Continental Modeller October 2025

The British Region of the National Model Railroad Association, the American organisation devoted to developing the hobby, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year – a remarkable achievement. It is one of the oldest regions, founded only ten years after the parent organisation, and has for many years been among the most active. It must also be one of the oldest model railway clubs in Britain, either based in a local area or with a common special interest. It also seems to be still going strong even when other specialist groups are experiencing uncertainties, not so much for lack of interest in whatever their field may be but in finding volunteers willing to undertake the duties of organisation. The NMRA-BR stages an Annual Convention on the American pattern, a three…

This small layout was born in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. Being stuck at home, like the rest of the planet, I looked for an occupation that would allow me to free my mind a little! Over a long period I had accumulated some material that was sleeping in boxes, telling myself that one day, when my professional activity would allow it, I would try to create a layout. I had no particular idea about what type of layout but I kept myself informed by browsing French and sometimes foreign forums. At that time, I did not have a large space, just a section of wall with a length of 2.5m, which would not allow me to create a continuous run so I chose a point-to-point design. I chose an…

I am part of the Black Diamonds group based in the Midlands, a division of the National Model Railroad Association – British Region. We run American modular layouts in N, HO, and On30. This particular set of N scale modules was built to our own standards, a modified version of FreemoN. It is our second attempt at a coal town – the first used boards that were far too large and heavy and only got as far as track laying and wiring, with a few structures. My interests in American railroads centre around the eastern coal roads in the 1950s, mainly in Virginia and West Virginia, especially the Virginian Railway and Norfolk & Western, with quite a bit of Chesapeake & Ohio thrown in. This period means lots of large…

The lingering question after my layout Avenida das Napolitanas’ had featured in CM (May 2024) was: what now? The modest 4' x 1' shunting layout was shown at a couple of exhibitions. As ever there were a couple of electrical issues, but substantially the layout was a success – locos running well, a handful of wagons, scenery and buildings completed, backscenes blended in, a few Preiser people adding life; what more was needed? Having made the leap into modelling Brazilian metre gauge railways, it was tempting to maybe lengthen sidings, or add more of the same, but that would need a longer run-round loop, more wagon storage ... in short, it would become a new layout! So I focused on its weakness. Although contained on a 4' x 1' board,…

Orlando station was built in 1926 in the Spanish Mission style. The building is complicated with a distinctive design, and has changed very little since built. It was refurbished in 2015. When I designed Kaley Yard, my intention was to make the station the signature building for the lower deck. I developed the layout plan more than ten years ago and I intended the station to be in low relief against the back wall facing the entrance door. The reason for low relief was that such a complex design with so many arches would have been a step too far for me to model with my then modelling skills. I felt the only construction materials available to me at the time would have been plasticard, 3mm MDF, or thin plywood.…

Almost every layout starts with a theme, a story giving the background of why the railway came into being, providing a realistic setting and a sympathetic landscape for the trains to travel through. Here is the background to my layout – I hope you will enjoy it. Certainly, there had been a small horse and cart pass through the mountains for centuries, although often blocked by snow during the winter months. The early settlement here was halfway between two larger towns on either side of the mountain, hence it became known as ‘Mittelstadt’ – the town in the middle. However, this was a bit of a misnomer as it was more of a large country village set in its own scenic valley – that is, until the railway came in…