Tabla de contenidos para January 2023 en Model Rail

The undoubted highlight of the past month was the return of the Warley National Model Railway exhibition, which took place for the first time since 2019. You can read all about the show on page 8, but I’d like to say a big thank you to all the readers, traders and manufacturers who took the time to come over and say hello while I loitered around the Kernow Model Rail Centre stand. It was great to see familiar faces and meet many new people, while discussing all manner of topics related to the magazine, our exclusive model projects and the hobby in general. Numerous ideas for future features were thrown around and plenty of layout shoots were arranged for the coming year, so it felt like a very productive weekend.…

GAUGE The BR Type 5 Class 58 is the latest subject of Heljan’s range of RTR ‘O’ gauge diesel locomotives, with the distinctive, bone-shaped freight movers causing a stir on Heljan’s Warley stand. Model Rail’s Dave Lowery was responsible for painting up an advanced sample in the popular Mainline blue livery, while other livery samples on show included original BR Railfreight ‘red stripe' and Sectorisation schemes. Produced in response to strong demand, the ‘58’ will be an ideal companion for Dapol’s HAA and HEA coal hoppers. Six liveries will be offered initially, available from Heljan stockists, with the Mainline blue version being offered as part of the Gaugemaster Collection. Two further exclusive versions will be obtainable only from Tower Models. The new models will feature a high detail specification, including…

ANIMATED FANTASY And now for something a little bit different… My ‘OO’ gauge layout is set in the futuristic world of Games Workshop and Warhammer 40K. Inspired by the layout ‘Yappington’, all locomotives, rolling stock and scenery are derived from WH40K models. It features lots of animations, including guns, moving cranes and welding flashes. I have shown the layout at my local store and hope to exhibit it at some railway shows in the future. Melvyn Laycock SNOW BUSINESS Owing to changes in our family circumstances, I recently had to dismantle an ‘L’-shaped end-to-end layout which took up a whole spare bedroom and had taken over five years to build. However, domestic authorities kindly allowed me to have several shelves for my hobby in the guest bedroom. The layout I…

Workbench EXPERT MODELLERS SHOW YOU HOW The quayside project described here is equally suited as a standalone animated diorama or can be integrated within a layout. At the heart of the project is the MFA 917D muiti-geared electric motor (similar motors may be suitable), which provides the mechanism for the crane and is available as a complete unit or as a kit of parts. Suitably disguised, the motor and gears can mimic the appearance of a vintage steam crane, complete with a vertical boiler and exposed gear wheels. There’s also an option of depicting a stationary crane, in a dockside setting perhaps, or a traversing crane on a stretch of purpose-laid track. The jib is formed from 6-gauge piano wire, with thin strips of plastic card cut out and glued…

‘OO’ GAUGE LAYOUT LARSTOPPE What makes this layout great? “If you want a model railway but don’t feel as though you have the time to make one from scratch, then a layout like this could be the one for you. With a lot of the work done already, you can then add any details you see fit and have a completed and operational layout in a fraction of the time.” Here's a question for you. Are you a layout builder or a train operator? Chances are you consider yourself to be either one or the other. Perhaps you are somebody who gets the track laid and then spends a long time playing with your trains rather than working on the scenery, or maybe constructing as lifelike a scene as possible…

Q l’m taking my first steps in kit-building, and I’m struggling to get my plastic wagon bodies square. Do any of the MR experts have any tips? Dave Evans, by email George says: Although many plastic wagon kit instructions suggest building the body around the supplied floor, I’ve often found the latter to be slightly too small, or moulded without truly square corners. Experience taught me to try building the bodyshell first, adding the floor once the sides and ends are assembled and checked for squareness. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, as much depends on the kit in question, but it’s worth trying if, after a dry run without glue, the fettled parts don’t seem to marry up correctly with the floor in position. Scale Model Scenery offers…

Built to haul slate from Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda to the coast at Port Penrhyn, the first of a trio of 0-4-0STs was built by the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds in 1882. After proving to be a success, two further locomotives were ordered in 1893 and all featured distinctive, steeply pitched cylinders. The trio was named after members of the local aristocratic Douglas-Pennant family, with Charles being bestowed on the pioneer locomotive, while the follow-up batch gained the names Linda and Blanche. Originally built with open-backed cabs, they gained full backsheets in the 1930s. The fleet worked the Penrhyn Quarry Railway’s ‘main line’ from the quarry to Port Penrhyn for well over half a century, with Charles the first to be withdrawn in 1956. Owing to the poor condition…

