Modelling the East Coast Main Line in the British Railways Era follows the construction of an East Coast Main Line layout in 00 gauge, based on the Little Bytham prototype. Little Bytham, nestled in rural Lincolnshire, is the station nearest to where the fastest steam exploits in the country were achieved. Nearby, the Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to reach 100 miles per hour, Papyrus broke the world speed record for a non-streamlined locomotive, and Mallard set the current world speed record for a steam locomotive. This practical guide escorts the reader through all aspects of constructing an East Coast Main Line layout and topics include baseboard construction, track laying and ballasting; wiring and making signals; modelling scenery, buildings, locomotives, carriages and wagons and how to plan an operation sequence.

Planning, designing and laying the track for a model railway layout can be challenging, especially if you have never done it before. This book provides a step-by-step guide to the techniques required and methods used in track design and layout. With content suitable for those who are new to the hobby through to the more experienced modeller, and some 200 images, it includes: an overview of the various forces that act on prototype railways and which determine the design of trackwork. The planning and designing of layouts, including the pros and cons of different domestic locations are covered along with baseboard construction for both portable and permanent layouts. There is a review of the track systems available and how to lay tracks, the tools and skills required, and problem solving. Wiring up both analogue (DC) and digital layouts (DCC), with diagrams are given and scales and gauges are discussed. Finally, there are hints and tips on ballasting and weathering track.

Although most models of railway locomotives are produced in a pristine condition, in reality the external condition of most locomotives quickly deteriorated as operation and weather took their toll. Of all the skills associated with railway modelling, that of weathering of locomotives is perhaps one of the most difficult. It is very easy to spoil an otherwise beautiful model by the careless application of paint but as increasing numbers of modellers seek to create an ever more authentic feel for their layouts, information on the best methods of application becomes all the more important. This informative new volume provides the modeller with a guide to the principles and practice of weathering locomotives, providing modellers of all levels and abilities with a step by step guide to the skills involved and the pros and cons of undertaking such work on models. Following the same format as the rest of the 'Aspects of Modelling' series, the book includes instructive text alongside detailed colour illustrations. Examples of weathering include multiple-units as well as steam, diesel and electric locomotives.As well as the popular 4mm scale, the author also includes examples of 7mm and 2mm scale models.

Do you enjoy running model trains but want to improve your layout? Do you want to gain expertise over a wider range of railway modelling skills and acquire the confidence to tackle modelling tasks that you have previously shied away from? If so, this is the book for you. Brimming with advice and tips, this well-illustrated book covers a wide range of modelling skills, including designing a layout, choosing the right scale, building baseboards, selecting the right track, controlling the trains, building the landscape, making realistic grass and weeds, and adding figures. Particular attention is paid to more modern techniques such as DCC train control, laser cut and downloadable kits, and the use of hard foam in baseboard construction. Step-by-step explanations of many techniques are provided accompanied by over 400 instructional colour photographs. Information is provided about the tools and materials required and the extensive range of commercial railway modelling products that are now available.

Written by an acknowledged expert, this practical book is essential reading for all those railway modellers who wish to build a bridge or a viaduct for their layout. This new book contains in-depth descriptions and photographs of real-life bridges located around Britain (and one in New Zealand), ranging from the small to the monumental, from which the modeller can gain ideas and draw inspiration. As an essential aid to modelling, the constituent parts of the bridges are described as well as the engineering principles that make them 'work' and the materials from which they are built. Step-by-step instructions and photographs depict the construction in plasticard of five models: a simple girder bridge; a truss-girder bridge; a masonry arch bridge; a plate-girder bridge; and a viaduct. Covers prototype research, taking measurements, modelling materials and tools.

N gauge is the most rapidly expanding of all the model railway formats and if you want to take advantage of its huge potential, then this is the book for you. The author explains exactly what N gauge is, its history, its advantages and some of its possible disadvantages. He begins with a train set and progresses through choosing a prototype and designing a layout, to a practical demonstration of how to build a baseboard, to designs for open-topped baseboards and fiddle yards.

