Voie Libre international No. 105

Railway modelling is an incredibly rich hobby, offering its fans the widest range of choices. It is hard to compare the two layouts we review in this issue: one, hyper-realistic, is based on an in-depth historical and geographical study of the location modelled. The other, totally whimsical, offers a dreamy blend of railway and seaside atmospheres, borrowing from places as distant as the westernmost and northernmost shores of Europe! You may well say that both have in common the attractiveness of trains, the pleasure of scale modelling, the delights of scratchbuilding. True, but their universes are poles apart! At Voie Libre, we do not choose: we are demanding when it comes to realism, delighted when projects are whimsical. And our historical, documentary and modelling pages are there for everyone’s enjoyment. Have a…

H0-12 BEMO : PILOT CARRIAGES BEMO REF. 3275 205 ALL-RED REF. 3275 218 RED WITH WHITE STRIPES PRICE OBSERVED: 115 TO 120€ Put into service in September 1971, therefore a little before the ABt 4151 to 4154 series, used with self-propelled vans Deh 4/4 51 to 55, these carriages differ from the remainder of the series by their smaller first class compartment and their use with the BDeh 2/4 units (expected soon from Bemo) that will be ideal to make up the short reversible sets used on the Schöllenenbahn branch from Andermatt to Göschenen. The body is neatly engraved, with two large windows on the first class side, and reversible LED lights, three white and two red. Several connectors and hoses are add-on parts, for which instructions are supplied. If you want to digitize these models,…

Until recently, Narrow Planet designated both the narrow gauge scale model brand and the website where the models were sold, among many other ranges. To clarify things, the site has just changed names. Light Railway Stores is now accessible at the following address <www.lightrailwaystores.co.uk>. The design of the website has been completely overhauled. The home page provides for entries by brand, by gauges, by scales or by categories, and includes a general search engine. Those who are familiar with the online shop will easily spot the products that used to be available on the old site, as well as few new releases. Eric Fresné…

FERRO MODÈLES : ULTRA-FINE ACCESSORIES! This brand new company produces a range of 3D printed accessories, based on the UV resin technique. The models are extremely fine, and available either unpainted or painted. We selected a fine office set consisting of the desk, the armchair, the typewriter, the phone, the desk lamp and the wastepaper basket. Not forgetting freshly sawn boards with separating strips. Very, very fine, and quite splendid! François Fontana FERRO MODÈLES https://ferro-modeles.fr/ PAINTED DESK PRICE 14.90€ UNPAINTED PLANKS 6.90€ UNPAINTED CAST IRON RADIATORS 6.90€ JOSWOOD : SHIPMENT CONTAINERS This is laser-cut card, but first and foremost laser-engraved, and what a fine job! Among the range of new releases, we selected the shipment containers, available with 5 different company names, and in 3 sizes. MWM, Deutz, Krupp, Lanz or 0&K, the choice is yours!…

Christopher Down continues to tells us about his travels through 1965 France in issue 244 of the Industrial Railway Records. This time, he takes us on a tour of the standard gauge railways of Usinor in Denain and of the Variscourt sand quarries in the Aisne, which had just bought secondhand engines from the Maizy sugar mill. Issue 82 of Rail & Industrie also looks at the sugar industry in the Aisne with an article about the Cramaille shredding plant. In addition, this issue features a fine study on rail/road handling vehicles. They are not narrow gauge, but some of them are quite exotic. Voie Étroite, in its Issue 303, duly celebrates the 50th anniversary of the P’tit Train de la Haute Somme (Froissy-Cappy-Dompierre) with a special dossier telling the…

Jean-Claude Grancher has passed away. A great fan of narrow gauge and secondary railways, he was among the very first members of the GEMM association and part of the first team that organized the Expométrique show. Following on from a low-key debut, he gradually built this show into a leading event: moving from the hospitality rooms of a large private company to better known halls such as the Grand Dôme at Villebon or the exhibition centres at Pontoise and Chartres, not forgetting the large gymnasium at Les Lilas just outside Paris. In parallel, Jean-Claude had imagined, created and run a railway exhibition in the grounds of the French Army’s 5th Regiment of Engineers in Versailles. A highly railway-oriented regiment, where he had performed his military service as an NCO. His professional career…