September issue of Garden Rail out now.

 

 

Garden railways are never finished, and the 16mm scale Snape & Thornton Watlass Light Railway proves it! In our latest issue, builder James LePage reveals how his much-loved line has evolved over the years, the lessons he's learned, and what's next for the railway.

Plus, on the workbench:

• Building Corris vans with a modern twist
• Constructing a narrow gauge tanker kit
• Bole Laser Craft's beautifully detailed Welsh station
• A battery-powered Double Fairlie complete with sound and smoke
• Dinorwic slate wagons from resin kits

Also inside, enjoy stunning photography of James Gilchrist's impressive 7/8ths scale railway, catch up on the latest product news, and plan your next outing with our comprehensive events guide.

Packed with inspiration, ideas, and practical projects for every garden railway enthusiast! 

Garden Rail is available from all good newsagents, or our online store.  

Layering up the hull

 

Most of the MDF parts in the Petite kit, are layers that make up the hull. 

It's a simple job, fit the first two, and then add the internal walls. PVA holds everything together, but it's important at this stage, to ensure all the parts are square. The walls provide some positive location for all the rest of the hull slices. 

 

All this is made easier by the accuracy of the cutting, and that the slices arrive loose in the bag. No busting them out of a fret, then having to sand retaining nibs away. Just add the slices with glue between them, and clamp for a nice join. 

Incidentally, the hull is 22cm long, which I think means this is a 32ft long boat/  

A little barge

 

I'm starting to get back to normal after all the events earlier in the year, and one thing I'm determined to do is build a few projects for me. No worrying about publishing, other than on this blog. A chance to rediscover the fun of modelmaking. 

First kit out of the stash is a 1:48 scale kit for a small narrowboat from Petite Properties.  

I've built enough stuff from this firm to be confident everything is going to fit together properly. I'm not in the mood for a lot of fettling. Not that this will stop me making small changes, but fighting a kit is out. 

The model is an oddball addition to the range, which is probably why it appealed to me when I spotted the photos on social media. It's not normally on the stand at model railway show, so I had to pre-order for collection. Yes, I could order through the post, but I wasn't in a rush, and chatting is more fun. It's a popular kit too, it's often out of stock, so I was lucky. 

As with all Petite kits. what we have is a set of laser-cut MDT and cardboard parts. There's some wire in here as well. Instructions are included, although everything looks pretty simple. 

The prototype is a holiday cruiser. There is something similar in the Craftline range, although Petite's is shorter.  

A chuffing good time with the Merlin

You may remember that at the BBC Gardeners' World show, I had an issue with my Merlin Mayflower. A cab full of flame made the RC wiring a bit crispy. 

My assumption was that this would all need replacing, but out of curiosity, I switched it on during the week, and it worked!

Next stage was a trip to the club track for a proper test. The evening was warm, high 20s rather than last week's 30+. The loco fired up quickly, with all the fire staying in places where the fire should be in a model steam locomotive. 

Pressure took a while to build, and looking in the cab, I could see why. There was a loose bolt on the back of the boiler. Hot water was coming out, and if there is water, there will be steam escaping. 

I nipped it up with a spanner, and all seemed well. The loco trundled off around the track, making five or six circuits before running out of gas, in the steaming area. 

After a few minutes cooling, I regassed and watered, and off we went again. Sweet as anything. 

I lost count of the number of circuits this time. The goods train is at the limit of the model's power, although it would help if I lubricated the axles, and there is some squeaking from under a couple of the wagons. That should reduce the rolling resistance a bit. 

I can't complain though. For the moment, the RC gear stays in place. I might wrap some tape around the receiver, which doesn't have much of a cover now, but for the moment, if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try to fix it! 

 

Saturday Film Club: Bekonscot Model Village, a ride around the full route

I'm not sure why I haven't seen a locomotive point of view trip around Bekonscot's extensive Gauge 1 railway system before, but here we go.