The technology for 3D printing has been around for many years but now has a rapidly expanding market among hobbyists and home users. 3D printing machines are now affordable for individuals or modelling societies and offer the opportunity to design and build bespoke parts of a model, or even create an entire carriage, wagon body or station building, through an automated process rather than construct them through traditional methods and materials or buy them off the shelf from a manufacturer. The authors take readers through the principles of 3D printing; the benefits to the railway modeller; the do's and don'ts of building structures in the materials available; an overview of the various CAD packages on offer and a simple entry-level tutorial; how to check your 3D printable file to ensure it contains no manifold errors and how to fix these prior to printing; troubleshooting; finishing your 3D printed component. A separate chapter introduces laser cutting for the modeller and includes a section on brass etching. The book contains how-to summaries for each section and is well illustrated with step by step techniques where appropriate, the various stages of 3D printing, the types of CAD packages and printers available to the modeller, and examples of models and components produced by 3D printing.

Steam locomotives dominated the landscapes across the world from the 1820's through the 1960's. Out of this came a new hobby, building and running miniature steam locomotives. These miniature steam locomotives operated under the same principles as their full size brethren as well make the same noises and smells. The steam locomotives are alive and "talks" to the engineer as the engine runs down the track through the sound of the exhaust/chuffing, look/sound of the fire and how the engine "feels". Unfortunately since we are so far removed from when steam locomotives ran, the knowledge of the how and why things were done can be hard to find. Through personal experience, trial and error, finding old steam locomotive books and talking with those who work with steam locomotives I have complied a lot of the hows and whys and have related them to the miniature steam locomotive as well as explaining the basics of how a steam locomotive works. When someone (child or adult) is asked to make the noise of a train, they will typically mimic the chuffing noise of a steam locomotive. This is a unique hobby where people can learn new skills (machining, welding, fabricating, building and running a steam locomotive, making track, making cars, etc.) outside of their every day life/job. People in the hobby come from a large variety of background ranging from auto mechanics, teachers, pharmaceutical reps, doctors, construction workers, lawyers, clergymen to railroaders. What I have written can be used by those who are interested in learning about steam locomotives and the hobby to those who are in the hobby and are wanting to learn more and continue to critique their locomotives.

This fascinating volume tells you everything you need to know about how to build an 00 gauge Tilbury Tank locomotive or, indeed, any similar type of tank. Written in an engaging, encouraging and easily understable style, this new work is a worthy successor to the author's first book, Scratch-Building Model Railway Locomotives, which was short-listed for the Ian Allan Railway Book of the Year Awards in 2014. Containing scale diagrams, step-by-step photos, sketches and specially commissioned artwork, the book celebrates the history of Tilbury Tanks and demonstrates a range of different techniques that will prove invaluable in constructing models of these charismatic little locomotives. If you have not yet taken the plunge and begun scratch-building, or if you want to complement your growing scratch-building skills and knowledge, this is the book for you.

Comprehensive in its coverage, Modelling the Southern Region - 1948 to the Present presents an historical overview of the post-war Southern Region of British Railways before guiding the reader through a series of detailed modelling projects, illustrating all of the techniques and equipment required, from building freight, locomotives and architecture, to modernization, electrification and the third rail. These projects make use of the best available commercial model-making products and provide an introduction to scratch-building your own lineside items. Each project is supported by a short historical background section and suggestions as to how each project could be further developed. The result will be a set of models that sets the modeller on track for a first-class model of the Southern Region.

0 gauge (scale 7mm to the foot) is the 'senior scale' and it has existed for almost as long as the hobby of railway modelling itself. With the advent of high-quality ready-to-run 0 gauge locomotives and rolling stock, it is enjoying a huge surge in popularity. This fascinating book covers the history and the benefits of 0 gauge; discusses the various prototypical gauges that can be successfully modelled in 0 gauge; examines making a start in this gauge and practical layout planning and it also shows the modeller how to successfully create scenery and model buildings.

This informative book provides a step-by-step account of the construction, from scratch, of a model railway called Dovedale. The model is operated like a real modern railway and was built entirely by the author within a strict low budget, using, wherever possible, recycled materials. Moreover, Dovedale is based on a specific prototype that exists in Buxton in Derbyshire, where freight trains run into an interchange siding, the locomotive runs round the train and then departs to a different destination. Some model railways are operated somewhat chaotically and are characterized by frequent derailments and locomotives that stop arbitrarily. If you wish to move away from this kind of layout and construct a model railway that operates realistically and reflects more closely the way that railways actually work in the second decade of the 21st century, then this is the book for you. Whilst constantly emphasizing realistic operation, the book covers layout planning and construction, controllers, point motors, power supply, cables and connectors, ways of operating traffic flows, signalling, track droppers, control panels and wiring, control and interlocking, lighting, sequence and block bells, the use of closed circuit television, and much more.

