A daily updated blog typed by someone with painty hands, oil under his fingernails and the smell of solder in his nostrils who likes making all sort of models and miniatures. And fixing things.
The area of the Gardeners' World railway that fascinated me more than anything is the planting seen in the photo above.
It's all created using a product I'd never heard of - wild flower turf.
Just like normal turf, it arrives rolled, and you simply spread it out on your soil, or even lawn, apparently, but unlike turf, there isn't any grass. Instead, it's a mass of native wildflowers.
Our turf instantly provided a nice rural look to one end of the railway. I'm told that we were possibly a couple of weeks early, as later in the season, more of the flowers would be on display, but I like the texture it gave to this end of the line.
While not cheap, the results are pretty much instant, ideal for show gardens, and probably why Alan Titchmarsh uses it on the telly, I'm told.
At the end of the weekend, the turf was due to be re-homed with a school, but I begged a couple of small pieces, which have found a home in our garden.
No idea what will happen, but I'm looking forward to the results.
Well, this is a bit different. When Andy Christie first mentioned that he was putting on a display featuring garden railways at the massive Gardeners' World show, I knew I wanted to be involved.
The setup process is a bit more protracted than that for most shows. When I built "Layout in a Day" for the NGRS, I get half a day to do the job. Andy and team had a week, pretty much standard for displays at this show it seems. That included moving a lot of railway sleepers to build a fence!
Thanks to various deadlines, my time was limited, but I did manage to get a day in on the Monday. First job, dig out a pair of milk churns that had been inadvertently buried when soil was delivered by the organisers. After that, there was a lot of painting, and more shovelling as we filled up the alpine end of the model, ready for planting.
An essential meeting in the office meant my next trip was on Wednesday - Press day and also judging. We still had quite a few bits to finish off, but by the time the judges arrived at 4:30, all was ready.
There had been a bit of train testing during the day, and so just before the judges were due, we fired up a couple of steam engines so they could enjoy the full effect. Andy and Louise talked them through the display, which covers Andy's life on the railway.
Of course, the trains decided to misbehave. Badly. My Merlin developed a backfire, basically flame in the cab. After a couple of re-lightings, it seemed to be happy, and after raising steam set off around the layout. All went well for a few minutes, until it stopped. A quick look revealed a cab full of flame, so without making a fuss, I turned off the gas, only burning myself a little in the process.
I then popped the electric railmotor on, which promptly derailed on a straight bit of track. A later examination showed that one of the nuts holding the connecting rod on had come off.
Finally, The Roundhouse Russel picked the spot right in front of the judges to run over a plant and derail!
Despite all this, later in the day, the railway was rightly awarded a Gold award.
Another day away, this time at Garden Railway Specialists' open day, and I was back for the weekend.
I decided against bringing steam, instead providing my IP Engineering railcar to fill the gaps when chuffy locos weren't available.
There followed two days of operation, on one of the hottest weekends of the year. We kept things running pretty continuously - not easy when you are running steam and have to keep gassing and watering locos. Fortunately, we were joined by someone with a cracking battery-powered LGB Stainz on the Saturday, and Sunday saw Richard with another very reliable Cheddar steamer.
Trains had to be driven too. Behind the "fiddle yard" was quite a gradient. So steep that by mid-Saturday, the steam engines were struggling despite our best efforts to wipe oil away. Eventually, Andy lightly sanded the rail tops, which solved the problem...
The public really enjoyed the display. We had to keep explaining that yes, the locos were powered by real steam. So many people had never seen a garden railway, but we worked hard to plant the seed that this would be something to enhance their garden.
And like that, it was all over. Sunday, we lifted all the plants, most of which were sold off (I have a nice bonsai tree) and removed the track. By the end, Andy and the team were left with the earth, and all those sleepers to deal with over the next couple of days.
What an amazing time. I'm happy to admit that even if I'd had the gumption to book a place in the show, my design would have been less ambitious and probably not won an award. Sometimes, the envelope has to be pushed to get the results.
A fuller write-up will appear in a future issue of Garden Rail, along with some details of the planting from Louise. There is a lot to be learned from all this, to apply on our own lines.
In their day, Beatties didn't just sell British model trains, they were a supplier of the foreign stuff too. In those days, modelling anything beyond these shores was seen as weird; it still is in a small way today.
Still, you could go to your local branch and pick up catalogues to get your fill of German goodness, which is why I've acquired a few for the collection - 1976 to 79.
