Garden Railway Forum

My ignorance of the prototype doesn't stop me seeing the craftsmanship you're putting into this. :study: That’s very kind, thank you :) I’ve successfully attached the first piece of bodyside. Whilst superglue has proven plenty strong enough to secure the tumblehome to the sole bar without needing t...

Slow and steady wins the race (allegedly.) Rear cab is being built and I’ve made a test section of bodyside panelling. The tricky bit will be to get the tumblehome below the solebar right - some pre-scoring and strong glue / clamping should be adequate. 12ADBB21-B7D5-4DAF-A196-8EFDD500BA9D.jpeg 40CD...

Thanks Rik - yes indeed, they were surprisingly flimsy construction but it mirrored general coach-building of the time. Also explains why several were completely destroyed in fires.

A bit more progress…

After a hiatus of a few weeks due to family issues, I’ve once again pressed on with my Swindon railcar project. The frame of one cab and the main passenger saloon have been constructed and the character of the model is hopefully starting to appear. I’ve decided to clad it using 1mm ply rather than p...

A fairly brief project update after a few weeks of occasional bursts of activity, in my usual style. I’ve cut the plywood chassis and attached solebars, headstocks and buffer beams. After some careful measurement of the power bogie and the required coupler heights I’ve concluded that the bogie frame...

That's brilliant, I love it! There's a precedent for it taking a very long time too. During a childhood visit to the K&ESR (probably in '83, or '84), I remember seeing a forlorn looking railcar No 20 with a sign attached appealing for funds so that it could be restored in time for GWR 150 celeb...

A slightly more complete schematic drawing. On the (frankly, likely ) possibility that this project turns out to be beyond my ability, hopefully it might inspire someone else!

Also - as I’ve realised it’s over a year since I last posted :shock: Here are a few photos from a recent running session. Rather simple operations involving sending trains from one station to the other (out of sight of each other for added interest) but we had a very fun couple of hours in the sunsh...

BB771144-8233-417B-9C8A-345E8B9CECA2.jpeg Can’t believe I’m contemplating actually going through with this. My thinking is a plywood chassis and modellers-grade stripwood & dowelling to construct the bodyshell, clad in plasticard. I’ve got a powered bogie coming in the mail from Ince Locoworks....

Thank you Peter, that’s extremely helpful. Good to hear someone else has gone before me

Can I also say - that’s a really attractive livery on your coaches!

I really like your wagon, it’s great to scratch build as the satisfaction afterwards is greater than simply assembling a kit in my experience. Echoing what others have said, don’t fret about the colour. The thing about painted timber (or metal for that matter!) is that it fades in the sunlight. Ther...

Hi Folks I have acquired a set of resin bogies from Swift Sixteen with the intention of fitting them to my Brandbright brake & compartment coach which is currently a four wheeler and struggles through tight curves/points. As a relative novice I was expecting to find an assembly diagram and the a...

Thank you for all the kind and helpful comments

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:29 pm That looks very neat and tidy, great work! Will you be adding coach-bolt heads to the hinges?

Thanks - and yes now you’ve mentioned it, I think that’s a good idea!

Other than painting it, I’ve today finished my ‘Christmas project’ which was to scratch build a cattle wagon. The friesian residents are a pair of 1:25 Bachmann cows, all the way from Las Vegas courtesy of eBay 8) the third one didn’t fit but it came with a plastic milking machine (complete with sli...

That’s very good, I really like the ‘lapped’ effect of the weatherboard walls. Top work Sir!

Thanks Rik, appreciate it!

I’ve posted one of these photos elsewhere, but thought I’d join the fun here as well :) I recently visited a friend in Gloucestershire and got talking about the many small halts that existed between Gloucester and Chalford up in the Stroud Valley, where the local auto train seemed to stop at every c...

About time I posted my latest efforts, I’ve amended the thread title so I can update without my OCD kicking off :lol: My main project over the summer period was to extend the N&BLR trackbed from its somewhat embryonic state, through two garden rockeries and towards what will become the second ma...