Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i British Railway Modelling (BRM)

I would like to give feedback, particularly regarding Tony Wright's budget modelling. Can I say it's one of the most refreshing and encouraging series of videos and articles that BRM has published for a long time. It seems that the trend of modelling is for ever-increasing detail at ever-increasing cost, which a section of railway modellers cannot keep pace with due to one reason or another, usually to do with outlay of money. But here is a theme of budget and hands-on modelling that is affordable and realistic in so many ways. Could you please extend this theme within BRM please, as I for one am an avid consumer of reconstruction and renewing older products, and Mr Wright's ideas and explanations of how to make things afresh are excellent. BRM…

The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society, the oldest line society in the UK, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Coincidentally, it is now the same age as the L&YR was when it merged with the LNWR in 1922. The Society was formed in 1950 by a group of enthusiasts from Bradford who wanted to record as much as possible about the former L&YR before memories faded and records disappeared. Since then, the Society has thrived and now has 900 members. It produces a quarterly full-colour magazine, a learned journal about historical matters and occasional books on specialist subjects. In addition, it has extensive collections of photographs, drawings and archive material and holds three events for members each year. The Society recently celebrated its 75th anniversary by hiring the L&YR…

00 1936-1937 320.99 I first reviewed Hornby's first iteration of its latter-day Hornby Dublo A4 some little time ago in BRM, in the form of 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, my conclusion being that it was (and is) an exceptional model. This commemorative example, in the form of the third of the original quartet of A4s, is, too, an exceptional model. September 1935 saw the inauguration of Britain's first high-speed train in the form of the streamlined Silver Jubilee. Gresley and his team designed the whole train as a single concept, with the streamlined A4 Class built to operate it. The press run (behind Silver Link) set standards of high speed running never seen before, with 43 consecutive miles being run at an average of 100 miles per hour (mostly on the…

TT:120 1980s-present day 54.99 Back in the 1980s, Britain needed more wagons, wagons that were tough, reliable, and utterly unpretentious. Enter the KFA bogie wagon. Built by Finnish firm Rautaruukki and later Procor, 240 of these steel slabs-on-wheels were delivered. They've been quietly earning their keep ever since. You don't notice them — until you do. Then you start seeing them everywhere. Hornby has decided to shrink the industrial drama to TT:120 scale and nine months after the announcement, three Touax-branded KFAs arrived on my desk. I'll admit, expectations were modest, but once unboxed, wow! They're surprisingly hefty; the diecast framework is a delicate lattice of steel girders with shiny blue paintwork, pin-sharp printing, and buffers fine enough to impress a jeweller. There's separately-moulded pipework, a crisp white brake wheel,…

We often hear people say that this hobby is on its last legs, that, with a lack of newcomers, interest in model railways is dwindling and, in a generation or two, may not even exist. So, it is nice when we have an issue where three of the four layouts featured are first-time projects. And what amazing work has been achieved. First up is ‘Amberside’, which was a decade in the making, inspired by the builder's memories of awaiting the speedy arrival of the Cheltenham Spa Express. Richard Gleed dabbled in N, OO and even OO9, before finally settling on O gauge and at last finishing a layout. Next up is ‘Fford Dinrhyd’, a picturesque 009 layout set in the Eryri National Park (Snowdonia). Its builder, James Walker, approached us…

Revolution Trains has raised £13,000 for Martin House Children's Hospice through the support of its N gauge model railway customers. Thanks to a match-funding arrangement, the charity received a total of £26,000. The funds were raised through sales of Revolution's special edition locomotives and wagons, including the gold 66301 Drax Power 50, DB red 66190 Martin House Children's Hospice locomotives, and limited edition Drax gold IIA-D biomass hoppers. The cheque was presented during a ceremony at York station, held as part of a larger event organised by Network Rail to celebrate the railway industry's £380,000 fundraising achievement for Martin House through charters, auctions, and other initiatives. Martin House provides family-led hospice care free of charge for children and young people with life-shortening or incurable conditions.…

At its recent open evening, Wakefield Railway Modeller's Society was presented with a blue plaque by the Wakefield Civic Society. It commemorates the locomotive manufacturer, Thomas Peckett, and includes a depiction of one of his locomotives that worked at the nearby colliery of St John's, Normanton. Accepting it on behalf of the club from the Civic Society's President, Kevin Trickett, were WMRS chairman and president Chris Burnage and John Fairline, along with Chris Mead, who had assisted in some of the background research. Although known for building his iconic industrial locomotives in Bristol, Thomas Peckett was in fact born in Wakefield. Moreover, he spent some years as a child living in a house situated on the same road as the WRMS clubrooms. Since sadly his home no longer exists, the…

00 Modern-day preservation 139.99 This is not a brand new model by Hornby, but, as far as I know, it's the first time it's been available in the attractive original full Great Eastern Railway blue regalia. When the model first came out a decade ago, it was available in BR plain black with detail features of that time – thin, lipped chimney and riveted smokebox, for instance. This latest manifestation is said to represent the loco in current preserved condition, with plain smokebox and stovepipe chimney (though the full-sized loco has seen several detail alterations during its time in preservation). The J15s (GER Y14) formed a class of locos of great longevity, running from 1883 (the loco represented was built in 1912) all the way through the Grouping and into…

