Tabla de contenidos para July 2025 en Railway Modeller

This was the heading of the editorial for the July 1995 issue of RAILWAY MODELLER, which was recently brought to my attention by reader Paul Tambini for reasons that will soon become clear. Exactly 30 years ago, the late John Brewer used his editorial to lament the loss of first generation Diesel Multiple Unit stock and the wide forward-facing views that these vehicles afforded passengers. Critical of the then new generation of multiple unit trains that were operating across the national network, which were devoid of any forward visibility for passengers, John rounded off his editorial by commenting how, “It seems unduly optimistic to hope that the new business-led rail regime might one day re-introduce both the forward view and large slim-pillared side windows… But let us hope that the…

Whichever scale, era or prototype we model, the common challenge that virtually all of us modellers face is getting what we want into the available space. But this issue has regularly reared its head over the years on the real railway too – for Chief Mechanical Engineers who were trying to design larger and more powerful locomotives to cope with increasing traffic, but within tight constraints of weight and axle loading, or in some cases, limitations of sheer size, imposed by the existing infrastructure. The Gresley Quad-Art suburban coaches, newly released in OO gauge by Ellis Clark Trains and reviewed on page 576, and the Gresley Class N2 0-6-2 tank locomotives that hauled them, are striking examples of the ‘compression’ in length often practised by modellers, applied in 12" to…

On 31 January 1950, Hubert Foster sold his Bradford-based model retail business, Hobbies Shop (located on Keighley Road in Frizinghall), to John Ayrey and his father. Renamed Bradford Model Railway Centre by the new owners, shops were subsequently opened in Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester. Norman Hinchliffe, one of the current owners of Frizinghall Models & Railways, started working part-time for John in his Huddersfield shop in the mid-1960s. On odd occasions, Norman would travel to Bradford to help out at the Frizinghall shop and it was here that he met Andrew Feather, who is also now a part-owner of the current business. When John’s father died in 1976, the Frizinghall shop was sold to a long-standing customer, Arthur ‘Tug’ Wilson, an ex-police sergeant with a keen interest in model railways.…

With 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day and the end of the Second World War, Hornby has produced versions of some of its models of OO gauge main line express locomotives in wartime black ‘austerity’ livery to form a ‘Victory over Europe 80th Anniversary Collection’. The model of London & North Eastern Railway A4 Pacific No.4466 Sir Ralph Wedgwood (ref.R30452) represents a locomotive which entered traffic in January 1938 carrying the name Herring Gull. However, after the A4 that originally bore the name Sir Ralph Wedgwood, No.4469, was destroyed in a bombing raid on York on April 29, 1942, the name was transferred to No.4466 in January 1944, by which time it was already painted in plain black. It was renumbered as No.605 in January 1946. The model…

Northampton & District Model Railway Club advises that it has moved to a new venue for holding its modelling activities. The club is now based at Roade Village Hall, Bailey Brooks Lane, Roade, Northampton NN7 2LS, where members meet on Friday evenings from 19:00-22:00. The location will be familiar to regular show supporters as this is also where the club has held its exhibitions for the past few years. The change of venue means that N&DMRC now has more space to put out and work on layouts. The group welcomes enquiries from potential new members – for further details visit the website (below). The club’s next model railway exhibition is planned to take place at the same venue on 19 July 2025. www.ndmrc.org…

Accurascale recently announced its second production run of its Brush Type 2/Class 30/Class 31 models, first announced in the April 2022 issue of RAILWAY MODELLER and reviewed in the December 2024 issue. The new batch will feature six new livery and number combinations, five making up the main range, and a sixth ‘Accurascale Exclusive’ special edition locomotives available only direct from the manufacturer’s website. The main range will comprise D5501 in BR green with small yellow panels (ref.ACC3177 & ACC3183-DCC), 31 418 in BR blue (ref.ACC3181), 31 271 in Railfreight Construction Sector triple grey (ref.ACC3179), 31 301 in Railfreight red stripe (ref.ACC3180) and 31 602 Chimaera in Fragonset black livery with maroon & gold stripe as carried from 1999-2007 (ref.ACC3182). The Accurascale Exclusive model is D5579 in experimental golden ochre…

