Continental Modeller December 2025

The show presented by Manchester Model Railway Society on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th December this year has been described by the Exhibition Coordinator as the most complex the society has ever staged. It promises to be a great celebration and a fitting finale to the society’s centenary year. Founded in 1925, the Manchester MRS is the third oldest model railway club in the world. Although its establishment came after that of both The Model Railway Club (1910) and Wimbledon Model Railway Club (1924), the MMRS does claim to be the organisation with the longest continuous active history, owing to the fact that, unlike the other two, it remained open to members throughout the Second World War. There will be a strong historical theme to the two-day event, with a…

Please send details for possible inclusion to: Peco Publications, Beer, near Seaton, Devon, EX12 3NA. E-mail: clubs@railwaymodeller.co.uk Saturday 22 November BANSTEAD, Surrey Organiser: North Downs Model Railway Circle. Venue: 3rd Banstead Scout Group, Scout Ridge, Banstead, Surrey, SM7 1RB. Open: 1000-1700 Admission: adults £6.00, U16s £3.00, seniors/disabled visitors £5.00, families (2+2) £12.00. All profits to 3rd Banstead Scout Group. Amenities: free parking. Refreshments, Features: layouts include Oregon (N), Lafayette Spring (HO), Five Mile Siding (HO), Willis Bluffs (HO), Neumarkt HO) and Angle Crossing (Sn42). Trade. Contact: Stuart Robinson 07758 458827. E-mail: stuart.robinson27@ntlword.com Website: www.ndmrc.info/Home/Tadworth.htm Saturday 22 November EATON BRAY, Bedfordshire Steam in Beds. Organiser: Bedfordshire 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers. Venue: Eaton Bray Village Hall, Church Lane, Eaton Bray, near Dunstable, LU6 2DJ. Open: 1000-1600 Admission: adults £6.00, accompanied U16s free.…

It was in 1925, a hundred years ago, that the metre gauge Réseau Breton reached the Atlantic coast of Brittany, across the Crozon peninsula. The origins of this network of lines, though, dated back to the latter part of the previous century to link up inland rural areas and it was considered important enough for its construction to be granted state funding – Intérêt Général. Between 1891 and 1907 five lines were opened, all radiating out from the central market town of Carhaix to link up with existing standard gauge routes to the north, east, south, and west. Carhaix was (literally) the railway centre of the network and apart from being the departure, and arrival, point for all lines, it also housed the workshops and principal locomotive depot. The last…

Heide is on the international line which connects Antwerp with Roosendaal in The Netherlands. It is located in a sub-municipality of Kalmthout. Before the station and the village of Heide were built, the area looked very different. Until 1880, the area around the current station consisted of an unspoilt landscape of heathland and dunes. This changed dramatically when sand was extracted from the Kalmthoutse Heide from 1888 onwards. This sand was used for large projects such as the construction of Antwerp Central Station and the raising of the ring railway around Antwerp. To transport the large quantities of sand efficiently, a branch line was built towards the Kalmthoutse Heide. This development attracted workers, as well as traders and industry, and thus the village of Heide-Kalmthout was born. In 1897, the…

The full story of my model of the Erie Lackawanna’s Bangor & Portland Branch appeared in the October 2024 issue of CONTINENTAL MODELLER, but at the time that issue went to press one corner of the layout still had temporary cardboard mock-ups representing the structures. That corner was Nazareth and the structures have now been replaced with scratchbuilt models. Nazareth is a community in Pennsylvania’s Northampton County – and yes, it was named for Nazareth in Israel. It was established in 1742 by a Moravian group which went on to form another community nearby and named it Bethlehem. This later became the location of a major locomotive servicing facility on the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and the site of a large steel works also served by the Lehigh…

This is my second layout of this name. Construction of the first started in July 1977 following a holiday around Sognefjord and Voss. Progress was swift, then in January 1978 construction came to a halt when I got engaged to an Italian girl I had met at work. All money and energy went into our house, though a small branch terminus was built. (A house must have a model railway!) It was inevitable that following our honeymoon in Italy my next layout would feature the FS (St.Nazario, see CM March/April 1981). (I wonder – is this the longest interval between magazine appearances?) The years passed and my modelling was varied, to say the least. In 2010 I felt the urge to build a bucolic Scottish branch and my take on…