Tabla de contenidos para February 2026 en Continental Modeller

My railway and railway modelling interests had always been British, with all the railways in the rest of the world being of passing interest! So I had never entertained building a non-British layout, However, following a trip to France in 1995, the idea gradually took hold. My wife decided that year on a holiday in the Jura area, way over in the east of France but not quite into Switzerland. During our travels in the area we came upon Morez, where the railway line from Andelot to St.Claude has to reverse because of the geography. The station at Morez looks like a terminus, but the double track approach is in fact two single lines. Trains usually arrive on one line and subsequently depart via the other. Morez is well known…

The Dutch firm Artitec offers a neat little bicycle rack ready to be installed on your layout (ref.387.272). This model is very finely crafted from photo-etched metal. It comes assembled, painted, and decorated. However, the advertising signage as delivered and ready installed is not well suited to a French environment. This is also the case on another similar reference from the brand. We therefore cut a piece of signage from a sheet of decals for railway scenery (or other items) that might be more suited to a local theme: here, an advertisement promoting a pizzeria. The bicycle rack can be installed as is, simply placed in the appropriate location, and, if necessary, glued in place. I added a small roof, cut from thin corrugated metal sheet. Plastic cannot be used…

Please send details for possible inclusion to: Peco Publications, Beer, near Seaton, Devon, EX12 3NA. E-mail: clubs@railwaymodeller.co.uk Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 January CANTERBURY, Kent Organiser: City of Canterbury MRS. Venue: St.Anselm’s School, Old Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 3EN. Open: Saturday 1000-1700 Sunday 1000-1600 Admission: adults £8.00, children (5-15) £1.00. All U12s must be accompanied by an adult. Cash or card payment. Amenities: visitor parking at New Dover Road Park & Ride next door or on street nearby; only limited disabled parking on site. Stagecoach buses 12, 15, 16, 17 and 89 pass the school. Disabled access to both halls. Refreshments. Features: around 14 layouts. Demonstrations, trade. Contact: Exhibition Manager Jeremy Kennett, 07443 658102 evenings only. E-mail: ccmrs.shows@gmail.com Website: www.ccmrs.co.uk Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 January LEICESTER Organiser: Syston…

My interest in Saxon narrow gauge railways began in 1997 following a visit to the lines around Dresden. At the time they were still state owned, operated by DB, and running a public service which on most lines commenced in the early hours for the commuters. Unfortunately, transport of freight had ceased a few years prior to my visit. Over the following years I have made regular visits and watched the many changes that have occurred following privatisation, with most of the services cut right back to operate with one shift. Luckily, the railways have survived but hang on a knife edge requiring a significant subsidy each year from the authorities. My first HOe layout depicted Bertsdorf, the junction on the Zittau line (see CM January 2018), and has been…

As the Modelspoor exhibition in Leuven/Louvain (Belgium) approached, with its customary competition for micro layouts (see panel), the idea came to me to realise a project I had been devoting myself to for several years. During a walk with my wife along the Lesse River in the Ardennes we discovered this imposing building with its castle-like appearance. It was a private station on Line 166 (Dinant – Bertrix) built for King Leopold II and opened in 1898. Once they arrived at this destination, wealthy clients and royalty from all over Europe were transported by horse-drawn carriage directly to the Château d’Ardennes luxury hotel via a forest path. I wanted to depict this unusual circular building with its square tower and spiral ramp in its full splendour, in the late 1930s.…

On my first visit to the small town of Pritzwalk, northwest of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg, in 2015, the hotel where I stayed had flyers for a nearby 750mm gauge line called the Pollo, which ran between the villages of Mesendorf and Lindenberg. I had seen some photos of this preserved line and of the Prignitzer Kreisbahn in Deutsche Reichsbahn days. So on my last day in the area (a weekday), I made the short drive to Mesendorf where the line has its depot. Although it was not a running day, one of volunteers was present and kindly showed me around their loco shed and yard. So in May 2024 I planned a trip to north-east Germany so it would coincide with one of the running days. The…

This new exhibition layout is once again the result of a ride on a train. My American HO layouts – Sierra Nevada (CM June and August 2006), Red Hook Bay (CM November 2014 and American special), and Mill Falls all came into being after a ride on the Durango & Silverton in Colorado. Norge (CM May and June 2020) similarly after a ride on the Flåmsbana in Norway. During the summer of 2025 my wife and I visited Lake Como in Italy, but the real purpose of the holiday was the desire to ride on the famed Rhätische Bahn Bernina Express. We travelled from Tirano in Italy to St.Moritz in Switzerland. It was a wonderful ride through beautiful scenery. I was intrigued by the way the train snaked around model…

My garden layout is based on Canadian railways with diesel locos and long trains. It has evolved over many years. It runs around the garden, along walls, between plants, running over bridges across ponds, and includes various loops and parallel sections of track. It enters the house through my workshop and then climbs via a helix to run around my office. The Rocky Mountain section of the inside line featured in CM December 2022 whilst the original garden section was shown in CM August 2012 and a new trestle bridge in October 2024. For many years the turnouts on the garden section have been operated by Peco PL10s. These have been outside in all weathers with only limited protection, and apart from a little surface rust they have been completely…

New by Norsk Modelljernbane Production of the Norwegian NSB El3 / Swedish SJ OF twin unit electrics used on the ore line in the far north of Norway and Sweden is now finished, and NMJ were expecting the HO models to arrive just before Christmas or at the latest early in the New Year. The models have extensive lighting functions – you can control the top lights, lower lights, lights at each end, cab lights, and in the equipment room in both units. For the SJ OF, you can also switch between red and white lights at the back, or have everything turned off. Both units are motorised and run beautifully. They have enormous power. The models are offered in analogue DC, DCC with sound, and AC with sound. The…