Railways and railway modelling

Model railways

Model railway enthusiasts -- of which there are an unhealthy number -- would probably be appalled at my description of building a model railway. I approach this as a DIY task, one that is no different in principle from any other DIY job. You will need smaller tools, to be sure, but the same skills necessary for, say, refurbishing a kitchen will be demanded for the construction of a model railway.
       I should say before going much further that the `railways' I am describing see daily service as toys, as well as models. I frequently find the delicately-constructed buildings have been taken off and replaced by Lego, and the track occupied by Bob the Builder and his friends. So, we're not talking about museum pieces here.
       This section of my Web site, like the railways themselves, is very much under construction at the moment. Please excuse the unfinished and incomplete pages.

A table-top railway

This was our first attempt at a model railway, constructed on the usual 4'x8' plywood sheet. There aren't any photos of this project under construction, because I forgot to take any. There are a few photos of the finished item: click here.

A permanent installation

This is a much more ambitious project; this model railway occupies a permanent installation in part of our loft. It is about 12' x 9' in size, and so far has absorbed about 90' of track.

Click here for details.

A simple garden railway

You can construct a simple, but workable, OO-scale garden railway in a morning; here's how.

A more ambitious garden railway

Our latest project is to construct a small (relatively speaking) G-scale garden railway. This is quite a challenge, given the size of our garden.

Real railways

When you've had enough of models, you can always go and see some real trains...

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