The Railway Magazine Guide to Modelling - Issue 4

RAILWAYMagazine The

GUIDE TO

Modelling MARCH 2017

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, NOSTALGIA, ADVICE

The eight-year-old’s layout where

LONDON TOY FAIR

A thi Anythi Anything Goes!

HORNBY’S BLAST FROM THE PAST

SIMON KOHLER: GETTING NEW BLOOD INTO HOBBY

IN THE SHOPS: STANIER MOGUL

RAILWAY BOOKAZINE GIVEAWAY || PLANNING A LAYOUT QUESTIONNAIRE

CONTENTS

28

38 44

Contents 08 ON THE COVER Anything Goes

by Sean Webley.

See page 28 for

22

full feature.

28

WHAT’S IN THE SHOPS?

Stanier ‘Mogul’, LNER Thompson coaches and Fowler class 7F. GETTING STARTED

This month use our planning questionnaire to work out what you want for your layout.

YOUNG MODELLERS

Special feature by Sarah Palmer including a report by Phil Parker from London Toy Fair.

42 44 50 54

OPINION

With ‘Mr Hornby’ Simon Kohler.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Tony Stratford looks at the continuing evolution of the Hornby brand.

PAST AND PRESENT

Ian Lamb remembers the Hughes Mogul ‘Crab’.

BACK TO BASICS

Nigel Burkin goes back to the drawing board on track layouts.

60 62 66 68

WHERE’S MY EXPERT?

Where to find your local model shop.

ASK A DAFT QUESTION AND LETTERS

What is a fiddle yard, and your letters.

DIARY DATES

What’s on this month where you are.

LAYOUTS WE LOVE

This month we have a secret spotter who has been out and about.

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N gauge range of models, new from Oxfordrail, find out more on page 38. PHIL PARKER

From the editor

Staff

Editor Sarah Palmer RMModellingeditor@Mortons.co.uk Contributors Michael Watts, Bernard Gudgin, Tony Stratford, Simon Kohler, Nigel Burkin, Ian Lamb, Phil Parker Production editor Sarah Wilkinson Senior designer Kelvin Clements Designer Libby Fincham Picture desk Paul Fincham, Jonathan Schofield Advertising manager Sue Keily Publisher Tim Hartley Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole Subscription manager Paul Deacon Circulation manager Steve O'Hara Marketing manager Charlotte Park

To advertise, contact: Colin Smith 01507 529454 csmith@Mortons.co.uk Fiona Leak 01507 529573 fleak@Mortons.co.uk

Where to find us

Editorial, advertising and administration Mortons Media Group Ltd, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR Tel 01507 523456

www.railwaymagazinemodelling.co.uk

Copyright

© Copyright Mortons Media Group Ltd. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, without prior approval in writing is prohibited. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements, or for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations.

Printing

Mortons Print, Horncastle, Lincs.

Tel 01507 523456

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T

Sarah Palmer Editor

he other day I had one very excited four-year-old as he was in receipt of some new track, wait for it, with a points system. He’s never had a track layout with a points system. And now, for me, sorry, him, the possibilities are endless. He can have sidings, add a coal hopper and upgrade from the figure-of-eight track that has kept him amused for the last few months.

“And make his train go round very, very fast”.

His enthusiasm is lovely to watch and it’s something that here at RMM we’ve been thinking about a lot. How do you harness and build on the enthusiasm young children have for railways and take it to the next level, as there are so many skills they can learn and build on when railway modelling.

To investigate this further I spoke to one dad who has been helping

his son build an exhibition-standard layout called Anything Goes, and a member of the London Model Railway Club who has helped to set up a young modellers’ club with the aim of attracting youngsters into the hobby.

I also spoke to one grandad who is encouraging his young grandson to build a model layout. Turn to page 36 to find out more.

And, if like my son, you’re keen to go beyond a very basic layout then Nigel Burkin may have the answer in his two-part guide to different track formations. While Michael Watts and Bernard Gudgin have compiled a comprehensive questionnaire to put novice modellers on the right track.

We’ve had lots of positive feedback here at RMM about this new publication, so I hope you’ll enjoy the fourth issue as much as you have the previous three.

What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

Bachmann’s brand new Stanier ‘Mogul’ straight from the box before testing and the fitting of some detailing parts.

New OO gauge Stanier ‘Mogul’ The release of a completely brand new locomotive is always an exciting event and Bachmann's Stanier ‘Mogul’ fulfils all the expectations, writes Nigel Burkin.

F

ollowers of the LMS and the London Midland Region of BR will be delighted that the long wait for a truly quality model of what was a ‘typical’ mixed-traffic locomotive has finally come to an end.

First impressions indicate that Bachmann’s Stanier ‘Mogul’ has benefitted from modern tooling techniques and refined engineering in the mechanism and valve gear.

Three models are set for release including LMS No. 2965 in lined black (31-690); BR No. 42969 in BR lined black (31-691) and finally BR No. 42968 in BR lined black with a late BR crest representing the preserved locomotive in post-2003 condition (31-692).

The overall package is of a neat and accurate scale model of the full-size locomotive.

But, where do they fit into the scheme of things?

Introduced in 1933, the Stanier ‘Mogul’ (designed by William Arthur Stanier, CME

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of the LMS from 1932) was built as a mixed-traffic locomotive, a development of the LMS ‘Crab’ and with considerable technological improvements of the time. The locomotive is characterised by a tapered boiler (a Stanier innovation) and a Belpaire firebox which can be recognised by its square section profile. It was classified several times in its life, starting out as a 5P4F and finishing as a ‘Class 5’ under BR ownership.

The Stanier ‘Mogul’ was not built in large numbers: a total of 40 being constructed at Crewe in 1933 and 1934. Initially, the LMS numbered them 13245-84.

After 1934, they received new numbers, becoming 2945-84.

After Nationalisation, BR added 40000 to the numbers to fit with the BR numbering system, becoming No. 42945-84.

An interesting point about the locomotive is that although built at Crewe, the basic design is attributed to Horwich works.

A search of reference material indicates that the class led

a fairly uneventful life with allocations to all four divisions of the LMS. In reality, their operations were concentrated in certain areas in the Midlands, North West and as far south as Willesden shed. Withdrawals commenced in 1963, with just one locomotive documented as surviving to see 1967. All had been cut up by 1969 except No. 42968.

In preservation The model received for review is one of three being released this month and could be the most interesting of the three for some modellers.

It can be used to represent BR No. 42968 in preserved condition as well as Era 5 (195766). The full-size locomotive is the sole survivor of the class of 40 locomotives and it found a home on the Severn Valley Railway in 1973 following intense fundraising by the Stanier Mogul Fund. Restoration saw the locomotive steamed for the first time in 1990.

Opening up the modelling possibilities is that this locomotive was mainline certificated in 1996, offering diesel and electric modellers the chance to add something a little different to their rosters.

The model could be used to haul tours using Bachmann Mk.1 coaches in various heritage liveries including BR maroon, BR (SR) green together with carmine and cream.

Should long tour trains prove to be too much for a layout, running the model with a single support coach such as an early Mk.2 brake first corridor coach or similar (very likely painted in BR maroon) would create an interesting short train.

The livery applied at the time of mainline certification was lined LMS livery, similar to one of the three models being offered (31-690) which could be renumbered and detailed to suit.

If the BR lined black scheme is to your taste, a little modeller’s licence could see the model used in its current scheme of

NEWS

Model details:

LMS Stanier ‘Mogul’ 2-6-0 steam locomotive.

in brief

Manufacturer: Bachmann Europe Plc.

Mini railway back on track

Catalogue numbers: 31-690 LMS No. 2965 in lined black.

31-691 BR No. 42969 in BR lined black.

31-692 BR No. 42968 in BR lined black with a late BR crest (Post 2003 preserved).

Scale: British OO gauge, 1:76 scale to run on 16.5mm gauge track.

Era: 1933-1967 as represented by all three models.

Web: www.bachmann.co.uk Suggested retail price: £159.95.

BR lined black (31-692), which was applied to the full-size locomotive in 2003. Modellers should be aware that there are always detail differences between steam locomotives in preservation and during squadron mainline service.

Furthermore, those registered for use on the modern mainline will have modifications relating to the requirements of Railtrack and Network Rail.

Consequently, cab equipment is likely to reflect the fitting of modern safety devices.

Safety first Externally, air brake pipes and air brake equipment will be fitted in addition to vacuum brake hoses. The safety requirements of operating under the wire will demand that footsteps are covered and in the case of the Fowler tender coal rails, the tool stanchions are removed – all to prevent accidental contact with live wires. The model may not reflect all of the changes relating to modern mainline operations.

Models of locomotives with tapered boilers are not easy to replicate and to this end, Bachmann has done a very good job of the Stanier Mogul.

Its shape and character has been well captured in plastic and considerably enhanced by numerous fittings including wire hand rails, hand-rail knobs and pipework. The cab has a fully detailed back head with later BR equipment including AWS, which, if my research is correct, would not feature in the mainline certificated locomotive as other modern safety equipment would be fitted to the cab. The narrower Fowler tender is very nicely modelled with a good representation of rivet detail and cab end detail.

The coal load is fixed and the coal rails are supplied as part of the detail add-on pack. It is worth mentioning that the loco ran for a time in preservation with a Stanier tender borrowed from a ‘Black 5’ locomotive while restoration and repairs

were undertaken to the original Fowler tender.

Close examination of photographs of the full-size locomotive and the model shows that the model represents it as closely as one could wish.

From the delicately spoked driving wheels to the accurately modelled brake gear, which has brake shoes correctly aligned with the wheels, the model’s thoroughbred appearance does extend below the running plate.

Smooth action The complex valve gear motion is toned down with a hint of rust and oily grime, which nicely takes the shine away while its action is smooth without any binding apparent in the motion. It should be noted that the drain cocks are too long for an in-service locomotive, a detail carried into the design from the preserved BR No. 42968. Tender wheels are based on a split axle design for current collection. They run

POOLE Park will have a miniature railway up and running by the summer, with the Borough of Poole saying it’s committed to ensuring its flagship park retains a mini railway.

The mini railway hit problems in November after a carriage derailment. Health and safety issues have kept the engines off track since that time, and then the engine shed was emptied as the current owner’s lease ran out.

Operator Chris Bullen says he was given just 24 hours to remove equipment following the end of his tenancy agreement. Mr Bullen, who has run the attraction since 2004, will be allowed to submit a new bid as part of the tender exercise, which starts soon.

Mr Bullen, along with organisers of the Save Poole Park Railway Facebook page, has set up a crowdfunding page to raise £68,000 – the amount he needs to tender for the railway.

Model Rail Scotland

Model Rail Scotland takes place on February 24-26 this year at the Scottish Event Campus Centre (SEC) in Glasgow.

With 17 different societies attending the event there will be something for everyone from Scottish Railway Preservation Society, DEMU, Model Electronic Railway Group and Scalefour to name but a few, as well as a vast array of trade suppliers in attendance.

Ticket prices are £12 for adults, £6 for children, and a family of two adults and two children is £27.

Full information on the event is available at modelrail-scotland.co.uk

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What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

Key features:

• Five-pole motor • 21-pin DCC socket • Provision to install digital sound in the tender • Comprehensive instruction and service booklet • All driving wheels are powered • All-driving wheel current collection • Adjustable drawbar between tender and locomotive • NEM-362 coupling pockets fitted with standard tension lock couplings • Coupling rods and motion toned down with oily rust effect • Fully detailed driving cab and back head detail with AWS equipment in BR examples • In line brake shoes and detailed brake hangers • Add-on detail pack including coal rails, foot plate doors and fireman’s tools • Finished in pristine lined BR black livery with late crest • Weighs 380g including tender • 245mm in length over buffers

A side view of BR No. 42968 (31-692). The red boiler band lining is made up of two fine red lines.

freely in their axle boxes and the tender itself sits squarely on the rails.

Electronics Certain standards are becoming increasing apparent in Bachmann’s OO gauge steam locomotive range.

Tender engines are being equipped with current collection wipers throughout the model, not just the engine’s driving wheels. This more than doubles the length of model in contact with the rails as far as current collection is

The model comes complete with an excellent representation of a Fowler tender, which needs to have the coal rails added by the modeller.

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concerned and will ensure there’s no gapping over complex track work. Modellers can confidently run the model at realistically slow speeds in the knowledge that stalling is highly unlikely on junctions and station approaches.

The price is a set of wires linking engine and tender together alongside the adjustable drawbar. Separating tender from the engine for digital sound installation and other work requires care in unplugging the wires. Such wiring allows the space in the tender to be used for a decoder interface socket and a large sound speaker should sound be required.

Drive and performance Watching the motion and wheels at work during testing was mesmerising. The action was smooth through the complex motion and the model ran, even during the initial stages of running-in, with a smooth slow action. Clearly, a great deal of effort is being put into preparing the models for good performance.

Slow speed control was

found to be excellent through some excellent gearing and a very smooth performing motor.

Running quality was equal in both directions and there was no kick in the rotation of the wheels, which were found to be nicely concentric during rolling road tests. Nonetheless, important information regarding lubricating points and running-in before layout service is provided in the service booklet and should be heeded to obtain the best performance.

Detailing parts A small bag of detailing parts is included with the model, which may be fitted at the modeller’s discretion. Not all of them will suit a layout model, including the front foot steps and cylinder drain cocks because they interfere with the movement of the front bogie. The latter detail is actually too long for an in-service locomotive, only being apparent on No. 42986 in preservation, although easily trimmed to length if required. Essential details to be added include the cab doors and the coal rails to the top of the Fowler tender. The

NEWS

in brief

Points Master gives you greater control

enclosed instruction booklet provides all of the information required to correctly install the detailing parts.

Paint colours and finish A lovely dense black finish together with crisp lining is applied to the review model.

Lining and numbering is smoothly and crisply applied and consistent. All lining is level and the boiler bands are twin stripes on close inspection.

Colour is used to good effect to pick out back head detail in the

cab and the tender coal load has a shiny finish.

Overall The all-new Stanier ‘Mogul’ will fulfil the expectations of the most discerning modellers both in terms of its accuracy, character and running. From the finely detailed riveted tender with its delicate coal rails to the smooth action of the complex motion, the Bachmann Stanier ‘Mogul’ is a fine example of what can be achieved. To see so much attention to detail and

finish applied to a very work-aday mixed-traffic locomotive is a delight to see.

References The life of preserved Stanier Mogul BR No. 42968 is well documented on the internet.

Further information may be found at: staniermogulfund.org.uk/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_ Stanier_Mogul www.svrwiki.com/LMS_Stanier_ Mogul_42968

The compact Points Master module provides a new way to control servo point motors on your model railway.

An all-in-one servo motor controller in a tiny 5x5cm package.

The Points Master DCC/ DC servo module controls up to eight servo motors for realistic operation of points and signals on your model railway layout. The module can be installed and running in minutes. Individual servo motors can be configured with their own speed and angular range, making the module suitable for every situation.

On a DCC layout, servo motors can be controlled directly from your DCC controller or individual push buttons. On a DC layout, servos can be controlled by push buttons. Each push button takes the place of one servo motor. As supplied, four inputs control four outputs; the module is easily configured to reuse any number of input ports as additional servo outputs.

For more information on the Points Master and to decide whether it is right for your layout visit midlandscaleregulators.uk

Lincoln and District model railway show

Light freight on secondary lines would have been one of the duties that a mixed-traffic engine such as the Stanier ‘Mogul’ would be employed on together with local passenger services and short-transfer freight trains.

