Table of contents for October 2024 in Model Rail

Opening the box Show & Tell If the recent media coverage is to be believed, the future is not bright. In a Telegraph article in January, journalist Patrick Sawyer declared the “Death of the Model Railway as ageing enthusiasts run out of steam” He even went on to state that the “next generation… does not seem to be materialising”. Well, this is not the case, especially where young Harry Busby from Cumbria is concerned. At the age of 11, Harry was inspired to start building his own ‘OO’ gauge layout, ‘Grisedale’, after moving into a railway crossing cottage beside the famous Settle to Carlisle line in Cumbria. He attended exhibitions and museums to study other layouts and pick up tips, and took regular train trips to discover more about the…

Workbench EXPERT MODELLERS SHOW YOU HOW I love to experiment with new kits, especially when they depict interesting lineside structures, and a Faller ‘HO’ kit recently caught my eye. Portraying a sugar beet transshipment facility, the kit provides injection-moulded plastic parts to create a storage shed and a conveyor/ elevator apparatus for loading rail wagons. Sugar beet is not a freight traffic that immediately springs to mind when modelling Britain’s railways. However, with the recent arrival of Irish Railway Models’ Bulleid CIÉ 12ton open wagons (MR329), one of Ireland’s key rail-borne commodities of the pre-1990s era could be recreated using this kit. For the UK, though, the kit looked like it had the potential for the loading of mineral wagons, with coal, coke iron ore, or perhaps aggregates or sand.…

Workbench EXPERT MODELLERS SHOW YOU HOW I’d been looking for a reason to add a Dapol Class 73 to my roster for a while, partly because it’s a lovely model, but also because the prototype has always intrigued me. Their regular Southern Region stamping grounds were far out of my reach until I became an adult and, by then, several examples had migrated north to the Merseyrail network, right on my doorstep. But it’s the BR Rail blue era in which I’ve wanted to portray a ‘73’, with a growing interest in the Southern Region of the early 1980s, so when Rails of Sheffield offered Dapol’s rendition of 73002 at a bargain price, I was quick to pounce. Straight from the box, the model looks great, but my vision was…

Reviews ◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Hornby R30136 LNER Class B17/5 4-6-0, No. 2859 East Anglian, LNER green ◆ PRICE £274.99 ◆ AVAILABILITY Hornby stockists Web www.hornby.com One of the most eye-catching announcements of Hornby’s 2023 range was a pair of streamlined LNER ‘B17s’ which, to my knowledge, have not been offered in ready-to-run ‘OO’ form before. With only two examples treated to the ‘A4’-esque styling, which was carried for fewer than 15 years, it’s little wonder that it hasn’t appeared in Hornby’s catalogue before. Since Hornby’s two models arrived in late August, they have reportedly been selling like hot cakes, proving the models to be a shrewd choice for the Margate team. We received a sample of No. 2859 East Anglian for review, portraying the prototype in its original…

Reviews ◆ GAUGE ‘O’ MODEL Heljan 9101 LMS 50ft Inspection Saloon, BR crimson/cream ◆ PRICE £319.00 ◆ AVAILABILITY Heljan stockists Web www.heljan.co.uk An inspection saloon makes for the perfect one-carriage train for layouts of all sizes, but especially those where space is limited. The fact that saloons also ran to all corners of the network, including freightonly lines and yards, and could be hauled or propelled by all manner of traction, helps too. Heljan has made a great choice, therefore, with its new ‘O’ gauge LMS 50ft saloon, modelled on the batch of 13 vehicles built from 1942. Designed for railway staff to inspect track, tunnels and infrastructure, they were also employed to ferry managers and VIPs around the network. Observation windows were provided at each end, plus a fully…

◆ GAUGE ‘N’ ◆ MODEL Rapido Trains UK 942009 SECR Wagon pack SR post-1936 livery ◆ PRICE £99.95 ◆ AVAILABILITY Rapido Trains stockists Web www.rapidotrains.co.uk Rapido Trains UK has clearly set out to make the market for steam-era wagons its own, and having made a good start in ‘OO’ gauge has now transferred its attention to ‘N’ gauge by producing four of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway wagons. The four-wagon pack submitted for review comprises the following: SECR 20ton six-wheel brake van, five and seven-plank open wagons and a 10ton covered van. A further set of three wagons, without the brake van, is also available to enable longer trains to be built up and these vehicles have different numbers. Though each of these SECR wagon types have already been…

◆ GAUGE ‘N/TT:120/HO/OO’ ◆ MODEL Gaugemaster Infinity Duo wireless analogue control system ◆ PRICE £395.00 ◆ AVAILABILITY Gaugemaster stockists Web www.gaugemaster.com It has been a busy year for Gaugemaster, with a series of events celebrating 50 years in the model railway industry. It’s the perfect time, therefore, to be launching the all-new Infinity wireless model railway control system, with a suite of products designed for analogue and digital layouts in scales from ‘N’ up to ‘OO/HO’. Reviewed here is the analogue version, which is available in ‘Solo’ (single track) or ‘Duo’ (twin track) form, although either can be extended to control more independent tracks with the addition of ‘Acolyte’ power units, with either a single or multiple handsets. We received a sample of the Duo set, which consists of a…

