Garden Railway Forum

An update on the railway. The station area has now been swapped out for a goods yard. The new station will be built in the planted area next to the road. I plan to buy the pola gantry crane kit for the longest siding on the goods yard as this is where logs will be loaded onto the railway. The railway has also undergone somewhat of a re-theme and is now an entirely fictional narrow gauge system taking inspiration from the vale of Rheidol (timber traffic/tourist trains) as well as any other narrow gauge railway I'd like to steal something from. For example the siding with the ex war department wagon will now be serving the nearby potato farm (like the Lincolnshire potato railways which used ex WW1 rolling stock).
Cheers,
Harry

Love the central forest

Rik

ge_rik wrote: Thu Jun 13, 2024 7:05 pm Love the central forest

Rik

Thanks Rik, miniature spruce do work well for garden railways, they have grown quite a bit since they were planted though

Harry

Damn fine setup already, can't wait to see the extension.

That trapdoor looks very useful for storage, too.

Old Man Aaron wrote: Fri Jun 14, 2024 3:45 am Damn fine setup already, can't wait to see the extension.

That trapdoor looks very useful for storage, too.

Thanks!

It used to store all the electronics for the building lights. Now it’s just for the pond pump

Rolling Stock Update:

Here are the items of rolling stock I currently have finished and in running order.


This is a Slater's Plastikard WDLR D Class Bogie Wagon Kit to which I have added bachmann g scale bogies and GRS 32mm wheel sets. The mounting brackets of the bachmann bogies were cut away from the bachmann flat wagon and glued to the underside of the slaters wagon body using two part epoxy. This was then primed using Halfords grey primer. Once dry a liberal amount of Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade wash was applied all over the wagon body. Once this had dried I then gave the wagon body a second light coat of Halfords grey primer. The black parts were then picked out using games workshop Abandon Black. This has now become my go to method for painting goods wagons.


This is a VOR cattle wagon built using plasticard and an lgb wagon chassis. The wagon body was built using this build guide from The Peckforton Light Railway Blog (https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... agons.html). The body was then painted using the methods I have described above. Accucraft 32mm wheel sets were then inserted into the wagon chassis. A schleich cow has been added to the interior and is on a removable base.


This is a Welshpool style goods van built using the same guide as the Cattle wagon above. Instead of planking the sides were built using scribed plasticard using photos of the real wagons as reference. This was painted using my standard method described above. An lgb wagon chassis with accucraft 32mm wheel sets was again used here.

Rolling stock continued:


This is a stake wagon used for transporting logs around my railway. The up-right sections were designed on tinkercad and 3D printed on my resin 3D printer. I based the designs on drawings from my Vale of Rheidol in Detail book which I picked up on my last visit to the VOR. These were used on the bolster wagons at the VOR. The base of the wagon was cut and scribed using a foam board sheet (3mm I believe). Once the 3d printed uprights were attached to the wagon base using two part epoxy and bolts, the wagon was primed with Halfords grey primer. I then picked out the details using games workshop paints and added agrax earthshade wash to the base (I decided not to go over this with a light coat of Halfords grey primer to give a heavily used look). This was again attached to an lgb wagon chassis with accucraft 32mm wheel sets.


This is a bogie stake wagon built using a bachmann g scale bogie flat car. This wagon is based on the proposed designs for a bogie stake wagon for the Vale of Rheidol railway, which is included in my VOR in detail book. I first removed the original stake bracket from the sides of the wagon using an angle grinder before sanding smooth. Small holes were drilled and bolts added using epoxy to add some detail to the sides of the flat bed. The 3d printed uprights were added using epoxy. The wagon body was then primed with Halfords grey car primer and painted using the methods used on the above stake wagon. GRS 32mm wheelsets were again used.

I would really like to build a brake van next. Wether to scratch build with plasticard or buy a kit I am not yet decided. I do really like the reliability of the lgb wagon chassis with the accucraft wheel sets.

Cheers,
Harry

Thanks for all that Harry. Those wagons look superb and your painting method looks very useful. I use Agrax Earthshade a fair bit as well but tend to 'apply and wipe off', rather than overspray. I must try that some time.

As for brake vans, you could try printing one? Rik has posted his stl's in our Print Files section. I keep meaning to do one for myself but it never seems to get to the top of the to-do list!

philipy wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2024 1:17 pm Thanks for all that Harry. Those wagons look superb and your painting method looks very useful. I use Agrax Earthshade a fair bit as well but tend to 'apply and wipe off', rather than overspray. I must try that some time.

As for brake vans, you could try printing one? Rik has posted his stl's in our Print Files section. I keep meaning to do one for myself but it never seems to get to the top of the to-do list!

