Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i British Railway Modelling (BRM)

There are possibly several ‘origin stories’ for this layout. On a very simple level, the layout was designed and built around a double slip that was bought at a show some years previously and ‘something had to be done with it’. Or it could be that we were inspired by seeing the trains from Glasgow Queen Street and Central stations running on the stone embankments behind the SEC where AMRSS (formerly known as the Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland) holds its annual show, Model Rail Scotland. There was also the idea of a two-level layout with one level passing underneath the other. However, probably the main driving force was the need to replace the club’s O gauge layout, ‘Cragganmore’, which had effectively come to the end of its…

The North Cornwall Brewery is a fictitious private line leading off the L&SWR mainline branch to Padstow, between Camelford and St Kew’s Highway. The village is Knight’s Hill, which is itself a fictional version of the settlement on the A39 (Atlantic Highway), which is actually called Knightsmill. The layout was created specifically as an exhibition layout, which meant that the formation had to be lightweight and portable. It also had to be able to be erected and dismantled quickly, and this played across the whole development of the layout. A brewery was chosen as it offered a wide range of goods inwards (barley, hops, timber for barrels, coal for power and general materials) and barrels and kegs outwards. The only passenger traffic is the early morning workers’ train and the…

A TOTAL of 60 of these aggregate wagons were built just after the turn of the century and they are unusual for British practice in that wagons are coupled in pairs using a bar coupling. These models are depicted in their Freightliner colours, but you could just as easily use these weathering techniques on the GB Railfreight-livered versions. I added the joining bar to the end of one wagon so it could be included in the weathering process, but I left the brake pipes off, as these interfere with the N gauge couplings. I left the model couplings on, so that they would be included in the weathering process. The wheels were removed before starting. 1 Using a small paint brush, add white enamel paint to the bogie swing links…

The introduction into service on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) of Hitachi ‘Azuma’ EMUs in 2019 brought to a close a feature of operation of electrified passenger lines in the UK, that of the booked dragging of electric trains by diesel locomotives due to engineering work. This was once a reasonably regular feature on the Great Eastern, West Coast and East Coast Main Lines, with the Class 91/Mk. 4 sets on the ECML being the last to experience this operation. While these sets are still in use on the ECML today, they are so depleted in number that now, during periods of engineering work when electric power is not available, the reduced timetable can simply be fulfilled by ‘Azuma’ bi-mode substitutions, rendering dragging unnecessary. Only one York to Doncaster…

Iam a lover of all things vintage and I approach my modelling from an artistic perspective rather than from a historic or engineering point of view. I never learnt locomotive numbers or became an expert on a narrow area of railway history, but have always had a love of railways in general. Aesthetically, I am put off by most things modern and so have little interest in the current scene. I grew up going to the Severn Valley Railway and so have been brought up seeing an eclectic mix of railway stock, which I do enjoy very much. This has definitely spilled into my modelling and I do run whatever I enjoy seeing rather than being restricted in what I run. I worked on the modern railway for many years…

Rapido has had a busy September, revealing a number of key models ahead of its eagerly-anticipated second Rapido Railex event, which was held on September 19-20th. New OO Gauge SR U Class 2-6-0 The new OO SR U Class will be available in a variety of guises, covering its Southern Railway and British Railways days. The range features a selection of detailing variants, including flush and riveted buffer beams, flat or rounded domes, flat-fronted cylinders or cylinders with piston tail rods, snifting valves on Southern-liveried locos, and smoke deflectors on all models apart from the earliest representation. All models feature the 4000-gallon tenders. You can look forward to a smooth-running mechanism, factory-installed speakers, NEM coupler pockets, an ESU 21-pin decoder socket, fitted MoPower stay-alive capacitor, tender pick-ups, and firebox flicker…

Accurascale confirms the return of its popular GWR 78xx ‘Manor’ Class locomotives, with a second production run introducing five new locomotives. The upcoming models are… 7819 Hinton Manor – BR Lined Green (Late Crest) 7822 Foxcote Manor – BR Lined Green (Late Crest) 7825 Lechlade Manor – BR Lined Black (Early Crest) 7828 Odney Manor – BR Lined Green (Late Crest) 7827 Lydham Manor (Accurascale Exclusive) For this second run, Accurascale has introduced a number of refinements based on customer feedback. Most notably, sound-fitted models now benefit from a revised speaker setup, with a redesigned sound chamber to improve clarity and low-frequency performance. The models are expected to arrive in Q4 2026 and will be offered in two versions: £189.99 — DC/DCC Ready £289.99 — DCC Sound Fitted Pre-orders are…

