Voie Libre international JULY / AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2023 - 114

MIGHT IT BE THAT? Might railway modelling simply be seizing the opportunity, the image or that small inspiration that happens to pass by just then? An idea so fleeting that it does not catch your attention, but would really deserve to. A photograph worthy of a second look, because it opens up its perspectives, because it carries us towards its background, because it shows us more than just a simple image. Inspiration that finds its source in something quite different, in an object to which a different purpose is assigned, in scenery glimpsed from a car window, in a distant memory that pops up again… So, let us be on the lookout, ready to grasp all those small things that stimulate our imagination, and let us be carried away by…

MinitrainS has re-issued two references that had vanished from the catalogue too long ago. The small Krauss 0-4-0 T is available in black version or in Stainz version. And the American 0-4-0 with a cow catcher and 4-wheeler tender in plain black or in black with Fiddletown & Copperopolis markings. The driving mechanisms are the same, the level of finishing identical. The quantities produced will not be very large, so if you missed these models when they were first released, catch them this time. François Fontana HO-9/009 MINITRAINS KRAUSS 0-4-0 T REF. 5040 STAINZ 0-4-0 T REF. 5042 0-4-0 + TENDER REF. 1002 0-4-0 + TENDER F&C REF. 1001 PRICE: €144.90€…

H0N3Z The small and short 4-wheeler carriages from the Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn rack railway in 1/87 scale for 10.5mm gauge have been added to the range produced by this Austrian artisan brand. In red livery, they reproduce the contemporary prototypes, with their canvas tarpaulins rolled up along the edge of the roof. The models are very small, just like the real thing: 30mm wide, 30mm high and 60mm long. François Fontana HALLING MODELLE KURZER AUSSICHTSWAGEN PRICE: €116 SHOP.FERRO-TRAIN.COM…

To complement his set of four 4-wheeler Pechot bogies, Pascal Boivin, of L'Atelier du Tacot, has just released the reproduction of a 320mm calibre naval gun barrel. The prototype weighed 48 tons. Carrying this gun barrel was tested on Pechot stock by the French Artillery at Le Havre in 1889. The kit comprises three sections for the barrel and two cradles that fit in between the stanchions of the swivelling bolsters on the trucks. Assembly is straightforward. Simply fill in the seams between the various parts of the barrel with acrylic putty. Even though in real life, such a load was never hauled mechanically, it is tempting all the same to run it on a layout… The Atelier du Tacot catalogue now also features a Péchot flat wagon (35€), a…

As its new wagon references in N and in 00-9 released a few months ago are now fitted with nickel silver-tyred wheels, Peco has decided to sell these items separately. Three types are available: with disc wheels, with 8-spoked wheels or disc wheels with 3 spindle holes. Their diameter (5.6mm) and the distance between tips are the same as the former plastic references. They were tested on a few Peco wagons as well as on sugar-beet and Decauville 1915 wagons from the P'tits Kits Voie Libre range. Objectively, the running qualities, which were already very good, were even better on all wagons tested. The slight increase in mass caused by the metal tyres lowers the centre of gravity a little and the contact between nickel silver tyre and rail is…

Still applying its usual simple rules, Tomytec has released a new set containing an electric locomotive and two side-tipping skips. This time, we are off to the Northern branch of the imaginary Nekoya Line, on the Akasaka Mine Railway. As is customary, the set comprises the basics, meaning the engine with a non- motorized chassis, the two wagons and a length of display track. Modellers will add a pantograph and a TM-TR07 four-wheeler driving mechanism. The basic set costing ca. 50 euros, you will need to double that sum to obtain an autonomous train. At one end, there is a link and pin coupling, at the other, a standard N scale coupling. The latter will have to be modified for this pleasing train to become compatible with the remainder of…