Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2024 i British Railway Modelling (BRM)

LAYOUT | P4 | PORTCHULLIN It’s August 1974, and it’s a good time for the Three Degrees as they are at No 1 with When Will I see You Again, and for Carlisle United as they are at the top of the entire football league. It is also a great time for the Skye Line; finally, after facing closure intermittently for 20 years (and with a closure notice pending for the last four), the line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh is granted a permanent reprieve by the then Transport Minister. It was also a good time for two young boys; we were on a family holiday on the west coast of Scotland, and instead of witnessing the swansong of this line, we were seeing the beginnings of its rejuvenation…

Get involved by visiting rmweb.co.uk under the topic ‘Show us Yours Realistic Modelling’ and post your pictures! VOLUNTEERS WANTED Georail Heritage Volunteer Group (GHVG) was established in 2015 to bring together railway enthusiasts to volunteer time as a group of like-minded people for the purpose of restoration of locomotives and rolling stock. Current projects are the restoration of a Hunslet Diesel Hydraulic and an LNWR D17 brake van. Hunslet Diesel Hydraulic shunting locomotive 7183 - requires cleaning preparation, electrical rewire, replaced air system pipework, new side bonnets and a complete repaint. When complete, it will be operating on a local heritage railway. Work undertaken on the D17 so far has been repair and restoration to the running gear and braking system. When complete, it will be operating on a local heritage…

MY NEW layout is an OO9 narrow gauge called ‘The Highland Light Railway’. When modelling my previous OO layout, The Edge Hey & Strines Railway, I enjoyed incorporating scenery and items that related to my family on it. I have a station and a road leading down to Harland Bridge village that had enough space to allow me to put in a small row of cottages at the side of the road. I have loosely based this layout in Yorkshire, and my husband and I lived in a row of cottages just like this above Hebden Bridge when we first got married. Because of this, I had in mind exactly what I wanted the Station Road cottages to look like. BRM Magazine was giving away free exclusive individual cottage kits…

LOOK OUT of the window next time you are travelling by train, and pay attention to any farms you pass. Without exception, they will be home to a fine collection of worn-out cars, vans, tractors and diggers. Farmers don’t throw things away and usually have the space to store them until the rust finally returns their metal parts to the ground. I’m not planning to build an entire rural junkyard, but spotting a rather nice diecast steam roller for a bargain price at a show, I thought it would make the basis for a diorama, the sort of little scene that would add interest to the corner of a model farm. On its own, that’s a pretty simple project, but we need a little bit of farm, so I’ve modelled…

Don’t forget if you have an idea for an article, why not get in touch with me and perhaps you could feature in TRACTION. Welcome to the July issue of TRACTION. We start with an article about the history of the Class 50s to coincide with the imminent release of the Accurascale model. Next is a photo feature about the fortunes of the line from Shipley to Bradford Forster Square. It’s a story of decline and renaissance. The West Coast Main Line’s electric locomotives never attracted the enthusiasts’ attention in the way that many diesel locomotives did. Our feature ‘Everyday Yesterday’ attempts to redress this situation. We spend one lunchtime at the busy station of Deansgate in Manchester and take a tour of some of the loco depots in the…

Of all the classic traction considered mundane and unexciting back in the day, you would be hard-pushed to find more universal agreement amongst enthusiasts than if you named Classes 86 and 87. Being electric, they didn’t belch out awesome displays of clag, and as secondgeneration West Coast Main Line (WCML) locomotives, the noise associated with their inner workings was more subdued than ‘Roarers’. There were loads of them, most services were in their charge, they got on with the job efficiently, and few people gave them a second glance. Of course, it was not always so. When newly introduced, both classes attracted the attention of enthusiasts and photographers; in their later years, when everyone started to realise we were headed towards a multipleunit railway, and even freight workings were increasingly…

My first train set was a Hornby O gauge clockwork railway at the age of five, followed by a Hornby Dublo three rail train at the age of 11, which was my pride and joy until I had to give it up three years later as my railway room needed to become a bedroom for a new baby brother. Later, I was very impressed with the N gauge railway of one of my father’s friends and was determined to have one of my own. Newly married in 1972, my wife encouraged me to realise this ambition, and I built a 5ft × 3ft 6in baseboard in our then flat that would sit on the dining room table in use or propped against the wall when we needed to eat. To…

Once the small Quarry Hunslets had been released by Bachmann, my thoughts instantly turned towards building a tabletop diorama of a slate quarry. I must say, like most, I was tempted to build something to represent the quarries of North Wales. I looked at a few well-known sites and started to plan something based on this area. It then struck me that slate was also quarried and mined in other parts of the UK, and it might be worth looking at one of these instead. After a fair amount of research, I was drawn towards the workings for slate situated along the North Cornwall coast. The workings sited between Tintagel and Trebarwith Strand on the coast, together with the inland workings at Trebarwith, would be ideal for what I had…