Looking through, there is very little familiar to my eyes, but then I'm no expert on continental trains. Some of the models look surprisingly crude. I'd always grown up believing that Euro trains were expensive, but of superb quality. Maybe, compared to the UK version they were.
One surprise was finding out Fleischmann made their own slot car system, with some rather tasty-looking German racing cars available in miniature. Well, tasty, if you like racing Porches anyway.
Another find was my little red shunter, which appears in all of these catalogues, showing just how old the model could be!
Back in the 1980s, the L&WMRS built a Thomas the Tank engine layout. It was a simple track plan, a couple of ovals with loops in the station, and fiddle yard. Some sidings existed, but were never used.
Control was by a couple of old (even then) H&M controllers at the front, feeding through some panel mount ones at the back. Thus, we could let kids drive the trains, but limit their top speed.
We had all the trains. In an era when Hornby made Thomas and Gordon, keen, and often finescale, modellers in the club, produced the rest. Even the relatively obscure ones like the Twins and BoCo.
The 8 by 4, later 10 by 4, layout went out to the lot of shows. At one, we met Chris Awdry, the boy for whom the books were written, and had him sign the fascia board. After this, he actually came out with the layout a few times.
My Dad and I were heavily involved in all this, and Dad loved it. He was an entertainer, and we certainly brought the fun to a few model railway shows.
Eventually, taking the layout out became a bit of a chore, and we sold it to Banbury MRC. But, we kept the fascia.
Obviously, a 10-foot-long board is a bit of a nuisance kicking around. Not a problem for many years as it could live in the club loft, but when we turned that loft into workspace, something had to be done.
In time for the open weekend, Mike Collins turned the long board into something more manageable. He rescued the number plates used for the layout name, and Chris's signature. We now have a panel that can be displayed, so one of our most successful layouts can be remembered, even if it is only by a few of us now. My Dad would be very pleased.
LGB couplings, Accucraft choppers, both incompatible with each other. The solution? A length of bath plug chain.
Small scalers won't be impressed with the lack of fidelity of this setup, but outdoors, we are just happy that it works, and we can get on with running trains.
It must be the tweed jacket. And Garden Rail Editor badge. It fools people into thinking I know something about steam trains.
This is probably how I found myself presented with a mystery 0-6-0 O gauge locomotive. Its owner believed it had been built in the Midlands, but otherwise knew nothing. He'd bought it for £60 a year ago, replaced the safety valve, and then was stuck.
It took a look and realised it was meths fired. Fortunately, the owner had brought along spirit and water. He'd build a nifty stand, so we decided to fire it up.
It's a long while since I lit a meths-fired loco up, and that would have been a Mamod. Since I didn't really know what I was doing, I pretended I did, and had a go. After all, how hard can it be?
The burner unclipped easily enough, so I filled this up. Then unscrewed the safety valve and topped the boiler up with water.
I lit the wicks, and clipped the burner back in place. And waited.
With slip eccentric valve gear, the wheels aren't going to spin on their own. Normally, you give it a shove along the track, but we didn't have any 32mm to hand. So, once the safety valve was burbling, I flicked the wheels with a screwdriver. A few minutes, and many flicks later, the model burst into life, running far smoother than I expected.
What a lovely little engine!
This didn't help with identification though, but a quick post on the Garden Rail Facebook page solved this quickly enough. Several people recognised it as a Burtons of Walsall Jinty. This one is missing its cab, but all the mechanical parts seem happy enough.
After the loco maintenance, it was time to give them a proper test on Andy and Louise Christie's Olive Branch Tramway. This extensive line in Bournville is opened up every year for the Open Garden festival, which means a group of us running trains, and a lawn full of visitors eating cake and watching us work.
So, how did the locos work?
Ragleth - Still a problem. Once it gets hot, the regulator servo stops working. That said, I drove on the reverser, and when working properly, the engine was very smooth and powerful. It's also quite chunky, and caught a few plants on the way around.
Roundhouse Lady Anne - Aside from needing to clean out the burner twice, the model ran very well. The new battery box in the cab roof did its job, but I'd really like to relocate it to the side tank so the roof fits properly. I could look at replacing the four AA pack with something smaller up there, that would solve the problem too. I had the chance to try out a safety valve cover, and it looks very nice. Another item on the shopping list.
Merlin - This also needed a gas jet clean, but once fired up, it ran a little too well. A reasonable train on the back is a good idea, especially as there are some tight curves on the line.
So, not a clean bill of health. I really need to work through each locomotive and try to build a bit more reliability in. That's the trouble with second-hand models, they need fettling, and that takes time and expertise I don't have.