There's a new venue for the Lincoln and District Model Railway Club's annual show, plus a host of great layouts.

The two-day event, backed by Modelling and our sister title Rail Express, is on Saturday and Sunday February 25-26 at Newark Showground.

There are 27 layouts of various gauges confirmed as well as various traders, demonstrators and societies.

Tickets cost £6 for adults, £3 for children and £15 families.

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What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

New toolings for OO gauge Thompson coaches

Five brand new models of LNER Thompson coaches set for release in early 2017 by Bachmann are described by Nigel Burkin.

T

he long-awaited and much-anticipated retooled LNER Thompson coaches are about to arrive in the shops and, based on the review samples, they are a considerable improvement over earlier models of this coaching stock type, which has been part of the Bachmann range for many years.

The completely new models represent five different main line gangwayed coaches built between 1945 and 1954 and include a composite corridor (34-411); second/third class corridor (34-386); first class corridor (34-486); composite brake (34-436) and second/third class corridor brakecoach (34461). Two liveries are offered in

the 2017 Bachmann catalogue: the original LNER faux grained teak livery (intended to match LNER teak coaches) and British Railways carmine and cream which was initially applied to main line stock upon Nationalisation.

The full-size coaches were a significant departure from the LNER’s traditional teak

Second/third-class brake corridor coach viewed from the corridor side (34-461).

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construction techniques, being of wooden-framed bodies clad with steel panelling and mounted on a strong steel underframe. Several reasons are offered for this change in design including greater strength over timber-bodied stock and the lack of teak during and after the war years when Thompson coaches were constructed..

NEWS

in brief

New 4Ground tree and scenic range

Highly detailed ‘Gresley’ bogies equipped with stub axle current collection are fitted to the new Bachmann OO gauge Thompson coaches.

They were long-lived, surviving well into the BR era with withdrawals finally eating into coach numbers in the mid to late 1960s. Several coaches survived into the 1970s including one rare lounge buffet car, which is now preserved on the Llangollen Railway.

Given how many of these coaches were built, very few examples of corridor stock have survived and some of that is of the round-corner window type not represented by the Bachmann model.

Examples can be found on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (third corridor No. 1623); The Scottish Railway Preservation Society (TSO No. 13803); and Llangollen Railway (lounge

buffet No. 1706 and corridor brake third No. 1866) to mention a few. They have certain characteristics making them unique in design including an elegant oval window for each lavatory compartment and in the corridor directly opposite lavatory compartments.

Corridor stock did not have cross-vestibules at the coach ends in the manner of BR Mk.1 coaches. Doors were located part way down the coach so passengers would not have to pass more than two compartments to reach an access door.

The model Bachmann’s new tooling for Thompson coaches is considerably more refined than

Model details:

Thompson LNER steelbodied coaches

Manufacturer:

Bachmann Europe Plc

Scale:

4mm (1:76) scale, OO gauge.

Era:

1945 to late 1960s (except the lounge buffet cars, which survived into the late 1970s).

Web:

www.bachmann.co.uk

Suggested retail price:

»

£54.95 for types and liveries

4Ground has announced a new range of model trees and scenic ground cover.

The scenic range from the laser-cut kit company focuses on a selection of just 19 types of trees of varying heights ranging from 50mm to 280mm with many of the packs containing multiple trees. Accompanying this range, which includes such classic trees as the English oak, birch, beech plus several other varieties, is a selection of ground cover in colours that fully complement the trees.

The complete 4Ground range of models and accessories are distributed nationwide by toy and model distributor, AB Gee of Ripley or through 4Ground’s appointed dealer network.

Hornby sales fall over Christmas

Hornby has said it expects to remain loss-making this year as it reported on performance over the Christmas period with group revenue dropping by 25% year-on-year over the holidays.

However, the company said this was in line with expectations as Hornby reshapes itself after a tumultuous few years.

Steve Cooke, chief executive, is leading a shakeup of Hornby, which includes bringing certain operations back to the UK from continental Europe, reducing the product range by 40% and cutting expenditure on new products.

Concessions are also being closed down to reduce the stock levels the company holds.

Hornby also announced that it had sold its site at Margate for £2.25m.

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What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

Second/third-class brake corridor coach viewed from the compartment side (34-461).

« the original models once offered

by the company, featuring some very delicate tooling work and a body shell with the correct profile. The sides have a very thin section, which makes the clear flush glazing inserts particularly effective and with no sign of an unsightly lip around the window edges. The glazing inserts themselves are flat, highly reflective and neatly moulded with window frames and top lights. The lavatory compartment windows have an effective translucent white finish and painted framing.

Standalone details include grab rails and separate roof vent mouldings applied too the roof together with separate gangways and numerous detailss added to the underframe.

The interior detail is very effective and clearly seen through the flush glazzed windows with compaartments having the correct dooor and window detail in the partitions.

‘No Smoking’ legends are applied to the glazing of the appropriate compartments and seating has the correct arm rest detail.

Technical features Each coach is equipped with excellent representations of ‘Gresley’ bogies, which have metal wheels fitted. The wheels have stub axles with an insulating bush in the middle allowing current to be collected through them and bearing strips let into the inside of the bogie side frames. Contact tabs transmit the power through to a contact in the coach floor allowing modellers the option of fitting interior lighting if desired.

Close coupling cams are fitted making it possible to close couple the coaches and operate them on second radius curves.

A NEM-362 coupling pocket is

fitted to the coupling cams and this allows the use of a variety of coupling bars and couplings.

The detailing pack includes a coupling bar for forming fixed rakes.

sides is picked out in brass colour, while the long hand rails near to the guard’s door of the second-class brake corridor coach are very neatly picked out in black.

Livery application: The pair of models featured in this article (second-class corridor and brake corridor) are finished in BR carmine and cream, which is consistently applied on both models.

The paints are opaque and cover detail very well without any hint of thinning or being rubbed away. Printed details are similarly well executed, being sharp and opaque. All lettering and lining is straight and level without any sign of gaps where it is applied over raised details.

Moulded commode rails and door handle detail on the coach

To conclude The models bring the same high level of refinement to LNER coaches in the Bachmann range that has been applied to its Mk.1 and Mk.2 coaches together with Pullman cars, saloons and auto-trailers.

Bachmann continues to work through older models in its catalogue, replacing them with models that will be a credit to any layout. At last, LNER and BR steam-era modellers have coaches to match the high quality of locomotives in Bachmann’s range. ■

Model featurres: ■ Completely new tooling ■ Five types on maiin line stock initially pro oduced ■ Finished in LNER faux teak and BR carmine and cream liveries ■ Separate roof ven nts, grab rails and end gangways ■ Flush glazed ■ Detailed interiors s ■ Close coupling ca ams ■ NEM-362 coupling g pockets ■ Detailed Gresley bogies ■ Provision for current collection ■ Fully detailed und derframe with separate com mponents

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Roof vents are separate mouldings individually applied to the coach roof.

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What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

Freight power for the S&DJR: the unique Fowler Class 7F

A popular model set to be reissued by Bachmann is the impressive Fowler 7F 2-8-0 tender locomotive built for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Described by Nigel Burkin.

T

here is little doubt that among some of the most attractive models produced by Bachmann are of ordinary ‘everyday’ locomotives that did the real work for the railways. The Fowler Class 7F built for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) by the Midland Railway in Derby is a good example of such a locomotive.

Eleven 7F locomotives were built in two batches in 1914 and 1925 to a design

by Henry Fowler with some detail differences between them. Numbered 80-90 by the S&DJR, they were renumbered as 9670 to 9680 by the LMS in 1930. Around two years later, they were renumbered to LMS 13800-13810. The 11 locomotives survived into BR ownership to be renumbered BR 53800-810 until withdrawal.

The locomotives were fitted with 4ft 7½in drivers to an 2-8-0 configuration giving them

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excellent tractive effort. The leading bogie was included in the design to spread the weight of the locomotive because the preferred 0-8-0 design would have been overweight for the S&DJR. That tractive effort was much needed too. The S&DJR main line between Bath and Poole featured some steep gradients and a tough, nononsense locomotive was needed to efficiently move heavy freight and coal traffic over the railway. It was this tough haulage capability that prompted the LMS to try them on heavy coal traffic in the East Midlands. High fuel consumption compared with similar locomotives was the reason for them falling out of favour in the Midlands and they remained on the S&DJR until withdrawal commenced in 1959. The last locomotives of the type were withdrawn in 1964, making them a long-lived

Model details:

S&DJR (LMS) Class 7F.

Manufacturer:

Bachmann Europe Plc.

Catalogue numbers:

31-014 S&DJR No. 89 in plain black.

31015 LMS No. 13810 in unlined black.

Scale:

British OO gauge, 1:76 scale to run on 16.5mm gauge track.

Era:

1914-1947 as represented by the new models.

Web:

www.bachmann.co.uk

Suggested retail price: £147.95.

and successful design. One might expect survival of any locomotive from such a small, specialised class of locomotive to be highly unlikely, yet that was not the case. No fewer than two S&DJR 7F locomotives of the 1925 build survive: No. 88 found a home on the West Somerset Railway and the Midland Railway Centre is home to No. 89.

The model Bachmann first released its S&DJR 7F in late 2010, showing a great deal of faith in the market considering that the class was small in number, limited in its geographical area of operation and quite specialised in application.

Nonetheless, it has sold well, prompting a reissue of the model, which is set to appear in the shops this month.

Two new versions will make an appearance, both of them

NEWS

in brief

Rails Through The Forest

Despite its humble role as an engine designed to haul freight over the steeply graded S&DJR together with heavy coal trains coal from the Somerset coalfield, the locomotive has a presence that is captured in the model.

finished in unlined black livery, which looks very striking on this model. Both models represent the 1925 batch, the first being S&DJR No. 89, while the last of the class is represented in post 1932 LMS condition as No. 13810.

There is something about these locomotives that is unique compared with Midland designs of the time – it is easy »

THE publication of a first volume by the Dean Forest Railway Museum Trust (now out of print) about railways in the Forest of Dean, triggered an avalanche of images which have been put to use in this second volume.

Covering one of the most attractive and interesting parts of the UK railway network, Rails Through The Forest looks at the era from 1945 onwards.

What this book also portrays is some of the area’s social and economic history of what was and is now lost forever. Aerial and panoramic views enhance the compilation, with loco pictures, including GW Pannier and Prairie tanks, early BR diesels, plus other forms of 1950s and 60s transport.

For anyone contemplating modelling this area and era the book has a wealth of pictorial information.

Ally Pally show dates

The London Festival of Railway Modelling returns to Alexandra Palace on March 25-26.

With 40 layouts from around the world, there will also be in excess of 100 exhibitors.

There is a free shuttle service between Alexandra Palace Station, Wood Green underground station and the venue.

Entrance is £12 for adults, £6 for children (5-16yrs) and £36 for a family.

Two new versions of the model will be available in the shops in early 2017: Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway No.89 and LMS No. 13810, both finished in plain black livery.

The latter model is featured in this article.

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What's in the shops

SPONSORED BY

Asse embly of the model is robust, with cle ean mouldin ngs and d a notable lack of tooling orr mould d liines. Paint colours are dense e and d all le etteriing is sharp and level.

«

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to see why they have such a large following.

The engine and tender bodies are moulded from plastic with a wealth of fine detail together with many standalone details fitted including hand rails, pipework and cab fittings. The paint finish is pristine, evenly applied and opaque. Lettering, what little there is of it on such an austere livery, is neatly applied, opaque and level.

Fine detailing extends below the footplate level with the provision of in-line brake gear and sand boxes together with a well-executed example of Walschaerts valve gear, which is fully functioning and does so with a smooth crisp action. The high position and angle of the cylinders is also well represented – a particular feature of these locomotives.

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Motor and electronics The model has completely upto-date electronics including a 21 pin DCC socket and provision to fit digital sound located in the tender. In addition to current pick-ups on the engine where the motor and drive is located, the tender wheels have split axles allowing current collection through wipers acting on the metal part of the axles closest to the rear of the wheels.

To complete the circuits, the tender is connected to the engine with four wires that may be unplugged from the tender side of the drawbar. The wires do not interfere with operations at all, but must be taken into account when separating tender from engine. After a very short period of running-in on a rolling road, this particular model settled down to good slow speed operation which

was very responsive to a basic traditional DC controller. The valve gear, current pick-ups and wheels worked without any hint of catch or binding.

Overall Modellers of the S&DJR and the LMS will welcome the reissue of what is an excellent model of a popular prototype, which was built for a railway that gained something close to cult status.

While the plain unlined black paint scheme is an austere a livery as could be applied to a model, it is completely correct for the type and actually adds something to the character of the model. It is great to see that the small number of locomotives in the class together with their specialist nature did not deter Bachmann from taking the financial risk in making an off-the-shelf model of the S&DJR 7F and this latest batch is not likely to sit on the shelves for very long. ■

Key features: ■ Five-pole motor ■ 21 pin DCC socket ■ Provision to install digital sound in the tender ■ All driving wheels are powered ■ Current collection from tender and driving wheels ■ Adjustable drawbar between tender and locomotive ■ NEM-362 coupling pockets fitted with standard tension lock couplings ■ Coupling rods and valve gear toned down with oily rust effect ■ Fully detailed driving cab and back head detail ■ In-line brake shoes and detailed brake hangers ■ Add-on detail pack for the modeller to fit to the model ■ Weighs 320g including tender ■ 245mm in length over buffers.

Starting out

Asking the right questions How to get going, keep going and have some fun by Bernard Gudgin and Michael Watts

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othing succeeds like success, and it is far more satisfying to build and complete a smaller layout that works rather than a larger one that never really does. The significant bonus is that you will learn a great deal in the process, and your confidence will be the greater for it. Your next model will then be all the better from your experience.

Having advised you to be modest in your initial aspirations, we encourage you to spend some time planning what you want to do, however small it may be. Do check out if this is possible within your current and realistic limits of space, time, finance, knowledge and skills. If necessary, amend your scheme to match your current resources. Finally, we strongly encourage

you to get going now, and not to put it off until you are retired, or to some other deadline in the future.

To help you in the decision-making and planning processes we have provided a Planning Aid Questionnaire in these pages. This is intended to help you focus on your first small model railway. We know that procrastination and changes of mind are major hurdles in getting on with it. The table is not complete for all circumstances, but it will help you focus on the essential decisions for your first model railway.

But, as we have said before, and whatever you decide, there are basic planning, design, and building matters to consider.

Bodgit & Much Pottering. This is a narrow gauge layout that was built by Brian Cameron, an expert on narrow gauge layouts. Set in England, it has convincing scenery and scratch-built structures. The smaller trains mean that a realistic scene can be accommodated in a small space. And almost anything goes on a narrow-gauge railway! The scale of this model is 1:43.5 or 7mm to the foot with a track gauge of 16.5mm or O gauge scale on OO gauge track. This equates approximately to a prototype track-gauge of 2ft 3in. BERNARD GUDGIN

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In working through the questionnaire: • Be honest about what really interests you and is achievable with your available resources; • Consider your current skills and ability.

Build for pleasure, not as a chore; • Your first model railway will absorb your leisure time. It mustn’t become a burden; • Building time depends on all threedimensions of your layout, not just the baseboard area; even without multiple tracklevels, scenery ry and buildings have height; • Utilise your current ski kills i to design, build, operate, mak ake k kits kii and scenery ry, y etc…

• Plan and build at least part of it quickl kly l to encourage and raise your confidence.

• Follow the above when worki king i through the questionnaire and you will have fun, fu u enjoyment, satisfaction, and maybe learn something new. Happy planning, designing, and building – in that order!

