Garden Railway Forum

Had a great day, lots of new shiny things. Didn't seem to be many MOTY entries though, might enter next year, almost guaranteed a win if there's only one entry!

Glad you had a great day

I almost, very briefly considered putting my Peckett build into the show after the very kind comments it received on this forum

And, welcome to the forum

I would honestly say that this show offered a lot of variety of traders this time; last few years have been a bit dull with the familiar faces supplemented by G-scale second hand stands...
Good to see more locomotive, stock and lineside suppliers this time! Long may it continue and I hope we get a good variety of different themes and items!
Also, with the new Beddgelert and Playmobil re-reebuild now currently with Mr Acton (congratulations to them), was suprised to get another new engine; the AGM prize Yeo will now join the LVLR fleet next week (couldn't stay for the draw unfortunately)!

Unable to visit the show this year but just watched videos of it and obviously missed a great event. My first impression is that there are more layouts showing beautifully crafted scenic work to give the locos and stock a proper working environment, not just tearing round on plain track.
I hope this is a sign that more line-side accessories will be available in future, also that modellers will be encouraged to enhance their own railways with scratch-built items.

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:42 pm My first impression is that there are more layouts showing beautifully crafted scenic work to give the locos and stock a proper working environment, not just tearing round on plain track.

I watched a video yesterday, and that was my impression too, a very welcome development. The video I watched seemed to feature a blue Merlin Mayflower too, which was nice after the recent discussion of Julie's purchase on here.

Maybe I'll get there next year...

Andrew.

I had a great day and disappointingly didn't come home with much, not that there wasn't much to appeal to me but I now have a stronger control over myself in differentiating between want and need. One thing I did regret not buying was from a trader who I have not seen before selling model buildings, where the cost for a finished structure was equivalent to buying a kit, obviously without the hassle of building it oneself. I'm not sure of the rules here on talking about traders so I won't mention any names but for those of you who went to the show they were located on the right just inside the entrance to the main hall.

This show is a first time for me. Four hours travelling each way makes a long day. Loads of detail on plenty of layouts. The only criticism is that you could not keep any of these layouts outdoors. The Roundhouse double Fairlie in steam was a treat to behold. It is also worthwhile to see in real life some of the products advertised on websites.

Sadly, I didn't make it again. The videos look good and I am sure my bank balance thanks me for not attending.

Robert Hammond wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:09 pm The only criticism is that you could not keep any of these layouts outdoors.

That was the criticism that inspired the Garden Rail layout. I was Stewarding on Friday whilst Phil created it from scratch, and again after the show on Saturday when he tore it down.

Where are those videos..!! I have only seen one that was sent to me by email from our area organiser and that is of the modular layout he has at our local shows.

Welcome by the way Cookie....

BorisSpencer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:06 pm

Robert Hammond wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:09 pm The only criticism is that you could not keep any of these layouts outdoors.

That was the criticism that inspired the Garden Rail layout. I was Stewarding on Friday whilst Phil created it from scratch, and again after the show on Saturday when he tore it down.

That's exactly the reason I volunteered to build it. Filling a show with cheap plastic track running through piles of compost would be a bit dull, but it's fun (I say this now the aching legs have recovered!) to do one, and the younger visitors appreciated it.



Obviously, there will be a full write-up in the June Garden Rail - maybe someone else will be tempted to do something similar at other events? I've built these in shopping centres!

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:43 am Where are those videos..!! I have only seen one that was sent to me by email from our area organiser and that is of the modular layout he has at our local shows.

Try this one - https://youtu.be/qqapRNexydI - Laurie isn't a garden railway modeller so it's interesting to see what caught his eye. Apologies for the squeaky brake van at the start.

practical_phil wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:31 pm

FWLR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:43 am Where are those videos..!! I have only seen one that was sent to me by email from our area organiser and that is of the modular layout he has at our local shows.

Try this one - https://youtu.be/qqapRNexydI - Laurie isn't a garden railway modeller so it's interesting to see what caught his eye. Apologies for the squeaky brake van at the start.

What an excellent video. Usually I have trouble sitting still through an entire "garden railway" video. What catches Laurie's eye is evidently the same things that catch mine. Not having been able to attend the show, I feel like the video showed me some pretty good stuff. That blue Beyer-Peacock in the middle of the video wants its timing adjusted quite badly, doesn't it? Not the coal-fired one, but the one before that.

Keith S wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:07 pmThat blue Beyer-Peacock in the middle of the video wants its timing adjusted quite badly, doesn't it?

I think its timing has already been adjusted badly!

It is the steam-outline electric locos that puzzle me. Now, I know nothing about how the sound is done on these but the "chuffs" don't appear to be tied to the wheel revolutions. Is that correct? On the Gauge 3 layout there is a delightful 0-4-0ST which appears on this (and other) video to have anything between two and eight chuffs per wheel revolution, apparently dependent on speed, when it should always be a constant four. As I said, I know nothing about this stuff so is it really difficult to set up and get right?

Rik managed to get his loco working right and it sounds like they are using the same sound card:

Fascinating ... Thanks for posting Tom!

I enjoyed Rik's narration on this particular video, I think he should go into the audio book story telling business...

That "coasting" feature really adds to realism! It makes the loco seem much smoother, as hough it's gliding along the way a real steamer does rather than grinding down the tracks the way a lot of electric powered models seem to.