Spotlight on .....Garden Railway Specialists (GRS) of Princes Risborough
Garden Railway Specialists (GRS) will be well-known to any seasoned 'Gauge 3' modeller, they have developed an extensive range of locomotives, rolling stock and other accessories. It is probably no exaggeration to say it is their efforts, more than any other, which have made this scale accessible to newcomers who do not possess the engineering skills of many of the older generation of model-makers. Founder and Managing Director of Garden Railway Specialists Ltd, Michael Adamson, is an experienced railway modeller himself and it his enthusiasm which drove the GRS product range into the uncharted territory which, up until recent times, Gauge 3 presented to any commercial producer of kits and RTR products. Indeed, it was a visit to the Princes Risborough shop (truly an Aladdin's cave for a model railway enthusiast) which introduced me to Gauge 3 : I went with the intention of purchasing a 'Roundhouse' 16mm scale steam loco but came away with a car loaded with G3 material!
I have said enough and now pass you over to Michael, who will share some of his thoughts and plans for the future of the GRS range of G3 items.
John Candy (Webmaster)
The beginning of 2009 has seen the introduction of both the electric and live steam versions of the Hunslet Austerity J94 locomotives, together with the Peckett 0-4-0 Saddle Tank industrial loco. Over half of the limited production of the latter loco have been sold because of its extremely attractive price. We are now preparing the GWR Flying Banana Railcar for release in about six weeks. An improvement upon the previous version, this model now has a one piece resin body shell with new floor and bogie mounting unit plus additional etched detail.
The LNE/BR brake van in cast resin will be available about the same time.
The LMS 3F will be released around the middle of the year. It has a resin body with a steel/brass chassis for easy building.
The GWR Manor 4-6-0 tender loco is under development. The prototype has now been test run on 8ft radius curves with a loaded test train. So far we have had no problems with clearances or traction. The loco appears to pull an eight coach train perfectly well. The boiler/smokebox unit and tender body will be in resin, the remainder of the model will be in etched brass with steel chassis for loco and tender. Projected delivery early 2010.
For the future, we intend to complete the GWR Dean Goods and to follow the Manor with a SR N class Mogul and a LMS Black Five.
On the building front, a GC signal box based on the one at Loughborough and a GW conical water tower are in development. A new turned brass point lever is also in preparation.
Michael Adamson
20 February 2009
20 February 2009
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Examples of kit-built Locos and Stock from the GRS range.
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Peckett 0-4-0ST - a limited edition kit from GRS at 345GBP.