Garden Railway Forum

In the latest edition of Garden Rail magazine there was an article concerning this company and after perusing their website, I like what I see. Does anyone have any experience with this company's kits? The pictures look promising but are the actual products worth the price tag? Are they easy to construct? What materials are required for construction?

Tiny pictures and lack of description, what is it with these kind of internet shops? Don't they want to sell or what?

NDM-6
The most successful diesel on the DHR and the fleet of six are still providing the current main motive power
£350 double motor

Such descriptions really want me to hit the BIN button. (if there was any)

And then there's the multiple personality disorder as a lot of these sellers have:

Please complete our enquiry form with your details and a representative will contact you as quickly as possible.

No you can't, you're just one guy with a laser cutter in your shed!


I think I'll pass.

I've actually bought and built a pair of modern Darj coaches (still got one to build).

Expect high quality, precision fit parts, innovative use of materials and methods, a different method of construction from the norm and a high quality result.




Sorry - not got any close-ups yet.

The Denying Dutchman:91986 wrote:Such descriptions really want me to hit the BIN button. (if there was any)

Why?

@MDLR: When you say "a different method of construction from the norm", what do you mean by that? What sorts of things are required for construction? (Bearing in mind I don't have access to a workshop. The best I can do is soft soldering and I think I have a hand drill somewhere)

The picture you provided has helped, definitely. I can see that, at least from a reasonable distance, they look like good quality and it is useful to hear from someone who has bought from them in the past.

His models are incredibly well detailed and feature innovative use of laser cutting. I've built a 3 axle underframe and it is very well designed indeed and went together in a breeze. It was a prototype 45mm gauge chassis which did have a mistake. A new fret was sent by the next day when I told him to correct the error.

I haven built one yet (but do want to get one of his kits) but they look fantastic looks wise, and defiantly some clever use of the laser.

When I said "different method of construction" I was talking about how it goes together. Buy anybody elses's kit and (put VERY simply) you "put a box together", glue an underframe under the floor and fit the interior from the top before gluing the roof on.

With this, you have a more complicated and detailed underframe (with bogies) that you assemble and paint. Then you glue the floor to it and assemble the toilet compartment and seats on it. The body shell lifts off the underframe / floor, so you build the sides and ends, add the doors, take the body off the floor, build the roof out of strips of ply, paint / stain the whole (and fit lighting, if you want) and finally fit the windows, which have laser cut self adhesive frames which stick to the reference lines on the exterior, with the glazing a tight push fit from the inside.

So, it's a lot different to a normal build, but the results are very good!



Assembled underframe (bogies in the background)




Body shell

Brian, what are the "Magnabar couplings" Yatton advertises for their stock? Photo? The bogies look like laser cut wood, similar to IP Engineering. How well do the bogies track?

Thanks.

-Greg

I didn't use the magnetic couplings - it's easy enough to make up a replacement coupling bar with a hook in the end.

The bogies are laser cut wood (with 3D printed axlebox covers and bearings) - so far they've been fine. (Just don't put the washers in between the bogie and underframe - don't ask me why I know this)

Thanks for the tips, sir! They will be most useful. Also J am glad to hear they are made of wood and not brass because then even an idiot with limited resources such as myself can put them together!

Just make sure the bearings are flush with the inside of the frames...............

Brian, what are the "Magnabar couplings" Yatton advertises for their stock? Photo? The bogies look like laser cut wood, similar to IP Engineering. How well do the bogies track?

Thanks.

-Greg

Edit: Sorry for the repost -- unintentional.

Greg - look up the thread and you'll see I answered you last night! The couplings are very strong magnets which go on swivelling bars at either end of the coach, which means you have to marshal the coaches the right way round for them to work, and seeing as I use 3 link chains and hooks I wanted to standardise.................

I am very tempted by some of the Innisfail Tramway stock...........................................

Yeah I am very tempted by that stock as well! I love the aesthetic of it all and how some of it is rather unusual.