Name: Malcolm Briggs Age: 70 Number of years modelling: 60 years Name of first layout: ‘South Tenton & Churchfield Railway’ in OO9 Favourite era/region: 1960s Southern or Western areas Favourite locomotive: SR N class 2-6-0 (synonymous with the Padstow line) I've been modelling from the age of 10, when my eldest brother took me to the Easter MRC exhibition at Central Hall, Westminster, and a schoolfriend by the name of Simon Smith (no dancing bear!) had shown me his father’s garden railway. Being brought up in electrified Southern Region territory did nothing to help foster a love of steam engines, but the bug was bitten anyway. Joining the Hampton Court Model Railway Society at the age of 11 cemented the passion. When not modelling, I enjoy DIY (yes, really) and…

SOME LITTLE time ago, in my first series on ‘budget modelling’ for BRM, I took a couple of what might be described as ‘second generation’ Hornby Stanier Black Fives and improved/detailed/personalised them. That pairing came from a mixture of four of the models, all bought cheaply off eBay (not by me – I haven’t a clue about the auction site’s mysteries!), with faults and damage, and I produced a couple of ‘acceptable’ locos by mixing and matching. This time, I’m working with more of a ‘first generation’ Hornby Black Five (not quite an original, as I’ll explain later), comprising two bodies and one mechanism – an unpowered loco chassis and a tender drive, the whole lot being acquired quite cheaply. The original Hornby Black Five appeared in 1973, under the…

AS THE year draws to a close, straw and hay bales are beginning to appear in fields, and fortunately, a number of manufacturers supply them in model form. One such is Gaugemaster, who produces a pack of round bales – a type that seems to be the norm across the country nowadays. While square bales date back to the 1800s, round ones only made their first appearance in Britain during the mid-1970s. This post-dates the end of steam by a decade, so they are more appropriate to modern era layouts. 1 The setting for the scene was the edge of a field of newly cut hay. The base was painted light brown and covered with Woodland Scenics blended turf mix using watered-down PVA glue. Once dry, 6mm straw-coloured static grass…

My first visit to Shirebrook was in 1984 on a coach trip from Southampton organised by the Railway Enthusiast Society. This was one of those trips where we departed late on Saturday evening and travelled north overnight, stopping at various stabling points on route. One I remember was Coalville in the dark, when I don’t think I got off the coach. These trips were aimed at and more suitable for spotters than photographers, as we spent a lot of time driving around looking for locos at small stabling points. It was always a bit of a rush at the bigger depots, but it got us to places that I could not normally get to, so was well worth the trip. Our next visit to this area was a year later,…

Following huge demand for the initial batch, the second set is due for release in Q4 2026, and includes: No. 60019 in EW&S livery, the first Class 60 to wear the maroon and gold colours No. 60047 in Colas Railfreight colours, one of the last operating examples still in this condition under GBRf No. 60051 in classic Railfreight Petroleum livery, retaining its original sector branding longer than most No. 60074 in two guises, the sleek grey Puma Energy version named Luke, and the eye-catching Teenage Spirit charity livery supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust The dual release of No. 60074 marks a first for Accurascale, offering two distinct stages of this locomotive’s life in one production run. In addition to Teen Spirit, two additional Accurascale Exclusives will be available; No. 60022…

Ellis Clark Trains and Clark Railworks have announced the arrival of a true industrial icon to its ranges: the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Class 21 ‘Pug’, coming in both O gauge and OO gauge formats. The two companies have combined forces to bring this pint-sized powerhouse to life across both major modelling scales. The O gauge model will be released under the Ellis Clark Trains brand, while Clark Railworks will handle the OO gauge version. This dual-gauge approach reflects the popularity of the L&Y Pug and the growing appetite among modellers for compact, versatile locomotives with real historical charm. Ellis Clark Trains and Clark Railworks are inviting enthusiasts to register their interest, with further updates, imagery, and pre-order options expected in the coming months. Standard features include a fully working…

Rapido Trains UK has unveiled a brand-new pair of finely detailed OO gauge models – the LBSCR 10-ton 4-wheel and 20-ton 6-wheel brake vans – available exclusively through Rails of Sheffield. These will be offered in a wide selection of liveries representing both the pre-grouping London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and Southern Railway periods. In total, modellers will have a choice of seven versions of the 10t 4-wheel van and six versions of the 20t 6-wheel van, covering early and later liveries across both the LBSCR (early and late) and pre-/post-1936 Southern Railway eras. The LBSCR 10t (RRP £44.95) and 20t brake vans (RRP £46.95) are available to pre-order now, exclusively from Rails of Sheffield.…