Planning Aid Questionnaire Location Specific location or imaginary location UK, Europe, USA, elsewhere If UK, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland Rural, suburban, urban, city Mainline, branchline, mixed Railway, industrial, commercial, domestic, mixed Public, industrial, motive-power depot, preservation/heritage Station, no station Terminus station, through station, both Scene Flat, hills, mountains Gradients, multi-levels Bridges, viaducts, tunnels Roads, rivers, canals, ponds, sea Dockside, canalside, riverside, seaside Trees, hedges, fences, grass, fields of crops Above ground, Underground, mixed Transfer: rail-road, rail-water, container transfer, intermodal Summer, autumn, winter, spring Pre-1914, 1918-1939, 1945-1970, 1970 to current, Or? Trains and motive power Steam, diesel, electric, mixed Locomotive hauled, railcar, high-speed, mixed Freight and passengers Freight only, passengers only, mixed freight and passengers Passengers and freight related to immediate location, remote location Operation Watching the trains go by, shunting, motive-power depot Prototype operation, freestyle Timetable, freestyle Signals: semaphore, lights, ground, post, working, non-working Control and power system Traditional analogue control, DCC (Digital), mixed Loco control: On control panel, localised, hand-held Control panel by baseboard, on baseboard, in baseboard, or?

Point control: hand/finger, wire in tube, electric (solenoid, slow options) Coupling type, standardise, NEM pockets, close couplings with bend compensation Uncoupling: hand mechanical, electrical/mechanical, electromagnet, permanent magnet, shunter’s pole Model lighting: within buildings, yard, industrial, street, traffic signs, signals, vehicles Layout lighting: room; tungsten, fluorescent tube, spots, LEDs

High

Medium

Low

Planning aid questionnaire It is important for you to appreciate what your main motivation is in building a model railway. For example, what is your current starting point? It may be: Nostalgia for the prototype (the real thing); a childhood train set; existing rolling stock; holiday location; children/ grandchildren; control freak; exhibition inspiration; speculative purchases; etc; …

To get started, complete this questionnaire to help you identify and focus on your current needs. Work through it methodically and decisively. You may be surprised how it helps you make decisions. Above all, for your first model railway keep it small and straightforward.

Complete it, learn with it, enjoy it and feel the pride. In subsequent articles we will help you look at each of these topic areas in more detail. But you can get going right now!

There are 12 topic areas here, each with a number of categories. Really think about which aspects are most important to you.

Then work through them quickly, ticking the appropriate column – but resist the temptation to mark everything high. This will guide you to concentrate on the key aspects, and to build your first model railway that is right for you.

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Starting out Baseboard and track-plan Space to fit track-plan or track-plan to fit space?

Oval, end-to-end, combination Straight, L, U, all four walls Single track, multiple tracks Dense track work, landscape with trains Flat, inclines, multiple levels Specific period, several periods, mixed periods Standard gauge, narrow-gauge, broad-gauge, mixed-gauge Scale and gauge Track Proprietary, kit-built, scratch-built Set track, flexi track, hand-built track Track brand Dead frog, live frog, Fleischmann type Maximum gradient Minimum radius Shortest pointwork Complex pointwork, no pointwork Adhesion, rack, mixed Venue space, and construction House room, garage, shed, club room, exhibition Fixed, portable, modules Module joins; electrics, points, landscape and buildings Train set, layout, model railway Table-height, eye-height sitting, eye-height standing Baseboard materials Ownership and operations Personal, group, club Single operation, multiple operation You, other adults, children, grandchildren Realism Cars, trucks, coaches, buses, trams People, animals Coherence, consistency Fine scale, course scale Prototype model, imaginary model Trains Passenger, freight, mixed National, private, preserved/heritage Veteran, classic, modern Proprietary, kit-build, scratch-built New, second-hand, mixed Railcar, DMU, EMU Loco+few coaches, loco+many coaches, high-speed set Mixed freight, rakes of private-owner branded freight 24

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High

Medium

Low

Review Having completed your thoughts and preferences, now is the time to review what you need. You may already have some relevant stock, but you can now check the availability of new and/or used items: track, locos and rolling stock, buildings, structures – all of your chosen period and scale.

Michael Watts & Bernard Gudgin are experienced teachers and trainers. They have several decades of modelling and exhibition experience across the gauges from T (scale 1:480) to 16mm (scale 1:19), as well as narrow gauge. They are often seen at exhibitions, where they provide free advice to newcomers and returnees under the brand name of Oxford TRAINing.

Right: Wood’s Wharf. A very simple wharf layout with a canal for added interest and realism.

Opportunities for transhipment of goods between the various forms of transportation – rail/ road/water – always provides additional scope for operation within little extra space and takes little extra building time and effort.

The scale of this model is 1:43.5 and the track gauge 32mm – commonly referred to as O, or 7mm. BERNARD GUDGIN Below: Windrush. Originally built by the Gloucester Model Railway Club the layout depicts rural Cotswold life in the 1950s. It is a typical, straightforward terminus station in a rural area. A few authentic-looking buildings and road vehicles combined with lots of trees make all the difference to the realistic appeal. You can see this layout in operation at www.youtube. com/watch?v=wb1ip3AQiK0 The scale of this model is 1:76 and the track gauge is 16.5mm – commonly referred to as OO.

Conclusions Well, what are they? Has your first trawl though the questionnaire resulted in a viable proposition?

If not, why not? What are the difficulties, and are they resolvable in the short-term so that you can get on with it? If there really are significant sticking points or conflicts, try trawling through the questionnaire again in a few days’ time with a different – probably more modest aspiration…

Until next time, happy planning …

BERNARD GUDGIN

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Young modellers

Getting kids on track

This month I spoke to two people, at either ends of the country, with a mission to get youngsters on track with railway modelling, writes Sarah Palmer.

I

t’s becoming a familiar refrain in the worlds of both heritage railways and modelling. How do we get new blood involved?

David Webley and his son, Sean, live in Derby; a part of the country spoiled for heritage lines and railway history. I first came across their Anything Goes layout at Warley show. You must go and look at it someone said; “it’s been built by an eightyear-old”. So much is said these days about children doing nothing but sitting in front of screens, slowly becoming obese, that it’s a pleasant surprise to find that you can’t always believe what you see in the media.

When I later go to visit David at his home in Derby, Sean is, quite rightly, at school, but his dad, and dad’s friend James Cullen, were overflowing with enthusiasm about Sean’s layout, railways, modelling and how Anything Goes came to be.

The layout was built on the flipside of the baseboard of a previous layout of David’s, and it was given a second lease of life after Sean expressed an interest in modelling.

“We took Sean, a box of track and a few bits and spent the whole day at James’s showing Sean how to lay the track, how to wire bits up, how to fit bits on, and in around eight hours it went from a plain piece of MDF to a layout with working circuits, a track and fiddle yard at the back.

It was how Sean wanted it; how he had designed it in his head,” says James.

“We sat there and helped him with holding bits down as he’s only got little hands but it was mostly his effort. It was all done with drawing pins and PVA.” James’s input on the project was needed because it involved flexi rather than straight track. “I’ve never dealt with flexi before whereas James has. Flexi track was used because Sean wanted long curves,” says David, before James adds: “He has created what I call a ‘pointless layout’ i.e. there are no points!”

Sean’s young modelling career began like many with Thomas the Tank Engine.

“He had a Tomy Thomas set running a battery-operated engine around a track

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when he found some of my N gauge and tried putting it on to the track when he was about six. So, I asked him if he wanted to build a layout and we took him to Rails of Sheffield, and spent quite a bit of money!” says David, who has two sons with his partner Susie, Sean and one-year-old Kyle. “I’ve ‘lost’ my models to the kids!” he laughs.

David encouraged Sean to investigate his N gauge collection. “Some children do go in and grab but he takes a bit of care and he’s not all fingers and thumbs.”

Adds James: “This layout shows that you don’t have to have a finescale, perfect layout, it can just be enjoyed as an evolution of the toy train set. It’s that one step further where there’s a bit more scenery and it’s not all set track. It was built by a kid, for a kid, with that element of fun and enjoyment.”

This idea of fun carries across into the customised characters built at 2mm to the foot scale on the layout, which visitors to the layout at exhibitions are encouraged to find. So, there’s a mini Deadpool (a Marvel Comics superhero) about the size of your little fingernail sitting on top of a carriage roof. Not the easiest thing to find, as I can testify.

Says James: “There are too many, in my opinion, layouts that you have to stand back from, that you are not allowed to get a good look at. Modellers want you at arm’s length to appreciate what they’ve done. This layout and scenery is about getting children involved with the layout. You’ve got to get up close and have a good look.”

Getting children involved is something that David is very keen on. “I want to set up a club or society specifically for younger modellers that will grow over time, but get young modellers together, so they can showcase their own layouts to the older generation of modellers, as well as get advice. Youngsters can already go on work party nights at existing clubs, but it’s more the older generation operating the layouts.

But a young modellers’ society would be ideal for them, and it could bring it back into fashion in a sense.”

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Can you spot the X-Men character Deadpool in the layout?

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Many youngsters enjoy wooden train sets, the key is to engage their interest above and beyond Thomas the Tank Engine.

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Young modellers Anything Goes has come to life through Sean’s imagination, with help from his parents, and his dad’s friend James.

Sean’s mum and dad, Susie and David both encourage and help Sean with his hobby.

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At shows Sean drives the locos and David is usually at the side talking to people. For them, shows are about being able to interact with the public and encourage other kids to get involved. “People are scared to ask questions sometimes as they don’t want to appear silly. Having a layout like this means people can just come over and ask ‘how do you do that?’” says James.

Although the Anything Goes layout is done by a youngster, David and James are also atypical of the modelling demographic themselves being in their late twenties.

James describes himself as a lifelong modeller. “At Sean’s age I was an illicit depot basher,” he giggles, "as my grandfather was a railway superintendent at Toton. Whereas David describes himself as a narrow gauge steam boy “through and through”. They met through Facebook after James replied to a request from David for help with fixing a few engines.

“That’s what this hobby is about,” says James. “It’s not insular. You can sit in your

shed by yourself but I think it’s a very communal hobby.”

David was a volunteer of 20 years standing at the now-closed Markeaton Park Light Railway, but he makes sure that Sean visits plenty of nearby heritage lines including the Steeple Grange Light Railway and Amerton Railway in Staffordshire. In fact, for a small boy interested in railways, they couldn’t live anywhere better.

Sean and his layout attend around three to four shows a year including at Belper, Steeple Grange and Ruddington.

This year there are four. Trowell, Steeple Grange, Trent Valley Modellers in Staffs and Peterborough, and next year they are considering crossing the border to attend a show in Scotland.

This year the layout will also be going to Sean’s school summer fair. This piques my interest in terms of how accommodating the school, and indeed, Sean’s peers are to a hobby, that isn’t really mainstream.

“His school is aware of his hobby and

his teachers think he has benefitted from it,” says his dad. “If he has to be away for any visits then it’s put down on the register as extra-curricular activity. The school is accommodating,” says David as he shows me an engine that Sean bought with his own money, adding: “how many kids do you know that will do that?”

James concurs: “With every hobby there’s a stigma, when children are interested in models – olde-worlde entertainment if you like, which isn’t mainstream, you don’t have as much participation with school-age children that you might have done. I notice when I do shows that you’ll have a gap, where there will be children of six or seven, then there’s a big gap and then they will be 19. There’s a hole when they’re in education when the modelling hobby goes away, but then they return to it with time.

He continues: “There was a time when someone expressing an interest in singing would have been discouraged, now everyone is encouraged to go on the TV and March 2017

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« sing. Fashions change and things go out of

fashion. But, every Christmas model shops stock the Hornby train set.”

This idea of things being mainstream crops up later when David talks about buying things for Sean to help with his hobby, unlike children who can find most things they want at Smyths or a local retail park.

“There’s been a reduction in model shops. I wonder if there may be a correlation between availability in the high street and the hobby itself. I can go into any retail park and find a computer game shop.

I always think the best thing you can buy for a child at Christmas is something they can build,” says James.

The other possible downside with encouraging young children into railway modelling as a hobby is the cost.

“The second-hand market is up and down and collectors will pay horrendous prices for models. They are no longer a children’s toy, they are now collectable and that has pushed the prices up,” says James.

I have a four-year-old and as much as I actively encourage his love of railways I’d draw the line at giving him a ‘proper’ model set to play with. It would be matchwood in minutes. Having said that I think that railway modelling teaches children a lot of useful ‘soft skills’ that aren’t necessarily taught at school.

“Sean has learned to be patient. It’s not instant, it doesn’t happen overnight. But it feels really good when you’ve spent a bit of time and you’ve done it. We spent nights

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Tips ■ Build from cardboard, you can build a boiler, you can build a coach. Go back to kit and scratchbuilding. Don’t throw away your cereal box, always save your cardboard as you’ll be amazed how many things you can make out of it. It makes it affordable. There are downloadable kits that you download to your computer from Scalescene which can be printed off as many times as you want, says James Cullen.

■ Top tip if you are planning to take your layout to exhibitions is to measure your car or boot first.

David didn’t do that and struggles to get it in the back of the car.

Measure the back seat or boot and work out if the baseboard will fit in.

after school and weekends working on it, trying to improve on the layout to get it ready to be exhibited at Warley, knowing that it would be next to all the big boys who would be there.

“But we said, you have to remember it’s been built by an eight-year-old. It’s his view of the world, and as long as he’s happy with it and other children will be happy with it, that’s all that matters.

“There are no labels for this, just

enjoy the hobby. It’s your layout, you can do what you want.”

It’s not just Derby that is encouraging its youngsters into the world of model railways. At its King’s Cross premises The Model Railway Club in London is also doing its bit to bring in youngsters.

The MRC is the oldest model railway club in the world. It was founded in 1910 and has about 250 members. It’s been one of the leading lights in the hobby and a lot of big names have been members over the years.

Like many the club realised that a new generation of modellers was needed to pass the modelling baton on to.

Mike Lloyd joined the club about five or six years years ago, previously as a publicity manager and now as deputy chairman and nine months ago he helped to set up the Young MRC. “The Young Modellers’ Club came about because I have a young son who is 10 years old and you’re not allowed to become a junior member of the club until you’re 14, which he was a bit fed up about,” says Mike, who then came up with the idea of running a Saturday club.

“My son, Adam, said why don’t we have a club at the society specifically for children? Another colleague has children of that age, so between us we came up with the idea of running a Saturday morning club.”

The Young MRC started about eight or nine months ago and runs once a month on a Saturday between 10am and noon with a variety of activities.

Did you know?

TIM Berners Lee grew up in south-west London. When he was 11 he went to a school which was between two railway tracks, so he saw lots of trains and started trainspotting. He also had a model railway in his bedroom. It was a long, thin layout with a four-track station in the middle, and on each side pairs of tracks going off into tunnels to

actually loop back to each other.

He made electronic gadgets to control the trains and then ended up getting more interested in electronics than trains. From those early beginnings he then went on to invent the World Wide Web. Who knows where a childhood spent in railway modelling will take you?

ABOVE LEFT: Mike’s son Adam is a member of the London Young Modellers' Club.

ABOVE: Youngsters are able to come along to the club to learn alongside their parents.

RIGHT: The London Model Railway Club’s Young Modellers’ Club has been a big success

“One of the things we decided right at the beginning was that parents have to stay with the children and join in. The way it works is that we have children between the ages of eight and 14 although the majority are around 10 years old. They can bring their own trains and run them on the layouts at the club, or the test tracks. We’re also building a layout so they can learn about construction. We are also building wagon kits and scenery but some of them just like running trains,” says Mike.

