Model Railway Features
Making Class 37s’GROWL’
The English Electric Type 3 is one of the most popular diesel locomotives and it has been the subject of many models over the years. MIKE WILD tackles the Bachmann and ViTrains ‘OO’ models in this double sound installation.
Staff Projects: Lighting control
A little extra detail can go a long way, especially in 7mm scale. MIKE WILD has been using the evenings to add a few finishing touches to his ‘O’ gauge ‘Western’.
The Churchward ‘Moguls’
Although many steam locomotives were designed for both passenger and freight traffic, few had the success of the Great Western’s ‘43XX’ class, a design that was to be the company’s maid of all work for more than half a century. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains all.
GWR '61XX' 2-6-2Ts
Although the Great Western Railway set out to produce a range of standard steam engines in the Churchward era, inevitably as time went on variants were produced for specific tasks. One of those were the ‘61XX’ 2-6-2Ts which were specifically provided for commuter services in London, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
Upscaling to ‘O’ gauge
Changing from ‘OO’ to ‘O’ gauge is much simpler than it used to be with an increasing range of motive power and greater consideration to digital control and sound. MIKE WILD opens up the Heljan Class 05 for ‘O’ gauge and shows how it can be enhanced with sound quickly and simply.
Southern push-pull
You can recreate the famous Southern Region push-pull trains for the Bournemouth-Weymouth section of the LSWR main line from London with a simple sound project using a new LokSound sound file pairing from Legomanbiffo and DC Kits. MIKE WILD installs the decoders into a Heljan Class 33/1 and a Kernow 4-TC unit.
Trailer Control
Bi-mode trains are all the rage now - but they are just the latest solution to a problem that has arisen before and which gave rise 50 years ago to a unique, but unpowered, multiple unit train known as the 4-TC, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovers.
The End of Southern Steam
Despite extensive electrification, British Railway’s Southern Region remained a Mecca for steam enthusiasts right into the late 1960s, with some crack express workings surviving until the very end in July 1967, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES explains.
Bulleid’s mixed traffic ‘Merchant Navy’
Born in wartime and constructed under false pretences, the ‘Merchant Navy’ 4-6-2s were one of the Southern Railway’s most groundbreaking designs. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into the story of these remarkable locomotives.
Bulleid’s radical designs
Although best known for his controversial Southern Railway ‘Pacifics’ Oliver Bulleid was an innovator whose work, if carried to a logical conclusion, might have resulted in steam lasting longer than it did. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the life of this remarkable man.
Bulleid’s ‘Merchant Navy’
The Southern Railway’s ‘Merchant Navy’ locomotives were some of the best looking steam engines ever built and amongst the most technologically advanced too - but they had some features which proved troublesome in service, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.
British Railways 4-VEP EMU
Electrification of Southern England's railway system extended progressively throughout the 20th Century and as it did so new electric trains were built to run on it. One of the most successful designs was the 4-VEP, introduced in 1967 as the network was extended to take in Bournemouth, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES found out.