Bachmann Europe Plc has presented its Summer 2024 British Railway Announcements, publishing details of new models that have been developed for its Bachmann Branchline, Graham Farish, Bachmann Narrow Gauge and EFE Rail brands. The anticipation for the announcements has been building since March, when Bachmann shared news of two new tooling projects that it is working on - the BR 12T ‘Palvan’ in OO scale and the Anchor-Mounted Tank Wagons in N scale, for its Bachmann Branchline and Graham Farish ranges respectively. This news signalled a changed approach to Bachmann’s British Railway Announcement policy, and details of the initial models to be produced from this new tooling have been confirmed. Where before, items included in the British Railway Announcements were scheduled to arrive in the three months after each quarterly…

Heljan has received the factory-decorated samples of its new O gauge Ruston 48DS. All samples are now being reviewed pending any final adjustments, but Heljan expects them to go into production shortly, with first releases expected in the autumn. Featuring attractive BR and industrial liveries, the new models will feature LED headlamps, Next18 DCC interface, factory-fitted speaker, and will be priced at £199 each. Batch 1 features five liveries ranging from classic Ruston & Hornsby works green to BR light green DS1169, industrial yellow with chevrons, Express Dairy blue and Lawrie Rose’s preserved Sir William McAlpine in dark green (star of the Lawrie’s Mechanical Marvels YouTube channel).…

Dapol has shared the latest images of its OO Hawthorn Leslie locomotives, which are expected to arrive with customers at the end of June. The Dapol model is based on the 0-4-0 saddle tanks built between 1899 and 1924. They were produced in large numbers and continued in a variety of industrial uses (including Ironworks, collieries and power stations) until the early- to mid-1970s. Over 10 locomotives have made it into various states of preservation. Specification: • Finely moulded body with many separately added fine details • DCC ready with NEXT-18 socket included— accessed via the lift-off diecast saddle tanks • Cast wheels with fine relief and appropriate colouring • Diecast compensated chassis and all wheel pick-up • NEM pockets as standard • Powerful 5-pole skew-wound motor • Accessory bag…

The stock, especially early on in the layout’s life, is predominantly ready-to-run with replacement P4 wheels inserted. The weight and short wheelbase of the bogies of the classic traction of the line - Class 24s and 26s - means that road holding at least once the worst track gremlins had been banished is pretty good. It is more challenging for steam locos or large diesels, and in truth, the layout trackwork and baseboards are not good enough to operate with such stock. My next one will be, though! I did adapt the ready-to-run stock to make it more appropriate for the era and location. The Class 24/1s had the Highland accruements of baffle plates, step infills, headcode boxes and car headlamps (yes, really!). The Class 26s also needed cab doors…

LAYOUT | OO | WEST STREET STATION After building two previous exhibition layouts, I decided I wanted something a bit bigger. After spending around a year visiting a few shows and looking at other layouts, the idea gradually developed until ‘West Street Station’ was born. I put pen to paper and came up with a rough plan and decided I wanted a station area with a couple of sidings for light freight movement. All the baseboards were built from scratch by my father, Tony, who is a retired joiner. The layout is split over three boards, all of which are 4ft x 18in. This includes a 4ft fiddle yard and two 4ft scenic boards. Once the track was laid and ballasted, I commenced with the scenic work. I have chosen…

THIS KIT models a livestock structure that would most likely be used for beef cattle, and I have depicted the floor covered with slats and a deep bed of straw. I have pictured it devoid of animals since most modellers model the summertime, and they would be out on pasture. It could be painted to represent a steel framed building best suited for eras 5 onwards, or wood - I have chosen the former. Good ventilation and natural light are important considerations since pneumonia is a major concern, and this is reflected in the design and siting of the building. Made from laser-cut wood and card, the kit is accurate and needs little preparation. Some parts are delicate when removed from the runners, so be careful handling them. PVA glue…

IN LAST month’s article, I showed the steps to create the lattice girder deck bridge, based on the Findhorn Viaduct, which combined scratch-building and kit-bashing. This month, we add some realism with weathering. This was my first track painting and weathering, so I did a bit of research to get the best method to deal with tracks having so many chairs and full-length guard rails. I decided to use enamels as possibly they are a little more robust, and to paint by hand rather than airbrushing in order to maintain the character and colour of the wooden sleepers. I used a mixture of Railmatch paints, onepart Dark Rust (405) to two-parts Frame Dirt (402), and enough thinners to enable good flow and coverage. The truss frames and cross bracings were…

