Member postings for DerekS

Many thanks folks. I think 5 inch gauge will be too big and I have to say that I‘m still drawn to a 3½ inch gauge, ground level railway which may be raised in areas such as viaducts and bridges and where some levelling is needed. Riding on behind may become tricky when it comes to the tunnels and cut throughs. Besides, I don’t think there will be room to have enough clearance around the track over its entire length to enable anyone to ride on it. At the end of the day, the gauge may depend on what rolling stock is available in 3½ inch gauge. I tried Googling it and found very little, maybe scale wagons an coaches don’t exist in 3½ inch gauge because it‘s only ever used for riding behind.

I just had a response from the Steam Workshop (https://www.steamworkshop.co.uk) saying that 3½ inch gauge wagons and coaches are very rare, they don’t have any in stock and they don’t know where I would be able to find any.

Edited By DerekS on 04/05/2023 00:13:16

Edited By DerekS on 04/05/2023 00:14:35

Thanks Nigel and IanT, I do plan to radio control the locos and maybe have a video feed from the front. It won’t be a very long track around the garden so I’m assuming I will get to know how quickly the water level drops. Coal fired is favourable if only to achieve the right smell.

I will look into G3 but I don’t know what you mean about there being not too much 'stuff' available outside of the engines on 3½ inch gauge. Are you talking about signals, sheds, stations, etc? If so, I was planning to make those kind of things from scratch myself. I think that is a more realistic goal than trying to construct the locos from scratch.

Thanks Bazyle. 3½ inch gauge looked to be the ideal size for live steam with 2½ inch gauge being on the small side and 5" being a bit too big. The different scale standards are quite complicated but as far as I can see, the gauge of G1 is only 1.75" and G3 is 2.5". Smaller than I had planned but I can look into G3 further if I can’t achieve the bend radii with 3½ inch gauge. It appears that G3 loco kits are more readily available.

Yes I will be going along to the local ME club after the project has passed the feasibility and before I start work on anything.

It may be possible for me to start on building a loco from scratch but considering the time it will take to tool up the workshop with lathes, pillar drills, etc, started out on simple stuff to learn basics and progressed to locos, it will be many years before I‘ll be able to produce anything. Maybe by the time I‘m 70, just in time before I move into the care home 😊.

Wow, many thanks to everyone for the excellent responses and for all the tips, advice and book recommendations.
My intention is for a scenic, ground level 3½ inch gauge layout which I don't intend to ride on. What is the point of that you may ask. Well for one thing, it won't be raised up on trestles and there would be some difficulty negotiating the tunnel and crossing the bridge without it collapsing. It also means that there won’t be any issues with stability, etc. These are just ideas at the moment and project is only at the feasibility stage.
No, I don't have any idea about what is involved in operating a steam engine. It will be part of the overall learning curve and although it may be temperamental, require lots of tweaking and tlc, I think it's all part of the attraction (along with all the maintenance of rolling stock, track and scenery).
I'm pleased that there is a local ME club on the Isle of Wight which has ‘in house’ Boiler Inspectors. I'll have to go along to an open day when the project has passed the feasibility stage. Yes, it's difficult introducing myself to a society because I had a bad experience joining the local model flying club in the 90s. Basically, it became obvious they didn't want any more members but they wanted the subs. After joining I was completely ignored by everyone and left to my own devices and I still suspect the guy crashed my plane deliberately. I'm sure the IoW ME Club isn't like that.
I don't intend building the locos, I would have loved to at one time but considering the extremely steep learning curve, the tooling up costs and the experience required, I think it will be a step too far to start at my age (63). So I will need to purchase all the rolling stock if that is feasible, probably second hand which is a bit daunting as a nube. If loco kits exist in 3½ inch gauge, that may be the next best thing! I favour a Polly / Rob Roy loco at the moment.
Yes, if it all goes ahead I will endeavour to post on the progress.

I‘m new to model trains and I‘m on a steep learning curve for building that steam layout in the garden I‘ve always dreamed of. I think my most favoured gauge for this will be 3½ inch gauge. I would have liked to have built from scratch but I think that will be a step too far at my age so I’ll need to purchase the locos, etc. and put the creativity into building the layout instead. I’m a rabbit in the headlights at the moment so any advice on where to start will be appreciated (a broad topic I know).

I was also wondering if anyone knows of any model railway exhibitions / fairs in the UK that includes 3½ inch gauge, maybe also including engineering, construction, etc. There are the exhibitions in the Midlands in October and in London in January I’ll be going to of course but all others I found online appear to be for OO gauges and similar. Thanks.