Reviews ♦ GAUGE ‘N’ ♦ MODEL KTA Pocket Intermodal wagon ♦ PRICE £30.00 (£35.00 weathered) ♦ AVAILABILITY C-Rail Internmodal Web www.c-rail-intermodal.co.uk In an effort to enhance capacity without increasing transport costs significantly, the adoption of 9ft 6in tall shipping containers provided UK railway operators with a few headaches. While the old ‘standard’ of 8ft 6in height could be accommodated throughout much of the British network on traditional flat intermodal wagons, the taller boxes called for a different solution. Certain routes received gauge clearance work, whereby tunnels and overbridges and other impedimenta were modified, but this came at huge cost. An alternative was to create new wagon types that would allow the taller containers to sit closer to the rails. A good example is the ‘Megafret’ vehicles, which feature a traditional…

Reviews ♦ GAUGE ‘N’ ♦ MODEL Peco 9ft wheelbase 7-plank open wagons ♦ PRICE £16.95 each ♦ AVAILABILITY Peco stockists Web www.peco-uk.com Mooted initially in 2019, Peco has now launched its range of all-new 7-plank open wagons and they’re available in a colourful range of liveries. As well as BR grey, they’re also offered in each of the ‘Big Four’ liveries, plus various private owner schemes. Riding on a refined 9ft wheelbase chassis, the Railway Clearing House (RCH) split axlebox, spring and ‘W’ iron detail is impressive. The brake gear, too, is faithfully reproduced, complete with double ‘V’ hangers on each side for the brake hand lever pivots. Buffers are crisply moulded and the axles slot into inside bearings and run extremely freely. All seven of the sample wagons generously…

Locomotive: BR/Andrew Barclay Class 06 Gauge: ‘00’ Proposed by: Jason Fearn What is it? One of many small diesel-powered shunting locomotives built for British Railways during the Modernisation Plan era, the Class 06 began life as a 45-strong fleet of 204hp O-4-Os. Built by Andrew Barclay of Kilmarnock between 1956-1960, D2400-D2444 were allocated to BR’s Scottish Region from new. Apart from a single example, the class would remain north of the border for their entire careers. Equipped with a Gardner 8LE diesel power unit and mechanical transmission, the fuel tank mounted atop the bonnet gave the locomotives an unusual appearance. The 7ft coupled wheelbase rendered the locomotives suitable for work in confined areas, especially dockyards where trackwork inevitably featured extremely tight curves. Due to the widespread decline in raii-borne freight…

Like the proverbial bus, another livery sample arrived at the same time as the PWMs, affording us our first glimpse of how our exclusive Brush Class 48 will look. With Heljan’s all-new Class 47 production getting under way, our unique versions shouldn’t be too far off. We’ve commissioned a specially tooled bodyshell to depict the small fleet of Brush Type 4s fitted initially with a Sulzer V12 power unit, leading to a significantly revised roof and exhaust layout. Built by Brush at Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1965-6, the Sulzer V12 12LVA24 engines produced 2,650hp, in contrast to the twin-bank cylinder arrangement employed on the standard locomotives, eventually rated at 2,580hp. Based initially at Tinsley (Sheffield), D1702-6 worked a variety of passenger and freight traffic before moving to Norwich for use…

GAUGE GAUGE Dapol chose the Warley show to announce a new ‘O’ gauge bogie hopper wagon, the HIA. Built in Poland and operated by Freightliner Heavy Haul, they’re a regular sight on aggregate trains emanating from the Peak District to various stone terminals in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cambridgshire, Kent and Norfolk. Six versions will be produced initially, in both green and white liveries. Unpainted samples were on display on Dapol’s stand, showing off lots of impressive detail, especially around the bottom discharge doors and bogies. Meanwhile, in ‘OO’, Dapol has also turned its attention to the Powell & Duffryn JHA high-capacity hoppers, as operated by ARC and, more recently, by Hanson Aggregates. Both ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ wagons will be produced and working tail lamps will be installed to the ‘outer’ wagons,…