“So far there have been 12 boys who have signed up and come most months, although no girls as yet.

“It’s proved to be a success and we’ll have a junior section at this year’s London model show in March. We do get a mixture of mums and dads, who come along to get involved and we’d welcome girls.

“We’re tending to find the youngsters are very interested in model railways and trains, but it’s skipped a generation as their parents don’t know anything about it. We get asked a lot about how to make a baseboard to put a track on for example. Parents come with interested kids but they don’t know how to help them with their hobby.”

He continues: “What we notice is that

when they’re eight or nine they’ve moved beyond the Thomas phase and they’ve already learned quite a lot about railways – about different types of trains etc – they’ve developed quite a serious interest and they’re interested in how railways work.

“Adam had Brio when he was little.

When I’d been a boy I’d been interested in model railways and we found one of my models when we were clearing the house out. Obviously they were old and didn’t work very well. So we bought a Hornby Trackmat, but he found that quite toy like and didn’t find it very interesting, so we ended up building a layout together based on a Peco track and he just got more and more interested.”

Mike says the ethos of the club is to try to give children an opportunity to learn more about modelling. In the Forties and Fifties every household had a train set but now obviously there are competing interests for children, added to the fact that parents are more pushed for time. “To be honest it’s proved more popular than we thought.

When we started we had no idea if anyone would turn up. But it has proved popular,” says Mike.

“The youngsters learn a lot of skills. The

thing about model railways is you learn how to research the history. My son has got particularly interested in the London and North Western Railway, finding out about its history, about the old days. Modelling teaches you about transport and about how people lived. But then there’s also practical skills, craft skills, electrics, how to make the track work, and a lot of physics. One of the main things is the wider learning, there’s a lot more to it than playing.”

Mike also accedes that as well as teaching skills to youngsters one of the other reasons to form the club is to replace the older generation – to encourage more children into the hobby knowing that even if they lose interest in their teens they will probably come back to it later on.

“What we are seeing in the club generally is that the profile is a lot of older people and the perception is that modelling has skipped a generation. We are seeing more members in their 30s, but we seem to have very few members in their 40s, for example, so that period of computer games means that anecdotally there was a missed generation who didn’t get involved.”

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Young modellers

is how do we keep this enthusiasm going as they get older?

“Children really do love Thomas and the idea of the Young Modellers' Club is to try to bridge the gap between Thomas so when you get to six, seven, eight you can keep that interest going and develop it. Most model railway clubs tend to be older people who sometimes aren’t happy to have children about or won’t allow them in until they’re 14. So there’s a big gap, between seven and 14 and we need to find a way of keeping that interest there and raising the profile.”

The Young Modellers’ Club has been such a success that this year the LMRC is planning to contact all the schools in the area and tell them about the club to promote it a bit more and hopefully get more children involved.

Mike says that the age group the club is aimed at is a critical age for the interest, if there isn’t anywhere to pursue that interest then by the time youngsters get to 14 they may have moved on to other things.

“I was interested in modelling and then when I was 15 or 16 I got interested in electronics and making computer games and ended up with a career in computing, but then I’ve got interested again and now I’m deputy chairman of the Model Railway Club, so I’m an example of what happens typically in the hobby,” says Mike.

It seems that the Young Modellers’ Club is something of a success story, something that was not guaranteed when it started out, so much so that the chairman has said that it was the most important thing that was started while he was in the role.

“I would recommend that other clubs set up younger members’ groups. It does require an investment of time and energy and you’ve got to be prepared to put that in as once you start it you have to be prepared to continue with it. You also need people who like spending time with children. We have members who work in schools, or teach. We have a high adult-to-child ratio because they need a lot of help in terms of building. It’s like school. You can’t just give them stuff and say get on with it,” says Mike.

For more information on the Young Modellers' Club visit www. themodelrailwayclub.org/youngmrc and Sean’s layout Anything Goes can be found on its dedicated Facebook page. ■ 34

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Leon sits in the middle of his oval track ‘multi-tasking’.

Generational modelling GLEN WOODS from West Sussex has a grandson, Leon, who showed interest in trains from an early age as his parents bought him a Thomas the Tank Engine set.

“I decided to introduce him, gradually, to the world of model railways at a pace that he was happy with. His first introduction to ‘Grandad’s Trains’, when he was just over two years old, consisted of a short section of Peco O gauge track with three Lima-style wagons,” says Glen.

“The large gauge meant that he was able to put these four-wheeled vehicles on the track with relative ease and couple them up by pushing them together.”

It was at this stage that Glen decided to build Leon a model railway with a small goods yard and four-wheeled vehicles. “It was initially Lima locomotives and stock, as they are quite robust and more suited to his young age,” says Glen.

The first purchase was a former batteryoperated Lima freight set, the locomotive did not have its motor and was therefore a ‘push’ set which was in keeping with Leon’s earlier sets.

“I repainted the LMS 4F locomotive red, renumbered it 5511 (Leon’s birthday is May 5, 2011) and named it Leon.

Following this Glen purchased two 36

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electric Lima Locomotives, another 4F and a diesel shunter and built a test track in the garden. “I am always amazed how his dexterity progressed, this was just less than a year after his first introduction to the trains.”

For his fourth birthday, Glen purchased a complete oval of Peco O gauge set track and a Gaugemaster controller so that Leon could run electric trains in the house (provided that no one else needed to use the lounge!).

“With the additional Lima goods wagons I had obtained he could run a longer double-headed goods train. In common with most youngsters of today, the model railway is not his exclusive activity and he also has an iPpad in the centre of the oval with him.

“He had an interesting approach to ‘repairs’ at this stage and if a locomotive needed ‘attention’ his solution was to wrap it up in a blanket and keep it warm until it was better!”

Glen then embarked upon the construction of the first two baseboards for the ‘goods branch’ layout with all points electrically operated for ease of operation.

“The siding in the bottom right will

Glen and Leon’s work in progress.

continue on to the next baseboard and will be for coal staithes. The two other roads at the bottom will come together on the next baseboard and the siding on the left will be for an engine shed. There is an opportunity to construct a platform on the right-hand side in the future if some form of passenger train is required.

Glen hopes to update RMM of his, and Leon’s, progress in the spring. ■

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New toys on show If you’ve got a youngster who wants to get into model railways then Phil Parker may have some suggestions picked up at this year’s London Toy Fair.

C

hristmas comes early to London.

Every year, in January, the toy industry takes over the Olympia exhibition centre to show off the products aiming to be under your tree 11 months later.

Model railways don’t make a huge noise among the 250 stands nowadays – 30 years ago, the hobby could boast its own ‘village’ with both ready-to-run and kit-makers

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exhibiting. Fortunately it isn’t entirely absent, the biggest manufacturers are still to be found putting on a show, it’s just that they are looking to a more general market rather than specialist model shops.

Beyond the ‘serious’ models, there are, of course, a whole host of toys to look at. Trains in various forms are still very popular with children. Perhaps the biggest

surprise is that it seems every child prefers a steam engine to a diesel. I wonder why?

Is it the legacy of Thomas the Tank Engine, or perhaps happy days spent on a family visit to one of the country’s many preserved railways? Whatever the cause, it seems that the toy industry thinks it will be a long while before youngsters lose their love for engines with smoke coming out of the top.

London Toy Fair Hornby Our oldest manufacturer always puts on a terrific show with one of the largest stands at the fair. The entire group shows its wares, so as well as trains, visitors see Airfix kits, Humbrol paint, Corgi and Scalextric cars.  Each brand within the group was given its own area within the stand.

Centrepiece for the railway area was a small layout with a winter theme.

Operation was started not by a coin as older readers might remember, but by a sensor that switched the train on when anyone approached the model.  Announced at the NEC in November, a prototype of the forthcoming Class 87 electric locomotive, R3582, was on show. Expected for delivery at the end of the year, the RRP is £169.99 although many retailers are currently discounting it for pre-orders by around £40.  Completely new to the Hornby range are the ‘Junior’ sets. Running on plastic OO gauge track, the four-car train is powered by on-board batteries and operated by buttons in the roof. Fold-up cardboard scenery is part of the package so the young modeller can make their own mountains and tunnels. This is a very early prototype so the livery and details will change before the sets arrive in the shops for Christmas with an RRP of £39.99

Bachmann Bachmann wasn’t at the Toy Fair as a model railway manufacturer. The company has acquired the Pocketbond and Toyway brands over the last couple of years and so was showing lots of plastic

Tasma Products kits, science project models, Timpo model soldiers and some very interesting scenery starter kits with all the materials required for a small diorama in a box. These use standard Woodland Scenics materials and would be a handy way to learn how to add landscape to a model if you are new to the hobby, or just want to brush up on your skills.

Despite this, the stand wasn’t railway-free. The G scale Thomas & Friends range was attracting attention as locos rumbled past plastic dinosaurs and the company’s range of train sets was on show as these appeal to the more general sellers that the show attracts.

You might not know the name, but if you are lucky enough to have a model shop locally, then Tasma probably supplies it with many different products. For a couple e of years, it has sold some excellent OO gauge plants and now w the same quality item ms will be available in N. We saw a sample pack containing a couple of each plant, but for the shops, each pack will contain a single species and cos st just under £7.

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London Toy Fair

Oxford Oxford uses the Toy Fair as the venue for its first announcements of the year in both railways and diecast road vehicle ranges.  Big announcement this year is the N7 0-6-2 tank locomotive. The prototypes were built in 1915 and lasted in service until 1962. Most of the 134 engines worked in the London suburbs but some were transferred outside the capital.

Expected in shops by the end of 2017, the RRP of the basic DC model will be £109.95 with DCC sound pushing this up to £219.95. Great Eastern Railway (No. 1002), LNER (No. 8011) and BR (No. E9621) liveries will be offered.  First seen at the 2016 Toy Fair, the Dean Goods will be heading for the shops as you read this. Final liveries are confirmed as GWR lined green (No. 2309), GWR unlined green as seen here above centre (No. 2475) and BR black (No. 2409). See top middle.  A first for the model railway world is a ready-to-run steam locomotive fitted with a snowplough, above right. The wooden plough is based on GWR drawing and certainly makes for an unusual item of motive power. Expected in shops for the autumn, RRP is £119.95 for the DC model.

No announcement of the availability of the snowplough as a separate item has been made but this would surely be popular with modellers who could park it in a yard on a summer layout. See top right.  Another model first seen in 2016 is now heading for the shops, the Janus industrial shunter commissioned from Oxfordrail by Golden Valley Hobbies. Seen here (right, top) with a pair of wagons intended to accompany the loco, these will be available in packs of three.

Modern permanent way crews often travel in Land Rovers fitted with drop-down rail wheels so they can travel the tracks. A new Network Rail model is unpowered but for just less than £7 will make a terrific addition to the lineside. Rail wheels can be flipped up for road travel, or dropped for rail. Ramps to get the vehicle up on to the rails are included and we wonder how long it will be before an enterprising modeller 40

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manages to fit a mechanism? Expected in the shops in the autumn and winter, there is plenty of time to figure it out.  With its background producing diecast road vehicles, it was no surprise when the company announced it would be producing some railway wagons to carry them. Three liveries for these Carflat wagons will be offered by the middle of this year – Early brown, weathered brown and Motorail blue each with an RRP of £29.95. No cars are supplied with the wagons, but special packs are in preparation so the modeller can chose vehicles of the correct era. See second from top.  Oxfordrail’s cattle wagon has been available for months and is very popular with modellers. It will now be offered in weathered condition with both dirt and lime wash dribbling through the gaps in the planks. The lime was used to disinfect the wagons and applied very liberally by the staff. The wagon shown (middle right) is comparatively clean, on many you couldn’t see the livery at all for the coating of off-white wash!  Another new announcement is the warwell wagon. Two versions are offered with different pockets around the tie-down points on the deck. RRP is £29.95 and these should be on sale by the middle of the year.

If you prefer your wagons to be working, they will be available with either a traction engine or Sherman tank, correctly shown with the tools in a packing case having just been delivered from the docks. Loaded wagons have an RRP of £39.95. See second from bottom.  The Mk3 coaches (bottom right) are coming along well. For the first time decorated samples were on show and the lettering on the ends of each coach looks superb. The different liveries will be delivered throughout the last three quarters of the year. RRP is £29.95.

If you run your layout at night, you’ll be pleased to see that the coaches are fitted with lights powered from the track.

These allow you to appreciate the interior detail including antimacassars on the tops of the seat. Of course, once you can see inside, the temptation must be to fit a few passengers to enjoy the ride.

While not a train as such, Oxfordrail's diecast Railway Air Services Dragon Rapide aeroplane would look great hung above the layout in flight or at an aerodrome towards the back of the layout.

Price will be around £30.

OO and N gauge modellers will be pleased to see a large number of new castings in the Oxford diecast range of road vehicles.

This Stag and TR4 should be in the shops by the time you read this.

Several new models ready for approval for production were shown such as a travelling van. In the unpainted state, you can see which bits are metal, and which are plastic.

Mk1 and P39 Range Rovers. The Mk.1 was popular with police forces and so will be available in these colours with a light bar as well as in more standard versions.

For the more upmarket layout, a pair of Rolls Royces; Phantoms, versions 3 and 5 production of which straddled the Second World War although they can still be seen on the road today as wedding cars.

Big Jigs The editor’s son is a big fan of Big Jigs wooden model trains and I was under strict instructions to take a good look at the stand!  Toy trains are a lot more ‘imaginative’ than model ones with loads of play value. Big Jigs’ new announcement this year is a medieval train set with a castle, jousting accessories and even a dragon who can lift loads off the back of wagons! All the track and trains are compatible with similar wooden systems so the sets can be expanded indefinitely.  For newcomers to the range, a table complete with parts to make up a set can be bought for £129.99. The raised edge makes it ideal for play even when the railway isn’t in place and it might even be large enough for a small electric train set one day.  If fanciful locomotives aren’t for you, or at least your junior assistant, there are some classic engines such as Mallard, Flying Scotsman or Stephenson’s Rocket.

Hape

Playmobil

A new name at the toy fair, Hape struck gold in its first year with a win for the 58cm tall Mighty Mountain set in the wooden toys section of the Toy Fair new products competition.

Compatible with other wooden railway systems, many of the Hape trains are battery powered and some are fitted with sound chips too.

Most are fairly conventional designs but one looks more like something from an old Flash Gordon film complete with a rotating propeller on the front!

A wide range of accessory sets is available such as lifting bridges, tunnels, crossings, stations, cranes and even seahorse signals.

Playmobil trains have long been popular with garden railway enthusiasts as they run on LGB trackwork.

There’s no sign of anything new in the main range this year, but in the 1 2 3 range aimed at very young children, a limitededition Night Train will be released. Smaller than the LGB-based models and only a push-along system,

the passengers and parcels can be loaded and unloaded for play. The set includes a circle of plastic track small enough to fit on a normal table.

Indigo Jamm A nicely made large push-along ‘Sammy the steam train’ from Indigo Jamm. The roof of both engine and carriage can be removed and wooden figures placed inside for the ride.

RRP is £45 and the set has ‘green’ credentials as it makes use of rubberwood from trees that have finished their useful lives producing rubber sap.

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Opinion

MODELLING RAILWAYS

More than just a hobby Simon Kohler, otherwise known as ‘Mr Hornby’ discusses the future of modelling and the issue of getting youngsters into model railways.