The following announcements are included in good faith from information provided by the organisers. As cancellations are sometimes inevitable, anyone travelling to a listed live event should contact the organiser first. The publishers cannot accept any responsibility for cancellations or errors. RAILWAY MODELLER is published on the second Thursday of the preceding month, and notifications sent via email to clubs@railwaymodeller.co.uk are required six weeks prior to publication date. Entries must include the organiser’s email or website and/or a telephone number. SEPTEMBER 2025 issue deadline: JULY 1st LIVE EVENTS Saturday 14 June BURTON-ON-TRENT, Staffordshire Organiser: 7mm Narrow Gauge Association. Venue: Burton Town Hall, King Edward Place, Burton-upon-Trent DE14 2EB. Open: 1030-1630 Admission: non-member adult £10, family £15, member adult & family £5. Acpd U16s free. Amenities: close to town car parks,…

In recent years, the idea of a modern image layout with diesel and electric traction was beginning to appeal to me. A lot of time was spent considering what type of layout it should be, including whether the location should be fictitious or based on a prototype. Also, I had to consider its size, portability, features, operation and a name. I had originally thought of basing the model on Ely, only to find an N gauge layout of that name already existed. The eventual name came about by adding ‘Wood’ to ‘Ely’ and changing ‘Ely’ to ‘Eli’. (Eli Woods was a well-known comedian from the past, often performing on stage as a stooge to Jimmy James.) Design criteria I believe landscape modelling on a larger scale to be the true…

My original Shaftesbury layout appeared in the RM December 1987 issue as Railway of the Month. Dreamt of and planned from around 1976, it was then built, with help from friends, between 1981 and 1982 in a dedicated railway room occupying a 25' x 9' space. In its creation, I imagined a scenario whereby the North Dorset market town of Shaftesbury had achieved the status of a cathedral town and was served by a Great Western Railway line to Bourton that then divided into routes to Frome in Somerset and Mere in Wiltshire. The geographical location for this fictional railway had been chosen after I had noted the empty area west of Salisbury and east of Yeovil that had remained unserved by railways. Although the layout and its back story…

In 1982, Mainline released its ready-to-run OO gauge model of the Gresley Class N2 0-6-2T. That was over 40 years ago but, perhaps surprisingly, this is one model that has still to be supplanted by all-new tooling. Despite its age, the N2 has stood the test of time rather well, and was still available until quite recently as part of the Hornby range, albeit with the more recent versions under this branding sporting an upgraded chassis. Models from the likes of Mainline, Dapol and Hornby can be picked up for relatively modest prices on the second-hand market, with the subject of this project being one of the more recent Hornby releases: (ref.R3188) No.69543 in BR lined black with late crests. Enhancements undertaken on the model illustrated here included modifying and…

The weekend of July 26 & 27 will see the St John’s Charity Model Railway Exhibition 2025 taking place at St John’s School, Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6SB, with a dozen layouts on show. The exhibition will be open from 10:30-16:30 on the Saturday and 10:30-16:00 on the Sunday, and the cost of admission will be £7.00 for adults, but entry will be free for children with an accompanying adult. Amenities at the venue include ample parking and disabled access, and light refreshments will be available. The layouts on show comprise: Jennings’ Sidings & Yard (O); Bred Albin, Clatterbridge, Funville, Kinlochewe, layout by Peter Brookes (OO); Goldford Aston (OO9); Bregenbach in Schwarzwald, Levisham Station, North Road, Ryecroft Arena (N). There will also be demonstrations by Stafford Railway Association and on…

On Saturday 26 July, the annual Larkrail exhibition will once again be taking place in the New Oriel Hall in Larkhall, on the eastern side of Bath, postcode BA1 6RA. The event is organised by Simon Castens and Jerry Clifford of The Titfield Thunderbolt Bookshop, based at Studio 4 Tollbridge Studios, Toll Bridge Road, Bath BA1 7DE. This celebration of light railway and branch line modelling, featuring layouts, demonstrators and a small number of trade stands, will be open from 10:30-16:00, with entry costing £8.00 for adults, but free for accompanied children. As in previous years, all proceeds will be going to the Julian House Charity for homeless people in Bath and to Parkinsons UK. Last year’s event raised the record-breaking sum of £1,500 for these charities. This year, Larkrail…

The Bachmann Europe plc Summer Announcements featured new releases in all its OO, N, OO9 and NG7/O-16.5 ranges, including a striking new livery for the Midland Railway ‘1532’ class 0-4-4T (reviewed in the December 2020 issue and announced as returning in a new batch in January). Following success with class member No.54 as a Bachmann Collectors Club (BCC) exclusive in Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway blue, Bachmann has announced a model of Midland Railway No.1540, not in the later Crimson Lake livery many will associate with the MR, but in the lined green that was the Midland standard at the time the class first entered service, in the early 1880s. The model boasts firebox glow and is available in both Standard or Sound Fitted versions, the latter being pre-fitted with…