One change I will be making though - propane/butane gas mix. You are supposed to run these models on pure butane, but since starting that, reliability has fallen off. More blocked jets, and a feeling that none of the models is quite as powerful as I'd like. The gas tanks are all fine with the extra pressure, so why not go with what works?
There is football knocking around at the moment, and from my limited knowledge, the one thing England are scared of is a game against Germany, going to penalties. We always lose, because the Teutonic player is simply better at these.
It can now be revealed why -Märklin Tipp-Kick Fußballwagen.
In the box, we have a Tipp-Kick player, a non-round ball, and a railway wagon. The wagon has two holes in the side, and the basic game is simple. Haul the wagon along your layout, and hoof the ball into a hole.
This is, to put it mildly, incredibly difficult.
Now, I should be honest, and say that there is not a single sport that I am not rubbish at. Give me something involving a bat or a ball, and I'll show you just how badly I can attempt it. At school, I was always the last person chosen for a team - in fact, normally not chosen at all, I just ended up in a team after everyone else had been picked.
You will have noticed that for my attempts, the wagon is not moving. Despite this, I score no goals.
So, we can conclude that the German teams are all expert at this, and through lack of practise, English teams aren't.
Come on Hornby - time to wheel out the big boots, and give us a UK equivalent!
Wandering around Skipton, I spotted something a little different. Yes, the canals are lovely (more photos in a future post), but there is a tugboat serving crumble!
Of course, I had to know more, so once I'd walked my lunch of Yorkshire pudding, sausages, mash and peas down, dessert was to be from the towpath.
At a guess, this is a converted Bantam tug, although the superstructure seems more boxy than normal.
Food is served through a hatch in the side, presumably it used to be the side window.
The photo above is from a bench where I sat scoffing the crumble and ice cream. All the time pondering the modelling opportunities. I've built a Bantam in the past, so the upperworks don't worry me, and hopefully I can buy another hull. The toughest job is all the lettering. You can't really avoid it if you want the model to look right!
To be honest, this isn't going to bother my workbench for many years, if ever, but I hope the photos will inspire someone. Looking online (search "the ice cream tugboat skipton"), there is no shortage of information, apart from a history telling us what the boat was before it became a crumble dispenser.
Did all the servicing make a difference? There was only one way to find out. A dryish Thursday evening saw me at the L&WMRS outdoor track with a box full of gas and water.
First out, the Lady Anne. She fired straight up, was soon in steam, and ran very nicely for a few circuits. No worries there, and the batteries didn't fall out of the cab roof.
Next, the Merlin. I lit it up with a bit of fuss, and the model was struggling to raise steam. I could hear the burner, but it was very quiet.
After 10 minutes, I decided all really wasn't well, and wondered if the gas jet was partially blocked. As it happens, access to this is pretty easy. The unit pokes through a hole in the back of the cab, and, with a single banjo bolt undone, lifts the pipe off the unit. This them pulls out, and the jet can be unscrewed from a brass block.
After squirting some WD-40 through the jet, all seemed to be OK, so I reassembled it, and this time the loco lit straight up, with a good, loud burner.
After that, the loco ran perfectly. Plenty of steam, and a nice exhaust.
Finally, Ragleth.
I hadn't spotted that the loco was set to 32mm gauge, but that was quickly changed. Then I lit it up, and a few minutes later, the servos stopped working. Yes, like an idiot, I'd not charged the receiver batteries!
I packed everything up, and then took Ragleth into the railway club, putting it on charge in the workshop. An hour later, suitably refreshed with some tea, custard creams and plenty of chat, I took advantage of the light evening for another go.
This time we lit up, the servos operated, and off the loco went. Sadly, the regulator servo stopped working again, but it turns out, you can drive on the reverser alone. Which is what I did for a few minutes, and the model seemed quite happy. This isn't so odd, the Merlin works the same way.
So, more work to do with Ragleth, but it's usable for now. The others are spot on. Until something else happens, I'm sure...
With a bit of public operation in the offing, it was time to catch up on some loco maintenance with the live steam fleet.
First, replace the battery box in the cab roof of the Lady Anne. The original had distorted over time, and would drop the batteries out, not ideal in the middle of a run!
I've had a replacement box for nearly a year. The old one is bolted into the roof, using holes in the plastic that are also in the new box. I thought this would be a doddle, but it's a fiddly job since the bolts are only just long enough.You can't get at the screw head on one either as it's under the non-sliding cab shutter. Pushing the nut very hard onto it allowed me to just catch the thread. Bolting a flat box under a curved roof isn't ideal, and so replacing this with a battery pack in a side tank, something I have seen done, appeals.