Time for practical modelling has been at a real premium over this past month, with the Warley show and a new means of producing the magazine being implemented at MR HQ. I won’t bore you all with the ins and outs of the new publishing software we’ve all had to get our heads around, but it has certainly occupied plenty of our collective ‘grey matter’ recently. Unsurprisingly, the few short windows of modelling time have provided welcome respite from computers, and I’ve made good progress on my ‘TT:120’ diorama, as first described last month. Once the track had been ballasted, the greenery could be applied, with a mix of fine scatter material created to add plenty of tonal variation. Textured surfaces have also been created atop the platform, roadway and…

‘OO’ GAUGE LAYOUT MAENTWROG ROAD AND TRAWSFYNYDD What makes this layout great? “Any time that you can tell the builder has considered the fact that the landscape was there first and has built the railway around it, the layout looks that bit better. The trees have been cut back just far enough for the line and necessary infrastructure, so the railway feels as unobtrusive as possible.” One of the interesting things about the railway is that no matter how hard the Grouping companies and BR tried to create anything close to ‘a standard’, locomotives continually ended up in places you wouldn’t expect them, pulling wagons you wouldn’t think they would pull. That’s why a thorough investigation of the area you wish to model can be invaluable, and could open up…

Workbench EXPERT MODELLERS SHOWYOU HOW The subject of my current layout project - Foleshill, Coventry in the 1960s - was a suburban station and typical of many in the area. It originally nestled up to a level crossing across one of the important radial roads of the city. Traffic increased massively owing to industrialisation and, in response, the road crossing was replaced by a long bridge. A platform footbridge was subsequently installed, repurposed from a Scottish location, I believe. Whatever its origin, it was certainly (in engineering terms) a delicate design which is great, until I contemplated modelling it! Anthony Butler had previously helped me out with the 3D-printing of some very thin railings and struts, plus batches of windows with separate pieces for the opening lights (casements). He thought…

PART 15: Early BR Eastern Region steam In previous editions, we have seen details of pre-nationalisation liveries and how, for instance, the Southern Region interpreted the new directives issued immediately after January 11948. Here, we turn our attention to the former LNER traction fleet, which was split between the Eastern and North Eastern Regions. Livery instructions in those early days were fairly minimal, although they did dictate that ‘BRITISH RAILWAYS’ should be applied in full to tender or tank sides, while the locomotive’s number should be formed of Gill Sans numerals. In the first instance, an ‘E’ prefix was added to the existing LNER numbers, although this was shortlived. Soon, all ex-LNER traction would receive new numbers in the ‘6XXXX’ series. As a decision had yet to be taken concerning…

What makes this layout great? “To set out with the intention of scratchbuilding almost everything is a huge undertaking in itself, but when you also decide on an urban scene with lots of buildings to construct, it would be easy to lose your way David avoided that potential pitfall, and the result is a bustling scene in which the trains still take centre stage.” “The trips left a lasting impression on me and the locomotives, stations and network around Birmingham became the inspiration behind my layout” Long before Beeching’s report, and when the railway was in its heyday, it seemed that every family had one or two members that worked on the railway in one form or another. That’s the case for David Robinson, whose Uncle Jack was a station…

Reviews ♦ GAUGE ‘00’ ♦ MODELS 20ft dry box Manchester Liners red • 40ft ‘High Cube’ MSC brown • 40ft ‘High Cube’ ICL red ♦ PRICE £7.50 each (20ft), £8.00 each (40ft) ♦ AVAILABILITY C-Rail Intermodal Web www.c-rail-intemodal.co.uk Atrio of C-Rail Intermodal’s latest ready-to-run shipping containers was received at the Warley show, featuring some interesting liveries which are being offered for the first time in 4mm scale. As well as a late 1970s-era 20ft box, there’s an interesting pair of 40ft ‘High Cube’ containers for the modern scene. The 40ft Independent Container Line (ICL) dry box depicts the current bright red livery of this Trans-Atlantic shipping firm. I’ve noticed these striking containers on various intermodal services, around the West Midlands and on a recent trip to Southampton, so they would…

