Llangollen Haul

 

I can't go to a show and not spend a few quid. It would be rude. 

So, the first purchase is a follow-up to a kit I built around 30 years ago. That kit was a Bachmann Big Haulers coach, and I now have the guards version to complete a two-coach train. As I recall, these kits fall together, and are really comprehensive, including the lighting wiring. 

My plan is to build it as a short tourist train to run behind my Bachmann Shay I know I ought to have a load of log cars, but you need a long train for that to look sensible, and I don't have anywhere to store it. 

These kits are basically a  CKD version of the RTR stock. For a while, years ago, they were everywhere, and then vanished. It seems another batch has appeared, possibly NOS, as Footplate are the third outlet to have them. I'll admit, I was tempted to grab another coach. Maybe next time. 

The other buy was one I intended to make at the NGRS, but was thwarted due to Plateway selling out of them. 

This is right up my street - a 16mm scale working pump trolley. The figures come from Motley Miniatures and are supplied ready-jointed so they can work the handles. 

I'm pondering if this is a magazine or blog project. The latter looks promising, as the pile of review items is large, and anyway, I paid for this myself!

Watch this space.  

Llangollen Garden Railway Show 2026

Sometimes, I get around. A couple of days in Yorkshire were followed by a trip to Llangollen for the garden railway show. It's an excellent event, which I've attended every year. 

This time, I had a bit of a mission. First, the G scale society had asked me to judge their modelling competition. Second, the Indian Railways layout will be at the NEC in November, and so photos and video would be very useful. 

Spaghetti Junction in the rain is never fun, but things had dried up by the time I made it to the venue. OK, the hilltops were hidden in the cloud, but we were indoors. 

As ever, there was a good mix of trade and layouts. 

A quick chat with the owner of the Indian Railways layout has hopefully secured me a feature for the appropriate issue. I spent a lot of time taking photos, and video of the event. The trouble with video of live steam layouts is that a single loco will tend to circulate for 20 minutes or so. I ended up standing in the middle of the hall, racing between layouts to obtain a variety of shots. 

The rest of the time, I chatted. To the trade, looking for feedback on the Stoneleigh show, and gossip. The operators and visitors on the lookout for future articles. There were some cracking models, that I hope to bring to Garden Rail readers in the future. 

Judging the competition didn't take long - there were only five entries, but each was very interesting, and accompanied by an information sheet, which I found both useful and interesting. 

The cake situation wasn't great. A couple of white chocolate cookies on the official coffee horsebox, but fortunately, Bob came to the rescue with some delicious fruit cake baked by Mrs Bob, who I was able to complement. 

All in all, a very enjoyable show. The good news is, I checked with the organiser and it will be on again next year. So, keep an eye out for the date. 

There's more photos from the event on Flickr.  

Saturday Film Club: The Dry Fit

Another video from me. This time, providing some sage advice for anyone building a kit. 

The missing seagull

 

Written in permanent marker on the back of Melbridge Dock, are the words "7 seagulls". 

Pretty soon after the layout appeared at shows, people took to counting how many of the birds were on the model, and so I jotted it down so we didn't have to remember. Later, when the information boards were added to the front, seagulls became part of the spotting list. 

Remembering this, I checked how many gulls were on show, and there were six. 

Disaster!

Fortunately, in the bolt box, there is a little jar of details. I keep these handy in case something is damaged, and we need to stick a box or pallet over it. In there was a seagull, who was quickly superglued to a rooftop. 

I'm not sure if anyone counted over the weekend, but at least if they didn't, the numbers were correct. 

Oh, and if you are interested, the 4mm scale birds are whitemetal models from the Springside range.  

Not in the stock box

Not all my loco fleet made it to the weekend. A week of testing at home persuaded me that there were a couple of models that would be more trouble than they would be worth, So, they stayed at home, and also missed out on a proper photo, having to make do with mobile phone shots. 

