Top Tips


	On this page you find all those little hints and tips that will help when it comes to building and running your garden railway. Please feel free to send any tips or hints that you have to jason@gscalemad.co.uk so that it can be added to the website.
	Traction tires do not last very long on garden railways and ones for USA Trains are sometimes hard to come by. An alternative is to use the security seal on 2 litre or 330ml bottles of soft drinks (coke/Pepsi). Carefully remove the seal from the bottle and you will find that the inner part of the seal will clip nicely into the wheel groove. The outer part of the seal can then be trimmed with a craft knife to fit. Sounds a bit Heath Robinson but it works. My GP30 & GP38 have run all summer with their 'new' plastic tires with no problems at all. Malcolm.
	Hi All, I thought I'd post my recent experiences just in case anyone else has problems obtaining the correct colour of spare bulbs for signals, firebox simulation etc. I use a suitable clear bulb, often obtainable from the likes of Maplins, Rapid Electronics, etc. and dip it in my wife's transparent glass paint. This paint is available in a range of colours from various craft and hobby shops including "Hobbycraft" supermarkets. The technique I favor is to mount the bulb in a holder with wires attached which is fixed to a cocktail stick or similar with "Blue Tack" This is used to lower the bulb into the paint until the bulb glass is fully immersed. I then lift it out and let some of the excess drain off for a few seconds before removing the remainder of the excess using a small paintbrush. With a little practice I’ve found it easy to do this holding the bulb etc glass end down in one hand whilst twisting the paintbrush slowly in the other. The art is to have the brush touching the paint film but not the glass and therefore leaving no brush marks. I then jab the other end of the cocktail stick into a piece of “Blue Tack” on the bench so that the bulb is vertical with the glass end uppermost. The wires are then connected to a suitable supply for an hour or so; this tests the bulb, both electrically and for colour, and cures the paint. Neil Robinson.
	Don't forget that with track power, keeping your track clean is only half the story. You also need to make sure that your wheels and pickup shoes are also maintained. A rub over with a cloth damped with methylated spirit does wonders for the tyres - don't forget the wheel backs as well where the pickup plunger makes contact as they benefit from an occasional quick wipe over. For a quick clean during a running session then gentle use of a modellers small fibreglass burnishing brush on the tyres and collector shoes works wonders - just make sure that you don't inhale any dust. John (Bredebahn)
	How do you fancy some cheap smoke oil ? At the moment Asda, Morrisions, Sainsburys, etc are all selling garden lamp oil for about £1.00 a litre and they are also selling barbeque lighter fluid for about the same price. Get one of each and then mix them 50% - 50% then you end up with 2 litres of smoke oil for about £2.00 which is quite a bit cheaper than the oil LGB sells for smoke units. Mike.
	When pruning conifers if you save some of the clippings from the tips of the conifers and trim the ends with a sharp knife, then dip the end in some hormone rooting compound and pot them up into moist compost. They will root very easily and you will have a fresh, free supply of miniature trees to replace any that outgrow their space. If this sounds like too much trouble perhaps you could enlist the support of your head gardener, thus fostering a "growing interest" in your railway. The Gnome.
	Having trouble find Pola cement for your outdoor model buildings, then try " Flopast" from ScewFix Direct at www.screwfix.co.uk This works well and is easy to find and order. Charles
	I read the article on coach lighting on the ARTICLES AND REPORTS PAGE by Matt Gadfield and it mentions routing the wires to make them less visible. I often use adhesive backed copper strip for this purpose. It is available in some hobby/craft shops as it is often used for dolls house lighting (and wallpapered over). Rapid Electronics http://www.rapidelectronics.co.uk/rkmain.asp?PAGEID=80010&CTL_CAT_CODE=&STK_PROD_CODE=M29457&XPAGENO=2 Also sell it, often to schools to make up simple electrical circuits in technology lessons. I like to run two strips along the floor and solder short wires from these to the pickups. Two strips go up one end only of the coach, the top end is soldered to short wiring with a connector and a matching connector for the roof wiring and/or copper strips. This option allows the roof to be completely removed. Where two or more strips need to be connected together they are just placed on top of each other and then soldered. Neil Robinson
	Here's a top tip about track laying that i thought i would share with you all. It's how i laid the track on my railway the S&H. I lay the track into horticultural grit, so in effect it floats in the ballast, but to avoid any movement I simply insert a tent peg over a sleeper and hammer it into the soil below the ballast, this stops it from rising and drifting. Paul & Duncan.
	Getting moss to grow on your new viaduct or bridge can be helped by painting it with plain yoghurt, then just sit back and wait and this will help the growth of moss to help add to the realism of you railway. G Brandjes.
	This will only take you a couple of minutes to do. The picture shows some small windows which are made by lego. These windows can be cut in half to make tail lamps for your trains. A paper clip is cut to size to make the handle, a small piece of plastic card Is put on the cut side to neaten the edges. The lamp is then painted white, the glazed part can be painted red, for the clever ones amongst us a red l.e.d. Can be inserted into the lamp to make it a working model. Brenda 2007.
	Want to bend or shape wood then why not try using some pvc piping and making a simple steamer. Method as follows. A small gas burner with kettle on top, spout of kettle inside one end of pvc pipe (pipe supported higher at non kettle end) timber tied to a piece of string and lowered into pipe, boil kettle and after about 10-15 minutes (sometime longer dependant on soft or hard wood) the timber can be bent almost like plastercine. To form curves simply drive nails into a piece of scrap board the same as if forming boards for concrete and bend hot timber and hold in place with nails to the shape/curve you want. Being hot the moisture will evaporate more quickly hence drying quicker and 99% of the time will not crack or try to straighten out. Very simple very effective. Roger Browne.