Tabla de contenidos para July 2025 en Continental Modeller

A rather mysterious title: it is the name given to a mini-scene primarily highlighting the work of imitating brick blocks. I had previously explored this topic in 1:87 using Forex, but here I worked in a larger scale and used a different material. ‘CJ’ are the company initials – note the metal monogram on the door. Step 1 I start as usual by defining the general shape of the structure required. The openings are quickly marked out with a black pencil on a sheet of 5mm thick composite fibre panel. This recyclable product is a good alternative to Forex – non-toxic, lightweight, accepts all kinds of glues and paints, and is very easy to engrave. Step 2 Once the openings have been cleared, the rows and joints are patiently drawn…

In Belgium the National Company of Local Railways (SNCV/NVBS) was established to build a denser network of light lines to augment the main railway system. Towns and villages had to be connected to each other, but the construction of the lines had to be done in a cheaper way than with ‘large’ railways. In many places, metre gauge was chosen as it was cheaper to build and well suited to lighter traffic. Initially, many of these local lines were also used for goods transport. In late July 1892, the 1,067mm gauge steam-worked line from Merksem-IJskelder via Ekeren, Hoevenen, Stabroek, and Blauwhoef to Lillo-Vaart was extended to Lillo-Haven. It was converted to metre gauge in 1921 and designated tram line L (Lilloo). It was electrified from 3rd May 1931 and given…

Every year for the past few years I have arranged a trip to narrow gauge lines in eastern and central European countries for myself and a friend. Over the past few years we have visited the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. My interests are centred around narrow gauge railways, in particular central and east European 750/760mm lines, though we have been known to visit 600mm and metre gauges as well! We both model narrow gauge in HOe so any trip also gives us inspiration for or modelling. Last year I decided to try somewhere very different to our usual fare and investigated if it would be possible to visit narrow gauge lines in the Baltic States and see some of the Russian-built locos and stock. The first thing…

This is a layout I never really intended to build! It started off when I had a spare building – it was made for another layout but proved too large for it. I also had a baseboard 4'6" x 1'4" intended for another layout that never came to fruition. A friend challenged me to build a layout using those two components, and so here it is. The layout is set in south-central France somewhere between the Gironde and the Ardèche. The usual period I operate it in is the late 1950s to early 1960s, although it can also operate as a modern post-2000 preservation line. It is built to 1:87 scale so 9mm track equates to 750mm gauge. When the French government established the system of Chemins de Fer Secondaire,…

This layout has taken some considerable time to materialise as it had been on my mind for well over ten years. The group already had a North American layout, Burlington Central, built in 2002 which had been displayed at numerous shows, from Elgin in the north of Scotland to Spalding in the east of England, and which has only recently been retired and sold. When we were at our old clubrooms at that time, discussion took place with the three members who had an interest in North American N and with the agreement of the treasurer (who was one of the interested parties!) it was decided that we should build a new layout. The clubroom was fairly crammed with layouts and storage so building the layout was held back until…

In 1988 I discovered computer-assisted drawing. Before this discovery I drew a lot, professionally and privately – architectural plans, electrical diagrams, and even point plans for my layout, but it was all on a drawing board. I had had a computer for several years but I did not know about 2D computer drawing techniques. It was love at first sight. For more than eleven years I designed for a large railway layout almost every day with Dassault’s Draftsight software which was free. Later I bought the French version, ZWCAD, which is very similar to those better known as Draftsight or Autocad LT. I spent many, many hours drawing for my Oe layout – track, points, wagons, buildings, structures, etc., initially designed in 2D to be (most often) laser cut. Many…

I thought it might be of interest to discuss various structures in more detail than was possible in a general article. The first point to note is that the width of the baseboards for the main modelled area is only 20", so eight tracks (at some places) does not leave much space front or back. I was a bit more generous at the front in case cars or, worse, locos derailed and fell 45" to the floor! In the event, a couple of sidings and a programming track intruded into that space. Why do we always tend to fill the space available? My skills have never been in scratchbuilding so I resorted to using kits as far as possible with only a nod to the prototype. To get structures to…

Often pleasant holiday memories form the spark which lead to the building of a layout based on a specific region. With Størdal what is remarkable is that it is not about the memories of the builders themselves. Instead they were from Erik, a deceased well loved member of our club. Erik loved Norway, so it is not a surprise that he was building a layout in HO at home featuring Norwegian elements. He had already collected a fair amount of rolling stock and was well under way with layout building. Normally when he died the scrap container would have been the fate of his work, but as a tribute we decided to continue his project inside our club building. Sadly Erik had not built with moving in mind, so we…

A few years ago I bought a Bachmann On30 rail bus chassis. I was not interested in the complete model and its trailer because I wanted to make a European railcar. The initial idea was to create a railcar using a Gaz AA coach from Nash Avtoprom at 1:43.5 on the rail bus chassis. After much discussion and various tests, I realised it was better to abandon the Gaz and create a model in 3D. I removed the decoder that came with the model, as I use a Gaugemaster system to control my trains. Generally when I create a new object I take inspiration from a photo found on the internet, but in this case it is rather the shape of the Nash Avtoprom coach and the chassis which determined…

While model passenger trains are now regularly equipped with working red end-of-train lights, as they should be, in many cases in conjunction with interior lighting, this is often not the case for freights. It is relatively easy to equip vans, hoppers, and other enclosed wagons with working red lights, adding a nice touch of realism to these trains. In This article shows how to fit them to a more open structure, a double-deck car carrier. Such vehicles are plentiful from various suppliers. From the very beginning of the 1960s, Jouef offered a double-deck car transporter, however, mounted on bogies instead of the two axles that this wagon should have had. Then Jouef offered a magnificent (for the time) STVA articulated three-axle car transporter, originally painted – like the real ones…