G Scale Garden Railway

G Scale layout

The club has a large outdoor G scale railway (various scales from about 1:22 to 1:30 (nominally 1:24), running on 45mm gauge track) that runs around the outside of the clubrooms. It is completely level and elevated to about three feet to permit easy eye-level viewing when seated.

All of the infrastructure of the G scale layout has been scratch built using many recycled materials. The most significant purchase was the brass rail and the thousands of screws used to hold it down to the sleepers — each of which was cut from recycled timber.

A hand operated rolling rail bender was designed and built within the club to allow the brass rail to be bent (or straightened) to any desired radius. All of the points (and even one cross-over) have been scratch built by hand and customised to the intended installation location. Several bridges have also been scratch built to add interest.

One end of the railway consists of a large loop running over a pond and through a small tunnel under a waterfall. This area is part of the public area of the club and permits Mum and Dad to enjoy a cuppa while the kids watch the trains.

The G scale railway runs on radio controlled battery feed and (occasionally) live steam.