Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Continental Modeller

During the 1990s I became aware of a new destination for overseas steam – Cuba. Initially I was not attracted by the idea as it was all on industrial lines and I imagined small tank locos shunting up and down in a factory, the public rail network having been dieselised some time previously. Then I saw some pictures in a magazine showing large American locos working hard in beautiful scenery. I was hooked! The cane trains were not restricted to the private mill lines but often had quite lengthy runs over the Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC) national system. The sugar harvest in Cuba is known as the Zafra and my first visit was to the 1997 Zafra then several following years. Besides the steam, Cuba is a fascinating country and…

Please send details for possible inclusion to: Peco Publications & Publicity Ltd., Beer, Devon, EX12 3NA. Telephone: 01297 21542 E-mail: clubs@railwaymodeller.co.uk Saturday 24 May BEER, Devon Venue: Station Gallery/Lecture Theatre, Pecorama, Underleys, Beer, Devon, EX12 3NA. Open: 1000-1600 Admission: included in Pecorama special 50th anniversary entry prices: adults £7.25, concessions (ages 3-17 & 65+) £6.25, family (4) £24.95, family (5) £29.95, under 2s free, dogs £1.00. Additional Beer Heights Light Railway train rides £4.00. Amenities: parking; disabled access (N.B. hilly site); refreshments. Features: visitors are invited to help operate modular digitally controlled Swiss HOm layout The Andeer Line. (Full instructions will be given.) Website: www.pecorama.co.uk Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 May AYLESBURY, Buckinghamshire RAILEX 2025 Organiser: Risborough & District MRC. Venue: Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Guttmann Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP21 9PP.…

Background In reality the Kinzigtal is the long valley stretching from Offenburg up into the Black Forest around Hausach. The Schwarzwaldbahn traverses the valley up to Hausach, where it continues upwards into the higher hills around Triberg and onto Konstanz; a branch to Freudenstadt diverges at Hausach. The scenery varies from the townscape around Offenburg through orchards to the lovely town of Gengenbach and then on through the hills. Having had some memorable family holidays in the area, I wanted to give my layout the feel of the region, even if some parts of the layout actually pre-dated those holidays. As my main objective has always been to create a plausible setting to run my fairly extensive collection of models, Kinzigtal is essentially two large ovals with a substantial fiddle…

As a fervent fan of trips to the seaside, I could be found somewhere along the coast line in Belgium every Easter holiday. Hence this evocation of a piece of the spectacular tram line on the sea wall somewhere between Oostende Mariakerke and Middelkerke to the south-west. A shuttle service between Mariakerke and Middelkerke is depicted, pausing at the Raversijde halt. The layout is designed in the form of a simple oval, or perhaps better described as a dog bone, with return loops at either end. The track is from Peco, and the overhead was made by Staf de Meester. The rolling stock is from Ferivan (type SO and BN trams). Operation is automatic. The trams have been fitted with digital decoders and are controlled via a Lenz 200 central…

The former station of Vonêche was located on line 166 (the northern part of the Athus – Maas Line) between Gedinne and Pondrôme. It was opened on 1st October 1898 and closed in 1990 for freight traffic, although the local sawmill was still served until it too closed its doors. On 26th September 1993 the line was closed to passenger traffic. The station area had changed drastically during electrification – the station building and the goods shed disappeared and made way for a transformer station. The Athus – Maas Line was known for its heavy coal and ore trains. After the war, these were double headed by steam locomotives of types 25/26, then by type 202/203/204 diesels (later series 52/53/54). That is why we chose to model Epoch III/IV. Also,…

Telling the story of a layout is usually quite simple. Beyond the story, it is often a list of materials and products, perhaps with a wealth of detail regarding the construction methods. However, I want to take you back in time, to some beautiful moments in my youth that this layout brings to mind. When my mother was expecting me, she travelled to work by train. It is natural that the ‘tatam-tatam’ of the old rail joints has remained in my head. This is why I can say that my passion for trains was born with me! I remember that my grandfather took me to see the trains at Malnate station – there are some photographs that confirm it – before arriving at my most distant memories. The first electric…

This layout attempts to portray a small part of the Chemin de fer de l’État Libanais (CEL) in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war which ravaged the country from 1975 to 1990. The layout is set during 1980s in the eastern suburbs, loosely based on the Dowra area, which contained several petrol companies and oil terminals. Beirut as a place was somewhere I became aware of as a teenager growing up in the 1980s as the ongoing conflict was reported regularly on television. I have always been attracted to ‘off the beaten track’ railroads in unique places: my previous layout was set in Cuba. However, I decided after that layout I would move away from the ‘blue sky and green scenery’ that it is very common. I wanted to try…