MODELRAILOFFERS.co.uk COMING SOON We’ve teamed up with Heljan once again to offer a special version of the forthcoming, all-new ‘OO’ gauge Class 26, depicting 26043 in BR blue, as it appeared in the late 1980s, complete with Haymarket depot logos and Departmental Civil Engineers (DCE) cabside markings. Heljan’s Class 26s have proven extremely popular in the past, prompting the manufacturer to fully re-tool its BR/Sulzer Type 2, bringing it in line with modern expectations. A fully revised bodyshell features even greater detail relief than before and allows for a broader range of prototype-specific details to be incorporated. Furthermore, the roof features a magnetic, lift-off access panel to allow easy installation of 21pin DCC decoders and a full suite of switchable exterior and interior lighting functions will be provided. All models…

…and finally The former S&DJR network of lines stretched between Georgian Bath to the north, Bournemouth on the south coast, and the branch to Highbridge via Glastonbury to the west. Alas, they all closed in March 1966 but, since then, many towns in the area have expanded in size many times over. But just imagine if the lines had remained open, it all could have been different, with scenes such as this being a possibility: a Class 150 DMU slowing to pick up passengers, or customers as we call them these days.…

Dave Lowery has just finished building an exquisite Andrew Barclay BR Class 06 diesel locomotive, in ‘O’ gauge, using a Mercian Models kit. The Mercian range enjoys a very good reputation for quality and modeller-friendly design and Dave described this kit as ‘a real gem’. Although the future of the range had been in doubt since the passing of Trevor Cousens in late 2022, it’s heartening to know that the range has recently been acquired by CSP Models and work is ongoing to bring most of the kits back to the market in due course. After thorough testing and running-in, the diminutive ‘06’ will soon be on its way to Dave’s customer. Look out for more on this project in a future issue of Model Rail. Web: www.cspmodels.com…

Situated at the midway point on the Newbury-Lambourn branch of the GWR, Welford Park originated with the Lambourn Valley Railway, a Victorian tramway with rail-level platforms and coaches with outside verandas and steps up from the low platforms. Taken over by the Great Western in 1900, the line was upgraded around 1906, with standard GWR platforms and halt shelters, though the LVR ticket offices were retained. At Welford Park, a crossing loop and standard GWR signal box were installed. During the Second World War, additional sidings were added behind the Up platform, to serve an internal railway within RAF Welford, which was a US Air Force base. Used as a munitions store by the USAF, it was rail-served until the mid-1970s, when the branch track was lifted. The LVR ticket…

Some time ago, a friend mentioned that he intended to create some 3D-printed models of the Oldbury coaches that ran on the Isle of Wight Railway, in 4mm scale. A short while later, three variants of the coaches appeared in a raw printed state, but lacking colour and life. Eventually, I got these running as a rake of five coaches on my ‘OO’ Isle of Wight layouts ‘Merstone’ and ‘Bembridge’, finished in varnished teak livery. Later, I realised they ran in rakes of eight carriages, so three more 3D-printed ‘kits’ were ordered and are currently awaiting completion. However, after starting to assemble the three new models, I asked a question to Jonathan Luce; “how hard would it be to produce a coach in Gauge 3, which consists of a scale…

Several years ago, I was asked by a friend to create a fully scenic diorama, incorporating a length of straight track on which he could pose his favourite steam locomotive models. He’d spent his working life at Wolverton Works, and I was pleased that the scenic ‘plank’ – and his locomotives – held pride of place in his living room for years. More recently, I decided to take this concept a little further, with the aim of creating a diorama that could sit on a bookshelf and would consist simply of a couple of lines in front of a small, attractive station and canopy. The idea had been fermenting for a while, but it was the arrival of Bachmann’s Scenecraft Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway station structures that spurred me…

The LNER had, by the mid-1920s, identified a need for a fast and powerful passenger locomotive to meet the demands of the Great Eastern route. Nigel Gresley thus oversaw the development of a three-cylinder 4-6-0, with production taking place initially at the North British Locomotive Works, Glasgow, followed by further batches built by the LNER’s Darlington Works and by Robert Stephenson & Co. at Newcastle. More than 70 Class B17s were built between 1928-37, with most being named after country houses and the remainder christened after football teams, hence their nicknames of ‘Sandringhams’ or ‘Footballers’. In 1937, two examples, both barely a year old, gained streamlined casings, akin to the LNER’s Class A4 ‘Pacifics’ and were duly re-classified as ‘B17/5’. The streamlining was undertaken as part of a publicity drive…

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Rapido 929005 LMS 25T ‘Lowmac’, BR bauxite ◆ PRICE £39.95 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Rapido Trains UK stockists Web www.rapido.co.uk While we’ve had a couple of options for recreating ‘Lowmac’ wagons in ‘OO’ in the past, Rapido’s new re-creation offers a far superior product, in terms of fidelity and performance. Eleven different versions have been manufactured in this initial production run, offering LMS, LNER and BR-built variations in ‘Big Four’ and BR-era liveries, including several with BR Engineers Department branding (including the popular Satlink red/yellow scheme). Designed to carry machinery, the lowered well section between the two axles ensured that the cargo remained within the loading gauge. This particular design can be traced back to a Great Central 20T Implement Truck, with various improvements made to…

