Voie Libre international OCTOBER 2014 - 79

Long live the workshop, the tools, bashing, whether simple or complex! Long live manual work, the smell of glue or of the hot soldering iron! Long live plans, sketches, documents, whether drawings or photographs! Long live everything that gives life to our passion and prompts us to be creative! This issue of Voie Libre, very much focused on practice, is here to stimulate desire, provide ideas, explain how to do things. And with the autumn shows on the way, we can soon get together to discuss and exchange around our joint hobby: the reproduction of secondary railways. Happy modelling!…

Editions Atlas : Verney railcar The modernism of the 1950s is about to appear on your layout ! Editions Atlas has released a Verney railcar from the meter gauge Blanc - Argent line. A fine model, neatly reproduced, it is fairly easy to motorize as there is enough space inside the body. The body engraving is reasonably sharp, there are a few good quality add-on parts, overall this is a good basis for modellers. As is the case with all items in this series, the railcar is supplied with a brochure providing information about the machine and the railway where it was in service. One complaint could be that this model is only available in the long series accessible via subscription. On the other hand, it should show up on swap-meets, as…

In cooperation with MinitrainS, obviously very active on the narrow gauge market, Peco has just released a range of 9mm narrow gauge track. It is sold under the Setrack brand, reserved to the company’s sectional track products. The regularly-spaced sleepers, somewhat heavy, and the code 80 rail, make this track fully compatible with the flexible track and the Mainline or Crazy Track already in the catalogue. Possibly a tad restricted for building a large elaborate layout, this range can nevertheless be very helpful. It’s most obvious use is assembling a test oval on a board or even, for those wanting a quick trip back in time, on the living-room floor... This track is also interesting for formations with space constraints, such as a balloon loop or hidden sidings. I do have one…

Saroulmapoul.be has taken over the range of stock created by André Witmeur of Jocadis. After having got hold of the moulds, Jean Michel Vanderborght has launched a production, stocked up on driving chassis and begun selling the old Jocadis injected plastic kits. The AR railcar isn’t really a new release, but having it back on the market is good news, especially as all the attendant four-wheeler rolling stock, carriages, brake vans, open, closed and flat wagons are also available. The AR railcar The model is supplied as bunches of injected plastic parts with a pmt chassis. A pouch containing the transfers and the cut-out glazing is supplied with the kit. Cutting the parts of the frets must be done with care and you’ll need to sand them. I usde a cardboard nail file.…

This issue being mostly dedicated to bashing, we thought we would take a look at what our fellow publications had to offer in terms of construction projects. Not surprisingly, we found stock and building plans in the latest issue of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. Rail & Industrie features one of those dossiers at which the magazine excels. It deals with the northern group of the Cévennes collieries and features a range of mine tractor diagrams. Yet another loco-tractor in the third quarter issue of Schmale Spuren. A small dossier looks at the productions of the Belgian firm MOES, and the diagram of the CL type will make you want to build a model of this dumpy machine. Diagram again in issue 365 of Chemins de Fer Régionaux…

Built by the FAUR works in Bucharest, Romania, also known as «23rd August Works », the L 45 H family ran into numbers exceeding 350 units. Designed to run on gauges ranging from 740 to 1067mm, they were built between 1967 and 1985 for various countries: Romania of course, but also Poland, Bulgaria, ex-Yugoslavia, Hungary. These locomotives can even be found in more exotic locations such as Iraq, Egypt and Tunisia. Going West Through the second-hand market, their range has extended even further. Reconditioned, re-motorized or not, twelve units wound up in France to haul work trains in Corsica and on the former Blanc à Argent line (Salbris-Valençay). These units, numbered 45001 to 45003, or 60001 to 60009, are fitted with a Caterpillar 3412 motor. They have been modified to operate in…