First up, the Garratt. No great surprise here, it's always been a problem child. We have shunted with it in the past, just so I could say I had, but the front power unit seemed to have an aversion to some of the points, and there is still a stick spot in the mechanicals. With more time, and more shows lined it, I'd have it on the bench and work out if the running maladies are mechanical or electrical. I suspect a bit of pickup tweaking would help, but that's for another day. Let's face it, this isn't exactly the perfect shunter for a 6-foot layout!

The other was the Lewin shunter. 

To be fair, this has never been part of the Dock loco fleet, but as it's a very appropriate model, I decided to try it out. 

There are a couple of reasons it wasn't practical. The first is that the model runs on Gibson wheels, and these are a little finer than the Romfords the track is built for. Matching track and wheel standards are a must for reliable running, and this wasn't happy with a couple of the points. 

A bigger problem though, is that massive dumb buffers. The gap between them is a pretty small target for the Sprat and Winkle hook to find, and coupling up was more miss then hit. I'm not sure what I could do about this, those buffers are a bit part of this model's look, replacing them with something more conventional would ruin it. 

Fortunately, I'm not short of rolling stock, so this isn't a problem, but it shows that you have to make hard decisions sometimes in the name of reliable operation. 

'Layout in a Day' in Garden Rail July

Can you build a garden railway in just 8ft x 6ft, and do it in a single day?

In our July issue, the Garden Rail team proves the answer to both is yes - as our ‘Layout in a Day’ wowed visitors at this year’s National Garden Railway Show.

Also in this issue: metal 3D printing, making the most of Mostyn vans, personalising a Mini Plant locomotive, building a sheep wagon, a manrider for your permanent way staff, and a 16-ton mineral wagon for Gauge 1.

Plus reviews of Gaugemaster’s G scale BR diesel, a 16mm De Winton, and a look at a garden line powered by clockwork — along with all the latest new products for larger scale modellers.

 Garden Rail is available from all good newsagents, and our online store: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/ 

Locomotive stars of the show

 

Among my worries about hauling Melbridge Dock out for a weekend, was how well the locomotive fleet would work. After all, they had been in store for a decade, and maybe my memories of their operation were rose-tinted after all this time? 

I shouldn't have worried, in the stock box, I still have a selection of reliable workhorses, four of which I feature here. 

Starting with the 02 diesel. My model pre-dates the RTR version by many years. It's a Craftsman etched brass kit with a Mashima motor inside, and probably Romford gears. The class is a favourite of mine, I've built this kit at least three times, plus my original DJH version, and the same companies O gauge model. There is a TT:120 loco sitting awaiting building too!

Moving up a number, we have the ever-reliable Mainline 03 diesel. 

By tradition, this always works the first train of the day, retiring to the display cabinet after this so the kit-built models can show off. My reasoning being that people haven't paid good money to come into a show just to see things running that have come out of boxes. I'm a bit old-fashioned in that thinking, but when the layout was in its prime in the 1990s, you didn't buy a shunter that worked, you built it. 

Yes, I know that the Bachmann model is more realistic, the bonnet is narrower for a start, but I don't think this looks bad. It resembles the 03 enough for me. At the time, it was a huge leap forward in model shunters after all. 

Talking of shunters you still can't buy RTR, the 06 diesel. 

Hornby make one, but it's pretty terrible, and no amount of detail can make it worthy of a place on my layout. This version, from a Judith Edge etched brass kit, is pretty perfect, though. It runs a lot better than I recall, but then it's a late addition to the fleet, so perhaps it never enjoyed the chance to impress me in the same way other models did. 

Finally, some steam. A Y8. 

The Y8 is our passenger locomotive, and so modelled reasonably clean. It's a K's whitemetal kit on an etched brass chassis (sorry, I can't remember the maker, but I doubt they exist now). The train is based on the Davenport Dockyard set of coaches, and photos showed it hauled by a small loco, and this is as small as they get!

Each of these models behaved impeccably for me and my operators all weekend. Running locos that I've built myself, reminded me just how much pleasure there is from seeing a model I've built with my own hands working properly. If you've not done it yourself, I heartily recommend having a go. 

Celebration day haul, with a mystery

 

There was a small second-hand stall at the open day, and of course, it liberated a fiver from my pocket towards club funds. 