Situated on the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway’s Oxford Road to Altrincham line, which had opened in 1847, Knott Mill & Deansgate station, as it was then known, had two platforms from the outset, while immediately west of the station at Castlefield Junction the MSJ&A also built a short branch to connect with the Liverpool & Manchester Railway’s 1830 line at Ordsall Lane Junction. An east-facing spur was also installed near Castlefield Junction to provide access to Deansgate Goods Depot, which was built a short distance to the north of the passenger station. In 1931, the MSJ&A’s main line, now jointly owned by the LMSR and LNER, was electrified at the then standard 1,500v DC overhead system, and a new fleet of 22 three-car EMUs was built to operate…

Name: Peter M Brown Number of years modelling: 75 Favourite: Era 5 and North Eastern Favourite Locomotive: A4 Mallard When I was 11 in the late 1950s, I was a keen trainspotter in Sheffield, often sneaking into the engine shed at Millhouses on my way home from school. My teenage years were spent in Halifax, where I had my 3-rail Hornby Dublo railway, and I came to Newcastle upon Tyne to university and never left. When I married Jane, our first apartment in Gateshead was on the 9th floor of a block of Bate that overlooked the Greenesfield engine shed, and I could watch trains on both the King Edward and High Level Bridges entering Newcastle Station, and in the distance ships loading at the Dunston coal staithes on the…

The framework was the first thing to consider. I decided to cut this from ¼ inch or 5mm plywood. Strips were cut for me to measure 5 inches deep. These were then cut to the desired lengths to form the main frame, although, a cutaway to about half the depth was cut on the front and right end strip, this being to accommodate the quay. Before any construction took place, I purposely included two circular cut outs measuring 70mm in diameter. These were cut to both end strips to not only reduce weight but also give hand holes to help with carrying the layout in and out of exhibition halls. The next stage was to strengthen the ply strips using 30mm × 20mm battens; besides giving extra rigidity, the end…

NEWS This is the fourth (and final) piece of Hornby’s ‘Big Four’ celebratory models marking the centenary of the Grouping of Britain’s railways in 1923. The other three were the GWR Castle Class, LMS Fowler 2-6-4T and the LNER A1, all of which have already featured in BRM and on videos on WoR. The ‘poor’ LMS had to make do with a tank loco as its representative because no Hornby models have ever been available to represent the LMS’ principal express passenger loco (a Claughton) in 1923, whereas in the case of the other three, these were their respective companies’ most-prestigious types, including this latest N15 King Arthur, Joyous Gard (the name of Lancelot’s Castle in Northern England). Introduced by Urie for the London & South Western Railway in 1918,…

NEWS Kernow Model Rail Centre has revealed its new LBSC ‘Open A’, SR Diagram 1369 & 1364 five plank open wagon range in 00 Gauge as exclusive models with the tooling designed, developed, and owned by KMRC. The KMRC tooling suite allows for the diagram 1369 with post-1912 diagonal strapping, rounded ends and fully posable sheet rail in any position between vertical or side positions; and the diagram 1364 square ended (as converted from D1369) and those built new between 1924-6; all on a wooden chassis, with either 8 open spoke, or LBSC 4-hole disc wheels and either LB&SCR, SR lettered or plain axle box covers. Brake options allow for single inside or outside and double and middle V-hangers along with plain tapered or ribbed taper shank buffers. The specification…

To be paired with Hornby’s new HST, the new GWR coaches have arrived and are available to order now. Hornby’s intention to expand the TT:120 range is evident judging by the amount of new models making their way to UK shores. And the exciting part for modellers is that, because of the sheer size of the range, there is loads of potential for creating accurate and complete trains on layouts of manageable size. Although all moulded, the bogie detail on power cars and coaches is excellent, with brake discs to all the wheelsets. The encased underframe area of the Mk.3 coaches is a distinctive feature well captured, and the livery application is excellent. The standard TT couplings work well in their kinematic pockets, bringing the gangway ends close together and…

The manufacturer has announced that a new OO model of the standard CIE goods van will join its range. Probably the least surprising addition to the “Project Bulleid” programme of wagon launches around the famous triangulated chassis, the H Van is the must-have wagon for anyone modelling mixed goods trains during the heyday of CIE freight operations. Seen in long mixed trains alongside their counterparts, the corrugated opens, the flats, grain wagons, and more, they were a staple diet in the autumn of steam operations along with the beginning of the diesel era. Modelled in ready-to-run format for the first time, details include brass bearings to ensure the smoothness of running characteristics, a high-quality die-cast chassis for weight, a wealth of separately-applied details including fine plastic and metal brake rigging,…

THERE ARE some amazing models around nowadays that I would have given my right arm for in my youth. This Heljan Class 45 is typical of the quality products we’ve grown accustomed to and looks stunning after weathering. It’s not as difficult as you think and really brings the model to life. Why not have a go? Just follow the simple steps outlined in this article. I left the couplings off as they tend to cause unwanted weathering shadows. Mount them on card and weather them at the same time as the locomotive, with a view to fitting them afterwards. Acrylic paints were used throughout and a double-action airbrush. 1 Attach any of the additional parts that you want to fit now. The rear sandboxes snap into place snugly and…