Opening the box News After all manner of delays, owing to Covid-19 and its various global after-effects, we’ve finally received a full suite of livery samples of our forthcoming ‘PWM’ diesel locomotives. First announced back in 2019, it’s great to see the entire range of livery options in the flesh, along with the requested tweaks to the tooling, following initial inspections of prototypes in early 2022. Produced in partnership with Kernow Model Rail Centre and manufactured by Heljan, the models depict the characterful Ruston & Hornsby 165DE 0-6-0 locomotives operated by the Western Region of British Railways. We’ll be offering eight individual versions, encompassing the prototype’s full BR career, all in pristine condition. Kernow, meanwhile, will stock the same liveries but with a weathered finish. Finally, Heljan is to offer a…

Opening the box Warley News Stepping into Hall 5 of the Birmingham NEC stirred mixed emotions. In one sense, it felt like the world had changed a lot since the last show in 2019. And yet, once the doors were open to the public, everything felt reassuringly familiar. That said, there was less in the way of crowding of bodies compared to previous years, helped by greater space being provided between exhibits in the hall. An unfortunately timed national rail strike on the Saturday undoubtedly deterred a number of visitors, although some traders responded by offering to refund customers’ parking fees as a reward for spending a certain amount on their stalls. time this issue goes on sale. There were many excellent layouts on show, across all the popular scales and…

Hornby’s display at Warley included lots of items of interest, in both ‘OO’ and ‘TT:12O’ One of the most striking was the LMS Turbomotive which, even in unpainted form, looked impressive. The die-cast bodyshell gives it plenty of heft, while the mixture of moulded plastic and etched brass detail fittings add finesse where it'’ needed. Painted samples of the LNER ‘P2’ 2-8-2s showed off a high level of finish, while the diminutive Ruston & Hornsby 88DS diesels provided a stark contrast in terms of size. Again, though, the quality of painting and lining looked very promising indeed. Web: www.hornby.com…

Opening the box GAUGE Dapol’s latest ‘N’ gauge steam locomotive project will replicate H.G. Ivatt’s Class 2 tank locomotives, built under the auspices of both the LMS and BR, between 1946-52. Their 2-6-2T wheel arrangement suited them to branch line passenger and freight work, with examples allocated to the London Midland, Western and Southern Regions. The Dapol model will feature a three-pole motor, a finely detailed bodyshell and die-cast metal chassis and wheels. DCC-fitted models will be available, along with a cheaper ‘DCC friendly’ version, with an easy-to-access PCB within the bunker which can be replaced with a four-wire decoder with solder connections. Like the real thing, black liveries will predominate, with LMS and BR versions on offer (with BRITISH RAILWAYS lettering plus early and late crest versions). There will…

OO GAUGE Decorated samples of Revolution Trains’ forthcoming ‘OO’ FNA-D nuclear flask wagon were on display at Warley, along with the first unpainted engineering prototype sample in ‘N’. Revolution is offering eight individual versions of the FNA-D, with prototypical variations in markings, and they’re available to pre-order direct from Revolution or from selected retailers, at £32.95 each for both ‘OO’ and ‘N’ models. The MMA/JNA box open wagons, which proved very popular in ‘OO', will be the subject of a second production run in 2023. Not only will the most popular liveries from the first run be repeated, such as DB red, but new schemes will also be offered for the first time, including Cappagh blue, Touax maroon and Wascosa/Network Rail yellow. Also on display was the first EP samples…

The latest kit from Scalescenes provides the opportunity to create a range of typical town shops on a slope, for either ‘N’ or ‘OO’ gauge. Offered in the usual format of a downloadable file for printing onto quality paper and card on a home printer, the kit offers a wide selection of shop fronts as well as a mix of architectural styles and an authentic jumble of rooflines and chimneys. Eight different buildings can be produced, including a useful corner shop façade to round off the row effectively. The buildings are presented in low-relief form and the shops can be arranged on a slope of any angle up to a maximum rise of 12°. Left-hand and right-hand versions of the kit are on offer, while nine different shop interior options…

