Railway Realism

Railway Realism features

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Level Crossings

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Level crossings are one of the common features on model railways, but few represent the diversity of styles which existed on the national system, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES discovered.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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The evolution of the railway carriage

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

From an open truck fitted with hard seats to a 140mph air-conditioned vehicle the British Railway carriage has come a long way in less than two centuries, yet it is surprising how long many features from those early years actually survived, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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Third-rail Electrification

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

The south of England’s pioneering third-rail electrified railway system has served the country well for more than a century, and after a long pause could yet be extended. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at the history of this innovative and important system.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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The Great Eastern Jazz Trains

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Intensive suburban passenger workings are a feature of many great stations, but perhaps one of the most efficient in steam days were the ‘Jazz Trains’ of the Great Eastern Railway’s London Liverpool Street terminus. These intensive steam workings established a frequency of service that many thought impossible to achieve, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES describes.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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Developing the diesel shunter

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Amazingly, the diesel shunter has been around now for more than 90 years. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at its development and shows how it can be incorporated into layouts set from pre-nationalisation days onwards.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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BR Liveries: Sectorisation to Privatisation

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

In the 1980s British Railways was coming under considerable pressure from the country’s politicians to stem its losses. One of the most radical changes made was the splitting of the railways into sectors and the abandonment of regional boundaries. The changes lead to an explosion of new liveries, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relates.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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RAILWAY REALISM: The British Royal Trains

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

The coronation of a new king in May will bring to the public’s attention one of the more unusual trains on our network, the Royal Train, which has been transporting our monarchs around the country now for almost 200 years. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks into its history.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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Class 08 Diesel Shunters

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

The Class 08 diesel shunters are amongst the most successful locomotives ever to run on Britain’s railways – yet they are often ignored by enthusiasts and modellers. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES argues this is a situation which should change. 

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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Heritage traction on the main line

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

Trains operated by individuals or small private companies have, for more than 50 years, provided a welcome variation to what we can normally see in everyday service. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES looks at how these workings came about and explains how they could provide variety on almost any post-1960s layout.

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES
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Development of the ‘Pacific’ steam locomotive

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES

For enthusiasts and modellers one of the best-known types of steam locomotive is the ‘Pacific’, a design that once dominated express services in Britain and produced the fastest steam locomotives ever to run on our tracks. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES investigates how the 4-6-2 developed and why it was to prove so successful. 

EVAN GREEN-HUGHES