The Hobby's model light set is a fascinating bit of vintage. I suspect it's not that old, as Hobby's (not Hobbies) tend to keep stuff in the range for a very long while. This has incandescent bulbs and holders, none of your LED stuff, and I dream it will be used in a vintage boat project. 

Memory Wire used to be very fashionable in the more serious end of the model railway hobby, but you hardly hear of it now. Has it all been replaced by servos?  For those new to this product, it's wire that gains in length when you pass a current through it. Use a spring to pull it back when the current is removed, and you have a useful(?) device to move signals and points. Or at least that was the idea. I've never played with it, so for a quid, I'll satisfy my curiosity. 

Tongue depressors - I stick people to lolly sticks or chip forks for painting, and I've run out. These will be perfect, and I don't need to stuff my face to acquire some tools. 

And finally, a mystery. 

I've no idea what this clamp is for, but it's so well made, and so useless to anyone other than an idiot like me, I had to buy it. 

7.5cm long and 2cm wide, it splits into two parts, which are accurately aligned with four pegs and a pair of brass corners. 

 

Inside, there is a V shape, but that's not helping me work out what this rather well-made device is for. I am stumped, and so is everyone else I know. The clamp arrived in an estate clearance, so we can't ask the maker. 

Any ideas?  

Dad's celebration day

 

What a wonderful day!

My Dad didn't want a funeral, but we felt that there ought to be some sort of celebration of his life - a chance for people to say goodbye properly, but in a fun way. 

My plan was that we'd jump onto the L&WMRS open weekend Sunday. That way the clubrooms would be open, with all the layouts working anyway. In the social area, I'd install Melbridge Dock, the layout that Dad and I built and exhibited for years. Next to it. would be a slide show with some old photos. 

On the water, we'd have three of the boats he'd built. 

"Puffin", a scratchbuilt tug, "Isobella" a Victorian steam launch, and "Felix", a ferry. 

Finally, on the outdoor track, the set of coaches he built would be doing a few circuits. 

Beside the track, which he loved, there would be a barbecue, which he'd be less keen on. 

I'll admit that putting all this together kept me busy, and a little concerned in the run up - but it all went brilliantly.  

Obviously, this is all down to the people. For a start, Mark, Duncan and their wives who ran, with the aid of my mum and sister, the burnt food and salad end of the day. No one went hungry!

Then the guys from the model boat club who sailed for me. They didn't have a special weekend, but a few came along to help out anyway. 

Chris and Andy ran the layout in the clubrooms, keeping things moving all day (all weekend in Chris's case as he was there on the Saturday). No, I wasn't being lazy, I needed to be walking around talking to people, so I recruited a few assistants to help out.  

Then there were those who just came along. Too many to mention, and several I didn't expect. The grapevine worked well!

One special guest was Earl King. A long-term friend of my parents, and arguably the person who got me involved in railway modelling. Yes, it's his fault, and now you know what he looks like. 

Thank you to everyone who joined the party, or simply thought of us on the day. We gave him a terrific send-off. One he would have enjoyed, even if he'd been slightly embarrassed at the whole thing.  

I miss my Dad. At the end of the day, when things had wound down, I sat on his bench at the boat club for a few minutes, looking out over the water as we had done so often in the past. It was lovely and peaceful. 

Then I headed back inside to run a couple of trains on Melbridge Dock, remembering some of the shows we'd done this at in the past. A proper connection. And that's what it's all about.  

Saturday Film Club: Buying second-hand railway models

My most recent video for World of Railways, covering a few things to look for when buying second-hand locomotives. 

Beatties track and rolling stock

 

The Beatties collection continues to grow, more by accident than design. A couple more vans joined the pile from eBay, where it seemed no one else wanted them. Odd that the yellow Tri-ang open wagons still go for proper(ish) money, but the OO gauge Graham Farish vans don't attract the same attention. I've enough for a modest train now. 

They are sitting on genuine Beatties track. 