Club member Alan Norris has written the following tribute to Archie Brown, Honorary President of the Glasgow & West of Scotland Model Railway Club and former Chairman of AMRSS Ltd, who died on 15 April, aged 69, after a long illness. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth. Archie was born in Dumbarton but was brought up in Knightswood in the west of Glasgow. He was educated at Allan Glen’s School and Glasgow University, where he gained a degree in accountancy. From university he started work with the Inland Revenue, and it was when working there that he met Elizabeth, whom he married in 1984. Archie rose to a senior position in the Inland Revenue and then moved to the accountancy firm KPMG, where he remained until his retirement. I…

We can only consider for publication letters which are accompanied by the writer’s full name and address (although we do not publish the latter except in the case of appeals). This also applies to all correspondence received via electronic means including email to: editorial@railwaymodeller.co.uk Correspondence for forwarding to any of our contributors must be addressed to them c/o RAILWAY MODELLER, Underleys, Beer, Seaton, Devon EX12 3NA. All correspondence published here represents the opinions of the authors only and not RAILWAY MODELLER. Modelling the Beyer, Peacock & Co. ‘Metropolitan & District’ tanks With the recent coverage of steam locomotive passenger traction during the 19th century (including the booklet that was free with the June issue), I thought I would take the opportunity to share my latest locomotive project. The Beyer, Peacock…

Rapido Trains UK has announced that it is branching out into the world of narrow gauge modelling with a new OO9 range of locomotives and wagons, all with new tooling and several variations. Leading the new range is a model of the Kerr Stuart long-tank variation of the company’s Sirdar Class 0-4-0T Diana, now preserved at the Amerton Railway in Staffordshire but which was originally built in 1909 to 750mm (2' 5½") gauge as part of an order of locomotives for export to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. However, the loco was never exported and instead remained at the builder’s Stoke-on-Trent works until 1917, when it was purchased by the Home Grown Timber Co. division of the Board of Trade for use in Mid-Wales on the 2' gauge Kerry…

Pete Waterman shows his support for Peco RAIL200 Model Layout Competition Pop record producer and railway modeller Pete Waterman has taken up the challenge of completing a scenic module to promote the Peco RAIL200 Model Layout Competition. The contest, which was launched in our May issue, invites modellers from across mainland Britain to create a ‘Modular’ or ’Standalone’ scenic module, using a purpose-made laser-cut baseboard kit supplied by Peco upon entering. Pete has been chronicling the construction of his module through short video updates, published on his Railnuts Facebook page. As part of these videos, he has revealed his techniques for topics including track ballasting and platform construction. In recent years, Pete has masterminded the record-breaking series of Making Tracks layouts, all of which have been constructed in conjunction with…

Heljan has published further details of its forthcoming Class 122 railcar and Deltic models in TT:120, plans for which were announced in the June issue. Due to be released in the first quarter of 2026, the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Class 122 railcar will be available in six standard liveries that will be available from Heljan stockists, with all models due to be supplied DCC ready. The livery versions comprise M55005 in BR green with small yellow panels and destination blinds for Wolverhampton/ Birmingham (ref.1261); W55003 in BR green with small yellow panels and destinations Liskeard/Looe (ref.1262); W55008 in BR blue with small yellow panels and destinations Stourbridge Junction/Stourbridge Town (ref.1263); Sc55011 in BR blue with full yellow ends and destinations Inverness/Aberdeen (ref.1264); M55009 in BR blue &…

It is with deep regret that we report the passing of Andy Cottenham, of Kent Garden Railways, on 29 March, aged 61. Andy formed Kent Garden Railways in 1994 with Tony Morris. Tony had opened a shop in St Mary Cray in 1996, and Andy took voluntary redundancy from BT and worked at the shop full-time. He later took over completely and became sole proprietor in 2007 when Tony retired. Andy owned a number of G scale layouts as well as a large garden railway, and was a member of Dartford Model Railway Club. He was also president of the North Downs Steam Railway in Dartford, which opened in 1980 and closed in 1996. A lot of the stock from that site then moved to the Spa Valley Railway, and…