Indholdsfortegnelse for APRIL / MAI / JUNE 2025 - 121 i Voie Libre international

Two new versions of Liliput's famous 0-6-2 T are available: U37 002, of the JHMD railway, built by Krauss at Linz in 1898 under nº 3814, delivered to the Austrian royal railways, and which runs nowadays on the Jindrichuv-Hradec to Obratan or Nova Bistrice railway in the Czech Republic. The model is identical to earlier versions, but features the very fine original livery. N° 298.05, built by Krauss at Linz under nº 3804, put into service on the Ybbstalbahn in 1898, saw service on many railways before ending its career on the Steyrtalbahn, where it is now preserved statically by the ÖGEG association. The two turbo-dynamos used for lighting the engine and the carriages are fitted to the top of the water tanks. The two models runvery smoothly and realistically…

A big job is underway in the workshop of the AAPA (Association des Amis du Petit Anjou) association. In addition to the restoring the De Dion Bouton JM3 railcar, the volunteers are now working on the Dp 208 postal van. The structure is complete, the original metalwork has been completely treated and re-assembled. The body still has to receive its cladding, the doors and partitions must be refitted and the roof closed, before tackling the external sheetmetal. The project will be complete once the chassis is also restored. If you pass by Anjou, don't forget to visit the site, for example during the Heritage Weekend in September. AAPA GARE DU PETIT ANJOU 9 ROUTE DE BOUCHEMAINE SAINT JEAN DE LINIÈRES 49070 ST-LÉGER-DE-LINIÈRES, FRANCE…

THE MODEL Peco Glyn Valley Tramway Brake Van Scale 1/43,5 16.5mm gauge track Réf. 0R167 Price: €24.90 from the LR Modélisme online shop Simple, well designed, easy to assemble, these wagons consist of 1mm thick laser-cut aviation quality plywood, of a few rare plastic parts and of steel axles with machined brass bearings. We selected the very attractive Glyn Valley Tramway brake van with its end balcony. ASSEMBLY Nothing complicated here, the parts are simply cut off with a scalpel, no preparation is required. They are assembled with wood glue, the instruction are very clear. As a personal option, I chose to paint the chassis in matt black with a spray can, before assembling the body. I find it easier to apply the colours in this way, in my case I painted the body with…

In between a churchyard, a dolmen, the Monts d'Arrée hills… there stands a slate quarry. Abandoned nowadays, it has left in the scenery some signs that industrial heritage enthusiasts are keen to identify. This small operating site used to have a railway, with human traction, but a railway all the same! It was this very peculiar site that Philippe Gerber enjoyed modelling on a small surface. The source of inspiration: an article signed Eric Fresné, and published in Issue number 9 of Voie Libre; we are not getting any younger! THE LAYOUT The scale selected is 1/45. The gauge is 12mm. The layout measures 122 x 54cm. The scene takes place in the 1970s, towards the end of operations. Philippe added a few locotractors to increase the operational potential. The…

Thanks to the documentary research work carried out by Éric Fresné and Didier Oberlin, it has been possible to draw the diagram of a small Decauville van. Like other manufacturers, Decauville knew how to adapt its production to the requests of customers, by carrying out a few modifications to the basic design. Such is the case with this wagon, whose side door could feature either a metal framework or one built out of wood cross-members. The photo taken by Georges Mangin at Pithiviers around 1912 shows yet another variant, with a door fitted to one of the wagon ends. This is the version we look at here. As for the van used at Royan, it featured a door with wood cross-members, but no lamp. Therefore, you can choose between different…

Having built a fleet of military wagons, then a small depot inspired by the Liberated Regions, it was then very tempting to take a look at rolling stock that had been adapted to industrial use. Having delved into my documents dealing with sugarbeet railways, I quickly found subject matter for building a number of models, ranging from the very simplest flat wagons to rivet-packed tankers. All of them on military chassis. To begin with, I opted to model open wagons built on bogie flats. I procured the very fine kits of Pershing flat wagons produced in the U.K. by Meridian Models, which are available again at ca. € 15, for example from Dundas Models (https://dundasmodels.co.uk). Cast in polystyrene, they blend very well with the Evergreen strips I will use to…

