Garden Railway Forum

Thank you. ‘…mature garden’. Hmmm… Kind of you to describe it that way!

Thanks. I’d assumed it would be mono — but then some of it was obviously better in colour, so…

Lovely. I’m tempted to retrofit agreeably weathered tread plate to everything.

https://youtu.be/Fo1mSnJN1pw Strictly Bulleid* in black & white *Apologies to the Swanage Railway whose second, similarly named, steam gala will be 7-9 June. The first, in 2017, featured five Light Pacifics and was fab. So, in solidarity, here’s video of three of my celebratory efforts. There’s...

https://youtu.be/nWR4HPsBfTQ *Apologies to the Swanage Railway whose second, similarly named, steam gala will be 7-9 June. The first, in 2017, featured five Light Pacifics and was fab. So, in solidarity, here’s video of three of my celebratory efforts. Part archive re-edit, part new stuff. This is ...

Brrdgepaint_3985_800_1.jpg Leader-bridge_4002_800_2.jpg It's supposed to be the same colour in both pictures... Pre-season maintenance This softwood bridge has been out in the garden for six years. It would hardly come as any surprise that it was showing signs of wear and tear – mainly rot, of cour...

Wonderful! Congratulations.

“I can't read the cabside lettering - what power classification have you designated it? 7F?” It says ‘5MT’ but it wasn’t chosen very scientifically. I had a quick peek at an idiot’s guide to what it all means and looked up the Tractive Effort figures for possibly relevant locomotives. But way out o...

Thanks again. I thought I’d squeeze every last drop, so to speak, out of the handful of shots I took of The First Test Run (as in the GIF) so, here’s another short video. It can’t pull anything at present as I haven’t yet fitted couplings — and that will involve undoing the connections and turning i...

Thanks Aaron. Yeh, I’m pleased with the blue (though I expected it to anppear darker) — and I say that as a big fan of the lined black livery. Cheers.

It works!

Still a few bits to add — and the wiring underneath is rather, erm, untidy. Garden wet and muddy, so I don’t expect to be doing much outside for a while.

“…that's the only way a 3'6" gauge blue BR Garratt could possibly look” Ha! Brilliant. I laughed out loud. Thank you — and everyone, for your comments. It ought to pull a lengthy rake of blood & custard carriages but I’m afraid it’ll have to be a short train of green coaches — or the usual...

Garratt_3805_800_4.jpg Garratt_3816_800_3.jpg Garratt_3791_800_2.jpg ‘Light Garratt’ ex-works (or all dolled up at a heritage railway). The ‘burnished’ handrails may be a little OTT, I suppose. Why’s it blue then? The tortuous logic here is that the Bath to Bournemouth route (formerly the Somerset ...

Thank you Graeme, the Roundhouse cradle seems just the kind of thing I’ll need to knock up.

Andrew wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 8:38 am “… F&WHR's Garratt No 87…”

Looks great. I have been to admire them and do the trip. Wonderful. Just think, I might’ve unknowingly bumped into Andrew taking pictures.

Garratt_3492_800.jpg Painting delayed because I keep finding bits I’ve not sorted It’s taken several evenings to arrive at a more practical alternative to my super sophisticated wiring masterplan where, once the central, boiler / cab section has been fitted on to the drive units, I’ve found that th...

I’m well impressed with the fastidiously organised, methodical manner you go about your builds — which always look terrific. A lesson for us all. Well, particularly me.

Wow! Love it.

GTB wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 2:58 am “…’Locomotive Panorama Vol.1' by E. S. Cox…”

Thanks for all the info. Immediately ordered my copy!

Thanks for all the generous comments! "Lined black?" It certainly ought to be — but I'm afraid I’ve been toying with an alternative, I'll have to do some tests. '...clacks straddling the boiler top, along with suitable firebox-top pipework..." I’m treading on thin ice here, because (l...

The Cat keeps her enthusiasm under control regarding the arrival of a new addition to the fleet, possibly in view of its dubious authenticity. She’ll be expecting to feature in the video though.