I’ve been fascinated by trains for as long as I can remember. There’s something special about watching a locomotive chug along the tracks, pulling carriages behind it. Old diesels are my favorite as I remember riding them as a kid with my dad. I’m lucky to live near The East Lancs Railway, so close I can hear the steam trains hooting from my garden. Over the years, I’ve built up a decent collection of toy trains, from old Lima and Hornby sets to modern models from Kato and Bachmann. I also have a discontinued Playmobil Freight Train.
On this page, you’ll find details of my current train’s, track layouts I’ve built and accessories I’ve tried. Whether you’re a fellow train enthusiast, or just curious about the hobby, I hope you find something useful here. I regularly update this section as I add new trains and expand my layout.
Intro
I’ve owned toy trains since I was about 7 years old, I had a shed in my parents garden that was mostly dedicated to my train set. I ran Hornby & Lima 00 scale trains and really enjoyed making scenery out of paper mache. I took a break from trains when I started working and got back into the hobby when I retired.
The Train Set
I’ve got about 8ftx8ft dedicated to the train set and there is a hole in the middle that I can easily step into and reach all of the layout. I decided to install the layout at about knee height, this was to allow easy access as I store items above and below the trains, although now above the train set I have made room to store my RC cars when they are not in use.
Future plans includes adding another double loop of 00 scale train that goes out of the shed around the garden pond and back into the shed, I already have the track, power controls and trains for this but I am waiting for planning permission approval from my Wife, I shall let you know if it’s ever approved 😉
The Track
I run 5 loops of track and I use a mix of 00 and N gauge. I only use loops of track as I like to run my trains all going round at once. I really enjoy seeing multiple trains running at the sametime and enjoy the sound of the wheels on the track. I also have a Playmobil Garden Train Set that is about the same scale as G scale standard for garden railways. I bring that out and set it up on the patio on nice sunny days.
Trains I own
I own quite a few trains, my favorites are: –
00 Scale
Hornby Class 66 66587 in Freightliner ONE pink livery – DCC
Bachmann Class 20 Harry Needle Railroad Company HNRC 20311 35-126 with Lights – DCC
Bachmann Toby The Tram with moving eyes – DCC
The following trains are going to be used when I expand into the garden.
Hornby Class 37 37710 Loadhaul – DC
Hornby Class 37 37130 Diesel Loco in Br Blue – DC
Lima Class 37 37421 in BR 2 Tone Grey Livery – DC
N Gauge
KATO N Gauge Pocket Line Series Chibiden My Town Tram Model Train 2-Car 14-503-1 – DC
Graham Fisher Class 08 Diesel Shunter – DC
Dapol N Gauge Class 66 EWS 66225 with Lights -DC
Crawler Track
This layout is also a bit unusual as it doubles as a crawler track for my Traxxas TRX4m Land Rover Defender.
