Glendale Junction

Glendale Junction
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Can a garden railway ever be said to be pointless ? Well ours could as the turnout total was nil. We needed switches or it would be more of a garden train set with entertainment value to match.

LGB (bless 'em) only produce the large radius points with electric changing and at an an eye watering price. At the Larger Scale show though, I spotted some track that looked a lot like LGB but wasn't. It's from "Train Line 45" and is compatible but significantly cheaper. The importers are Glendale Junction situated in Deeping St James, just north of Peterborough. In my case, this involved a couple of hours lead by a slightly odd Garman SatNav. On the plus side I did see the fantastic Harringworth viaduct which 3/4 of a mile long and soars out of the countryside. The road may have been windy and the satnav annoying (how can it forget to speak or even say left when it means straight ?) but this alone made the journey worthwhile.

Actually satnav is a good thing for finding Glendale Junction. The shop is based in a house tucked in a side street. If you are looking for it, print a map off fists as despite being located just off the town centre, it's easy to miss.

Once you've found it though, for a garden railway modeller this is an excellent shop. The showroom isn't huge, think domestic living room rather than Tesco, but it is actually packed with stock. The walls are lined with LGB on on side and kits and stuff on the other. The first things to catch my eye were the IP Engineering wooden kits. Obviously I preferred the little coaches and wagons while my Dad started drooling over the beautiful laser cut wood for coach paneling and handrails. Those destined for the Ffestiniog coaches are particularly impressive and I suspect may be appearing on our little layout one day.

In the garden, which is accessed via the small second hand selection and a workshop, you find a railway. And lots of Tuxcraft concrete mouldings. Handy that as we needed an extra tunnel mouth. The railway is a fairly typical garden line - raised up with LGB trains running automatically and plenty of Pola and LGB kit buildings. It's certainly a good indication of what you can do even if these lines tend to be as original as their owners. The garden isn't large either which offers encouragement to those with less than an estate to work with. In fact by using the tighter track formations an awful lot of railway is contained in a reasonably small space.

We left with a couple of points (which I'll write up later), the Glendale motorising kit for an Ochre wooden tram, some people and a few other bits. All useful and just what we'd come for.

One surprise was just how busy the shop was. Several customers called in during the half hour of our visit and the 'phone didn't stop ringing. The proprietors said that so far business is crazy - in a good way. It seems that people are filling their gardens with railway and shouting "Tax this Alistair" or "You won't get your hands on this Fred" I think. I don't blame them either. If you get to visit nice friendly shops like this, that can only be a bonus.