S

everal decades ago, when the world was a very different and in many people’s eyes a simpler place, choosing a main Christmas or birthday present, in particular for a boy, was relatively straightforward. The choice, depending on the parents’ pockets was quite narrow.

Would it be a new bicycle with derailleur gears or a simple three-speed, or maybe a pair of Jaco roller-skates fitted with brake blocks? Or could it be a train set with all the exciting possibilities and magic that such a present could bring?

In those days of post Second World War Britain, a train set was something bought for a boy so that dad and son could play with it together. Having such a gift was pure playground gold and ensured that the lucky owner would have a steady stream of friends coming round after school just wanting to see the train set. If the owner was lucky enough their father would have laid the track on a board, and with the turn of a controller the train would go hurtling round the track to the joyful and excited screams of those watching.

For many the enjoyment that a model railway gave in their younger days stayed with them throughout their lives, despite periods when the trains were put to one side so that mortgages could be paid and children fed, but the magic and passion continued. However, nothing stays the same forever and what was thought to be at one time a truly desirable present can fall out of favour and be replaced with what is perceived to be something much more exciting and appealing to the younger eye.

Yet a model railway is one of those pastimes that has so many interesting and varied aspects.

Where else can a hobby provide an insight into social history, architecture, geometry, simple electrics, basic electronics, topography, elementary carpentry, art and both painting and sculpting?

Without doubt it is a cornucopia of so much that if those taking part were to sit down and analyse their hobby they would probably find it hard to believe what modelling railways gives them. However, there is a danger that a window to so much excitement, enjoyment, passion and

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It’s often grandparents who introduce the next generation to modelling.

knowledge could, if we are not careful, pass a generation by.

Over the last couple of decades, as noted previously, fathers had, in the main, purchased train sets for their children so that both parties could enjoy modelling railways, but it now seems that for many the responsibility appears to have been passed to grandparents. Many grandparents would have had a train set of their own when they were younger and in their retirement years share their hobby with their children’s children. In this way another generation can be exposed to the joys of modelling, but unfortunately without additional stimulus the hobby will gradually decline. So, what can be done to encourage and expose the joys of modelling railways to children and – probably just as importantly – their parents?

It is not unusual for children at a very early age to be given a wooden train set such as Brio, Big Jigs etc. Such a toy is certainly great for a young child’s imagination while at the same time assisting them in

developing their dexterity. Connecting the track together and then placing the trains on the assembled track certainly enhances their motive skills and the more track available the greater the fun. Hopefully the interest the child has for trains can be encouraged by their parents or grandparents who, with a bit of luck, will take them to see real trains.

Eventually the child grows out of wooden trains and it is at this stage the interest must be maintained. Unfortunately, even at five years old a Hornby train set is too ‘old’ for a person of that age, unless supported by an adult... but even then a Hornby set is not designed to be handled roughly and an intermediary model is needed. Since the demise of the Hornby clockwork set there was no suitable ‘gap filler’, but Märklin has recently introduced a great little system designed completely with young hands in mind. The track included with the Märklin My World system (reviewed in our first issue of RMM) consists of plastic pieces – no sharp edges – which can be clipped together

by young hands. The trains are produced in tough plastic and are battery-powered; controlled with a simple remote control hand unit with buttons to operate lights and a d sounds. It is a tremendous introduction too model railways. From here it is only a short step away for when the youngster starts looking for more realism, which would bee round about six or seven, depending on th he child’s development and that is when theyy may be ready for a Hornby electric train set. s So the development progression is available but the fact the ‘tools’ are there does not guarantee total success. What is needed is a joint effort by ALL associated with model railways – the manufacturers, magazine publishers, clubs, model shops and enthusiasts to a) promote the positivees of model railways and b) look for alternativee ways of contacting parents, for example viia Mumsnet.com or Dadsnet.com or other popular parenting sites.

The current image of a model rail enthusiast is often one of derision, so it’s up u to those involved with model railways to convey the message that it is a very useful hobby for teaching general life crafts. No one else will do it so it is up to us all.

What’s your view on this issue? Email RMModellingeditor@mortons.co.uk with your views or stories.

WIN

Railway bookazines

This month we’ve got four railwayrelated bookazines to give away to one lucky RMM reader.

Each one is packed with photographs and written by top journalists in the field of heritage railways.

We’ve got Making Fresh Tracks to the Sunny South and West, showing the best of seaside steam revivals.

Clash of the Steam Titans takes a look at the most famous steam locomotive of the 20th century, Flying Scotsman, and its 21st century counterpart, Tornado. Flying Scotsman: A Legend Reborn by Brian Sharpe, details the history of this magnificent engine and its extraordinary history.

Finally Railways Still at War is a mustread for anyone interested in the role played by railways during wartime.

Deadline for entries is Monday, March 13, 2017. The winner of last month's giveway is Mr Blake Holders of Quorn who has been notified by post.

RAILWAY BOOKAZINE GIVE AWAY Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms (Please circle) First name ......................................................................................................................................................

Surname ..........................................................................................................................................................

Address............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................... Postcode .........................................................................................

Email.................................................................................................................................................................

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may decide to contact you by post/phone/email regarding information relating to current offers of products or services (including discounted subscription offers) which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you do not wish to receive such offers please tick this box £ On occasion Mortons Media Group Ltd may permit third parties, that we deem to be reputable, to contact you by post/phone/fax/email regarding information relating to current offers of products or services which we believe may be of interest to our readers. If you wish to receive such offers please tick this box £ Offer expires on March 13, 2017. Terms and conditions apply. Please see Mortons' website for full terms and conditions. There are no cash alternatives available. The winners will be the first entries drawn at random.

March 2017

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Blasts from the past

The Road to Kent

Tony Stratford traces the ancestry of the current Hornby company from Rovex via Tri-ang.

T

he name Hornby is synonymous with model railways in the UK today and its red boxes have given pleasure to many for more than 60 years. Ask anyone outside your regular modelling circle and the name Hornby will be immediately identified with model railways, such is the power of the brand.

The story of modern Hornby begins neither in Liverpool, where it ended in our last issue, nor in Kent, which has been home to the company since 1954. Until last year its headquarters were in Margate before relocation to Sandwich, although the former building still hosts the Hornby visitor

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centre. Instead it begins in Richmond in Surrey with a company called Rovex, a name that adorned the back of every Hornby box until the mid-1980s.

Like many model railway manufacturers there is genealogy to trace back long before the first trains were assembled. This story has two starting points, which came together in 1951.

Rovex was formed in 1946 in Chelsea by Alexander Vanetzian who started a small toy making company using plastics, notably cellulose acetate. Vanetzian was already a recognised inventor having applied for a patent for a cigarette lighter in 1943. He

was also at one time a racing car driver for Mercedes Benz.

Rovex had a contract with Marks & Spencer to produce a range of toys for the company, among the first were clockwork cars, including a racing car. It also produced toy tea sets, telephones and by 1949 it was engaged in working on a train set exclusively for M&S. A OO gauge Princess Class locomotive with two short coaches was produced in time to be delivered to the M&S store in Kingston-upon-Thames for Christmas 1950. This ran on an oval of two-rail track operated by a simple batterypowered transformer, which retailed at

half the price of three-rail sets produced by Meccano and Trix at that time and was an instant success.

The first sets delivered required modifications before further sets were released in 1951. Demand outstripped supply and the company struggled, even moving from Chelsea into an old brewery in Richmond. It required investment from another toy manufacturer if it was to meet its full potential.

Lines Brothers That company was Lines Brothers, which was looking to add a model railway range to its ever-increasing portfolio. The company was formed by three brothers; the sons of Joseph Lines who, with his brother George, had established the toymaker G&J Lines in the 1850s. The company produced mainly wooden toys including prams and wooden rocking horses, both of which were popular in Victorian nurseries. After the death of George in 1905, Joseph remained at the helm, assisted by his sons.

On their return from the First World War, three of the brothers decided in 1919 to break out on their own. William, Walter and Arthur acquired the premises of a woodworking company and a timber yard

in south-east London. Not surprisingly the company began by making wooden toys under the name Triangtois, the name originating from the triangular lines of the company’s logo. Rapid expansion followed and in 1931 the company acquired the original G&J Lines company on the death of their father. The company had soon built a good reputation with customers including Harrods and other large stores. Toys were in short supply as the main suppliers before the war were German manufacturers.

By 1923 it was necessary to purchase a new site and within 18 months the move to Morden Road in Merton, south-west London took place. The new factory continued to expand and by 1932 it had 2000 employees and covered 191,000 sq ft, becoming the largest toy factory in the world. Every opportunity was pursued and the company developed into new areas such as model aircraft (FROG), Minic vehicles, Pedigree dolls, soft toys and model boats. It even bought a bicycle company in Birmingham, which went from producing bikes for adults to producing them for children. The company also acquired the famous Hamleys toy shops following financial collapse.

Like many factories, Merton was fully

engaged in government work during the Second World War. More than 7000 staff were employed making parts for aircraft and they made more than a million STEN guns used by troops during the conflict. Needless to say, the troops were not aware where their guns had originated.

Postwar expansion Postwar the company expanded further, but with the Merton site operating at capacity, it acquired new factories in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales and Belfast in Northern Ireland. It also opened plants in Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. With model railways in great demand it was not long before its attention was drawn to the Rovex company in Richmond.

One of the sons of Arthur, Richard Lines, transferred from the model aircraft division to look after the Rovex acquisition. Richard was to play a very significant role in the model railway division for many years until his retirement in 1995.

On October 20, 1951, Rovex became a Lines Brothers company. Before the takeover, Rovex could only sell its train sets in the UK to Marks & Spencer. It could, however, export them and as postwar March 2017

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Blasts from the past

« recovery took hold, export was a major

goal of every toy producer. When Lines took over, Marks & Spencer cancelled the contract.

Compared with other leading brands at the time, the range was somewhat limited and the company immediately set out to provide additional items. Another early pioneer of using plastic to produce model railway products was Pyramid Toys of London, which first appeared in 1949. The bodies for the wagons were also made of cellulose acetate, which unfortunately does not wear well and most surviving examples are badly warped, the potential downsides of this then-new material being unknown in the 1950s.

In 1951, Tri-ang purchased the tools for the seven-plank open wagon and closed van, together with a die-cast N2 0-6-2T, which was clockwork, thus immediately doubling the number of available locomotives to purchase.

Pyramid used a simple hook-and-loop coupling, which required modification before release by fitting the Tri-ang-type coupling and new wheels. Fortunately, polystyrene replaced cellulose acetate in 1956; a much more stable material and no major issues have arisen in models of more than 60 years old.

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Demand continued to grow and the company searched for a new factory site outside London. The choice was Westwood near Margate where there were plenty of seasonal summer jobs but little in the winter. Model railways were at that time more seasonal than they are today with little demand during the warm summer months.

Located in the Westwood area of the Thanet town the site was equidistant from the three towns of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs and provided much-needed employment during the winter. The move from Richmond took place during 1954 and was completed on October 4.

Targets met The new facilities enabled production targets to be met and new models were introduced to cater for the export market.

These were generally of overseas outline rolling stock particularly aimed at the Australian and Canadian markets under the Transcontinental banner. Most carried the legend ‘Tri-ang Railways’ to keep them vague although in later years they carried correct livery applications.

Tri-ang Railways developed into a complete system with buildings and

accessories added at regular intervals. Items were sourced from elsewhere in the group, which included a range of rubber moulded buildings from Young & Fogg, ‘Minix’ road vehicles (introduced 1964) and ‘Real Estate’ plastic building kits from International Model Aircraft, the makers of FROG. The building kits were rebranded ‘Model Land’ in 1970.

Where possible standard components were used and the range of models available expanded rapidly. Space does not allow us to outline every milestone but 1957 saw the introduction of a range of TT (Table Top) models, which were scaled at 3mm to the foot (halfway between today’s N and OO gauges). The red and yellow OO boxes and the yellow and red TT boxes became a common sight in toy, model and other shops worldwide.

In 1962 a new track system emerged, known as ‘Super 4’ replacing Series 3, which had first been produced in 1958, replacing the grey base track produced since the earliest days of Tri-ang ownership.

By the early 1960s, Tri-ang was the dominant force and the Meccano empire was crumbling. Trix too was in trouble and a new competitor in the form of Playcraft was

»

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Blasts from the past « prominent in every FW Woolworth store in

the UK. With Meccano failing it looked to Lines to take it over and this duly happened in February 1964. The two main competitors were now joined in marriage and the loyal customers of each looked to see how the two distinct brands would evolve.

Train production at Binns Road in Liverpool stopped immediately and left a vast amount of unsold stock for the market place. Hornby O gauge was no more and the tinplate and die-cast Hornby Dublo range would be placed in abeyance until it passed to another Lines Brothers’ subsidiary, G&R Wrenn, which will feature in our next issue.

While some items such as the stations and engine sheds were incorporated into the main range, little else was. Devotees of the former Binns Road products did not see it as the amalgamation that Lines Brothers claimed.

Tri-ang Hornby The official renaming to Tri-ang Hornby took place in 1965, a year after the takeover.

Converter wagons were produced in the form of an open seven-plank wagon and a horsebox with a Tri-ang coupling at one end and Hornby Dublo type at the other.

The seven-plank was useful for freight trains and the horsebox could be placed alongside coaching stock, allowing the two ranges to be mixed, providing the Hornby Dublo models had plastic wheels. Metal uninsulated ones caused short circuits and could not be used on two-rail track. With massive stocks of unsold Hornby Dublo, it would take several years before they disappeared from retailers’ shelves. They could still be bought into the late 1970s and it took Hatton’s of Liverpool almost to the end of the century to sell everything it had bought in fire sales from the factory down the road. Trix, by then operating out of the British Lego factory in Wrexham, also tried to get Lines to purchase it. Had it done so then Lines would have had total domination of the British model railway market. Even without Trix its supremacy would remain unchallenged for another decade.

By 1966 we would see the first new developments. A new range of action models with a militaristic theme emerged as Battlespace. A year later new models concentrated on developments such as the introduction of Freightliner flats and containers.

1966 saw the release of a battery-powered range of O gauge Big Big Trains with plastic track that could be used in gardens without damage. Many of these models included the Hymek Class 35 diesel, Mk.2 coaches and the BR 16T mineral wagon; these were snapped up by serious O gauge modellers and detailed to operate on their layouts.

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Other products from elsewhere in the Tri-ang empire were introduced into the Tri-ang Hornby catalogue. The OO scale motorised car system, Minic Motorways, was incorporated not only into the Rovex part of the company, but into an integrated transport system. Cars could be driven on to special wagons and special track sections incorporating both rail and road operations.

Modern buildings Another Tri-ang product Arkitex, which was made in the Belfast factory, was also available in 1/42 scale (close to the 1/43 scale used in British O Gauge). These were building kits contemporary with the 1960s when modern buildings were emerging across the bombed-out nation. One of the kits produced was an ultra-modern station kit for which several different station or railway buildings could be constructed.

With the Hornby Dublo tools still available these passed to another Tri-ang company, G&R Wrenn, which had become part of the Tri-ang Group on January 1, 1966. Tri-ang was the majority shareholder with the rest of the shares being retained by the Wrenn company. Reintroduced models began to reappear in Wrenn boxes from 1967, the Castle Class 4-6-0 being the first, the 8F and BR 4MT 2-6-4T following shortly after. From 1969, the boxes were branded

Tri-ang Wrenn. The tooling was modified to erase the Hornby Dublo name from underneath the casting to G&R Wrenn.

