Table of contents for September 2025 in Continental Modeller

Why Swiss and the RhB? Since I started my railway modelling journey aged 6 with my first British OO layout, I have been a bit of a magpie moving across scales and continents. An early ‘experiment’ in 009 included the random purchase of a solitary Bemo short coach (with swapped HOe wheels) at the Kivoli Centre, Bala, whilst on holiday. As it dwarfed the British outline stock, I wondered what sort of railway this coach ran on and was it in Germany or elsewhere? Being a callow youth I did not really dwell on this question after the layout was broken up and stock sold off until, as an adult I discovered the Swiss Railway Journeys shows on the Travel Channel via satellite TV. Upon watching the episodes covering the…

A contract has been signed with the operators of the Manyberries Elevator to transfer grain north to Hudson Bay Port via The Pas & Northlands. There were indeed five grain elevators at Manyberries originally but four were taken down and moved to richer areas in the 1920s. There was one left in 1952 but it appears this was demolished by the late 1960s. The township of Manyberries is in Alberta, not Saskatchewan, so its elevators would have been part of the Alberta Pool. The Pas, headquarters of the TP&NR, is in Manitoba to the east and just under 1,000km from Manyberries on a direct line – a very long branch indeed! As an aside, the Manyberries elevator is in the Saskatchewan Pool because those were the only transfers I could…

In the western part of Belgium, in West Flanders, we have a saying Goestinge which means “to pursue something wholeheartedly.” What began in 2019 as a simple sketch for the Belgian Modelspoor Magazine’s bi-annual mini layout competition evolved during the Covid period into something far more ambitious. Initially constrained by the competition size limits, the delays to future exhibitions encouraged me to dream bigger. A fully realised station with its surrounding neighbourhood became essential. What started as a small diorama transformed into a fully-fledged exhibition layout. My original sketch featured just two modules. In 2019, I decided to transition to a different scale: O. The possibilities of that opened up a world of new opportunities. Most of my HO collection was sold, except for a selection of my favourite items,…

My modelling odyssey commenced in 1958 when my parents bought me a Hornby Dublo three-rail train set. My modelling skills were honed over many years with various layouts built in spare bedrooms, sheds, and garages. In 2002 I visited the USA for the first time and on the journey from Orlando airport to our accommodation I saw a long CSX freight train. Wow! Subsequent visits to the USA enabled me to explore Florida and Southern California railroads. These rail-fanning days inspired me to buy a locomotive with sound, a Lenz DCC system, and become a member of the NMRA. Retirement, downsizing when the children flew the nest, and the sale of my existing British layout enabled me to start an American layout in my garage. Planning I wanted to build…

After a few recent holidays in Europe, I became interested in the railways there. I do not claim to be an expert, I just like their trains, so my next exhibition layout would have a European theme. Would it be German or French? I chose the latter. It would a small working diorama which would fit into my car, with a size of 1,220mm x 400mm plus a 550mm fiddle yard. There would be two industries, and train lengths would be a maximum of three wagons plus a diesel shunter. I chose the name Saint Agur – a bit cheesy, I know, but I think it works! Construction Traditional methods were used, 75mm x 18mm timber for the main framework with 38mm holes cut to reduce weight, and cross members…

Please send details for possible inclusion to: Peco Publications, Beer, near Seaton, Devon, EX12 3NA. E-mail: clubs@railwaymodeller.co.uk Saturday 23, Sunday 24, and BH Monday 25 August 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 Bank Holiday Monday 25 August HARROGATE, North Yorkshire Organiser: Harrogate MRG Venue: Constance Green Hall, St.Aidan’s School, Oatlands Drive, Harrogate, HG2 8JR. Open:…

In addition to painted advertisements, in ‘the old days’ shop fronts were sometimes adorned with other advertising elements, such as large enamelled plaques and even posters glued to zinc supports. There is no shortage of examples of all kinds when looking at old iconography. You can still come across accumulations of these faded relics today, which might inspire many model interpretations, either individually or by aggregating different real-life situations. This colourful scene was inspired by many shop fronts photographed over the years, with a common thread: the general condition of the structures, the closed up windows and doors, and the presence of old posters. “Chocolate & Co.” sums up this state of affairs quite well. 1 and 2 Whether on walls or old doors, such advertising plaques can still be…

Gremberg is a large freight yard just outside Cologne. After parking a train, the locomotives are serviced and stabled at the depot, which is equipped with a traverser. The presence of colourful locos at this depot had already triggered my imagination. Between December 2008 and December 2019, Belgian TRAXX locos were also based here: first the green-grey series 28, then from 2017 the Lineas locos in RailPool colours. When Modelspoor Magazine announced the conditions for their third mini-layout competition in 2010, this turned out to be the ideal moment to build a miniature version of this depot, for the following reasons: – in addition to the DBAG traffic red locos, many private operators also come to Gremberg, which makes the loco fleet very varied and colourful; – the presence of…

I have used the wire-in-tube method for point operation on my previous layouts, but for the revised layout I decided that to make operation easier I would use Cobalt slow motion point motors. I constructed a small unit to help with testing the point motors as I installed them. My compact layout Yanga was described in the July 2020 issue. It is probably the first layout in fifty years of modelling that I have really enjoyed building and operating. The redesign was inspired by a desire to operate the layout even more prototypically. Recently released new models from Casula Hobbies of the NSW 12 class 4-4-0 (right) and 19 class 0-6-0 (below) are very nice, run well, and small – ideal for a compact layout. So the new arrangement would…

Eisenbahn–Kurier Special 157 Linienstern Mühldorf Dieselparadies in Südostbayern Eisenbahn Kurier Verlag Munzinger Straße 5a, D-79111 Freiburg, Germanywww.eisenbahn-kurier.de297mm x 210mm 98ppSoftback €13.90ISBN 978-3-8446-7050-9ref.7050 German text The rail network around the town of Mühldorf (Oberbayern) in the far south-east of Bavaria has seen considerable development. Until 1914 international long-distance trains ran via the München – Mühldorf – Freilassing line, and today it is still used as a diversionary route. Since the 1970s BR218 diesel-hydraulics have dominated services around Mühldorf. Apart from deployment on passenger trains, the working diagrams also saw them at the head of heavy goods services in the so-called ‘Bayerische Chemiedreieck’ (literally, Bavarian Chemical Triangle). The arrival of the BR6284 diesel railcars together with the introduction thirty years ago of a new timetable offering frequent local services led to a renaissance…