Indholdsfortegnelse for APRIL 2016 - 85 i Voie Libre international

THE MODEL AT A GLANCE Manufacturer: Peco Scale: 009 (1/76, 9mm gauge track) Prototype: Glyn Valley Tramway Weight: 6 g Construction: injected plastic Price observed: ca. €28 While Peco has had in its range for a good 30 years a whitemetal kit reproducing the bodies of the adorable Beyer Peacock 0-4-2 T locomotives, designed to fit over a commercial N scale chassis, the small four-wheeler carriages were lagging far behind. Well, our patience is now rewarded, they are available! INJECTED PLASTIC The Glyn Valley Tramway carriages are supplied in pleasing individual clear plastic boxes, and held in place with a quarter-turn pin. These new models are made out of injected plastic, and comprise several parts: two step and brake shoe brackets, the chassis, the body, the roof, the air-vent, the…

In most cases, building a model railway layout implies fixing a small piece of reality. There are several approaches. Some modellers will opt for layouts set precisely on 22 July 1954. Others will be content to select a general time period coinciding with their preferences in terms of rolling stock. In principle, therefore, the layout is fixed both in terms of time and place. A good three decades ago, Daniel Pain had imagined in Loco-Revue a layout that travelled geographically by featuring removable regional buildings. For this quarter’s project, we also decided to have interchangeable scenic elements. Not to change locations, but to change time periods. We therefore designed a large 2 x 3m layout to fill a whole room. The topic is a 60cm gauge military railway, which originates…

The Piraeus - Athens - Corinth – Patras meter gauge line, 230km long, was opened between 1884 and 1887. In 2004, a standard gauge line was opened between Athens and Corinth for the Summer Olympics. From that time onwards, the Corinth-Patras stretch was gradually converted to standard gauge and operated partially from 2005. The original network, operating at a loss and requiring annual State subsidies, was gradually closed between 2005 et 2011. The only surviving meter gauge lines are those serving the suburbs of Patras, as they are profitable. A major network with a secondary flavour! The network was extensive, but some of its features were more reminiscent of a rural secondary railway than of a major rail link. The steepest gradients could reach 29 ‰. As far as Corinth,…

The first railways to call on 60cm gauge track found themselves facing a serious problem. While meter gauge railways had found in the 0-6-0 T type the engine design that combined power and lightness, on 60cm gauge, this equation did not work out. A three-axle engine was too light and unable to provide acceptable commercial service. 3 + 2 OR 2 + 3 MAKE 5! Despite their Decauville Mallets, the Chemins de Fer du Calvados found themselves facing such a problem around 1900, on their line from Caen to Luc-sur-Mer. By calling on the Weidknecht company, they obtained a suitable type. The addition of a bogie at the front meant that a sufficiently large boiler could be fitted to the engine, producing a powerful and fast 4-6-0 type. This type…

I started from reference 1073, wthe black model with a short cab. I added a few small parts, mainly made out of plastic sheet and 0.5mm diameter brass wire, to make it look more like what I wanted: a civilian engine in the 1920s. I could have gone much farther, for example by replacing the rather bulky steps, by adding the draining valves on the water tanks… Every modeler will set his or her own limits! This is what I added to my model: a control rod for the sandbox on the right hand side of the boiler; the water feed pipes to the injectors, under the water tanks; the steam intake on the left hand side of the boiler; the standard H girder which strengthens the buffer beams; the…

The world of model trains in an industry! A leisure industry, no doubt, but an industry all the same. And when it comes to commercial offer and demand, it is frequent that when one actor on the market promotes a product, many competitors pop out of the woodwork. In this way, what might have given the impression of being a doomedsectorsuddenlybecomesbuoyant. Over the last 5 or 6 years, we have been witnessing the rebirth of H09. The three main actors of this market, Roco, Liliput and Bemo had been content for decades with simply maintaining their ranges. A new release here, another there. Plenty of redecorating and new lettering was deemed sufficient to keep enthusiasts happy. All the more so as a few artisans were there to fill in any…

THE MODELS AT A GLANCE Scale: H09 / 009 compatible with available motive power Inspiration: wood or metal Aubineau open wagon and Decauville van. Period: 1890s to nowadays. Weight: ca. 6g Price: €139.90 per set containing three open wagons and one van Available from the LR Modélisme shop: http://www.lrmodelisme.com/ H0 scale narrow gauge enthusiasts are not really short of motive power these days! Ever-more interesting new releases keep popping up. So many that we’ll soon be unable to buy them all… who could have guessed? On the other hand, we are not quite so lucky when it comes to carriages and wagons to make up realistic consists. QUITE A TEAM However, Voie Libre is here! Under the aegis of the magazine, several creators got together, pooled their talent, shared their…

After four years of utter savagery, a new agitation quickly took over from the former one. Everything, absolutely everything, had to be rebuilt: buildings, roads, water supplies, drains… This task was assigned to the Ministry of Liberated Regions (MRL in the French acronym), which carried out its task by calling on 60cm gauge railways. As early as February 1919, the French networks were entrusted to it. A few months later, the Allies sold their own networks to the French government. Over the following five years, the MRL reorganized these railways to adapt them to the requirements of reconstruction and operated them with military stock. This was when a great upheaval began. On the one side, the MRL had huge stockpiles of equipment available. On the other, almost all the railways…

I used 1 and 2mm thick plastic sheet, together with a few Evergreen strips, to assemble the body of the locotractor. To reproduce the ventilation slats, I opted for casting, as there is a total of 8 side panels on the two bonnets! 1 The bonnet side panels measure 21 x 12mm. A Guide ruler held in place with adhesive tape. B2mm thick plastic sheet. C Plastic cement with application brush. D10 x 10mm lengths of Evergreen 246 quarter round rod. 2 The length of the ventilation slats is adjusted with a sharp blade. 3 My mold is made out of a two-part silicon compound obtained by thoroughly mixing, in equal parts, the two components. The paste is then pressed onto the shape that requires duplication. 4 The silicon compound…

The CJ Modèle shanty is seen installed alongside the tracks, in the goods yard of a transshipment station between narrow and standard gauge. It’s an etched brass model that Christophe assembled using only adhesive. Neatly removing the parts Easy! By pressing down firmly on the tabs between the parts and the sprue with a scalpel, or a screwdriver on which the tip has been slightly sharpened. Naturally, what remains of these tabs must be filed off: hold the part firmly and run a soft file back and forth on the leftover. There’s no need to press hard, the brass comes off quickly and easily. To begin with : Once the parts have been separated from the sprue, fold the brackets. The half-etching must be inside the fold. Use a small…