Voie Libre international OCTOBER 2016 - 87

Small in size, but with great scenery. Small in bulk, but highly evocative. Small by the number of tracks, but offering significant and carefully calculated operating scope. Small layouts are only small in name, because they have to combine many qualities: a well-designed trackplan, carefully built scenery, a pleasing overall appearance… Very often, modellers are keen to run stock they have worked on at length and lovingly in the depths of their workshop. More than large layouts, small ones have been the subject of dedicated attention over a more or less lengthy period, and have seen the light of day at each modeller’s individual rhythm. And it is in this sense that they are an excellent exercise. An exercise which enables their builders to move from one topic to another,…

LGB : A DR BOGIE BRAKE VAN Here at long last is a brake van to complement the DR consists. This one was built in 1925/1926 by Wagon Fabrik Werdau and must have been metallized in the 1960s. Its roof can be fitted with the devices linked to the Heberlein braking system, which made use of a cable. The doors of the van open, and the inside partition of the guard’s compartment is in place. All these ex-DR vehicles are fitted with metal wheels. Note that this brake van will be released with a different number under reference 30321. Jacques Royan LBG REF. 30322 PRICE OBSERVED: 184 TO 220€ PREISER : STEAM CREWS Preiser has released three steam driving crews for G or IIm scale in 1/22.5, a pleasant change…

This isn’t really a new release! Simply the re-issue of an old model, brought up to date. This pleasing steam crane now features a chassis fitted to a Kato driving mechanism, ref. 11-103. In addition to ensuring simple assembly and a good price-quality ratio, this ensures that the model will run perfectly, even if the modeller isn’t an expert in kit assembly! The kit contains a few cast resin parts to create variations: a single-block boiler, a trellis jib instead of the white-metal plate jib, drums for the cables. The fine green box also contains fully detailed instructions, but only in English. The kit is sold complete with the driving mechanism for 73£. ASSEMBLY The crane is soldered together, the etched brass sheets are very fine and do not conceal…

The saga of P’tits Kits Voie Libre has only just begun! Here comes the second set, once again the fruit of Eric Fresné’s gifted labours. It features four bodies fitted to Decauville bogies: a pair of bolster trucks with connecting bar, a low-sided open wagon, a Suippes type wooden body fitted to a pair of trucks, and a tank wagon with its hand-operated pump. As was the case for the first set, everything is included in the box: the high-resolution 3D printed parts, the axles, the couplings and the loads. Assembly instructions are provided, together with some suggestions for decorating and weathering the wagons. P’TITS KITS VOIE LIBRE 02 THE DECAUVILLE 1915 CONSIST H0-9/00-9 http://trains.lrpresse.com/  PRICE: 139€ + POSTAGE AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER…

MinitrainS has now released its track programme. The geometry is simple, and is based on the original Egger-Bahn first generation track, with a radius of 140mm. Fitted to fine injected plastic sleepers, the rails are in code 83 (2.1mm high), compatible with other commercially available systems. The sleepers are connected together by a strip of plastic of the same colour, but which isn’t in contact with the rail. Once the track is ballasted, this connection disappears completely. The range comprises everything needed to build a layout: curved and straight elements, left- and right-hand turnouts, a feeder element and an isolation element. The elements are supplied in attractive little black cardboard boxes with yellow lettering. The straight tracks are available in three lengths: 63, 77 and 154mm (ref. 9313, 9301 and…

This quarter, we offer a press review that is largely dedicated to locomotives. Issue 107 of the Narrow Gauge & Industrial Railway Modelling Review deals exclusively with this topic, with articles full of ideas for modelling the engines. Locomotives also in Chemins de Fer Régionaux et Tramways with a small dossier dealing with the delightful 040 + 040 T Mallets of the P.O. Corrèze. Issue 64 of Rail et Industrie is mostly dedicated to the enormous meter-gauge CC type engines built by Alsthom for African railways. A few diagrams and some good quality illustrations might even give ideas to model builders keen on sinking their teeth into something unusual. Enjoy your reading!…