What makes this layout great? "‘Copper Wort’ is undoubtedly a layout that stands out in an exhibition hall—not just because of its unusual shape but also because of how well it has been put together. The detail in the buildings is incredible." We’re all familiar with rectangular layouts, square layouts, and even those in an ‘L’ shape, or a ‘U’. But a hexagonal layout? Now that’s something truly unique. Peter Goss, the mastermind behind this six-sided creation, was inspired during a trip to the Netherlands, where his creative ideas began to flow. “This was always going to be an exhibition layout and, with this in mind, it had to be a looped layout so that I could leave things to run while I talked to people. I’d done end-to-end layouts…

There’s such a wealth of choice among ready-to-plant buildings and structure kits these days, but no matter how many top-quality products are available off-the-shelf, it’s rare that they will fit precisely into restricted or awkwardly shaped gaps on our layouts. There’s also the issue of how well structures from different sources will blend visually, especially when portraying a cluster of similar buildings that would have been built around the same time, from similar materials. Are the bricks the same pattern, size and colour? Is the architectural style consistent? In most cases, kits offer greater flexibility over ready-made structures, because their walls, roofs and floors can be modified more readily before assembly. Laser-cut wood and card kits are especially easy to work with, and the possibilities for customisation are as limitless…

What makes this layout great? " It sounds strange, but the chaos of it all. The great thing about model railways is that you can do whatever works for you. What worked for Robin was loads of switches, points and things happening everywhere. There’s something at every turn. " As much as the perception of model railways has changed away from the stereotype of old men locking themselves away from the world and tinkering until the early hours, some people prefer it that way. There are also some who choose not to tell anybody about their hobby, not necessarily because they are embarrassed about it, but it might simply be because they like the privacy or want to keep it safe. Robin Townshend was one such man who preferred to…

Reviews ◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Heljan 3931 LNER Class O2 2-8-0, No. 3481 LNER black ◆ PRICE £219.00 ◆ AVAILABILITY Heljan stockists Web www.heljan.co.uk Nigel Gresley’s elegant three-cylinder Class O2 2-8-0 was designed initially for the Great Northern Railway, but variations on this design would ultimately form the LNER’s ‘standard’ goods 2-8-0. Although the first example appeared in 1918, construction of a further 66 locomotives was spread out over the following three decades, the last emerging from Doncaster in 1943. Surviving well into the BR era, the last ‘O2s’ were withdrawn in 1963. Heljan’s decision to replicate the ‘O2’ in 4mm scale was greeted with enthusiasm, given that these important locomotives had not been offered in RTR form before. The first batch landed in 2016, arriving to a slightly…

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Rapido LNWR Diagram 88 10t van • 945002 LNWR grey • 945011 BR grey ◆ PRICE £32.95 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Rapido Trains UK stockists Web www.rapido.co.uk The London & North Western Railway introduced the Diagram 88 covered van from 1908, with the design quickly becoming the ‘standard’ vehicle of its kind on the LNWR right up to the Grouping of 1923. Over 6,000 examples were built, mainly at the LNWR’s Earlestown works and the vans were notable for featuring a set of cupboard-style side doors and a lower fold-down section, greatly easing the loading/unloading onto goods platforms. Examples of this wagon type lasted into BR days, with the last withdrawn from regular use in the early 1960s, although some continued in Departmental service or were…

◆ GAUGE ‘OO’ ◆ MODEL Rapido Bedford OB bus • 920001 Pearce & Crump • 920010 Mountain Goat ◆ PRICE £44.95 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Rapido Trains stockists Web www.rapidotrains.co.uk I can’t resist that old adage about waiting ages for a bus and then two come at once because it did actually happen to me. In the 12 months since the anniversary of the Ealing comedy, The Titfield Thunderbolt, I forgot that I had ordered the model of Pearce & Crump’s Bedford ‘OB’ bus direct from Rapido and ordered it from RAILS of Sheffield. A year on, both arrived on the same day! Quite what production hiatus affected Rapido’s delivery of this model we shall never know, but as has happened in the past to other model railway manufacturers, trying to…

BAR TALES It is difficult to imagine controversy over a railway carriage, at least other than modern seating that does not align with windows, but in 1949 new restaurant cars designed by O.V.S. Bulleid for the Southern Railway certainly caused a storm of protest. To discourage diners from lingering over their meals, and so increase the throughput of customers, the restaurant cars had no windows, and seats and tables faced inwards to provide easier access for waiters. Externally, half the crimson and cream buffet car of the two-car set was dressed up to represent brickwork and half-timbering, while the interior had a pub-style bar. Innovative and trendy? Ahead of their time? Or tacky and impractical? These were the tavern cars, just eight pairs of coaches, and the subject of a…