Next, I planned to swap out the regulator servo in Ragleth.
I'm a dab hand at removing the body, it's only six bolts after all, and could soon see the recalcitrant item. I had another servo, a posh one with metal gears, but when I plugged this into the receiver, it wouldn't turn. Hmmm. So, the old servo, which works, went back in. I think the problem is that it's being affected by the heat, but we'll have another test.
Finally, the Merlin Mayflower.
All I needed to do here was regauge the model. Simple job, slacked off the screws, shove the wheels out, and do them up again. There are even dimples in the axles, I didn't expect those, to set the gauge.
You won't be surprised that I managed to swap a fiver on the Bring'n'Buy stall for some stuff I probably don't need, although this time I managed to find items that might just be useful.
Vinyl letters are always useful. They are now in the drawer with transfers. These are larger than anything I own, I think, so a quid well spent. Possibly less useful is a roll of blue and white check vinyl, but if I did another RC car, I could use that on the wings.
Obviously, I don't need another model boat kit, but a Police launch for a couple of quid?
What appealed most is the length of the model - 410mm. Ideal for a "Thursday boat", the sort that I can pick up at a moment's notice, and head off to the lake with.
Slotting the main hull parts together suggests that the build shouldn't be too hard, although the proof will be in the eating!As a hard chine hull, there is wood to be bent around the edges, and a nose to be carved from solid, but none of that should be too difficult. There's space inside for all the gubbins, probably a brushless motor and battery pack.
Having found it online, this is a nice-looking freelance model too. More about sailing than looks, although, I think it will look nice on the water. One day...
Time for a break from all things toy trains, with a day spent lakeside, enjoying the Knightcote Model Boat Club open day.
The weather was kind, and we saw more visitors than normal. From opening time to 3:30, there was always something on the water, with a wide variety of vessels to be enjoyed.
For an open day, I like to make a bit of effort, and so had brought pride of the fleet "Pigeon Pie" out of storage for what appears to be its annual sail.
Despite lack of use, the Pie didn't let me down, processing around the lake perfectly, and looking great. In fact, all my boats, MisCheif and the tiny tugboat, worked perfectly. This made for a very pleasant day.
Was there cake?
Of course. And sausage in a bun too. But mostly, there was chat, and boats sailing, which is what it's all about.
Built from a Branchlines etched brass kit, because it looked interesting, I think there is definitely something attractive about this little model. Unlike the GWR version, modelled on a shed, the LNER had these nice curved ends - whitemetal lumps on the model that add valuable weight.
Only powered by a single-axle drive, this isn't a powerful model, but it can haul the odd wagon around, usually out of the permanent way siding at the front of the board. It's quite handy for testing to see if electricity is reaching all the rails as the wheelbase is so short.
One issue is that the unpowered axle, despite being compensated, sometimes is reluctant to rotate. If it didn't have to have pickups on it, I'm sure this would be less of a problem, but we need all the electricity-gathering we can get!
Not sure why Dad loved this model so much. I suspect novelty value, but it doesn't matter. On his celebration day, Titch did a turn around the layout in his memory.
Always aware that Melbridge Dock might have to be carried out to the car when rain was falling, I brought home a plastic bag to enclose the layout from work. It arrived wrapped around a filing cabinet, delivered to the Ministry of Agriculture in the mid 1990s.
Since then, the bag has travelled many thousands of miles, and performed its role admirably. Along the way, it's picked up a few battle scars.
Repairs have been effected using gaffer tape. Not pretty, but effective. In Kintsugi, the Japanese art of making and celebrating repairs, they use gold, but my budget doesn't run to that.
In 2026, the bag is really looking a bit sad. Some of the tape has peeled off, but I can't bring myself to do the sensible thing and throw it away. The internet would surely furnish me with a replacement, but I think it might be unlucky to replace it.
So, more tape it is. I wonder if orange would be better than silver?
Eight are used to fix packing boards on to the end of the baseboards, to turn the modelling into a box for transport.
When the model is set up, four of these hold the boards together, in addition to the loose pin hinges. The other four hold the information boards to the front.
These bolts are big, chunky things. I know that something about 4BA would do the job, strength isn't an issue. The threads on these are around 1cm wide. Far more metal than is really required. But, my overengineering has a big advantage at the end of the day. Coarse threads are much easier for tired hands to thread.
So, today's lesson - go for the big bolts. You won't regret it.
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.
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!
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.
