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Model Railway Features

HM163 Johnson 1P sound Feature Premium

MODERN SIMPLICITY

The latest locomotives from Bachmann are being designed to make upgrading to sound as simple as possible. MIKE WILD shows the process with the new Johnson ‘1P’ 0-4-4T for ‘OO’ gauge.

HM163 Stay alives Feature Premium

Using ‘stay alives’

The capacitor is a useful electronic component and the latest generation of sound decoders allow these to be connected to maintain uninterrupted sound. MIKE WILD explains how they work and which brands support their use.

HM163 D600 sound installation Feature Premium

Giving Kernow's D600 'Warship' Bulldog its bark

Locomotives with 21-pin decoders sometimes require a different approach to connecting a speaker. MIKE WILD explains all with Kernow Model Rail Centre’s ‘OO’ gauge model of the D600 ‘Warship’ diesel-hydraulic.

HM163 Hornby 'Black Five' sound Feature Premium

STANIER SOUNDS

It isn’t just the latest locomotives which can benefit from digital sound. MIKE WILD delves into his stores to find one of the early modern day Hornby ‘Black Fives’ which predates the ease of tender-mounted decoder sockets.

HM163 factory sound Feature Premium

Factory sound

If installing a sound decoder is not for you, there is another option – factory fitted digital sound, as MARK CHIVERS explains.

Digital semaphores

Using readily available equipment Mike Wild shows how semaphore signals can be brought fully into the digital era in just six simple steps.

HM162 Reality Check Feature Premium

JOHNSON’S ‘1P’ 0-4-4Ts

For more than half a century, the Midland Railway’s primary lightweight passenger design for secondary duties was a very neat and attractive series of 0-4-4T engines designed by Samuel Johnson. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks back at the history of one of the variants of this once numerous class, and finds out why it was so long-lived.

HM162 Britannia sound Feature Premium

RULE ‘BRITANNA’

The ‘Britannia’ 4-6-2s were the largest fleet of ‘Pacifics’ in the BR Standard series. MIKE WILD installs a Doehler & Haass 8-pin decoder loaded with Locoman Sounds’ new ‘Britannia’ sound file in the Hornby ‘OO’ gauge model with the addition of extra lighting functions.

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Railways of the Lake District

The railways of the Lake District have long drawn admiration from passengers and enthusiasts – but as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES reveals, they also prompted poetic outrage from one of Britain’s legendary wordsmiths.

Quorn Magna Feature Premium

Staff Projects: New frontiers

Its Yearbook time -and the Hornby Magazine team has been back in the workshop to create a brand new ‘OO’ gauge layout. MIKE WILD introduces the Great Central-set Quorn Magna.

NER Autocar Feature Premium

VIDEO: The Petrol Electric Autocar

Rails of Sheffield and the Electric Autocar Trust invited Hornby Magazine to join them at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway to see the latest sample of the Rails/Heljan 'OO' gauge model and find out more about the real vehicle. Subscribers can watch the section on the Autocar from our YouTube Hornby Magazine Show here and view exclusive images of the model.

Topley Dale Quarry Feature Premium

VIDEO: Topley Dale Quarry

Topley Dale is developing again and in the Great Electric Train Show Virtual Exhibition YouTube video Mike Wild shows how he is building and developing the scenery. In this feature we show exclusive images of the build so far together with the section from the main video on Topley Dale for subscribers.

Topley Dale Quarry Feature Premium

VIDEO: Building and weathering quarry buildings

Walthers' New River Mining Company plastic kit forms the basis of Topley Dale's new quarry scene. In this guide Mike Wild shows what goes into building this impressively sized kit as well as demonstrating powder weathering techniques on video.

P2 Feature Premium

VIDEO: Building Britain's Most Powerful Steam Locomotive

Darlington Locomotive Works is the stage for construction of a brand new main line certified Gresley 'P2' 2-8-2 by the P2 Steam Locomotive Company and its builders granted Hornby Magazine behind the scenes access. In this feature we present behind the scenes images from our YouTube video shoot, exclusively for subscribers, together with the section of the video about the 2-8-2.

