Created in 1998, the Timpdon Lake Railway is still undergoing extension - it's just that the rain has stopped play!

The track is a mixture of Mamod and Peco. The minimum radius is therefore 2' 6". Although this may sound a bit on the tight side, the small industrial locomotives don't look out of place. This tight radius has also influenced the stock: a rake of three small IP Engineering coaches, at least 27 Binnie skips with metal wheels, and a few other "odds and sods".

Underground wiring to the church and station provide lighting and sounds from a tape recorder in the garage.

It is intended to one day provide a branchline off which climbs into the garage. Here it can link into the indoor layout (see Hall 6 on this web site).

Stock:

2  'Sir Morris'
A radio-controlled live steam (gas fired) 'Genesis' class locomotive, manufactured by Pearse Engineering of Church Stretton, Shropshire.  Professionally lined by Lightline of Huddersfield.  The loco benefits from a radio-controlled whistle.
This locomotive is loosely based on a Hunslet, although it is said to resemble the WHR's (Porthmadoc) 'Russell' - without bogies.
This engine is believed to be the very last Genesis class locomotive manufactured.  A tidy-up revealed enough components to make just one more for an old order.  When this customer had to cancel, the engine was quickly acquired by the Timpdon Lake Railway.  

3  'Lord Sam'
A radio-controlled live steam gas fired locomotive with an unknown history.  Although the body is possibly a 'Merlin' (the loco is displaying Merlin manufacture's plates) opinions vary on which parts (or even any) were made by them.
It is widely considered, however, that the current oscillating cylinders have been added at a later date.
The loco was acquired in 1998 from the Owl Light Rly, Southport.

4  'Prince of Wales'
A much modified Mamod locomotive.  Originally produced as a pot boiler to run on solid fuel tablets, David Wilding of the 16mm Lancashire Area Group extensively modified it to be gas fired in a fire tube.  This has meant that the loco will now run in any weather.
Other modifications include many IP Engineering "goodies", including a regulator (to tame the beast), lubricator, & safety valve.

6  'Brenin Dom'
Acquired only in April 2000, this Peter Angus 'de Winton' is a manual gas (ceramic) fired geared loco.
The Timpdon Railway staff have been extremely pleased with the performance of this loco.  Nothing gives the railway's chief engineer greater pleasure than to watch this loco running unaided for two hour long periods, at a realistic speed and regardless of the gradients.

'Harlech Castle' - Baguley-Drewry
On loan from the famous Welsh "Festiniog Railway", this loco has proved to be an extremely useful asset at Timpdon. There are similar Baguley-Drewry 0-6-0 machines on the Brecon Mountain Railway and the Vale of Rheidol Light Railway. Timpdon's engine was made by Essel Engineering and is radio controlled.

'Austin' - Simplex 20/28
A reproduction of a Simplex 20/28 bhp, in Leighton Buzzard livery. The loco is made mainly from brass.  Radio-control operates the digital speed controller for the 6v motor and also operates the twin air horns (well, buzzers!) and spotlight. This loco was made in the Timpdon workshops and won the 'Butterley Trophy'  Model of the Year competition at the 16mm Association AGM, 1999.

'Effie' - Heywood 0-4-0
We can now put an end to that old mystery of whatever happened to Sir Arthur Heywood's 15 inch gauge locomotive "Effie".  The loco was acquired by the Timpdon Lake Railway and re-gauged to run on 2 foot! Using an IP Engineering chassis, the bodywork was made in the Timpdon Sheds out of plastic (it can be seen that the boiler is the same dimension of a household white plastic drain pipe...).

'Larry' - Lister
A whitemetal & brass kit produced by IP Eng. No modifications were needed, although fitting a switch to enable it to run at half volts has proved useful for very slow running.

'Pete' - Planet Truck
Identical to Stan's Contractor's Skip, but with a wooden tool box and seat instead of a skip. This loco is a recent addition to the Timpdon Shed.  We hope it proves as popular as 'Stan'.

'Geoff' - Green Diesel
The freelance diesel locomotive was acquired second hand.  It is believed that that the loco was 'kit-bashed' from a Fendyke kit by Tony Reynolds on an Essel Engineering chassis.

'Stan' - Contractor's Skip
Manufactured by 'Jons', this loco proved invaluable whilst the Timpdon Lake Railway was being constructed (as it is a slow runner, it was perfect for end to end running). Careful observation will reveal that the driver, Stan, always looks in the direction he is going.

Slate Gravity Train
A small working gravity train of Festiniog type slate wagons. The wagons have been adopted from kits, in the Timpdon workshops.  Speculation is rife amongst the Timpdon train-spotters that this train was seen running up hill!  Rumours abound that the train is not powered by gravity - but an internal motor!

Simplex Caravan
A reproduction Simplex Motor Caravan assembled from IP Eng's new whitemetal kit. This is a copy of Leighton Buzzard's caravan. This was a first attempt at whitemetal soldering in the Timpdon Sheds - a very successful method.  We would certainly recommend IP Engineering's soldering materials and instructions.

BMW Isetta BubbleCar
People often mistake this model as a stationary humerous gimmick.  This is far from the truth. In fact, it is an exact copy of the Rail Taxi that ran on the Leighton Buzzard line in the early 1960s.