The 1960s were difficult for model railway manufacturers and despite its dominance Tri-ang Hornby, although profitable, suffered because of the overall financial performance of the parent company, Lines Brothers, particularly in its plants overseas. In July 1970, the share price dropped by two thirds and reorganisation and cutbacks were inevitable. It proved only a short-term fix and in August 1971 the company entered liquidation. All the different parts of the Lines Brothers empire were now up for sale.

For a short time the Rovex division operated under the name of Pocketmoney Toys. In January 1972 Dunbee-Combex Marx, a major American toy manufacturer purchased Rovex. Included alongside the model railway range was Scalextric, Minic Ships, Big Big Trains, FROG plastic kits and Pedigree Toys (dolls and soft toys). This gave Rovex a problem in that the name Tri-ang could not be used as it had been sold to another company, which took over the Merthyr Tydfil plant, producing outdoor toys. The name Hornby, however, could be used and was adopted; the famous red boxes now branded Hornby Railways. ■ To be continued….

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Past and present 

A favourite engine...

Ian Lamb remembers the Hughes Mogul ‘Crab’.

A

s I have said many times over the years, the great thing about model railways is that they can be whatever you want them to be. No one has the right to say that what they get out of the hobby is any better than anyone else.

In my own case, I much prefer to model as accurately as I can, but I still have my favourites, many of which I dare to show in public because of their irrelevance to the display of the moment.

For instance, I get great pleasure from watching my Hornby ‘Devon Belle’ train pack hurtle round my test track in the dark with the illumination of the superb Pullman cars to really give me goose bumps.

By the same token, had the Dava line not been closed in 1965, it does not take much imagination to believe that a Bachmann Class 158 DMU would not have been a regular performer between Aviemore and Forres.

Depending on your strength of feeling, level of courage, and determination to take the criticism that comes with displaying a ‘wrong’ model, then all I can say is go with it.

One of my favourite locomotive classes of all time is the Hughes mogul (2-6-0).

They were so different to anything I had ever seen. Colossal engines when viewed at first hand, the high running plate above massive cylinders made them look ungainly when plodding along the track and so inevitably these machines became known as ‘Crabs’.

My specific engine was 42737, based at 65F Grangemouth.

Over a seven-year period 245 locos were outshopped. Horwich built 78; the remainder being constructed in the ex-LNWR works at Crewe. George Hughes, who eventually became the initial CME of the LMS, retired in 1925 before production started. His successor, Sir Henry Fowler, made further modifications before delivery in 1926, by

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which time all LMS locomotive design had been concentrated on Derby.

While initially designed for fast freight operations, they soon made their mark on passenger workings, particularly excursion traffic. They were employed throughout the LMS system and were equally at home on coal trains to and from the Ayrshire coalfields or passenger trains over the Somerset and Dorset Railway to Bournemouth.

The first 100 locomotives appeared in LMS crimson lake livery (pre-1928),the remainder in lined black. They were originally numbered from 13000 to 13244, but under the 1934 renumbering scheme became 27002944. From 1934 they began to appear in unlined black until Nationalisation in 1948.

In BR days they carried lined black livery.

Also under the new ownership of British Railways a ‘4’ prefix was added to London Midland Region locomotives and the class became 42700-42944.

Apart from the first five locomotives the ‘Crabs’ were paired with ‘standard’ Fowler 3500 gallon tenders. At first these were flush riveted, lacked coal rails, and had the tank vents posiitiioned d in th he coall space. Th There were also no doors in the front bulkh khead h which meant that the fireman had to climb

over the bulkhead into the coal space – a dangerous procedure as he would be well outside the limits of the loading gauge. Later tenders had doors built into a housing in the bulkhead.

The last 10 tenders had snap-head rivets and were fitted with coal rails increasing the coal capacity to five tons 10 cwt. The water tank vents were also repositioned behind the coal space in an attempt to stop coal dust and other debris clogging up the filters.

Coal rails were later fitted to earlier tenders and most of them also had the vents moved behind the coal space. The pairing of locos and tenders altered throughout the life of the ‘Crabs’, some locos ending up with tenders from other locomotive classes, so if you obtain this model and convert to a personal choice it is worth finding a photograph of the particular loco, to be strictly accurate.

These moguls enjoyed an excellent working life over a 40-year period without need for major modification and were only superseded on certain services by the influx of the superior Stanier ‘Black Five’. They

My Bachmann ‘Crab’ model renumbered as 42737.

»







 1: A scale drawing of Hughes LMS 1926 design built under Fowler’s direction. The engine bore many Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway hallmarks such as the smokebox, cab shapes, cab controls and fittings.

2: The LIMA model of 42737 enters Leven Station.

3: July 25, 1959; a rare visitor to Pittenweem in Fife was ex-LMS 2-6-0 ‘Crab’ 42737 hauling the 1.20pm Edinburgh to Crail train.

W A C SMITH/TRANSPORT TREASURY

4: 1943: Grangemouth ‘Crab’ 2-6-0 LMS 2737 on Aviemore shed. J HAY COLLECTION 5: Apart from giving some idea of what the interior of the cab’s back head looks like, this picture shows the incredible detail that Bachmann went to (and does with all its models) to recreate the real thing as much as possible.

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Past and present The Bachmann model in LMS livery.

« enjoyed a high level of popularity with their

crews and maintenance personnel alike.

Withdrawals commenced in 1961 and the final ‘Crab’ disappeared in 1967. Three have survived into preservation, 2700 being part of the National Collection.

This particular locomotive spent most of its life in and around Ayrshire and the central belt of Scotland. ‘Crabs’ remained on the Highland line well into the mid30s, being superseded by the ‘Black Five’, but after Nationalisation they very rarely ventured north of Perth. It hauled one of the last special trains over the former LMS line between Biggar and Broughton. As to how it found itself in Fife is a mystery; it probably came about by accident in finding itself at Edinburgh Waverley to be conveniently placed at the head of a Fife local. Anyw An nyway, w who cares? My model is a great performer on the ‘East Fife Railway’!

Wh When h LIMA MAA produced this model I couldn’t wait to buy one for my LEVEN layout. When Wh h I started exhibiting I took a lot of flack from some visitors who were

only too keen to point out that such engines never ran on the East Fife line. Then one day I came across a photograph of a ‘Crab’ at Pittenweem; not only that, but it was my very engine... and my critics were finally silenced!

During a recent conversation with my long-retired Highland railwayman friend, Jock Hay, I drew his attention to my love of the ‘Crab’ locomotive. He recalled his experiences of these engines, particularly of 42737.

“Aviemore was quite busy in those days, and we had a hostel there during the war too. Spey Lodge* they used to call it. After the war folk used to come and stay there for their holidays.

"It was used by Grangemouth men. They would bring a train of coal up and ‘book off’ ff’,’ and then take a train of wood back the next day. The Grangemouth men drove home these ‘Crab’ 2-6-0s and I mind once seeing them open the smokebox door before setting off South, and fitting a ‘kn knife’ n across the blastpipe. They had these things made with

a screw fitting to fasten them to the edges of the top of the blastpipe to split the exhaust, which made the engines ‘draw’ better. This was illegal of course, and they had to get it off again before the engine was put on to shed. We had a similar thing, not so well made as theirs, we just put a length of wire across and wound it round, with the same effect. Just some of the tricks that you learnt to get the best from an engine.”

I later sold my tender-drive LIMA model once the superior Bachmann loco-driven model became available. All I had to do was simply change the number on cab sides and smokebox door to my favourite engine of this class, namely 42737. *Spey Lodge is still in operation today as a residence for helpers on the heritage Strathspey Railway.

Many notes of Jock Hay’s railway experiences are beautifully recorded in his book, Ben Hope to HST: Memories of a Highland Railwayman. Published by the Keith & Dufftown Railway Association, ISBN 978-0-9547346-2-6 ■

13065 at Burrs on the East Lancashire Railway.

13000 is at the NRM, 13065 is running on the East Lancashire Railway and bits of 42859 are at former RAF Binbrook but it is believed that a lot of it has been scrapped. BRIAN SHARPE

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Back to basics

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Making a start with a first layout

You plan to visit a model shop to buy an engine, rolling stock, together with some track or perhaps a train set. How do you make a start on a first layout? Nigel Burkin introduces you to the world of model railway track planning, starting with a basic oval.

A

fter the excitement of buying a train set, starter pack or a selection of equipment, track and controls, how do you make a start on a first layout? Ideally, a little thought should go into what you wish to gain from the hobby – make some decisions on what will hold your interest in the long term and what scale you prefer.

While the majority of new modellers start with OO gauge, the growth of off-the-shelf N gauge and O gauge has opened up these scales to newcomers.

If you can curb your enthusiasm for a short while, consider doing a little planning first. The owner of the model shop will assist you in making good decisions, after all they will want you to return to make further purchases in the future!

Nonetheless, the intense desire to buy something and ‘have a go’ is irresistible (I know!) and not a bad idea at all. It allows you to try a few ideas out on the kitchen

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table or living room floor before committing to further purchases. Once the initial experimentation is over, thoughts will turn to building a first ‘proper’ layout and the basic oval is usually the first thing that springs to mind – most starter layouts (both OO and N gauge) are small oval schemes because of cost and available space.

Historically, the favoured concept for OO gauge has been for a 6ft x 4ft design and continuous oval track plan, which allows continuous running. The real question is how can an oval layout concept be made to operate like a full-size railway? How can it be fun to operate and hold interest for a reasonable period of time? Here’s a few ideas to get you started with basic oval layouts: Experimentation A good way get started is to literally buy a ‘train set’. It will contain everything you need to start your railway empire including

some sectional track and a control system.

Both traditional direct current and Digital Command Control (DCC) systems are available in modern train sets. Apart from the odd one intended for children, modern train sets feature contemporary standard locomotives and rolling stock – as well as finished and detailed as individual models found on the shelf of a well-stocked model shop. The track included in a set will allow the models to run on an oval track layout, which is the basis for many layouts, including some very large and superbly detailed ones built by experienced modellers.

The purchase of an add-on track pack and some additional rolling stock will probably get you well on your way to experimenting on the kitchen table. Have a play with the train set, see how you get on with it and enjoy the very refined operation now possible with contemporary models and control systems.

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Temporary layouts With no dedicated space for a model railway, many enthusiasts rely on a temporary layout based on a basic oval track plan. Space is often tight in the average modern home and alternative spaces are either not available or may be unsuitable for storage of expensive model railway equipment. Temporary layouts may be set up for a few hours on a wet Sunday afternoon or for several days at a time, say over a holiday period. Nonetheless, a great deal of fun can be had in designing a new layout every time and placing buildings and structures.

Modellers in Japan, faced with space constraints that would make British modellers wince, rely on sectional track layouts laid on wooden floors or tables.

Such temporary layouts are very complex and prototypical running of trains is achieved on extensive set-ups that are quickly dismantled at the end of the day.

Suitable locations for temporary layouts include dining tables, laminate or wooden floors, window sills and shelves. A hollow core door or a pasting table or two could be dedicated to the purpose of setting up temporary layouts, yet are easily stored between operating sessions.

By their very nature, temporary layouts rely heavily on sectional track, simplified wiring and limited scenery. There are

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several sectional track systems suited to temporary layouts depending on where they are set up. You can choose between unballasted and ballasted track; the latter having a moulded base integral with the sleepers, shaped and coloured to look like a ballast shoulder.

In OO gauge, unballasted sectional track includes the traditional Hornby system with its long-established geometry, which has been supplied in Hornby train sets and separately for many years. Both Peco and Bachmann offer similar systems for OO gauge models and all sectional systems can be used on table tops and hard surfaces such as the aforementioned door. N gauge modellers may also use a number of different sectional track systems including those produced by Bachmann and Peco.

Ballasted track offers major advantages over unballasted track when used to assemble temporary layouts. The moulded ballast base makes it very strong – strong enough to withstand regular setting up and dismantling. Furthermore, the ballast base usually incorporates a hefty clip system so

»

1: A beautiful example of contemporary standard N gauge equipment available today and it runs as well as it looks. The Graham Farish Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 tender locomotive would suit a compact N gauge layout theme – either traditional direct current or DCC. 2: Models of smaller locomotives such as the Hornby M7 are ideal for the type of starter layout which would be constructed in the typical six by four-foot layout. Only two are preserved including No. 53 (BR No. 30053) which may be found on the Swanage Railway. The locomotive has since been returned to BR black livery after a period of being adorned in postwar SR black livery as seen in this photograph taken in May 2009.

3: Bachmann’s OO gauge 2MT 2-6-2T is a light mixed-traffic engine, which would be an ideal candidate for a compact oval layout theme. Despite its compact size, the model does overhang Hornby R607 second radius sectional track curves often supplied in train sets.

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Back to basics

1: A locomotive as large as a BR Class 7MT may not suit a small starter layout, the full-size locomotive being used on main line mixed-traffic duties including express passenger services.

A model is offered in N gauge by Dapol and OO gauge by Hornby.

2: To run round its train, No. 61994 has to back up a short distance to a run-round loop adjacent to the station platform, uncouple from the train and draw forward towards the bufferstops once again. The turnouts are operated with a ground frame to allow the run round move to take place.

« the assembled track does not rely solely on rail joiners to stay fixed together.

A first scenic layout After experimenting with temporary sectional track layouts, the desire to construct something more permanent will arise. It is advisable not to go for anything too ambitious as a first layout while the various techniques for wiring, track laying and scenery are tried. Some modellers will go as far as to build a small diorama to practise modelling techniques, work out which paint colours will work and attempt tasks such as ballasting.

There is nothing wrong with using sectional track systems on a first fixed layout. However, the major advantage of fixed and scenic layouts is being able to use flexible track: special 3-ft track lengths designed to be bent into curves that can be secured to the baseboard. As its name suggests, it is a very flexible way to create track formations but requires some skill to cut it to length and it will not remain in place unless fixed to the layout with pins or glue.

Another factor in favour of a scenic layout is that better wiring can be achieved than with temporary layouts. Track feeds and controls such as section switches

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 for traditional DC layouts are easier to incorporate into the plan.

Naturally, you may need to consider where a scenic layout can be located in the home. If dedicated space is available, a single unit baseboard such as a hollow core door or dedicated layout table can be used to accommodate an oval track plan. Should there be a need to relocate in the future or for ease of storage, give consideration to a portable design where the layout may be broken down into smaller, easily transported sections. Careful baseboard construction and track laying is needed because track and wiring will have to cross the joins in the layout where it is split into its components parts. Such layouts may be fitted with their own legs or trestles, or placed on a table.

Track formations and planning Turnouts (points): A necessary part of a

railway, be it model or the full-size thing are turnouts or points for junctions and sidings. The problem with them is their size (length and diverging route radius), how they are to be operated (by hand or electrically) and how they can be used in a small layout theme without impacting on the design too much. Furthermore, turnouts and other track formations such as diamond crossings are quite costly. The real challenge for track planning is to obtain maximum operating potential from as few of these expensive and space-eating track pieces as possible.

The size of layout will determine the size of turnout that can be used and a typical 6ft x 4ft design will rely more on short-length turnouts with sharp diverging angles – typical of sectional track turnouts. Smarter track planning with oval layouts can be achieved with the use of curved points that can be located on the curves at each end of

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« an oval layout. This will extend the length

of passing loops and sidings for the same baseboard area.

Remember that sectional track turnouts are called ‘power-routing’ or isolating.

This means the track that the points are set against will be electrically isolated from the rest of the layout. This is perfect for traditional DC layouts where isolating turnouts can be used to control power to sidings and passing loops. DCC layouts need the track to be completely live, which requires the isolating feature of the turnout to be overridden in some manner.