The SPMR locotracteur, designed by theP'tits Kits team, is now available. This model reproduces the SPMR (Société Parisienne de Matériel Roulant) locotractor built for the «Régie Départementale des Tramways de l'Ain». Fitted with a UNIC motor, this machine did not leave a mark in history: its career is poor in memories and images! This is exactly why we decided to offer it a future in scale form. With its coreless motor, directional headlights and its six-pin digital interface, it actually works far better than its prototype ancestor, and that's a good thing for our layouts. The body, supplied ready-painted in green, is 3D printed in a very fine and unbreakable photosensitive polymer. The handrails are printed in a flexible material, removing any risk of bending or breakage. The buyer will…

After years of experimenting and developing, Sven has released a driving chassis with a great many possibilities for adaptation: wheel diameter (6.2 – 7 - 8 or 9mm) and wheel gauge (9 – 12 or 16.5mm), chassis wheelbase (16 – 17 – 20.7mm). It is supplied with a set of different height wings for fixing it under a body, by the front, the middle or the corners. The coreless motor drives both axles via two worm gears and a series of straight gears, ensuring smooth running and a realistic speed. The chassis is supplied in a small protective box; you can add many options to your order: decoder fitted with a «stayalive» device or a chassis maintenance kit. We shall describe how to make use of this product in a…

*Translator's note: ‘galipette’ can have two meanings: the culinary specialty referred to in the article, but also a sexual romp. We met David at the Orléans show, but we had already reviewed his work through his Gnome layout. With the mushroom farm, he changes dimensions, takes up a bit more space. Built in a scale close to 1/60, with trains that run on 9 mm gauge track, close to prototype 60 cm track, this new layout displays David's mastery for creating and staging. He agreed to a session of questions & answers; so let's get immersed in his universe! François Fontana: David, your universe differs a lot from what ‘conventional’ railway modellers build; where does your inspiration come from? David Rumeau: From a combination of Heroic Fantasy, of dream-like evocation,…

Éric Fresné Éric Fresné Unlike the operations born during the industrial area in the neighbouring Châteaulin area, one cannot really talk of a proper slate industry in the Monts d'Arrée. However, from the 18th century, a few dozen tiny slate operations did exist, dug out of the sides of the peaks above the villages of Commana or Sizun. Slate quarrying provided local farmers with a bit of extra income. The deposits were simply shale veins, 400 million years old, always of a small scale, and quarryied downwards from the surface. The quarrying and dressing techniques had hardly evolved until the last sites closed down in the 1990s. The day of a slate quarryman followed the same invariable routine: he went down a ladder and started by emptying the infiltration water…

PLAN OF THE PROJECT 1/76 SCALE, PECO 9mm GAUGE TRACK This project originates from the production by Atelier du Tacot of a scale model of the Plymouth ULID locotractor, of which one unit is preserved by the APPEVA association: a large yard where raw materials are received and sacks of sugar shipped out, all this in a small corner of a room, in 1/76 scale, on 9mm gauge track. THE LAYOUT The yard of the Le Goff sugar mill measures 55 x 95cm, leading either to a fiddleyard or a stretch of open track. In the background, a few of the essential buildings required for the production of sugar, in the foreground, the depotcum-workshop and in the middle, the area where the consists are parked and shunted, squeezed in between…

I found it interesting to adapt Port Dyzan to a smaller surface. For a long time, I had wanted to create a working diorama that would fit inside a shoebox, so this was the ideal time for such an experiment. After having quickly considered creations in Z, N and H0-6.5 scales, I finally opted for H0-9, as it seemed the best suited to such an exercize. HISTORY The history of Port Dyzan is naturally fictitious, but does make reference here and there to the real thing. It's a small harbour on the banks of the Loing canal, on the territory of the town of Dyzansur-Loing, located between Saint-Mammès and Nemours. On this stretch, navigation can take place either on the Loing river, or on the canal. In the early years…

It was after reading Gerd Wolff's book about the narrow gauge railways in Lower Saxony, some 40 years ago, that I felt like building this quaint 75cm gauge station. A station that stood not far from the border between the Grand-Duchy of Oldenbourg and Prussia; not far, but not right next to it either: transit passengers had to walk a distance of 2.5km to find a railway connection! History as a starting point The line was built in 1900 to fertilize and develop the swampy areas in the Oldenbourg region. Carrying passengers was not a priority, and that is why a proper connection with the border was never created! The goods carried consisted mainly in livestock, agricultural produce, fertiliser, a small quantity of pit props, fuel and bricks. The trains…