Thanks! I tend to over-do the wash even when I'm trying to be subtle with it so this method allows me to achieve a consistent finish on each wagon. I did consider 3D printing wagons but my build plate is rather small so would have to be done in small sections. Also I'm yet to see someone build a garden railway wagon using just resin 3D printed components, though I don't see why this wouldn't work.

Harry

HarryW wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2024 2:50 pm Also I'm yet to see someone build a garden railway wagon using just resin 3D printed components, though I don't see why this wouldn't work.

You haven't looked in the right places then!

This link shows a Festiniog slate wagon that is completely resin printed apart from the wheels. It was virtually the first thing I did, as an experiment, when I got my little Anycubic resin printer 4 years ago.
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... on#p158626

This is a loco rather than wagon, but it is completely resin printed ( suggest you look towards the end of the thread)
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... s&start=60

philipy wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2024 6:02 pm

HarryW wrote: Mon Jun 17, 2024 2:50 pm Also I'm yet to see someone build a garden railway wagon using just resin 3D printed components, though I don't see why this wouldn't work.

You haven't looked in the right places then!

This link shows a Festiniog slate wagon that is completely resin printed apart from the wheels. It was virtually the first thing I did, as an experiment, when I got my little Anycubic resin printer 4 years ago.
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... on#p158626

This is a loco rather than wagon, but it is completely resin printed ( suggest you look towards the end of the thread)
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... s&start=60

Wow this has definitely inspired me to give some resin 3D printed rolling stock a go. A rake of slate wagons would be nice! I may also attempt a loco body printed in sections for a GRS loco chassis

Harry

I can highly recommend Rik's GVT brake van model. I printed it in FDM and it's a valuable component of the NVT roster. Careful what material you use to print your stock... Some shrinkage may occur! (Kidding! This shorty brake van is pre-shrunk and made of popsicle/lolly sticks.)

Here's another example of a resin printed locomotive which came to mind, though I had to remember what to look for to find it: https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14558

drewzero1 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 1:45 am I can highly recommend Rik's GVT brake van model. I printed it in FDM and it's a valuable component of the NVT roster.
Screenshot_20240617-193916.jpg

Careful what material you use to print your stock... Some shrinkage may occur!
Screenshot_20240617-194021.jpg
(Kidding! This shorty brake van is pre-shrunk and made of popsicle/lolly sticks.)

Nicely printed and finished

Rik

drewzero1 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 1:45 am I can highly recommend Rik's GVT brake van model. I printed it in FDM and it's a valuable component of the NVT roster.
Screenshot_20240617-193916.jpg

Careful what material you use to print your stock... Some shrinkage may occur!
Screenshot_20240617-194021.jpg
(Kidding! This shorty brake van is pre-shrunk and made of popsicle/lolly sticks.)

I would love to print this. Maybe I can break it down into smaller sections.

HarryW wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 10:05 am

drewzero1 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 1:45 am I can highly recommend Rik's GVT brake van model. I printed it in FDM and it's a valuable component of the NVT roster.
Screenshot_20240617-193916.jpg

Careful what material you use to print your stock... Some shrinkage may occur!
Screenshot_20240617-194021.jpg
(Kidding! This shorty brake van is pre-shrunk and made of popsicle/lolly sticks.)

I would love to print this. Maybe I can break it down into smaller sections.

If you are struggling, let me know and I'll see if I can chop it up for you and repost.

Rik
PS I assume you mean my GVT brakevan rather than the lollypop version

ge_rik wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 1:24 pm

HarryW wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 10:05 am

drewzero1 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 1:45 am I can highly recommend Rik's GVT brake van model. I printed it in FDM and it's a valuable component of the NVT roster.
Screenshot_20240617-193916.jpg

Careful what material you use to print your stock... Some shrinkage may occur!
Screenshot_20240617-194021.jpg
(Kidding! This shorty brake van is pre-shrunk and made of popsicle/lolly sticks.)

I would love to print this. Maybe I can break it down into smaller sections.

If you are struggling, let me know and I'll see if I can chop it up for you and repost.

Rik
PS I assume you mean my GVT brakevan rather than the lollypop version

Thanks Rik, I'll see how I get on with chopping it up in tinkercad

Harry

I found this garden windmill ornament in B&M today. For £15 I thought I'd give it a go for the spot on the mountain where a building was intended to go. Though underscale (note the lgb building block next to the tiny door) I feel it just about works ( in a forced perspective way ) when viewed at this angle.

I intend to remove the lgb building block and bed the windmill in with cement to conceal the green at the base of it.

Also ballasting is underway (track on bottom right) using fish tank gravel and rapid set cement.

I think the forced perspective works well, and it adds a lot of interest to the scene. Good find!

Intriguing glimpse of track on a trestle disappearing to the right ....

Rik