Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i British Railway Modelling (BRM)

There can be very few readers who have not come across the name of Iain Rice. As well as being a prolific modeller, Iain penned well over 20 books and dozens of articles on all aspects of the hobby, over more than half a century of contributing to the model press on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to his work in the UK and USA, he regularly wrote for French, Dutch and German magazines, his reach even extending to New Zealand. Iain was a hugely talented all-round modeller, happy to build track, stock and locomotives. He was an accomplished artist with a wonderful eye for colour and composition, although his carpentry did often leave a little to be desired! It was, however, as a communicator that Iain excelled;…

Greenock & District Model Railway Club was founded in 1978 and has built many layouts over the years. However, there had not been an N gauge layout in the club’s portfolio for some time. The club is based appropriately in the Category B listed 1889 Caledonian Railway station building at Fort Matilda, the unstaffed penultimate station on the line to Gourock, which became available in 2010 under the ScotRail ‘Adopt a Station’ scheme after many years of disuse. The club has a fairly typical age profile with some members who have been active for a long time, but recently there have been several younger modellers joining, including N gaugers, which is encouraging for the future.…

IT IS always fun to rummage around the second-hand sections of model railway shops and exhibitions. You never know what you may discover. Quite a few pieces on earlier ‘Practical’ scenes have come from this source, adding that extra bit of detail and interest to the model. This can also go for larger items, which can become the centrepiece themselves. One such subject that came into my hands was a dilapidated Tri-ang signal cabin, probably from the 1960s, along with the challenge to see what could be done with it… WHAT YOU NEED LCUT Creative OO small signal box interior pack Scalemodelscenery Roof tile pack Wills Finecast FBS403B: 4mm Flemish Bond Brick FBS411W: 4mm Corner Brickwork Lintels & Arches Tri-ang Rovex R61 Signal Box Other Clear Glazing sheet, Maquette 4mm…

IN THESE days of concerns about the amount of plastics tipping into the seas, not to mention our bodies, there is a small push by several model manufacturers to shift, where possible, to a more sustainable product. Peco has made great strides here; much of its packaging is recyclable and several of the newer kits are now made from laser-cut wood. There are advantages as well as disadvantages with this material, and it is notable that plastics are still used where this gives the advantage in detail and stability. This is my third go at one of this new breed of kits and I think that here is where the medium really comes into its own; a larger scale vehicle where the prototype is largely made from timber. Most of…

The Furness Railway opened its line from Barrow-in-Furness to Dalton (my hometown) in 1846. The company subsequently extended the line through Lindal to Ulverston, where the line terminated. The Ulverstone & Lancaster Railway was constructed to Carnforth, on the LNWR’s West Coast main line, running powers being granted into Lancaster. The Furness Railway took over this line, building a new through station at Ulverston, near where the recent landslip occurred. The old terminus became a goods depot, and eventually a car dealership. The original station in Barrow was in the docks area, but a new station, Barrow Central, was built nearer the town centre in 1863. This was seriously damaged in the ‘Barrow Blitz’ of 1941. ‘Coppernob’ in its glass case narrowly escaped and was removed to Horwich out of…

This is my first layout, and building it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. When I was younger, I had a Lima train set featuring a green Deltic 55003, a piece I still wish I owned today, and the inspiration for my current layout comes from fond memories of growing up in West Bromwich, even though I no longer live there. Those memories have provided a heartfelt theme for my design. The layout is situated in the loft, which presented some practical challenges. I first had to insulate the floors and ceiling, lay boards for safe movement, and install a loft ladder for easy access. An electrician friend helped me create a separate electrical loop for the space. Although the loft ladder can be closed, I usually leave it open,…

Graham Farish The company’s flagship N Scale brand has added a quartet of Class 47s to the range, depicting a pair of original British Railways (BR) green locomotives and two later examples in BR blue, both of which are Electric Train Heating-fitted Class 47/4s. All models take advantage of the recently upgraded Class 47 from Graham Farish to offer a full suite of lighting and with the option of Sound-Fitted. New wagon releases include the BRA/BYA Steel Carrier and JGA Bogie Hoppers, each appearing in liveries never before replicated on these wagons in N Scale, whilst the most significant development on the rolling stock front is the return of the BR 10T Meat Vans, 12T Fruit Vans and 12T Ventilated Vans, which are fitted with NEM couplings pockets for the…

BACHMANN HAS long produced a model of the “Clayhood” wagon, used for transporting china clay from Cornwall to the Potteries in the 1960s and ‘70s. The wagon is nicely detailed, however, I am not a fan of its hood, which I find is often mis-shaped and ill-fitting. Accurascale is in the process of releasing a modern standard RTR Clayhood with a more realistic moulded hood, but having a large number of Bachmann Clayhoods, I was reluctant to replace otherwise perfectly good models just because of the hood. Reading a 40-year-old model railway magazine, I came across an article pre-dating the Bachmann wagons that demonstrated the use of aluminium sheet to create realistic hoods. The sheet was the thick kind used for pie bases rather than the thinner kitchen roll foil.…

