https://www.railex.org.uk/ 2026-04-04T14:40:46+00:00 https://www.railex.org.uk/ https://www.railex.org.uk/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=wiki:logo.png text/html 2021-05-18T14:30:26+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:gardenrailway&rev=1621348226&do=diff A Garden Railway Garden railways were historically the most popular, largely because the smaller scales didn't really exist, and power by clockwork or live steam, as was common, was more suited to longer runs. Modern electrically driven models are, however, equally suited to the great outdoors and there are many people building extensive, and not so extensive, garden railways. The most popular scale for outdoors is probably O scale. text/html 2021-05-14T08:40:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:indoorlayout&rev=1620981618&do=diff How Much Room Do I Need? Obviously what you can build inside will depend to a large extent on the space available. I've always thought I'd love to live in one of those stately homes which have a gallery. Some of these are 100 feet long - boy what a layout you could have there! text/html 2021-04-07T14:44:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:makemodels&rev=1617806658&do=diff Making your own models of locos and rolling stock If you want to make your own models, then they get easier to make the bigger you go. Having said that, a lot of fine modellers will tell you that the bigger you go, the more detail you add! text/html 2021-05-12T18:12:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:narrowgauge&rev=1620843145&do=diff An Overview of the Main Narrow Gauge Scale/Gauge Combinations in the UK There are many, many Narrow Gauge/Scale combinations. In fact there is probably a scale/gauge combination being used by someone for every scale in combination with almost every commercial track gauge and with many non-commercial ones. There are also scale/gauge combinations that use scales that don’t really exist in any form in standard gauge modelling. text/html 2021-05-26T21:58:32+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:newcomers1&rev=1622066312&do=diff Deciding what you want How much space do you have? You may be lucky enough to have a railway room, a garden shed, or even a garden where you can put your railway. You may have a shelf or need to have something that can be packed away after each session. This will have a significant impact on your next decisions but there is always room for a model railway, there have been a number of interesting little models in A4 box files and smaller over the years. text/html 2021-05-26T22:10:21+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:newcomers2&rev=1622067021&do=diff Building your Layout What will my layout look like? Having decided what it is you want, possibly in detail, possibly just a general idea it’s now time to start planning the layout itself. The most obvious place to start is with the track layout but beware. If you are not following a prototype there is a temptation to cram in more track than is sensible. Too many points can lead to sidings or loops that are really to short for useful operation and something that just looks over crowded. As note… text/html 2021-05-10T18:17:43+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:part1&rev=1620670663&do=diff Deciding what you want How much space do you have? You may be luck enough to have a railway room, a garden shed, or even a garden where you can put your railway. You may have a shelf or need to have something that can be packed away after each session. This will have a significant impact on your next decisions but there is always room for a model railway, there have been a number of interesting little models in A4 box files and smaller over the years. text/html 2021-05-26T21:53:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:scales&rev=1622066029&do=diff Gauge and Scale To newcomers to the hobby, the wide range of scales available can be a bit daunting, added to which are the various track gauges, often several associated with one scale and often several scales associated with one track gauge. We have produced a summary, highlighting the common gauge/scale combinations, those where there is significant specialist support and those where you will really need to do pretty much everything yourself from scratch. text/html 2021-05-26T21:49:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://www.railex.org.uk/doku.php?id=newcomers:scalesummary&rev=1622065797&do=diff Potted Histories of Popular Scales for Standard Gauge Track in the UK In 1899 the Society of Model Engineers recommended five standard model gauges, originally: * Gauge 3 was ½” to the foot * Gauge 2 is 7/16” to the foot * Gauge 1 ⅜” to the foot