APPARENTLY, THE articles I wrote for BRM recently regarding budget modelling were very well-received. My thanks to all those who commented favourably on what I’d done with a Lima 45XX, a Hornby pannier, Pullman car, PO wagon and brake van. This time, I’ve found some even cheaper starting points. A model shop well worth visiting is The Model Shop in Grantham; the one nearest to me. It’s well-stocked and the staff knows their subject matter. Now, every model shop, despite having a full range of RTR in all scales/gauges, plus the bits and pieces modellers need, will have a ‘drawer at the back’ full of duds/items for repair/damaged articles/etc. This is where one becomes friends with the proprietors, meaning a request may be made to rummage through such articles. Often,…

From being the terminus of long-distance trains from London St. Pancras and the West Country during the 1960s, the line declined into little more than a parcels station with a few local diesel multiple unit services. Today, after electrification, the line is an important part of West Yorkshire’s transport infrastructure.…

The final scenic feature to mention would be the backscene. I purposely wanted to create a backdrop that would not only complement the industrial quarry but would also complement the wild coastal location. Most of the backdrop, therefore, would consist of a stormy grey sky. The sky scape was created using only four ‘Halfords ’acrylic spray paints, starting with a light blue. This was only used in a few areas and was applied in short bursts onto the white-faced canvas board. I followed this with a mid-grey primer; this was applied more liberally to create the dense under cloud. By using a long piece of card and spraying over the top edge, the base of the clouds can be obtained. When using this technique, however, you must make sure that…

NEWS Dapol has announced the launch of the Class 143 and 144 in N gauge. The Class 143 / 144 is based around Dapol’s existing Class 142 chassis. Artworks are underway, and the new models are expected to be in shops sometime in Q4 2025. Class 143 Proposed Liveries: • 2D-143-001 Class 143 BR Provincial Light Blue 143001 • 2D-143-002 Class 143 First Great Western Local Lines 143621 • 2D-143-003 Class 143 GWR Dark Green 143620 • 2D-143-004 Class 143 Arriva Dark Blue With Transport For Wales Graphics 143602 • 2D-143-005 Class 143 Arriva Trains Wales Turquoise 143609 Class 144 Proposed Liveries: • 2D-144-001 Class 144 West Yorkshire PTE Metro Red/Cream 144011 • 2D-144-002 Class 144 Regional Railways 144013 • 2D-144-003 Class 144 Northern Rail Dark Blue / Purple 144004…

Revolution Trains is offering the imposing WIA 5-piece articulated car carriers (UIC code: Sefoorss) as its next wagon model in both OO and N. CAD work is complete, and once sufficient orders are reached, tooling will begin. The Revolution model features articulation units designed to enable the wagons to negotiate Radius 2 curves and the customer-fit detailing pack includes a representation of the outer control box if the tension-lock coupler is removed.…

The company will produce the 517 and later 4800/14xx and 5800 classes. The 517 Class were small 0-4-2T tank engines designed by George Armstrong for local passenger work on the Great Western Railway. 144 were built at Wolverhampton Works in 13 lots and were outshopped between 1868 and 1885. Dapol will be making models having the later modified chassis with longer wheelbase and side tanks replacing the saddle tanks, including open and closed cab versions. Proposed Liveries • 4S-517-001 - 539 Lined G.W Green Red Frames - Open Cab • 4S-517-002 - 524 Lined Chocolate - Closed Cab • 4S-517-003 - 1158 G.W. Green - Open Cab • 4S-517-004 - 523 G.W. Green GREAT WESTERN - Closed Cab • 4S-517-005 - 1159 G.W. Green GREAT WESTERN - Collett Cab •…

Four new 009 plastic rolling stock kits have become available in the 009 range by Dundas Models and are available to order now. The kits were previously sold by W D Models of North Wales but are now owned by Dundas Models, the tooling was produced for W D Models by Parkside Dundas. • DMLR01 W.W.1 War Dept. Class ‘A’ 4 Wheel Open Wagon (Removable Sides) £8.95 • DMLR02 W.W.1 War Dept. Class ‘A’ 4 Wheel Open Wagon (Removable Sides) £23.60 • DMLR03 W.W.1 War Dept. Class ‘C’ Bogie Open Wagon (Removable Sides) £20.15 • DMLR04 W.W.1 War Dept. Class ‘C’ Bogie Open Wagon (Fixed Sides with Door) £18.85 These kits include metal wheels and have been designed for the Greenwich CPL1 or CPL1W Coupling. It may be possible to…