This is a new version of the Bernina RhB driving unit, which ran on the Coire to Arosa (Ch-A) stretch between 1946 – 47, when these units were rebuilt, until the time of 11kV electrification in 1997. The new driving units have a few additional features, the possibility of operating them with an ESU sound decoder whose sequences ar realistic, and the 3 front lamp/1 rear lamp LED lighting. What is missing is the typical rooftop equipment, known as «Dachruten», used for supplying the train heating on the Coire – Arosa route. This is especially unfortunate as Bemo produces the carriages required to make up realistic consists. The model can be re-gauged for 9mm. BEMO REF. 1368 134 PRICE: ANALOGUE €330 DIGITAL €440…

We recently discovered this top-of-therange artisan production, which calls on 3D printing with a flexible photosensitive polymer. The Micro website is packed with various items for accurately modelling a mining site. Among these accessories, an incredible number of electric locomotives, operating on batteries or fitted with pantographs. The kits are supplied on their frets and are extremely fine. Despite the small size of the parts, they are assembled in no time. They are not motorized, this seems to me complicated, maybe even impossible, but no doubt some modelling genius will send me a picture of a working model some time in the future! Painting is made simpler by the sub-assemblies, but less adventurous modellers can also purchase a painted model for a handful of additional euros. MICRO-MINERS WWW.MICROMINERS.DE BBA B360…

DALBE HTTPS://DALBE.FR BRUSH CLEANER & PRESERVER PRICE OBSERVED: €20.35 Being unable to supply me with the liquid cleaner for paintbrushes I had requested, the manager of the Dalbe shop in Quimper recommended that I opt for this product, which is very simple to use. It is a box filled with a solid soap very reminiscent of shaving soap. And it is used in exactly the same way. Simply moisten the tip of the dirty brush and rub it, first against the soap until the latter foams, then with your fingers under running water as often as required. The paint vanishes in two or three rubs. I tested the product on water-based acrylics and on oil-based paints. The result is really convincing. If you don't rinse your brush after rubbing it…

Following the presentation, in Issue 120 of Voie Libre, of the H0-6.5 «Limone c’è bello» project, I suggest we look at how to build a turnout. We are talking here of the turnout located in the concealed area, to reach the upper level. This method is perfectly suited to our narrow gauge layouts, and you will be surprised to read that I work without any diagram, nor any sophisticated tangent calculation! For thisfabrication project, you need some basic modelling tools: pliers, files, scraper soldering equipment, a mini-drill for grinding or polishing, not forgetting the essential safety goggles. The project also requires some raw materials: lengths of rail, epoxy sleepers of two different lengths, and specific tools: a rolling gauge for ensuring a precise 6.5mm gauge and a bending tool. All…

This American modeller from the 1950s-60s was not unlike John Allen: a professional photographer, once retired, he dedicated his time to what became his one and only art, railway modelling. Over three decades, he described his projects in U.S. magazines, exploring both standard and narrow gauge with a philosophy very much in line with our own at Voie Libre: namely, achieving the maximum with the minimum, but above all, with talent. With help from a variety of fictitious characters popping up in his stories, he explained how to build and operate models for less than $3. Jim, who owns a few of E.L. Moore's creations, was keen to build a railcar whose basic design had been thought out by Moore, but which had never been the subject of a published…

PLANS ON PAGES 52 & 53 In this context, the Société Sucrière company at Pithiviers le Vieil undertook to extend its 60cm gauge network located West of the PO Pithiviers – Etampes line. Originally, it was operated with Brigadeloks 0-8-0 tank engines. From 1931, the company decided to sell off its steam engines and procure diesel locomotives. It already used motive power fitted with internal combustion engines for shunting wagons on the sidings at Pithiviers sugar mill, using one or two large petrol-driven “Mac Ewan Pratt” machines bought second-hand from the French Army. The first two units for line service were supplied by Deutz. They were of the PMZ 122 type, very similar to the better-known OMZ 122 units, but differing from them by the presence of a jackshaft. The…

Idecided to create my diorama on a sheet of plywood. Let's start by the relief. At this stage, the general arrangement is important, track plan, space required for the cutting area and the machinery… The track will be located on a small embankment, a little above the digging area, and on a slight curve. My project consists in having one area being worked on one side of the embankment and a swampy area on the other. After having drawn the shape of the embankment, depending on the radius of the curve, I cut it out of 10mm thick plywood, angling the saw at 45°, then glued and screwed it onto the baseboard. One of the offcuts was used to create a second relief. I can now fit the edge of…