Spirit level This should probably be called “spirit levels and beermats” for those taking their layouts out to an exhibition. Modern rolling stock is very free-running, so no matter if your baseboard is screwed to the wall, or free-standing on legs (propped up by beermats), getting it perfectly level is essential if you don’t want to be chasing wagons running away down your sidings! Get it right from the start, some things are very difficult to fix later on. Ask Phil Can I paint acrylics over enamels? No. Well, mostly no. Enamel over acrylic will be fine. Acrylic over enamel will result in a crinkly finish as the two paints react with each other. At least the mess is easy to clean off. However, this isn’t a hard and fast…

RECENTLY, METCALFE has tweaked and upgraded the designs for some of the stalwart kits in the range, such as these, the terraced houses. They’re designed as low relief fronts and backs, with bridging parts to mate the two kits together into whole houses should you wish. I’ve taken a look at how to personalise them, inspired by where I live now, but more so, where I used to live in Carlisle. The project encouraged me to actually study the houses in my street, and how buildings can develop over a century and more. If anything, I realised I’d have to rein myself in with the small details; whilst the shells of the houses were largely identical, there was a surprising variety in styles of doors, windows, chimneypots, drainpipes and so…

I’VE BUILT this kit before; not recently; I was probably around 10. That sentence is possibly enough to tell you the sort of time that these kits have been in production. Though that isn’t quite the whole story, and this isn’t quite the same kit, as I noticed that it had been subtly changed. I seem to remember that the woodwork sections were coloured brown, whereas they are now green and I don’t think that all the external platform sections were included then. Card kits can be the poor relation and seen as a more junior/entry-level item. I would disagree on two counts: firstly, many of the pioneer modellers, and many of those who are still held in high esteem, work in card. Secondly, and to be honest, while card…

The big four railway companies all had thoughts about what might replace steam traction on passenger and freight duties, in addition to shunting operations, where all seemed to have reached the same conclusion there by trialling and building 350hp machines. Alone amongst the Big Four, the Great Western continued to churn out vast numbers of steam shunting types despite its interest in the diesel variety, and the cash-strapped LNER had further examples of the ancient-designed J72 0-6-0 tanks delivered. Only the LMS was actively adding to its shunter fleet after the War, but it has to be kept in mind that supplies of oil had to be imported at that time and purchased with nonexistent foreign exchange due to the plight of the nation’s finances, whereas coal was abundant in…

Some locomotives are famous, while others carry out their mundane but essential tasks day in and day out without ever making the headlines. For over 40 years, that was to be the fate of the K Class 2-6-0 locomotives ordered by the London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), which as the years progressed, worked for the Southern Railway and then British Railways Southern Region. Only occasionally employed on passenger duties, they lived in the shadow of the larger U and N Classes, which were also mixed traffic 2-6-0s and they also seemed to have few railway enthusiasts that followed their exploits, as freight traffic on the Southern always appeared to be the poor relation to the much higher volume of passenger duties. The LB&SCR had a limited need for…

The project marks the first time this particular industrial locomotive will be offered ready-to-run in O gauge— a welcome move, judging by the crowds around the Footplate stand where the first EPs were attracting a keen interest from both modellers and collectors. A wide range of liveries is planned that will appeal to modellers aiming to recreate specific industrial settings or regions, as well as those seeking a small, characterful shunter for general duties. These include: Turners Asbestos Asbestos No.2780 British Celanese Henry No.2491 Isle of Wight Railway Invincible No.3135 Port of London Authority No.56 NCB Netherton Bedlington No.2779 Newport Power Station Faraday No.3793 Plain Black (unlettered) Tyne Electric Supply Co. No.13 Marston’s Brewery No.3 The manufacturers state that multiple cab and chimney variants will be offered, allowing for closer…

Kernow Model Rail Centre has announced a 7-plank open wagon in the livery of Helston Gas Company No. 30. Based on Peco’s model of the standard RCH1923 9ft wheelbase 7-plank open, Helston Gas Company No.30 has been factory-weathered to replicate all the grime. We can expect the model to have plenty of fine detail and it will feature free-rolling metal-tyred spoked wheels. A removable NEM355 TT:120 coupler will keep it fully compatible with the growing range of rolling stock in this scale. Retailing at £21.99, the model (catalogue number TTC023) is available now via KMRC’s website and at its Camborne and Guildford stores.…