as you say it may be down to a lower operating pressure. What boiler pressure does your Millie work at? You are correct in assuming my Ragleth is running at 60psi. One thing does occur to me, make sure that your whistle is not in contact wit...

Strangely enough I have just finished fitting a Regner whistle to my Accucraft Ragleth and tried it out at my local 16mm group a couple of days ago. I am pleased with the result, but when I add up the time and effort that has gone into getting to this stage- its just not worth the effort. Besides th...

Interesting that you have been modifying the resin with a router, I have made some changes to resin kits in the past using my vertical milling machine. However I found that the mess generated by the process to be quite a problem, although this could be reduced by a more powerful dust extraction syst...

Update on the superglue problem - after all the issues of the discolouration to the paint I find that the superglue didn't adhere to the plastic corrugated sheeting, it had all the adhesive qualities of wallpaper paste! I have tried epoxy adhesives on this corrugated in the past and had problems get...

Thanks for all the replies and advice, I have used various types of super glue in the past with generally good results. Thinking about it I suppose the difference here is the painted finish, as with previous use would have been during construction. I will know better next time and plan assembly to t...

I have just come across a problem that I have never experienced before, blooming or clouding on paint and glazing plastic after using superglue. In the photo which shows an upside down coach body which I am making into a grounded body type diorama. I tack glued the corrugated plastic roofing to one ...

Jon, yes it is a Modeltown 4bay warehouse in half relief as I didn't have enough room for the full depth building. A slight disadvantage as I discovered with half relief buildings is that they are not very stable with the winds that we experience here in Norfolk, so I had to secure it to the fencing...

./myff/2008809/DSCF1061__1472459673_88.109.162.25.jpg Seeing so many other members great creations inspired me to finish another one of my cameo scenes. ./myff/2008811/DSCF1062__1472459881_88.109.162.25.jpg It is not based on anything special, just various figures that I have collected over the yea...

Thanks for all your kind comments, I must admit that the building did turn out better than I had expected. I now need to encourage more plant growth to give the natural look.
I'm supposed to be having an open day for my local 16mm group this weekend and guess what the weather forecast is saying?

Hi all, I built this pump house during the winter and due to the appalling recent weather I have only just had the opportunity to get it out on the railway. https://youtu.be/HSiYesBO_NU Apologies about the shaky view, my first internet video using a tablet and it shows! The sound is provided by one ...