Railtours are a superb way of bringing variety to a layout. In the first of two step-by-step guides, RICHARD HALL shows how to recreate the railtour carriages – which can be very different.
Heritage railtours are a popular sight in all corners of the modern UK rail network, breaking up an increasingly monotonous stream of multiple units with preserved locomotives. However, building an accurate railtour presents a difficult task for railway modellers, as every main line registered Mk 1 coach has unique livery details, bogies and modifications, making really accurate recreations a challenge.
The smart lined maroon livery of West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) has long been popular on main line railtours and the inspiration to accurately replicate a set in ‘OO’ gauge came in 2013 after seeing Ben Ando’s superb WCRC railtour project in ‘N’ gauge. It was this 2mm scale benchmark that pushed me to detail this 4mm version as far as I could, but I do not envy those replicating this in ‘N’!
Above: Modelling an accurate modern image railtour takes a significant amount of work but is satisfying and worth the effort – especially as a splash of colour to accompany the high standard of ready-to-run heritage locomotives is now available. …
