Voie Libre international OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER 2017 - 91

Forget dreaming by the riverside, thinking on the mountainside or pondering things in the countryside! It’s high time to return to the workbench and to the many autumn shows. Personally, I rather enjoy such prospects, which lead me back from my summer escapades to the office: dealing with real materials, creating a new small world, making something unusual… To cut a long story short: getting things done! Precisely, in this issue of Voie Libre, we have brought together things that make modellers tick: tricks of the trade, smart ways to do things, ideas that promote creativity. So, back to your workbenches and your lathes: make it happen!…

PMT : A SERVICE WAGON… This release was announced in 2015 and has only just become available. The prototype open wagon was the result of converting an old Saxon clerestoried carriage in the 1940s. It has been used since 1977 at Oberwiesental as a service wagon, to remove steam locomotive residue such as ash and cinders. It features a brakeman’s platform and corresponds to periods III and IV. This is a superb model which runs perfectly, has sharp markings and typically Saxon unsymmetrical link and pin couplers, which are compatible however with those made by Roco for example. Bemo or PMT stirrup couplers can also be fitted, but the latter are not supplied with the model. Jacques Royan PMT REF. 5-4421 PRICE OBSERVED: FROM 51 TO 55€ … AND A…

CASTRES 28TH AND 29TH OCTOBER For Expo Castres Modélisme. CHAMBÉRY 4TH AND 5TH NOVEMBER For Savoie Modélisme. WALFERDANGE (Luxembourg) 11TH AND 12TH NOVEMBER For Expo-Trains Luxembourg. BULLE (Switzerland) 18TH AND 19TH NOVEMBER For FAMA, a multi-modelling show. CHARTRES 24TH, 25TH AND 26TH NOVEMBER For Railexpo.…

THE MODEL AT A GLANCE Chassis length without buffers: 208mm Body width: 102mm Overall width: 119mm Total height (without whistle): 182mm Re-gaugeable wheels (45 or 32mm) Wheelbase: 62mm Wheel diameter: 36mm Weight empty: 2.660kg Boiler diameter: 54mm Boiler length: 100mm Butane gas firing Cylinder diameter: 11mm Piston stroke: 15mm Price: 1,975€ Distributor in France: Atelier Vaporiste, Le Chamberon 03450 Nades, France Phone: + 33 (0)9 66 84 39 00 + 33 (0)6 85 95 53 89 Email: info@atelier-vaporiste.com Accucraft has produced various semi-scale quality models in 1/13.7 scale (7/8 ths in the USA), reproducing 60cm gauge prototype engines running on 45mm gauge scale track. This is the same gauge as G or IIm scale (LGB track for example). The latest release from this manufacturer is 3.25 ton type 1 Decauville,…

And for the last 17 years, enthusiasts from all over Europe have been gathering annually on the railway to share their passion and run their models on this exceptionally large garden layout. This year, the gathering took place during the warm and sunny weekend of 24 and 25 June 2017. This is how 70 enthusiasts got together over two days: Belgians, Catalonians, Dutch, Swiss and of course French garden railway fans swapped experiences and had great fun running their splendid models. WHERE TO FIND THEM Le Jardin des Trains ardéchois 07130 Soyons 04 75 60 96 58 www.jardin-des-trains.com…

THE MODELLERS Peter Smith and his mate John Smith are fine modellers. Both are secondary railway fanatics, and like to make such railways known. They are also francophiles and enjoy combining their various passions. So yes, Mers-les-Bains is the most British of French layouts, or possibly the opposite! François Fontana: Hello Peter, hello John, where exactly is Mers-les-Bains? Peter & John: Mers is in France, on the coast of Picardy, just opposite Le Tréport. In actual fact, Mers-les-Bains was never served by a meter gauge railway, it could (and can) only be reached on the standard gauge. But as we had decided to model a line on the coast of Picardy, and that we love the “Bains de Mer” railway*, we imagined this small additional terminus. It’s not prototypical, but…