Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i British Railway Modelling (BRM)

Farmers’ fields often border railway lines, and in model form, these are a great solution to an awkwardly shaped gap in the scenery. Realistic crops are difficult to make by hand, but, fortunately, realistic items are available off-the-shelf. It can be expensive to make a large field full of a crop, so you may choose to do what I have done and use a mat to depict a newly-sown or recently harvested field. In that case, the crops can be used to depict the gleanings around the edge of the field. These come from the sowings of previous years that overspill from the main growing area, and oilseed rape and cereal crops are often seen along the margins. Polytunnels are used to give a longer growing season, or to provide…

Buildings come from a number of sources. The cattle shed is a weathered and altered Bachmann item, it having internal fencing added along with straw bedding made from chopped up sisal string and dried soil to represent the dung. The silage along the feed fence is static grass fibres soaked in PVA. Wrapped silage bales use strips of real silage wrap cut into 3mm strips and wrapped around suitably-sized pieces of dowel. Straw bales are similar-sized dowel coated in PVA and rolled in straw-coloured static grass. The Dutch barn started life as a Ratio carriage shed but has been much modified with the addition of strip wood and corrugated styrene. The final barn in the farmyard is a laser-cut kit and has a fully detailed interior with tools, stairs to…

There are an increasing range of industrial locomotives and wagons available off-theshelf, enabling many modellers to fit layouts into the small spaces afforded by modern houses. Industrial buildings to give these locomotives a home can be large in size, but it's possible to model smaller facilities, too. One such model is the Grover Croft Mine kit from P&D Marsh, which is the subject of our build this time. Most layouts aren’t custom-built to model a mine. Often it is a model added to fill a corner, justify a siding and to add goods wagon traffic to a layout. As such, it is important that such industrial facilities occupy a small footprint. In this respect, this kit is ideal, measuring only 32cm × 38cm, or 9cm × 45cm in an alternate…

The concept of 'Exhill Works' goes back to my first layout in 4mm:1ft scale back in 1973, which used the same trackplan. In fact, this trackplan has been used on three other layouts I’ve built in 4mm:1ft scale or 16mm:1ft scale – A SR locomotive shed layout built around 1977, a OO9 layout based on Eastern Europe/ Yugoslavia, and a 16mm garden railway where this trackplan became the locomotive shed service area. Moving to the current time, I needed somewhere to showcase my 7/8ths scale traction engine parts I build and one thing led to another during lockdown. The layout design was set by the limitations of space. 'Exhill Works' is a shelf layout/working diorama for want of better words. The scale was determined by working out the scale that…

'Y7' CLASS PLANNED FOR 'OO' Never-before produced RTR in the scale, NER and LNER variants of the diminutive Worsdell ‘Y7’ 0-40T locomotive are to be produced for release in 2023/2024 by Rapido Trains UK. Prices are still to be confirmed, however, Rapido hopes to open the order book late December, with tooling to begin early 2023. Key differences between the 1888, 1891, 1897 and 1923 batches incorporated. Models will have a coreless motor and flywheel for smooth slow running as well as NEM coupler pockets and a factory-fitted sound speaker. The North Eastern Railway built six of these locomotives in 1888 to modernise its dockside railways. Classified ‘H’, they were so successful that more were built in 1891 and 1897. Even the LNER wanted more, ordering five in 1923. Classified…

Only last month, I was praising Hornby for the release of its Lord of the Isles train set in its beautiful retro-inspired box. In quick succession, I find myself with another, this time, even better! I must admit, that when Hornby created a small range of its steam-outline ‘locomotive greats’ with die-cast bodies, my interest piqued. Now, we find one such example boxed as part of a ‘train set’. Despite there being no official definition, to me, a train set is best described as containing track, a locomotive and, if you’re lucky, rolling stock, but most importantly, a controller. Its newly-released ‘The Royal Scot’ contains all the above, but omits a controller. Perhaps more economical than certifying plugs for different countries? Either way, this boxed set - more akin to…

Dedham Vale; the heart of ‘Constable Country’, an area of outstanding natural beauty, its riverside meadows and fertile farmland immortalised by the artist John Constable; a jewel of the East Anglian landscape. We built a railway through it… The village of Stratford St. Mary, situated on the River Stour, marking the border of Essex and Suffolk, has never been railwayserved in reality. It is imagined that a station was built on an eastward extension of the Stour Valley line from Cambridge, branching off at Sudbury, and connecting with the Great Eastern Main Line at the fictional town of Elmleigh Market. Much of the inspiration for 'Stratford St. Mary' station came from prototypes at Clare, Cavendish, and Linton along the former Stour Valley route, and Lavenham on the line to Bury…

This is a minimal space N gauge fiddle yard to terminus layout, born out of the lockdown of 2020. I’d painted the house and dug the garden, and was looking for something to do modelling-wise. The type of layout I wanted was a station hemmed in by tall modern developments, and I had an idea in my head for some time as I wanted something to run my DMU collection on. I had a variety of Outland Models' buildings as I’d been introduced to them by a modelling friend. At the time, they were very cheap and, as you can see, very adaptable. Construction timeline The baseboard for the layout is laminate wood flooring, which was knocking around the garage. Simple battens were screwed underneath for strength. Being 8in wide…

Last month, I fitted lights into road vehicles using tiny LED bulbs. Sometimes though, even these are too large for the space available, or you simply don't want to risk them failing and needing replacement. Or you don't fancy soldering wires together. No problem, there is another way to bring light to any location - fibre optic cables. You've probably heard of fibre optics from your broadband provider. Data is transmitted as a series of light pulses along a plastic cable. The technology is simple enough – shine light into one end, it bounces around, thanks to internal refraction, within the plastic rod, and shines out of the other end. The fibre optic cables are flexible, and available in lots of different widths. The fatter the cable, the more light…

The Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive capable of running on 25kV AC from overhead lines via pantograph, or 750V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically for operation through the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France for sleeper and freight services and, as a common user, are classified CC 92000 on French Railways. Since introduction in 1994, the fleet has been allocated to freight. However, six of the class now operate the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Scotland. A total of 46 of these interesting and complex locomotives, which were capable of delivering 6,700hp in AC mode and 5,630hp on third-rail DC (making them amongst the most powerful on the British network) were built between 1993 and 1996 as part of the landmark Channel Tunnel…

Following our reviews of Accurascale’s MGR wagons, starting with the original HAA in BRM July 2022, followed by the HCA and CDA wagons in BRM September 2022, the range further expands with three more derivatives in the form of the HBA, HDA and HMA variants, which are suitable for the later years of MGR wagons before the introduction of large-capacity bogie hoppers. HDA The Last 460 wagons, built at Shildon in 1982, were given uprated suspension and braking to allow them to run at 60mph loaded and unloaded. These uprated wagons gained the TOPS code HDA and were used on long-haul services and in shorter formations in Speedlink services. Around the mid-1990s, Mainline and Transrail began removing the canopies from HBA and HFA wagons, the vehicles being recoded back to…

At Warley, we met Oscar Robson, and photographed his fantastic layout, ‘Fordon Hill’. Oscar's dad, Ken, tells us more… Oscar has always liked travelling on boats, trains, buses, planes and so on, but his interest has always been towards trains. We visited many exhibitions around the country, by train of course, which started him asking when he could have his own railway. So, we started with a 6'×4’ OO, but this was proving difficult to run in the dining room due to lack of space. After a couple of visits to the Dapol open day, we decided to build an N gauge layout (4’6 × 2’), but this was going to be his layout (he told me!). I agreed, on the condition that he was going to learn how to…

Trees were always going to be a feature of the layout, inspired by the pioneering work of George Iliffe Stokes, and the demise of English elm trees due to disease in the 1970s. Construction uses steel cable, unwound to form the branches and polyfibre or steel wool for twigs supporting homemade foliage mat, or other leaf products - even old-fashioned sawdust has been used. Large elm trees are only depicted on the backscene at Stratford St. Mary, there being more room to model them on the Elmleigh section. Oaks behind the garage and crossing keeper's cottage form a soft scenic break before the line crosses the road.…

Like many people, model railways started at a young age with a Christmas present of some Hornby Dublo stock, some of which I still have. This was quickly added to and a board was assembled in my bedroom. A few years later, an outbuilding on the farm was converted into a family hobby room, where I was allowed 16ft along one side. My first proper layout, based on Fairford, was built, elements of which still survive today. Modelling continued through my teenage years, a diorama even being built as part of my O level art. After marriage, starting our business and children, modelling took a back seat until about 10 years ago, when I found techniques had much changed. A small pizza layout was constructed to try out some of…

One of the hallmarks of today’s railway is the sheer amount of trackside equipment that graces the permanent way. Signals, electrical cabinets, train protection systems, point motors, and many other elements essential to the smooth running of a major main line hint at the technical complexities of modern-day railway operations. The number of different types of equipment in use can make representing their distinctive presence at the trackside a bit of a challenge, especially when modelling a stretch of a four track main line such as on the East and West Coast routes, where so many examples can be found. N gauge is a particularly effective scale for modelling a busy main line scene, because being half the size of 'OO', you gain twice the length and four times the…

I wanted a way of uncoupling on my OO layout that prevented trains uncoupling when they're not supposed to. It needed to be simple to make with basic tools, be low cost, not burn out if left powered up too long, and not suffer from electrical spikes. So, I based the design on the idea that a 12V DC motor powered by a 1.5V DC supply would stall at the end of stroke without overheating or burning out. I designed this mechanism in the first place for Sprat & Winkle couplings that need a magnet for uncoupling. Raising the magnet only when needed, thus avoiding unwanted uncoupling. I wanted to prove that it could be adapted for tension-lock uncoupling as they are the main standard with most modellers, the answer…

Such was the widespread use of the Covered Carriage Trucks (CCT) vehicles, these are arguably a long overdue item in ready-to-run format for 7mm:1ft O gauge modellers. Between 1959 and 1961, 827 of these two-axle vehicles were constructed between BR's Doncaster and Earlestown works for use on Motorail and parcels traffic. Though their use on Motorail services was short - BR preferring the use of GUVs from the mid-1960s - the vehicles could often be found marshalled singly into rakes of stock for the transport of bicycles or luggage on longer-distance services, into rakes of parcel-carrying stock for postal services, and in their twilight years during the 1980s, repurposed for other uses from tool vans in the BR engineer's fleet, to use in its research department. Of course, many were…

Containers are a vital element of the modern railway, transporting all manner of goods from ports such as Felixstowe or through the Channel Tunnel, to distribution centres nationwide. Seen in block trains, their variety never ceases to amaze, as operators, branding and the cargo within changes with time. Many 20ft ISO shipping containers are available for 4mm:1ft scale in either assembled or kit form. However, tank containers variants for the scale aren’t as readily available, presumably owing to their more complex shape. For the present-scene modeller, Hornby’s new container trio should please then, providing not one, not two, but three different liveries to its tooling of a 20ft tank container. Concisa, GE and Hoyer Odfjell liveries are all sufficiently different to provide much-needed interest to rakes of Hornby KFAs, and…