The little people have been seeking the mystical end of the rainbow for most of the morning, hoping to catch the elusive pot of gold. Finally, after three hours, they find a pub. “Fantastic,” they think, “we can all have a pot of finest West Country golden ale”. Alas, it’s a Monday and the pub is closed. And then the heavens open, unleashing an almighty downpour and Terry suddenly remembers that the canvas hood for his Triumph Roadster is still at the repairers. Not the happy ending they were hoping for……

Workbench EXPERT MODELLERS SHOW YOU HOW Want to try your hand at scenic modelling? Making a start with a small area allows you to learn as you go. Furthermore, working on a modestly sized project means that you can spend plenty of time getting things right. Most modelling tasks need practice, and scenic modelling is no exception. However, starting small avoids putting yourself under too much pressure. Eventually, you’ll build up the confidence to work on larger areas, such as an entire layout. For this project, we’ll be working on an allotment site to see how easy it is using off-the-shelf products. I began with a piece of Woodland Scenics Foam Board (0.5in thick) to provide a lightweight base that is suitable for pushing fence posts and tree bases into,…

I’ve been using 3D printers for a few years, mostly to print buildings for my own model railway projects. I use a Prusa i3 Mk3S printer, which is still winning awards even after many years. As standard, it can print layers as small as 0.05mm. With a standard 0.4mm nozzle, the filament width comes out around 0.5mm wide. This wasn’t going to be fine enough for our purposes, so I used a 0.25mm diameter nozzle instead, retaining the very fine layer height. Using this nozzle - and after many tests with objects of various width - I was able to get reliably extruded widths down to 0.35mm, which was deemed acceptable. To go finer, I’d be into experimental settings and nozzle sizes. All the designs that Paul sent were of…

Reviews ◆ GAUGE ‘009’ MODEL Bachmann Narrow Gauge 391-127 Mainline Hunslet 0-4-0ST Linda, Penrhyn Quarry lined black ♦ PRICE £199.95 ♦ AVAILABILITY Bachmann stockists Web www.bachmann.co.uk It has been common knowledge for a couple of years that Bachmann has been working on a collection of ‘009’ Quarry Hunslets, but the appearance of the ‘Mainline’ variety of narrow gauge 0-4-0STs came as a very welcome surprise. The trio of handsome little models depict a class of three engines built for the Penrhyn Quarry Railway in North Wales. Charles was the first example, built in 1882, followed by ‘sisters’ Linda and Blanche in 1893, and they worked tirelessly on slate trains until withdrawal. Although subsequently preserved on the Ffestiniog Railway, Bachmann’s models depict the locomotives during their working careers. Our sample replicates…

Reviews ♦ GAUGE ‘0’ ♦ MODELS Darstaed/Ellis Clark Trains LNER 63ft Thompson coaches • D24-1-3A BCK Brake Composite • D24-1-6A RTO Restaurant Third Open ♦ PRICE £229.00 each ♦ AVAILABILITY Ellis Clark Trains Tel 01756 701451 Web www.ellisclarktrains.co.uk Ellis Clark Trains and Darstaed have worked together before, bringing I a range of attractive ‘O’ gauge BR Mk 1 coaches to market, back in 2018. Their latest joint project has just come to fruition, in the form of the LNER Thompson 63ft steel-bodied coaching stock, again in RTR ‘O’. Designed and built in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, when the LNER was in urgent need of new passenger rolling stock, these carriages were a product of their time. The widespread use of timber on pre-war designs could not…

♦ GAUGE ‘009’ ♦ MODELS GR-570A FR Quarryman’s coach No. 8 • GR-580A FR brake van with twin balcony No. 7 • GR-590A FR Brake Van with single balcony No. 6 ♦ PRICE £30 each ◆ AVAILABILITY Peco stockists Web www.peco-uk.com The latest additions to Peco’s growing range of ‘009’ narrow gauge rolling stock is a Ffestiniog Railway quarryman’s coach and two different types of brake van. Quarrymen’s coaches first appeared in the 1860s and, as their name suggests, were built to carry workers to the various quarry workings around Blaenau Ffestiniog. Early vehicles were crude and offered little protection from the elements, but enclosed carriages - with glazed windows and doors - were introduced in the 1880s. Peco’ coach model portrays one of these later designs, complete with a…