Steam locomotives

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East Quay

Small engines and short trains are the order of the day at this charming quayside station modelled in ‘OO’. CHRIS LANGDON explains the story of this compact exhibition layout which is now owned by St Neots Model Railway Club. Photography, Mike Wild

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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.

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Kernow Model Rail Centre's Beattie ‘0298’

Kernow Model Rail Centre’s Beattie ‘Well Tank’ project is bearing fruit with all four livery variations now approved for production (see Update) and the first Southern Railway liveried variant arriving in the

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The Beattie '0298' 2-4-0 Well Tanks

Many steam locomotives were given second lives in industrial and heritage railway service but seldom did this happen on the main line network. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES takes a look at the Beattie well tanks, which first escaped the scrapman 116 years ago!

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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.

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Kirkby Stephen West

The ‘Long Drag’ pushed steam locomotives and their crews to the limits. MALCOLM ROCHFORD explains how he recreated a small part of the Settle & Carlisle line in ‘OO’ gauge.Photography: Jonathan Newton

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Book review: Industrial Railways

Freight topics are particularly popular due to the varied nature of the payloads through the years and this latest volume from Amberley Publishing  highlights some of the heavy freight diesel locomotives  that were introduced by British Rail (and its successors) from the 1970s onwards.

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Book Review: GWR Locomotives - the Prairies

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2-6-2T ‘Prairies’ were some of Churchward’s earliest designs boasting two basic types: the smaller version for branch lines and the large type for outer suburban work in London and Birmingham.

WIN! A Hornby ‘OO’ gauge Stanier ‘Princess Coronation’ 4-6-2, worth over £200.

Hornby ‘OO’ gauge Stanier ‘Princess Coronation’ 4-6-2 in BR lined express passenger blue with early crests

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Weathering and detailing a Hornby LNER 'Q6' in 'OO' gauge

Operating your layout with only a limited selection of classes is entirely prototypical – but how do you make near-identical engines look different? TIM SHACKLETON shows how you can do it through weathering effects alone.