Passing loops: A particularly useful and important track planning tool is the passing loop. On full-size railways, the passing loop serves several functions depending on where it is located. On single-track railways, they allow two opposing trains to pass each other safely. When located in stations with a yard, the same loop will assist with shunting moves by allowing a locomotive to run round its train so wagons may be propelled into a siding or yard, with the locomotive at the correct end of the train.

In terminus stations, the same run-round facility is used to release a locomotive from the bufferstops, round its train to the other end to allow the service to run back down the branch line. The same may happen at the end of freight branch lines and in yards too. On double-track railways, a loop is used as a refuge for slower trains to lay over, allowing faster services to pass them safely. The importance of incorporating at least one passing loop into a single-track layout plan cannot be emphasised enough.

It is a prototypical railway track formation that creates realistic operations on even the simplest model railway.

Passing loops have a turnout at each end and the isolating nature of sectional track turnouts means a train can be isolated in a loop when the points are set against it.

Return loops: A tricky track formation to incorporate into a track plan is the return loop, a tempting design in an oval track plan for the newcomer to try. The advantages are obvious: a train can be

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turned round and the length of track making up the return loop is a great place to park up a train and extend some sidings into the middle of the layout. The method in which electricity is transmitted through the rails to a locomotive makes a return loop an awkward formation to use because the rails come together to create a permanent short circuit. A special electrical arrangement can be incorporated, which is awkward for temporary layouts.

Sidings: Every layout should incorporate a couple of sidings for freight traffic and train storage – in effect, they are destinations for your trains to travel to and with suitable ‘industries’ or other function for sidings, you give your layout purpose.

A siding may also serve a bay platform at a station for branch train operations; an engine shed or a goods shed.

Fiddle yards: A fiddle yard, train staging or off-stage train storage yard (all the same thing) is a very useful concept used by experienced modellers the world over. This is the off-stage area of your layout which becomes the ‘other end’ of the railway journey.

A fiddle yard allows several trains to be stored ready for use, sometimes in a sequential manner and also somewhere to place stockk on th he layout or to remove it once its use is over in a given op perating session.

In shortt, the fiddle yard becomes the rest of the world, som mewhere for your trains to travel to.

They allow w end-to-end operationss on an oval sch heme and more perations. realistic op Fiddle yards may be stub-en nded and located on n a short extension board; doubleended and d located at the back of a layout orr even just a single track hidden in a tunneel allowing a branch train to run off-scene. ■

3: The importance of including at least one passing loop on a layout for running locomotives around trains in yards or stations or to enable trains to pass on single track lines cannot be over-emphasised. No. 61994 The Great Marquess hauled the Great Britain tour from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh on April 11, 2007 where it was photographed at the bufferstops.

4: Not all main line steam trains are long in length. Four coaches made up a private charter photographed at Muir of Ord with 8F No. 48151 in charge on March 14, 2007.

Muir of Ord is on the single-track line north of Inverness and has a passing loop to allow opposing trains to pass each other safely. As an aside, the same locomotive made a return to the Far North line a few months later when it hauled the InvernessThurso leg of the first Great Britain tour.

5: Perhaps the smallest N gauge locomotive model available is the Dapol Terrier 0-6-0T tank locomotive, which would fit a compact starter layout perfectly – the ideal branch and light railway locomotive.

NEXT MONTH: Nigel shows eight different formations for a basic track layout.

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To feature on the map please call Colin on 01507 529454 or email csmith@mortons.co.uk

Where’s my nearest expert?

Britain is blessed with a network of great model shops and outlets, with experts keen to help and advise. Here are some you can turn to... simply look for the number nearest you on the map, and find their details below: 1.

REDCAR MODELS & HOBBIES 01642 494912

13. GRIMY TIMES 01925 632209

25. CAISTOR LOCO 01472 859990

BARRETT STEAM MODELS LTD 01922 685889

14. THE MODEL CENTRE 01947 896040

26. COLLECTORS CELLAR 01434 601392

15. A C MODELS 02380 610100

27. MILLENNIUM MODELS 0113 2189286

130 HIGH STREET REDCAR CLEVELAND TS10 3DH www.redcarmodels.co.uk

2.

THE OLD EXCHANGE 47A CORONATION ROAD PELSALL WALSALL WS4 1BG

3.

ROXLEY MODELS 01372 452976

F & M & S RICE-OXLEY & S BLEWETT T/ AS 4 BECKLEY PARADE GREAT BOOKHAM SURREY KT23 4RQ www.roxleymodels.co.uk

4.

HATTONS MODEL RAILWAYS LTD 0151 7333655 UNIT 17 MONTAGUE ROAD WIDNES WA8 8FZ www.hattons.co.uk

5.

MERCIAN MODELS 01562 884800

1A MARKET WAY HAGLEY STOURBRIDGE WEST MIDLANDS DY9 9LT www. modelrailways.tv

6.

CHURCH STREET MODELS 01256 358060

DTL ENTERPRISES LTD 10A CHURCH STREET BASINGSTOKE HAMPSHIRE RG21 7QE www. churchstreetmodels.co.uk

7.

HARBURN HOBBIES 0131 5563233

67 ELM ROW LEITH WALK EDINBURGH SCOTLAND EH7 4AQ www.harburnhobbies. co.uk

8.

RAILS OF SHEFFIELD 01142 551436

27/29 CHESTERFIELD ROAD SHEFFIELD SOUTH YORKSHIRE S8 ORL www. railsofsheffield.com

9.

DIGITRAINS LTD 01522 527731

15 CLIFTON STREET LINCOLN LINCOLNSHIRE LN5 8LQ www.digitrains.co.uk

10. GAUGEMASTER 01903 884488

GAUGEMASTER HOUSE FORD ROAD ARUNDEL WEST SUSSEX BN18 0BN www. gaugemaster.com

11. NEW MODELLERS SHOP LTD 01733 704502 25 EASTERN AVENUE DOGSTHORPE PETERBOROUGH PE1 4PH www. newmodellersshop.co.uk

12. MONK BAR MODEL SHOP 01904 659423

2 GOODRAMGATE YORK YO1 7LQ www. collectable-models.co.uk

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187 ORFORD LANE WARRINGTON WA2 7BA www.grimytimes.co.uk

HILL FARM BECK HOLE GOATHLAND NORTH YORKSHIRE Y022 5LF www. themodelcentre.co.uk

7 HIGH STREET EASTLEIGH HANTS SO50 5LB www.acmodelseastleigh.co.uk

16. THE HOBBY GOBLIN 01782 818433

54 HAMIL ROAD BURSLEM STOKE-ONTRENT STAFFORDSHIRE ST6 1AU www. thehobbygoblin.co.uk

17. GOING LOCO 01924 824748

38 POTOVENS LANE LOFT HOUSE GATE WAKEFIELD WF3 3JF www.modelrailways.co

18. RON LINES 02380 772681

342 SHIRLEY ROAD SHIRLEY SOUTHAMPTON SO15 3HJ www.ronlines.com

19. POOLEYS PUFFERS 01914 910202

382A JEDBURGH COURT TEAM VALLEY TRADING ESTATE GATESHEAD TYNE & WEAR NE11 0BQ www.pooleyspuffers.com

20. GAS CUPBOARD MODELS 01225 777888

6 ST GEORGES WORKS SILVER STREET TROWBRIDGE WILTSHIRE BA14 8AA www.gascupboard.co.uk

21. BOLTON MODEL MART 01204 382282

58 GREAT MOOR STREET BOLTON LANCASHIRE BL1 1SN www.boltonmodelmart.co.uk

22. FLAIR RAIL 01621 786198

FLAIR RAIL UNIT 7 SPRINGFIELD NURSERY EST BURNHAM ON CROUCH ESSEX CM0 8TA www.flair-rail.co.uk

23. THE MODEL TREE SHOP 01890 819021

SIST TREES 4 DAVID HUME VIEW CHURNSIDE DUNS TD11 3SX www.themodeltreeshop.co.uk

24. UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS 01983 406616

3 PIER STREET SANDOWN ISLE OF WIGHT PO36 8JR wwww.udiow.com

8 Market Place Caistor Lincolnshire LN7 6TW NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS

11 Hencotes Hexham Northumberland NE46 2EQ www.collectorscellar.co.uk

67 Queen Street Morley Leeds LS27 8EB

28. BUFFERS MODEL RAILWAYS 01297 35557

Colston Cross, Axminster Devon EX13 7NF

29. WELLINGBOROUGH TRAINS & MODELS 01933274069 Mob 07482828898 26 Market Street Wellingborough Northamptonshire NN8 1AT

30. MAC’S MODEL RAILROADING 01575 572397

4-8 Reform Street Kirremuir Angus DD84BS www.macsmodels.co.uk

31. SAWYER MODELS 01925 227835

27 Bridge Street, Earlestown, newton-lewillows WA12 9BE www.sawyermodels.co.uk

32. AGR Model Railway Store LTD 01525 854788 8 High St mews 28 High Street Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire LU7 1EA www.agrmodelrailwaystore.co.uk

33. THE HOBBY SHOP 01795 531666

122 West Street, Faversham Kent ME13 7JB www.hobb-e-mail.com

34. SCOONIE HOBBIES 01592 651792

87 St Clair Street, Kirkcaldy, Fife, KY1 2NW www.scoonie-hobbies.co.uk

35. JACKSONS MODELS 01697 342557

33 New Street, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 9AL www.jacksonsmodels.co.uk

36. WADDELLS MODELS 01415 528044

56 Bell Street, Merchant City, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G1 1LQ

37. RONEO MODELS 01708 442836

32 Roneo Corner, Hornchurch, Essex RM12 4TN

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Ask a daft question/letters

What is a fiddle yard?

Unless you have a truly gigantic space for your model railway, at some point trains need to disappear off the scenic section into a part of the layout that represents the rest of the world, replies Phil Parker.

Fiddle yards are usually baseboards where trains not in use are stored. They are arranged so these trains can come on to the layout, shunt or visit the station and disappear off again. In many ways they act like the off-stage areas in a theatre. Fiddle yards will be full of sidings but have no

scenery to get in the way of operation.

When our trains are off-stage, they can be rearranged, or ‘fiddled with’, hence the name. On an exhibition layout, it’s also where running repairs take place, even more fiddling!

Most of the time, these areas are hidden from view but it’s worth trying to look behind the scenes as there are many designs.

You also get to see all the trains not in the ‘public’ area of the layout at the time.

See page  for more on fiddle yards.

Here, trains run on to a large turntable, which can swing from side to side, the tracks lining up with the track on the layout. The entire thing can spin around to change the direction the trains are pointing.

Dear RMM

I should like to point out that in Tony Stratford’s article on scales and gauges in the January issue there is one very obvious and glaring omission from the narrow gauge table on page 50.

009 scale is supported by the very flourishing 009 Society with many active area groups and a monthly Journal in the 009 News, which celebrated its 500th issue in March last year.

Adrian Foster,  Society, South Yorkshire Group, via email.

Tony’s reply: OO9 Scale has been in use since the 1960s and indeed has seen a resurgence in

Dear RMM

A friend of mine lent me his copy of the first edition of Railway Magazine Guide to Modelling, which I found very interesting. I was particularly interested in the ‘Tracks of Christmas Past’ feature.

I can recall being taken to a shop by my mother in November 1950 and offered a choice between two train sets for my fifth birthday at the end of that month.

Seemingly, the more established and popular train sets made at the time by Hornby Dublo were outside mum’s budget, so I was offered a choice between two other 62

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the last couple of years with the release of Peco ready-to-run coaches and wagons. These have been produced to operate with the forthcoming Heljan Lynton & Barnstaple locomotive, the Bachmann WD Baldwin and the recently released Minitrains Bagnall 0-4-0T. It is our intention to cover narrow gauge in more detail in a future issue and in the meantime please accept our apologies for leaving out the OO9 Society from our table.

HOe stock produced for the European market (such as Liliput) can be operated alongside OO9 models as they operate on the same track, although there is a small scale

new train sets released that year.

One was made by a company called Rovex (see page  for more on Rovex and Tri-ang) and included a large black locomotive called Princess Elizabeth and two maroon coaches that ran on two rails. The other was a model of a London Underground train that ran on three rails made by Ever Ready, the dry-cell battery people.

I can distinctly remember thinking at the time, that if I chose the Underground train set, I would have to build a tunnel over it to make it look realistic and I would never get to see it – so what would be the point?

On the Leamington & Warwick club layout ‘Duxbury’, the fiddle yard is a set of loops for storing trains before they return to the station at the front.

difference (as in HO and OO).

For those who would like to find out more about 4mm narrow gauge OO9 modelling running on 9mm track then please see www.009society.com Dear RMM

Courtesy of Heritage Railway, I have received a copy of your magazine – an interesting read, and the best potted history of Bassett Lowke that I have ever come across!

John Tarrant, via email.

I therefore opted for the Rovex Princess Elizabeth, but those early 1950 models had plastic wheels and collected the electrical current by two brass plungers set behind the driving wheels pressing down on to the two rails. This was a novelty at that time when both Hornby Dublo, Trix and others used a three-rail system.

History tells us that within months, three brothers, Arthur, William and Walter Lines trading as ‘Tri-ang (three lines – get it?) saw the business potential of a train set running prototypically on two rails and bought the Rovex company. Tri-ang then built a new

Then please email RMModellingeditor@ mortons.co.uk or send letters to: The Railway Magazine Guide to Modelling, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR. Please include your name, address and email in all correspondence.

PHIL PARKER

Dear RMM

What is T gauge, asks John Robins of Peterborough.

T Gauge is a ready-to-run railway system made to the tiny scale of 1:450, around half the size of the previous smallest scale, which is Marklin’s 1:220 Z gauge.

Originating in Japan, the 3mm gauge trains use minute electric motors similar to those used to provide the vibration alert in mobile telephones. Ready-to-use packs of track and trains, mainly Japanese outline, are available from www.t-gauge.com.

It was introduced at the Tokyo Toy Show in 2006 by Eishindo of Japan, and went on sale in 2007. It is presently the smallest commercial model railway scale in the world. The models are powered by 4.5v DC motors and to improve power pickup the motor coaches are fitted with magnetic

factory in Margate, retooled the basic Rovex chassis design of plastic wheels to metal and made an LMS Jinty.

This was its first (pure) Tri-ang loco and I was given one for my birthday present the following year – with British Railways printed on the sidetanks. I was subsequently given a retooled Princess Elizabeth (without the brass plungers) and the old Rovex one became ‘scrap’. It would be worth a bob or two now – but hey ho, that’s life!

I do, however, still have the original Tri-ang Jinty and – incredibly – it still works (although it does smell a little bit now).

wheels. A special controller has been created for the T-gauge system, powered by three 1.5v batteries or an AC adapter.

The direction of the train is changed by pressing a button. As well as the DC feed you can also connect two infrared sensors that can be clipped to the track.

These sensors can be used to automatically change the direction of the train with the sensitivity of the sensors variable. The basic track sets contain an oval of track, controller, DC feed, two sensors, a rerailer and a cleaning device for the powered wheels of the trains.

As well as Japanese trains, t-gauge.com can supply 1:450 scale models of the British InterCity 125 and German ICE3 high-speed train in various liveries, says Ben Jones of The Railway Magazine.

Years later, I saw at a model railway exhibition an Ever Ready Underground train set offered for sale by a trader. I claimed his indulgence and asked if I could examine it for old time’s sake and lord, was it basic!

