Model Railway Features
DCC Concepts Zen Decoder family
DCC Concepts’ Zen decoder collection offers a comprehensive and flexible system with the option to add plug-and-play stay alives. MIKE WILD reviews the range.
YAMORC ACCESSORY DECODERS
A new name to the Digital Command Control market is YaMoRC. MARK CHIVERS looks at this fledgling brand’s newly-released accessory decoders.
BUILDING A DIESEL DEPOT - THE DEPOT KITS
In the second part of our series on construction of Natford TMD, MIKE WILD explains how Key Publishing’s exclusive laser-cut four-road sheds were built and painted to create a centrepiece for the scene.
MIKE WILD
VIDEO: Making Tracks 3 - March Update
Peter Waterman's Making Tracks 3 ambitious project continues to make progress in preparation for its six week display starting at Chester Cathedral this summer. CHRIS CLENTON brings the story up to date with the latest update and exclusive video from the Making Tracks 3 workshop.
CHRIS CLENTON
Staff Projects: Hornby Malcolm Class 90 makeover
Hornby’s Class 90 Bo-Bo electric may have started life in the late 1980s, but it still holds potential today. MIKE WILD shows how he enhanced Hornby’s latest version – the uniquely liveried DB Cargo operated 90024 which carries Malcolm Rail’s photographic livery.
MIKE WILD
Installing digital sound in the Bachmann Double Fairlie
The stunning Bachmann narrow gauge Double Fairlie has been a catalyst for new ‘OO9’ layout projects. JOHN GAY explains how you can upgrade the model to feature both sound and a stay alive for uninterrupted running.
JOHN GAY
Scotland’s last steam locomotive: the LNER ‘J36’ 0-6-0
Throughout the Victorian era there was a requirement for sturdy goods locomotives of the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, with one of the most successful and long-lived designs being the North British ‘J36’, a type which gave no less than 79 years continuous main line service, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Making Buildings from Scratch – part 2
Having established why structures are built in the way they are, MALCOLM BRIGGS puts theory into practice by scratchbuilding a weighbridge hut in 'OO' scale for the second part of our building construction series.
MALCOLM BRIGGS
Weathering LNER J27 0-6-0s in OO gauge
It’s back to maths class as TIM SHACKLETON explains how, as far as weathering is concerned, what you take off can be just as important as what you put on.
TIM SHACKLETON
The Class 90 electrics
One of the most successful locomotives to have operated on Britain’s railways in recent years has been the Class 90, a second-generation electric design that has racked up millions of service miles. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES reviews its story.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
ViTrains Class 47
Looking back at photographs from the early 2000s, MIKE WILD was inspired to find and revive a ViTrains Freightliner triple grey Class 47 to provide an alternative container train locomotive.
MAKING A SCENE: How to model a scrap yard
Every town once had a scrap yard full of hidden treasures. DAN EVASON recreates a typical 1970s scheme in 4mm:1ft scale.
DAN EVASON
The Collett GWR '1366' 0-6-0PTs
The Great Western looked far back to its past in 1934 when it needed new lightweight shunting engines, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The Gresley 'A3' class 'Pacifics'
One of the most famous locomotive designs ever produced was the LNER’s ‘A1’ (later ‘A3’) ‘Pacific’. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks back at the story of these iconic 4-6-2s which changed the face of rail travel on the East Coast Main Line.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Mk 5 carriage story
Although locomotive-hauled coaches are largely a thing of the past, there has been one fleet of new-builds in recent years - the Mk 5s operated by Caledonian Sleeper and TransPennine Express. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into the background of these interesting vehicles.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
The Beeching Report - 60 years on
Many people speak as if Dr Beeching was the man who single-handedly destroyed our railway system. In reality, he was merely the culmination of a process that had been under way for more than half a century. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES delves into the background of route closures.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
LNWR Webb ‘Coal Tanks’
One of the longest-lived products from Crewe works was the remarkable ‘Coal Tank’ of the London & North Western Railway. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the history of these Victorian locomotives, which could be handled everything from heavy coal trains to lightweight push-pull passenger services in their long careers.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
How to build a return loop storage yard
A storage yard isn’t always just a place to store trains off scene, and no more so than on Hornby Magazine’s latest ‘OO’ layout Grosvenor Square. Mike Wild explains how the off-scene area for this large terminus layout went from a cassette yard to something more adventurous for the benefit of its operation.
MIKE WILD
Locoman’s ‘Scotsman’ sound
Using the latest Hornby model of the Gresley ‘A3’ and a Locoman Sounds profile loaded onto an ESU LokSound chip, MIKE WILD explains how sound can be added to a ‘OO’ gauge model.
MIKE WILD
Flying Scotsman at 100
Billed as the world’s most famous steam locomotive, how has Flying Scotsman captured the public’s imagination in a way nothing else has? Author ANDREW RODEN explains why it is so important.
ANDREW RODEN
The heavy freight Class 60
One of the most recognisable locomotives on the modern railway is the Brush Class 60, a design that brought to an end to almost 200 years of freight locomotive construction in the UK, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: The Peckett 'W4' 0-4-0STs
In the days when almost every factory had its own railway system there was a massive demand for shunting engines, with one of the most prolific suppliers being Peckett & Sons of Bristol. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at one of their popular products, the ‘W4’.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Reality Check: Peppercorn’s ‘K1’ 2-6-0
The period immediately before and just after nationalisation produced a great number of competent but short lived locomotives. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the Peppercorn ‘K1’, which despite being very successful in main line service lasted less than 20 years.
Installing Servo point motors on a model railway
The small size and controllability of servos makes them an attractive option for turnout control. NIGEL BURKIN experiments with a Heathcote Electronics dual servo motor board, turnouts and a hand full of servos.
Nigel Burkin
EQUIPMENT GUIDE: Air compressors
Compressors are a must for successful airbrushing, but what should you be looking for? TIM SHACKLETON road-tests a selection of competing designs at prices ranging from under £60 to close on £500.
TIM SHACKLETON
Don’t forget Fastline
It’s more than 10 years since Fastline Freight pulled out of intermodal operations, quickly followed by the loss of its coal business and other rail-led interests. But this short-lived company can still offer some exciting modelling possibilities, as TIM SHACKLETON discovers in his 10-point survey.
TIM SHACKLETON
Workstained Class 70
The General Electric Powerhaul Class 70 is the most powerful diesel locomotive on the modern railway, and it makes for an interesting weathering project. MIKE WILD explains how he brought his Bachmann ‘OO’ gauge model to life with a realistic finish.
MIKE WILD
Metropolitan Vickers Type 2 Co-Bo
In the rush to modernise the railways in the 1950s many diesel designs were ordered straight off the drawing board. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the chequered history of one of the least successful, the Metropolitan Vickers Co-Bo.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
RAILWAY REALISM: Winter on the Line
Winter brings special challenges for the railway, with snow, ice and fog making operation particularly difficult. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES examines how the system coped in the past and today, highlighting some of the special equipment used.
EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
Hornby Magazine’s 24hr Challenge:
Every project layout we build is defined by a timescale, not least because they are built to meet our publication dates for the magazine. The 24hr challenges give us a closer limit to work with which, hopefully, controls some of ideas and allows us to create layouts that anyone could build at home.
MIKE WILD