Model Railway Features
Sound fitter’s toolbox
Adding sound to your locomotives requires a selection of tools and consumable materials. MIKE WILD explains the essentials to get you started.
SPEAKING VOLUMES
There is a huge array of speakers available, but how do you go about choosing the right one for your model? MIKE WILD explains all.
TWIN TRACK MIND
If you are looking for the ultimate starter sound decoder which won’t cost the earth, Hornby’s Twin Track Sound diesel decoders offer superb value for money and an enthralling driving experience. MIKE WILD shows how to add a Twin Track Sound decoder to a Class 31 as well as upgrading its speaker.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.