Garden Railway Forum

Thanks, Rod! The pond came first, and I had a mini pond in the same spot last year to try it out. The fish and plants seemed to do well and I was able to keep the water clean, so I felt emboldened to move up to something bigger. The trains were a bit of an afterthought but I think I can make it all ...

The track is Gargraves tubular stainless O-gauge track, with a few tweaks. I'm removing the center rail and re-spacing the sleepers to a scale 2ft6in on center. Ultimately if the rail holds up I plan to make some cedar sleepers to replace the treated basswood ones, as I have read that they don't hol...

The story so far... Formerly serving the now-flooded Nolwyn Quarry, this rural line has taken on new life in preservation with an eclectic mix of passenger and goods traffic. Probably located somewhere in northernish Wales, the light railway is run by a small team of dedicated volunteers who aren't ...

We took a family trip to the National Railroad Museum (in Green Bay- wish I could see the one in York but I'm in the wrong nation). I snapped a few reference shots where I could. I've had some trouble understanding droplights since US coaches tended to feature double-hung windows instead. Seeing one...

You lucky dog! I recognized those but thought they were mere copies built from Rik's files, as my coaches, brake van, and Southwold short van all are. I'm quickly amassing a PLR copycat fleet and every video is looking a bit more familiar.

Damn, I'd love to see that when you're ready! :salute: Sorry if I've misled-- the intent (at least for now) is to slide the wheels manually to set the gauge, as the rest of my current stock was built as 32mm-only. Though I really would love to build an automatic gauge changing system a la Talgo (ht...

Another resource for compact layouts a la C. Arendt is LocoRemote, who produce a remote-control device for battery electric locos. They offer free 3D printable track files which wouldn't be suited at all to running steam, though the Little John might handle the larger radius curves. For the half of ...

Years ago, there used to be a whimsical exhibition layout that settled the 32mm vs. 45mm argument by using variable gauge track between the two, and using similar wheels to allow it to happen. I'm currently building my first variable-gauge (sliding wheels) loco to run on a friend's LGB set, and thi...

Ooh, I saw this one last week. Could certainly be an interesting oddball modelling opportunity. When I was growing up we used to come across overgrown, deep rutted trails in our woods which I was told were from logging of some kind, though I think in our case it would have been horse-drawn sleds or ...

I did a bit of modeling tonight using different tools and materials, and working in a different scale than the ones I usually do. This one-off project is for my son who is turning three this weekend and asked me for a train cake with a tunnel, a bridge, and a dragon. I think I just about managed to ...

ge_rik wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 8:34 am
I have similar problems. From a single rake of coaches, I now have four - and insufficient space to store them all ..... 🫣

Rik

I set out this spring to build a storage shelf for my stock, but building more stock was more fun... so now I need two storage shelves!

Wow, some really sharp models! I've been doing a lot of 3d printing lately but I'm starting to think I really could use a laser cutter. I usually end up batching up the flat stuff and running out to the bandsaw to cut it out.

Brilliant! I'm 2/5 of the way to a matching set. I'd just promised myself I wouldn't build any more coaches for a while too

It took me a month, but I think I finally read the whole thing! I think I'll just go have a lie down...

That's where 3D printing really shines, rapid prototyping, to (relatively) easily convert a design into a thing, and iterate! Looks like it's coming along well and I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Wow, amazing to see what goes into a conversion like this! I've been looking into going the other way as sm32 track is nonexistent in the US, but would require most of my stock to be either substantially rebuilt or scrapped. I'll probably end up compromising and modifying some O gauge track, because...

I remember reading that one. Very impressive! :salute: When I made the dome for Thornas I just stacked three-four 'cylinders' with different end radii and counted on small size and low resolution to hide the kludge. The four or so OpenSCAD commands I know are all hammers, and from here, everything k...

I have been mystified by variable gauge systems ever since learning about the Talgo. For me a big benefit of modeling is gaining an understanding of how mechanical systems work, and I don't think I can really grasp this mechanism from a description or an animation... so if I ever somehow find myself...

I've sniped myself already. Here's an OpenSCAD script for a 3d model possibly approximating Rik's fix. I've used generic measurements from my own stock, but if you measure yours I can easily create some STLs and put them up somewhere. //Wheel insert for better running through LGB points // Drewzero1...

Ooh, is that what's going on with your Dougal? I'd be happy to try my hand at some STLs for 3d printing, it seems like a simple enough thing to model. I should just need the diameter(s) of the wheels and the diameter of the axle. I would do it as a parametric model so different wheel and axle sizes ...