BR blues Feature Premium

Before BR blue

The change to BR’s new corporate blue colour scheme didn’t happen overnight, and there were many variations. TIM SHACKLETON wanders into the minefield of blue liveries in the pre-TOPS era. 

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Creating a wagon depot

For a slightly different take on a railway depot scene, MARK CHIVERS builds Railway Laser Lines’ recently introduced 4mm scale laser-cut Wagon Repair Depot.

Making a Scene Feature Premium

Industrial canal 

Canals moved goods and raw materials in large quantities across the UK even after the railways were built. ANTHONY REEVES shows how to create a canal side scene next to the industry it once served.

Building your Low relief Grain Silo

Hornby Magazine and Scalescenes present a brand new 4mm scale kit for ‘OO’ gauge layouts which models a low relief grain silo. JOHN WIFFEN explains how to build this brick and concrete structure using the free kit print included with this issue.

Prototype HST Feature Premium

Reality Check: The prototype HST

The High Speed Train has proved to be one of the icons of British railway history since its inception almost half a century ago. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES finds out how the concept was developed and looks back at the first of the type.

Isinglass Models 'Quad-Arts' Feature Premium

Building LNER ‘Quad-Arts’

The LNER articulated ‘Quad-Art’ coaches stood out from the crowd – and the arrival of a new 3D printed resin kit from Isinglass Models was too tempting to resist. MIKE WILD knuckles down to build a four-coach set for ‘OO’ gauge with a handful of modifications along the way.

Gresley Quad Arts Feature Premium

Gresley's 'Quad-Art' coaches

Articulated coaches are often provided for the modern railway as a way of saving weight, improving capacity or for cost effectiveness, but the idea is not new and first appeared in the UK almost a century ago. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes a look at the famous ‘Quad-Arts’, which were amongst the most successful articulated vehicles ever to have operated in this country.

Topley Dale Quarry Feature Premium

Staff Projects: Quarry Creation

The scenery on Topley Dale’s diversionary route is off the starting blocks as Mike Wild builds an American outline plastic kit as the basis of a new quarry scene.

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Resurrecting the dinosaur

In the year that marks Hornby’s centenary, TIM SHACKLETON unlocks the potential of some classic models from the last half-century.

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Reality Check: LNER ‘N2’ 0-6-2T

Perhaps the most popular model of the early Hornby Dublo period was the LNER’s ‘N2’ 0-6-2T, which launched the Dublo range alongside the Gresley ‘A4’ in 1938. Many variations, some more realistic than others, followed. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks back at the history of this often modelled but unappreciated class.

EFE Rail J94 sound installation Feature Premium

VIDEO: EFE Rail 'J94' sound installation

EFE Rail's first 'OO' gauge locomotive is the Hunslet 'J94' 0-6-0ST. In this online exclusive video we show how to install digital sound into the compact tank engine using a ZIMO chip and Rail Exclusive speaker.

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Stanier ’Princess’ upgrades

New to the Hornby collection in its 100th anniversary year is the latest generation model of Stanier’s first ‘Pacific’ design – the ‘Princess Royal’. MIKE WILD breaks out his tools to give 46207 a digital makeover with the addition of sound, ‘stay alive,’ working lamps and a smoke generator too.

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Dublo in the '60s

The Modernisation Plan of the 1950s created huge interest, with many clamouring to model the latest trains. Hornby Dublo was quick off the mark and often produced models even before the prototypes had taken to the rails, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.

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The Clayton Type 1s

In its rush to dispense with steam locomotives, British Railways ordered many new diesels straight from the drawing board. One of the shortest-lived was the Clayton Class 17 – now the subject of a new model from Heljan. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the history of this handsome, but unreliable class in this feature from HM24 in 2009.

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The changing face of the Class 59

TIM SHACKLETON sees a much-loved Lima model thriving under the Hornby banner – and shows how to make it even better with simple additions and weathering.

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REALISTIC EMBANKMENTS

Embankments need to be planned at the initial stages of creating a model railway – and foliage on them can really help set a sense of time. ANTHONY REEVES shows how it can be done using teddy bear fur as the basis.