Garden Railway Forum

I've become rather enamoured of a VoR "summer coach" someone is building here. I looked at them on IP's website and they look great there too. I think one of those might look nice behind my Roundhouse "Billy". I've also noticed that they have some coaches that are specifically me...

As for the cylinder covers, they are only cosmetic, but I just ordered some for my engine. I have seen the cylinders painted and they look pretty good, but I am worried that they are very oily if it's been run, and it would be difficult to do a proper job etching/masking/priming/painting them withou...

If it's that old, and there isn't any foreign substance in between the cylinder and the port face, perhaps the trunnion springs have lost their temper and aren't as "springy" as they used to be? It doesn't seem to me that after 24 years the port faces would need lapping, but I'm new, I mig...

I have a magazine which shows how to build a "skype" phone out of one of those old bakelite rotary phones. If I find one, that is what I will do. I don't think a Watt's governor would be all that difficult to build. It wouldn't need to have the same degree of precision or "fiddliness&...

I've heard of guys dressing up port faces with some gritty tooth-paste on a piece of glass. That way it's absolutely flat, and doesn't remove much material. Is it a new engine? Maybe it just wants a good break-in period.

I don't even think it needs painting, I like the red wood. It just wants a little tidying at the ends and maybe some oil. Your pictures make me wish I had a railway, or better yet, a friendly neighbour with one!

IrishPeter:49154 wrote:  I think it somehow involved compressed air!

Peter in AZ

Peter, I think they call that particular system "Westinghouse"..

I think that's a brilliant idea! A brake van that actually brakes! Although I do agree with Peter about the possible effects of hitting the brakes at the end of a long train, surely the trains could be kept short and the braking kept subtle enough that this would not happen? In any case it's very cl...

I have no idea what I'm going to do. My engine doesn't look particularly "industrial", I am thinking, when I eventually get to build one, of claiming the railway is meant to be a latter-day preserved railway hauling bug-boxes full of 16mm scale(ish) holiday-makers around the garden. I want...

It does help, thanks, Peter. Are you saying that you find the sunset valley sleepers are closer together than you would like? I'm not trying to adhere particularly to any scale in particular, but I do like the wide sleeper spacing of the 32mm track I have seen on this site and Youtube. It looks more...

Thanks Peter. Have you tried the sunset valley track? I'm confused about your comment about the flexitrack. Do you need a railbender to make this track curved? I only have experience with small scale flex track, which you can just bend around corners with your hands as it is quite springy. I assume ...

On our next visit to England, my wife can go by herself to all the common attractions and shops, I'm going to Butterley. Can I bring my "Billy"?

Thanks for the advice, guys. How I wish I had a railway. I just finished playing with, er, I mean running , the "Billy" in the stairwell outside. I have three feet of track, possibly the shortest railway in the world. I find I can get 45% longer runs if I take off the tender. :D I have fou...

Actually Pauly I had assumed you were using something different, because your track looks pretty good... It must be the ballast that does the trick, your rails do look "narrow gauge" in your engine pictures. I do like the look of that Peco track. The trouble is, Trackshack says on their we...

I have a question about track: I am thinking of buying some to run my roundhouse "Billy" on. I don't have a garden but I was thinking of acquiring enough track that I could at least run the engine back and forth outside on a nice day. I really prefer the look of 32mm track, however I have ...

I really like the station platforms and other stone work. Great combination of elevated and ground-level sections, and the scenery! That railway must have taken forever to build!

The lubricator is the same size as a Roundhouse one, although the pipe orifice inside is a slightly different design. The caps are even interchangeable between the two. I find that on the "Billy", after a 30 minute-or-so run, the lubricator is about a quarter full of oil, and the rest wate...

That's very interesting. Is there a "gauge 2"? Is "gauge 3" the same as "F" scale? The reason I ask is that I have seen some engines of narrow gauge prototype, running on 45mm track, and this is sometimes referred to as "Fn3", which would seem to mean, "t...

I like the wood boiler jacket, and the pipe insulation. That engine is full of character.

I thought some of you would like to see this locomotive. I gather that most here (including me) are working with British-looking engines, so this one will be a little different. I hope it's OK to post lots of pictures. A while ago, my brother sent me a card with a railway scene on it. It was a paint...