IF YOU’RE modelling spring or summer, and the vast majority of railway modellers choose the latter, then you can’t really ignore flowers. They are a challenge to model as they are relatively small and delicate and often grow in profusion. The challenge increases as the scale decreases and some tolerance of oversized items is necessary if we are to model them at all. We readily accept this with static grass and locomotive lining, to name but two, so this shouldn’t be seen as an issue or an excuse for their omission. In this article, we will explore the options available for tulips and sunflowers in different scales, comparing off-the-shelf with home-made items. I have made 7mm scale items as they are easier to photograph, but just reduce the size for…

Britain’s first commercial nuclear reactors, at Calder Hall, Windscale, began operating in 1956, and over the next 15 years, a further 10 Magnox nuclear power stations were opened around the country at Berkeley, Bradwell, Chapelcross, Dungeness, Hinckley Point, Hunterston, Oldbury, Sizewell, Trawsfynydd and Wylva. To fuel these power stations, rods of natural uranium clad in magnesium alloy were used, hence the name Magnox, but after spending several years inside a reactor core, these rods would become increasingly clogged with contaminants, reducing their heat output. However, as the rods still contained about 96% reusable, uranium it was decided to send this ‘spent fuel’ to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s Windscale Works at Sellafield on the Cumbrian Coast for reprocessing, and in 1963, British Rail introduced its first purpose-built nuclear flask…

"When the layout is in operation, BR steam and diesel transition era stock predominates…" With increasing interest in N gauge among club members and recent work in OO scale being well-received on the exhibition circuit, there was confidence that the club was ready to tackle building a new N gauge layout. Scottish Highland lines are famous nationally and beyond, although the Borders area is less well-known, it has areas of great scenic beauty. The Waverley Route was once very busy with passenger and freight services and was gaining more of a public profile with the partial re-opening, so with this in mind, the group felt that a layout based on the Scottish Borders would be an interesting and enjoyable project in 2mm scale. One of the happier events on the…

I REVIEWED this latest 7mm product from Heljan in the May issue of BRM, commenting on what an outstanding model it was. However, for ‘realism’, it really should be weathered (a service available from Heljan at source), because I cannot find any prototype shots of these ubiquitous four-wheelers in clean condition. Indeed, most colour sources show them to be in universal brown, whatever their base livery might be – Southern Railway green, BR crimson, BR/SR green and rail blue. With weathering in mind, I contemplated the job myself, but, such is the model’s impressive bulk that I considered it beyond my normal dry-brush sable/enamel technique. Thus, not ever having owned (or even used) an airbrush, a quick call to my good friend Geoff Haynes and I was over to his…

Until the late 20th century, Britain’s railways played a significant role in moving various chemical products to and from production sites, end user terminals and, in some cases, general freight depots. Good rail access was an important factor in the location of some chemical plants, allowing flows to operate from door to door without any need for transhipment. Many chemicals were conveyed in liquid form, for which the customers either owned or hired specialised tank wagons. Powdered or granulated substances used tank wagons, hopper wagons or, if the product was bagged, vans or open wagons. Sadly, the last few decades have seen a dramatic decline in chemical traffic rivalling that of coal. All that remains today are a flow of caustic soda from Runcorn to Coatbridge, a local flow of…

The use of multiple units had long been established in this country, although until the 1950s these were mostly electrically-powered with, of course, the Southern Region having by far the largest number of units. Schemes elsewhere, such as Bury to Manchester and on Tyneside, were very localised. The concept of a multiple unit was of several carriages semi-permanently coupled with a driving cab at each end of the unit and, while these had been seen in Europe, only the LMS had trialled one unit prior to Nationalisation in 1948. The Great Western Railway had developed ‘single-units’, so being one carriage with a cab at both ends and finally brought out two 2-car sets in 1941 with each car having a single driving cab. The LMS set did not make it…

When visiting a heritage steam railway, it is not unusual to find oneself being hauled along a single-track line through beautiful scenery by an immaculate-looking Hunslet type 0-6-0 saddle tank; having spent a previous life covered in grime, shunting coal wagons at numerous colliery sites, many survived in industry well into the 1970s. In this article, I will feature some of these workhorses, which, due to their simple yet rugged construction, help to retain steam haulage on heritage lines. Many colliery railways preceded the main line routes, their 200th anniversary being celebrated during this year. A colliery without an internal rail network, linked to the main line, only existed at very small privately-owned pits. At exchange sidings throughout the country, one could observe both colliery-owned and main line locomotives working…

SS Jaguar 2.5 Litre Saloon – Suede Green The new SS Jaguar 2.5 Litre saloon glides into the Oxford Diecast range, making its first appearance in N gauge. The deep green SS Jaguar is complemented with lighter green interior moulding, including the seats, door panels, floor and carpets. The steering wheel is black. The green exterior paintwork is complemented with a black roof panel and chrome to bumpers, radiator grille and window frames. The large headlamps are also chrome. Registered GKJ 496, the detailing of this model includes wheels with chrome centres and a silver strip running along the side of the body beneath the windows. Price: £7.45 Bond Bug Oxford Diecast is releasing a second 1970 Bond Bug in pristine white with black masking, in sharp contrast to the…

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