The coaches were printed tinplate, bent round to form a coach shape but ‘open’ underneath to expose the wheel sets and motor ‘hanging’ from the roof by a simple nut and bolt.

I left that exhibition feeling vindicated that I made the correct decision in 1950.

Robin French, St Mary's MRC, Benfleet

To simply call the Bachmann publication a catalogue would be insulting; it is a model railway encyclopaedia. Over the years the Bachmann team have taken their annual document from an original simple source of product references and price list to more of a handbook. Even after having chosen a specific item (or items) you will continually want to refer back to this tome regarding the product’s history or use on the layout.

Bachmann was the pioneer of the ‘Era System’ – now used by most manufacturers – which ensured that modellers (if so desired) could depict the correct period for their models.

For modellers like me who live in a relatively remote area (or indeed anyone who can’t be bothered leaving home to seek information on a specific model at their local model shop), having this source to hand is a real boon. For realism, the cover says it all.

Ian Lamb, via email.

Dear RMM

Thank you for introducing the Railway Magazine Guide to Modelling. I picked up the second issue from a local model shop and especially enjoyed the article on Pempoul, which included some good insight and advice from Gordon and Maggie Gravett.

It’s great that inspiration and modelling advice are available to hobbyists, whether experienced or new to the hobby, directly from independent model shops. I look forward to picking up the next issue.

I have been building model railways since receiving a train set for Christmas as a child and am now starting a small business supplying electronic products to fellow hobbyists.

James Goode, Midland Scale Regulators.

Dear RMM

I hugely admire the content of your new modelling magazine. Congratulations!

Robert Baldwin, East Sussex March 2017

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Datesfor your diary RM MODELLING LISTINGS FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017

Compiled by Jon Longman. Send details of your events to RMModellingeditor@mortons.co.uk OPEN TUESDAY TO SUNDAY Brighton Toy and Model Museum. 52-55 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, West Sussex BN1 4EB. www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk 10am-5pm (Saturday 11am-5pm).

See website for admission prices. Open daily (March 26 to October 1) World of Model Railways. Meadow Street, Mevagissey, St Austell, Cornwall. www.model-railway.co.uk 10am-5pm. Adult £4.50, concessions £4, child (5-17) £3.50, family £14. Disabled access.

FEBRUARY 25 Dereham Model Railway Exhibition – a fundraising event for the Mid-Norfolk Railway. Memorial Hall, Norwich Street, Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1AD. derehamexhibition@gmail.com Saturday 10am-4pm. Adult £2.50, child £1. Large-scale layouts and live steam.

FEBRUARY 25 Maldon Model Railway Exhibition. Plume School, Fambridge Road, Maldon, Essex CM9 6AB. 10am-4.30pm. Adult £5, child £2, family £12. 20 layouts and trade support.

FEBRUARY 25-26 Solent Model Railway Show and Eurotrack 2017. Oasis Lordshill Academy, Romsey Road, Southampton SO16 0XN. www.solentmodelrailwaygroup.webs.com Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm, disabled access. Adult £6, child £3. 25 layouts with trade support.

FEBRUARY 25-26 Lincoln & District Model Railway Exhibition. Lady Eastwood Pavilion, Newark Showground NG24 2NY. Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm, disabled admission from 9.30am. Free bus service from both Newark stations. Adult £6, child £3, family £15. 27 layouts.

FEBRUARY 25-26 Chapel-en-le-Frith Model Railway Exhibition. Chapel-en-le-Frith High School, Long Lane, Chapel-en-le-Frith, High Peak, Derbyshire SK23 0TQ. www.nmdrm.co.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm.

Adult £5, concessions £4, family £12, disabled access. 20 layouts.

FEBRUARY 25-26 Tenterden Model Railway Exhibition.

Ashford Model Railway Club, Homewood School, Ashford Road, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6LT. www.ashfordmrc.co.uk Saturday 10am5pm, Sunday10am-4pm, disabled access.

Adult £6, child £3, family £15.

Layouts and trade support.

FEBRUARY 25-26 York Against Cancer Model Railway Show. Ebor Group of Modellers, Heworth Memorial Church Hall, Melrosegate, York YO31 0RP. Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm. Adult £3, child £1.

11 layouts and demonstrations.

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MARCH 4 Exmoor Toy and Train Show. Richard Huish College, South Road, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3DZ (Five minutes drive from Junction 25 on M5). 10am-3.30pm. Admission: £2.

Around 100 tables expected.

MARCH 4 Glastonbury and Street Lions Club Model Railway Exhibition. Meadway Hall, Ham Lane, Compton Dundon, Street Somerset TA11 6PQ. 10.30am-4.30pm.

Adult £5, child £1, family £11. 16 layouts and demonstrations.

MARCH 4-5 Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society Exhibition. Warwickshire College, Warwick New Road, Royal Leamington Spa CV32 5JE. www.lwmrs.co.uk. Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm, disabled access. Adult £7, child £1, family £15.

20 layouts and demonstrations.

MARCH 4-5 Rainhill Model Railway Club Exhibition.

Rainhill Village Hall, Weaver Avenue, Rainhill, Merseyside L35 4LU. www.rainhillmrc.org.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm, disabled access.

Adult £4.50, child £3, family £12. Free vintage bus service to and from North West Museum of Road Transport in St Helens.

Layouts and demonstrations.

MARCH 11 Newton Aycliffe Model Railway Exhibition. Rotary Club of Newton Aycliffe, Youth Centre, Burn Lane, Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham DL5 4HT. 10am-5pm, disabled access. Adult £4, concessions £3, child 50p, family £8. 20 layouts.

MARCH 11 Swindon MRC Modrail 2017. STEAM Museum of the Great Western, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, Wilts. www.swindonmodelrailwayclub.com 10am-4.30pm. Adult £5, accompanied child free.

MARCH 11-12 Basingstoke Model Rail 2017. Aldworth Science College, Western Way, Basingstoke RG22 6HA. www.basingstokemrs.org Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm.

Free heritage bus from station. Adults £5, child £3, family £12, disabled access.

50 layouts including Bath Green Park, Porters Lock and Calderwood.

MARCH 11-12 East Anglian Model Railway Exhibition.

The Britten Arena, Wood Green Animal Charity Centre, Huntingdon PE29 2NH. www.stneotsmrc.com Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday10am-4pm. Adult £7, child £4, family £20. Free bus service from station.

Layouts and live steam.

FEBRUARY 26 Ilkeston (Woodside) Model Railway Club Exhibition. Trowell Parish Hall, Stapleford Road, Trowell, Notts NG9 3QA. 10am-4.30pm.

Adult £3, accompanied child free, disabled access. 12 layouts and demonstrations.

MARCH 11-12 East Grinstead Model Railway Club Exhibition. Sackville School, Lewes Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3TY. www.egmrc.org.uk. Saturday 10am5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm. Adults £4.50, concessions £3.50, Child (5-16) £3.50, family £15. 17 layouts and trade support.

MARCH 4 March & District Model Railway Club Exhibition. Westwood Community Junior School, Maple Grove, March, Cambs PE15 8JT. www.mdmrc.co.uk Saturday 10am4.30pm. Adult £4, child £2, family £11.

Layouts in many gauges and scales.

MARCH 11-12 Keighley Model Railway Club Exhibition.

University Academy Keighley, Green Head Road, Utley, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD20 6EB. www.keighley-mrc.org.uk 10am-4pm.

Adult £3.50, child £2.50, disabled access.

15 layouts in many scales.

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MARCH 11-12 Macclesfield Model Railway Exhibition.

Tytherington School, Manchester Road, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2EE. www. macclesfieldmrg.org.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4.30pm, disabled access.

Adult £6, accompanied child free. Layouts.

MARCH 12 Warley Model Railway Club N Gauge Open Day. Unit 1F, Pearshall Drive, Oldbury, West Mids B69 2RA. www.warley-mrc.org.uk 11am-4pm. Free. Seven layouts and trade support.

MARCH 18 Bawdeswell Model Railway Exhibition.

Village Hall, Reepham Road, Bawdeswell, Norfolk NR20 4RU. www.32amrc.co.uk 10am-4pm. Adult £4, concession £3, child £2.

Selection of layouts in O, OO and N gauge.

MARCH 18 Abrail 2017. White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre, Audlett Drive, Abingdon OX14 3PJ. www.admrc.org.uk. 10am-5pm. Adult £8, accompanied child free, disabled access.

20 layouts.

MARCH 18-19 Large Scale Model Rail and Midlands Garden Rail Show. Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, Fosse Way, Leamington Spa CV31 1XN (junction of A425 and B4455). www.largescalemodelrail.co.uk 10am-4pm.

Tickets: By post before March 10 or online – Adult £7.50, concession £6.50, child £2 or adult £8.50, concession £7.50, child £3 on the day. Large-scale model rail.

MARCH 18-19 Rochdale Model Railway Exhibition.

Heywood Model Railway Group, Rochdale Town Hall, The Esplanade, Rochdale, Lancs OL16 1AB. www.hmrg.co.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm.

Adult £5, concessions £4, child £3, family £13. 17 layouts.

MARCH 18-19 Nottingham East Midlands Model Railway Exhibition. Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Wigman Road, Billborough, Nottingham, Notts. www.nottingham-modelrailway.org.uk 9.30am-5.30pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun. Adult £8, OAP £7, accompanied child £1, family £17.

MARCH 18 Falmouth Society of Railway Modellers’ Open Day. The Athenaeum Club, Kimberley Place, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3QL. fsrm.weebly.com/open-day-march-2017. html 10am-4pm. Free entry.

MARCH 25 Belper Model Railway Exhibition. Strutts Centre, Derby Road, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1UU. http://bmrg.coffeecup.com 10am-5pm.

Adult £3, concessions £2.50, child £1.50.

10 layouts and demonstrations.

MARCH 25-26 The London Festival of Railway Modelling. Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, Wood Green, London. model-railways-live.co.uk 10am-5pm Sat, 10am-4.30pm Sun. Adult £12, child £6, family £36. Layouts include Crewlisle (OO), Margery Street (OO), Towcester (OO), Canada Street (EM), Kirkmellington (EM) and Minories (EM).

APRIL 1 Beckenham Vintage Model Railway Club Exhibition. Beckenham and West Wickham MRC, St John’s Church, Eden Park Avenue, Eden Park, Kent BR3 3JN. 10am-5pm, disabled

access. Adult £5, accompanied child free.

Nine vintage layouts and demonstrations.

APRIL 8 Heywood Model Railway Group Open Day. Unit 3, Park Works, River Street, Heywood OL10 4AB. www.hmrg.co.uk 10am4pm. Admission by donation, club layouts.

APRIL 8-9 Brierfield Model Railway Club Exhibition. St Luke’s Church Hall, Brierfield, Nelson, Lancs BB9 5JW. www.pfmrs.org.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 10am-4pm.

Adult £3.50, child £2, family £10, disabled access. Layouts.

APRIL 8-9 Rail Road 2017 – Model Railway and Transport Show. Astley High Sports College, Yew Tree Lane, Dukinfield, Greater Manchester. Adult £4.

APRIL 15-17 Gainsborough Model Railway Society.

Florence Terrace, Gainsborough, Lincs DN21 IBE. www.gainsboroughmodelrailway.co.uk 1.30-6pm (opens 10.30am Mon). Adult £4, concession and child £3, family £10. (O) The East Coast Main Line from King’s Cross to Leeds Central.

APRIL 22 Newgog-South Wales O Gauge Exhibition. Lysaght Institute, Orb Road, Newport, Gwent NP19 0RA. Driverlewis2004@yahoo.co.uk 10am4.30pm. Adult £6, concessions £5, disabled access. Six layouts and demonstrations.

APRIL 22 Pontypridd Model Railway Exhibition.

Community Centre, Crown Hill, Llantwit Fardre CF38 2NA. 10am-4pm. Adult £3, accompanied child free, disabled access.

10 layouts.

APRIL 22 De Havilland Model Railway Society Exhibition. Ludwick Way Methodist Church, Woodhall Parade, Welwyn Garden City AL7 3PN. www.dhmrs.co.uk 10am-5pm. Adult £5, child £2, disabled access. 12 layouts and trade support.

APRIL 22-23 Tenth Maryport Model Railway Club Exhibition. Netherhall School, Netherhall, Maryport, Cumbria CA15 6NT. Saturday 10am-4.30pm, Sunday 10am-4pm. Adult £5, child £2, family £10. Layouts and displays APRIL 22-23 North Down Model Railway Society Exhibition. Bangor Grammar School, Gransha Road, Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland BT19 7QU. www.ndmrs.co.uk Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm.

Adult £5, child £4, family £15, disabled access. 20 layouts and displays.

APRIL 29 Luton Model Railway Club O Gauge Section Exhibition. Christchurch Hall, Bedford Road, Hitchin SG5 1HF. www.lutonmodelrailwayclub.org.uk 10.30am-5pm. Adult £5, child £2. O Gauge layouts, test track and trade support.

APRIL 29 Bluebell Railway Collectors’ Fair. Horsted Keynes station, Station Approach, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex RH17 7BB. www.bluebellrailway.co.uk 10am-4pm. Admission by platform ticket, train travel ticket or Bluebell Railway membership card. Railwayana stands.

Car boot sale in station field.

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Layouts MARCH 2017

We want to dedicate these pages to your inspirational, unusual, well-loved layouts and models. So please do get in touch with us by emailing spalmer@mortons.co.uk or visit our Facebook page to like and share your photographs.

Find us at:

railway magazine guide to modelling

RMM’s secret layout spotter has been out and about photographing layouts of note this month…

HAZELBANK SIDINGS: Built in OO gauge by Graeme Moyes, Hazelbank Sidings represents part of the ‘Waverley’ route in Scotland.

It’s a layout so well modelled that there is plenty to enjoy even when a train is not in sight. This signal box, for example, is a beautifully made example of a North British-designed building.

Scratch-built with a fully detailed

interior, I like the way it sits in the landscape just as the real thing would do. The builder hasn’t just made the signal box either, there is a small brick-built hut and the all-important wooden privy for the signalman’s relief. To cap it all, point-operating rods emerge from the front and head heir off down the railway line to do th jobs.

« LOCHNAGAR: Built by Mark Millar,

«

Lochnagar is a fictitious fishing port station in north-east Scotland. Based in the late 1970s, rolling stock is from the blue diesel era in the days before everything in Scotland was run by Sprinters.

SEAHOUSES: Built by Kevin Cartright.

This shows an imaginary extension to the North Sunderland railway in the 1920s. Modelled in O gauge, it’s not a big layout and could be fitted in to a reasonably sized spare room.

The modelling is superb and full of life. For me, the stand-out features are the boats – a Clyde ‘Puffer’ and a couple of fishing vessels.

These aren’t easy to build but Kevin has done a superb job with them.

Trains are pre-Grouping with early locos and private owner wagons, arguably more interesting than the popular BR period with all the dirt and rust this involved. In this photo we see the engine that became the one of the three LNER J69 class members in its original North Eastern Railway colours.

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This is a nice simple layout but very well done. All the rolling stock may be ready-to-run, but by limiting his choices to those appropriate for the model rather than buying anything that catches his fancy, Mark has produced a model that would be familiar to anyone who has ever looked at Scottish railways from the period.

One unusual feature is the use of Kadee couplings. Popular in America, you don’t see them on UK model railways very often. They are less obtrusive than the traditional tension locks fitted to British trains and not difficult to fit.

Scenery is limited and most of the buildings are photos on the backscene because the baseboard is so narrow.

Those that are there are a mix of readyto-use and kit-built models but well chosen to fit the scene.