00 1950s-late-1970s 109.96(triple pack) The latest wagons in the Accurascale/Irish Railway Models range to arrive are arguably some of the most useful for modellers, representing, as they do, the unfitted version of the H van. Over 1300 of these vans were introduced during the 1950s as part of Oliver Bulleid's standardisation and renewal programme. They could be seen all over the system, from remote branches to busy main lines on anything from the humble wagonload to bulk, high-volume flows such as bottled Guinness or beet pulp. The rise of the fitted trainload ‘liner’ trains in the 1970s led to the steady demise of the unfitted H vans, with most being withdrawn by the end of the decade. Accurascale/IRM are offering the wagons in triple packs in three different liveries; original…

00 1930-1948 44.95 This is the latest RTR model of this standard 20T LMS brake van. Hornby first produced one under its ‘Silver Seal’ brand in 1974 (a poor model), and then again at the end of the century when the Airfix tooling for the type was acquired (a far superior model). Finally, from Hornby, the LMS brake van was entirely retooled in 2019, with features such as separate handrails (the main horizontal ones of which bowed!). I have to say I'm puzzled at such duplication, but there's no doubt that the Bachmann example is the best yet. The LMS built many of this diagram, both unfitted and vacuum-piped (unfitted painted grey and fitted painted bauxite – perpetuated by BR). Some unfitted ones were later vacuum-piped, and later on, many…

Blackburn & East Lancs MRS Show More than 10 layouts and several traders will be in attendance at this winter show, held at The Oswaldtwistle Mills Business Centre in Accrington. Entry costs £5 and under-16s are free to enter with a paying adult. DATE: December 6-7th, 2025 The Christmas Model Railway Show Celebrating its 100th birthday this year, the Manchester Model Railway Society has a number of special exhibits and features planned to celebrate this incredible milestone. Held at The Sugden Sports Centre, Sydney Street, Manchester, over 25 layouts will be in attendance and many traders and well-known manufacturers. DATE: December 13-14th, 2025 Frome Model Railway Exhibition The Wessex Association of Model Railway Clubs proudly presents its 2026 Model Railway Exhibition, held at the renowned Cheese and Grain in Frome.…

While we pride ourselves on producing layouts which attend the most prestigious of specialist model railway exhibitions across the country as well as hosting our own large two day event, over the last few years we have also provided layouts for venues such as care homes, school, village and church fetes, libraries, National Trust open days, literary festivals, Christmas fairs, exhibitions of childhood and indeed charity events organised by other clubs. We have gained enormous satisfaction from such appearances and like to think that we are indeed actively giving something back. Recently, some members heard about Jamie, a young man with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He requires expensive treatment not currently available in the UK. To help Jamie in the best way we know, a special event…

Of the many problems besetting him as he pondered on routes north, Joseph Locke, surveying engineer to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&C), had one overriding obstacle to overcome. That was Shap Fell. Should he go over it, round it, or under it? His route had already gained some altitude as the line crossed into Westmorland, and he was reluctant to lose that advantage, ignoring the town that lay in the valley just a few miles away. Prominent citizens of that town, aware of the importance of a rail connection, felt that action must be taken. The town was Kendal, today known as ‘the Gateway to the Lakes’, and perhaps the most prominent of those ‘prominent citizens’ was Cornelius Nicholson, whose portrait hangs in the Council Chamber of Kendal's Town…

00 1986-2004 229.99-329.99 On September 29th this year, the unique 89001 Avocet, affectionately known as the Badger, had its first trip out on the main line in almost a quarter of a century, with two trips from Crewe Depot to Stafford and back. The locomotive, which has spent more than a decade being restored, is set to operate as part of the Locomotive Services fleet on its Inter City charter operation over the next five years. Around the same time, the much-anticipated Class 89 from Accurascale, in partnership with Rails of Sheffield, arrived in the BRM offices for review. The Class 89 was designed by Brush and built at Crewe in 1986. It was originally intended as the prototype for a fleet of locomotives to replace the HSTs on the…

00 1980s-early-2000s 69.95 The Beilhack Snowplough is one of the ‘Hatton Originals’ models taken over by Accurascale, which are now offered in four different twin packs; two in the original all over yellow livery, including, the ‘Stratford Shark’ (the subject of this review), and two in the black with yellow ploughs and red buffer shanks as turned out following refurbishment by Network Rail in the early-2000s. In the early-1980s, BR recognised the need for more snowploughs and came up with the novel idea of using redundant bogies from withdrawn main line locos, fitted with ploughs supplied by German specialists, Beilhack. In total, 10 were built - six at Stratford in 1984/'85 using Class 40 bogies and a further four in 1989/'90 using Class 45 bogies. The ploughs were fitted to…

TT:120 Pre-grouping-1960s 34.99 In the winter of 2020/21, Hornby followed Hattons’ lead and announced a festive surprise: a range of charming four-and six-wheeled coaches, news that fizzed through the hobby like shaken champagne. These diminutive delights became perfect companions to growing rosters of pre-grouping locomotives — elegant reminders of the days when rail travel meant mahogany interiors, oil lamps, and real tickets. Purists will note these aren't exact replicas of any specific coach. Instead, they're a greatest-hits medley of late-Victorian design. Cue the forum debates, but the truth is, they do look the part, are selling like hot cakes, and will no doubt appear on many layouts before long. The review samples came dressed to impress: one in lined LB&SCR mahogany brown, the other in later BR crimson. Together they…