This arrived in a box of other stuff from work, with a note "To Phil from Nick Smith for the Beatties Collection" - thanks Nick, it's much appreciated. Mind you, the people I work with don't quite understand!

From Railex, a proper find, more Grafar wagons, with Beatties price tags on them. 

This pack cost a miserable 75p! I'm guessing this was in the 1970s, so inflation has taken hold, I paid £9.

As well as being a valuable addition to the collection, these wagons mean something to me. My first electric trainset was a Tri-ang 3F and a mixed bag of wagons, one of which was a SC Pritchard Grafar vehicle.

An odd find at a finescale show. All the wagons have been relieved of their couplings with a saw. Why? Unless there is a wagon diagram I'm not familiar with (feel free to educate me), they aren't particularly accurate. Something from the Airfix range would have been a better starting point, even if you didn't want to have a go at a kit. 

I've been pondering how to make best use of the collection. An online museum seems like a good idea, and I've been playing around with an AI-based website design tool from Ionos, my ISP. I have a pretty good idea how I'd like it set up. A database with an entry for each "exhibit", and a searchable front end. It's well over 20 years since I've done any development work, but in the old days I wouldn't have found it too much of a streatch. 

Sadly, AI turned out to be rubbish. Or at least the early results are. I'm using this as a learning exercise, and maybe it will continue to be rubbish, and I'll have to relearn some proper developer skills, or persuade a mate to have a go for me. Another "one day" project. 

 

Cooper Craft wagon repair

 

This pile of bits has been kicking around in the pile for months. On bank holiday Monday, I decided that I'd take half an hour to stick them back together, a job that took me all morning...

What you are looking at is a Cooper Craft LNWR coal wagon that I must have built around 40 years ago. I carefully painted my name on the sides, and it's hovered around any 32mm gauge layout I've built since. At some point, I must have dropped it, reducing the model to the pile you see. 

Sticking the main pieces together was quick enough using a mix of Contacta cement and MekPak solvent. Lashings of the latter, and I'd like this to stay in one piece for a while. 

 

Annoyingly, one of the axleboxes had vanished, and while I know there are spares somewhere, I couldn't lay my hand on them. What I did find, was a nice whitemetal set. Really nice. It took a long talk with myself to decide this was their time, and I shouldn't keep them on the drawer for a more suitable project. 

Does anyone else do this? Save things, clothes being a good example, for "best" and never actually using them? 

Anyway, with a little detail removal on the solebar, and plenty of superglue, the new axleboxes fitted the model, and the plastic versions are in the drawer. 

There was an issue - the extra depth of the axle holes meant the axles slopped from side to side by around 4mm. More talking to myself, that this wasn't acceptable, and I solved the problem with some slices of plastic tube. 

Extra weight from the whitemetal parts made the wagon run really nicely too. 

One end was missing its coupling, so I bent a replacement up out of brass, fitting a hook compatible with my bathplug chain couplings. You'll notice the axleboxes have gained an extra rivet - that's a track pin drilled through the box and solebar, as I don't trust superglue to do the job on its own. I also pinned the coupling for the same reason.

A bit of paint, and the job is done. I have a freewheeling wagon, and an old friend is out of the hospital pile. 

Death of a track rubber

 

I've always been a big fan of the Double O Gauge Association track rubbers. For decades, they have been my favoured way of keeping the railhead clean, and trains running. Unlike the otherwise perfectly good Peco version, they don't drop "bits" on the track. A few years of cleaning with the Devon products, and you can see sparkles in your tracks!

I'm not a fan of this one though. Somehow, I have cleaned up something greasy, and now all it does is smear grease on the rails. 

Doubting that there is a way to clean it up, this one has gone in the bin. I can't understand why I've kept it around so long, and more than once I've picked it up and realised my mistake!

Fortunately, I have a couple of non-greasy rubbers, so my track is clean! 

Battery management

 

Preparing Dad's boats for use has made me face up to the state of the batteries we own. It's very frustrating to try charging one up, only for it not to take a charge, because of years uncharged. 

So, I've ordered some, and now write the date they were bought on the side. At least this way I can work out how old the things are, and make a guess at the chances they will actually work.. 

Now, I just need to get rid of the old ones, which aren't as easy to recycle as you'd think. I can't, as far as I can tell, just drop them off in a recycling point in a shop. Is there a space at the tip? Maybe, but I've got to remember to take them next time I visit.  

Railex haul

 

Combine me feeling reasonably flush (not loco buying flush, but not bad) and an excellent second-hand stall, and you won't be surprised that my rucksack was pretty full. 

Like any proper modeller, my first stop was the stand, and I pretty quickly worked out that stuff was priced to sell. A Bachrus rolling road for a fiver? That has got to be the bargain of the year. I already have one, but it only has three supports. Add these three, and I can test bogie locos properly. 

An 80s Hornby Post Office kit - you'll see that one in The Collector at some point. Kenline chassis? Cheap, and a little nostalgic. There is also the possibility of a project that might make use of it...

Grass and flower tufts are handy scenic standbys, a 7mm scale whitemetal fitter kit likewise. 

Grafar wagons can wait for another post, there is a bit of a Beatties backlog to get through. 

Petite Properties barge kit? I wanted one as soon as they announced it, but they don't normally take dolls house stuff to toy train shows. Unless you ask nicely, which I did. 

Rolls of silicone-covered tool wire at a fiver a pop save me buying the stuff elsewhere, as I've nearly run out. Mind you, they certainly weighed my bag down for the rest of the day!

And then, possibly the most Phil thing I could buy. 

Yes. It is an S gauge wooden kit for an American "reefer" to carry watermelons. Someone was selling a collection, and I decided, for a tenner, I wanted to know more. My colleague Steven thought I'd lost my mind. He may be right. 

I've had a look and still can't work out if I've just bought a box of random wooden bits, or a proper kit. As far as I can tell, the complicated bits for the chassis are there, as is the roof. All the metal bits (trucks, wheels etc.) are present, but I can't see all of the sides. Maybe they only paint the ends, and the rest is left to the modeller. Not to worry, I think there will be enough material there to build a wagon. One day. 

Railex 2026

 

Phew, what a scorcher!

On the hottest weekend of the year so far, I jumped on a train to enjoy a proper finescale model railway exhibition. And boy, it was warm in the hall! I felt for the exhibitors as I felt under the weather the following morning, even though I'd made an effort to take plenty of liquid on board. There's nothing the organisers could do either - that's the weather for you.

The show itself was as good as ever. High-quality layouts, and trade you don't find at other events. As I write, it's too hot to knock out a detailed review, so this is going to be a photo dump. I forgot to buy a programme too, which makes things even tricker.

Looking back through my photos, I don't seem to have taken much of the S gauge island. Some cracking layouts, but I've photographed most of them for work. One of the picture even made it's way into MRJ as part of the show advert. I had to buy a copy because of this. Finescale fame at last! 

The trade here is interesting. Lots of bits for making things, much like you would have found at a show 30 years ago, when kitbuilding in 4mm scale was more popular. I'm pleased to see this, but wonder how much gets sold. Sadly, most of these guys wouldn't be able to justify financially, appearing at a general show, but then that's what makes this event worth the trip. My colleague Steven drove four hours to visit, and it's not the first time!

I wish I had more time available for loco building, this new model from Judith Edge really appeals, but I don't need another kit sat on the shelf. And with the death of Romford wheels, combined with my inability to build a chassis without taking it apart several times, I'm not sure what I'd sit it on. 

There was spending of course, but I'll cover this tomorrow. You have been warned, some very Phil items came home with me.  

Catering isn't bad here. Lunch was a nice tuna sandwich, and morning tea came with cake. 

Of course, on a hot day, the walk back to the bus stop needed an ice cream. 

Talking of the bus, this is my only complaint. We were told to look out for a vintage bus for the ride from station to show. This is what we found. 

According to a poster on board, this vehicle was built in 1995. OK, it's now out of service and preserved, but 1995 isn't really old, never mind vintage! I mean, you'll be telling me the 1980s was more than a couple of years ago next...