While the LEGO company's official line of trains is one of their most popular themes, official sets can be limiting-and expensive. Many model railroad fans want to build custom creations without the confines of official LEGO sets. For these serious fans, The LEGO Trains Book offers a comprehensive, photographic journey with building instructions that is sure to feed their passion. With full-colour, step-by-step instructions on building specific trains, track layout, and advanced aesthetic techniques among many other things.

The Hornby Magazine Yearbook is always eagerly anticipated and features the very best of the UK's colourful railway modelling monthly. Concentrating the highlights of the previous 12 months into a 132-page package, the yearbook offers a variety of features in all major scales and gauges.

Designed specifically for modellers of the modern scene, this new book provides a comprehensive reference to all the livieries that have come and gone on the network since the wholesale privatisation of the mid 1990s.It is now more than 70 years since the first DMUs made their first appearance on the British railway system and more than 50 years since DMUs were introduced onto the BR network in large numbers. From the late 1950s onwards several thousand DMU vehicles were brought into service as replacement for steam services over branches and secondary routes and from the mid-1980s onwards this first generation of DMU was gradually replaced by a second-generation of DMU although the final elimination of the first-generation units did not occur until the first years of the 21st century. On the privatised railway of the 21st century, virtually all non-electrified passenger services are now operated by DMUs of one design or another and, on the preserved railways, many examples of the first generation of stock continue to earn their living. Although initially ill-favoured, as the years passed, so the humble DMU has attracted an ever-growing army of enthusiast fans and this is reflected in the number of web-sites devoted to the subject, to the increasing number of models that are emerging - a reflection of the fact that virtually no model railway covering the BR scene post 1955 can avoid operating DMUs. Fully illustrated throughout, this is the perfect volume for all serious modellers!

Model railway baseboards are like the foundations of a house, and failure to build a rigid baseboard that has no movement will inevitably lead to problems. Accordingly, this invaluable, well-illustrated book is essential reading for all those who wish to be guided through the potential pitfalls of making a baseboard and who require practical information about the different kinds of boards and how to construct them properly. Describes in detail how to build several different types of baseboards from the simple box frame, through the monocoque flat board, the drop board and insulation board, to multi-level boards and the helix. With the less adept modeller in mind, the author also explains how to make a baseboard with only a drill, a screwdriver and glue.

Whether in a rural or urban setting, the addition of railway infrastructure can transform a train set into a railway layout. Modelling Tunnels, Embankments, Walls and Fences for Model Railways demonstrates how to build these essential features and place them into a railway layout. It describes the unique challenges, techniques and materials for each element, and provides plenty of practical advice on how to realistically model these crucial aspects of a landscape. Topics include: incorporating topographical features into a layout, from planning to execution; the importance of baseboard construction and track laying when modelling a landscape; practical considerations and techniques for building tunnels; the use of vegetation, animals and small buildings to bring layouts to life and finally, the use of ready-to-plant items, and kit- and scratch-building techniques.

John Ryan's model railway at Over Peover, Cheshire is a story on continual development. He first became interested in model railways at the age of five when his father took him to see A4s, A2s and A1s hurtling through Doncaster railway station on the East Coast Main Line. At Christmas 1955, he acquired his first train set a Hornby-Dublo three-rail `Duchess of Montrose'. Other train sets were acquired and layouts constructed - all OO gauge - until the fascination for O gauge took control. This was in the early 1980s and when, a little later, success and finances became available all his OO gauge locomotives and rolling stock were sold or swapped for O gauge models and he began constructing one of the largest layouts of its type in the country. The switch to O gauge coincided with his teaming up with Norman Solomon, an expert track-builder, who has been involved in the various stages of John's present enormous layout. Other people have supplied stations, goods sheds, coal hoppers, viaducts etc. John runs models of the locomotives he saw whilst a youngster in Doncaster during the 1950s and many are illustrated here. He also has a keen interest in the LNER locomotives built at Doncaster so that the layout can be operated in two periods - 1930s and 1950s. Carriages and wagons also fall into these two periods. Some of John's most impressive carriages include the `Silver Jubilee', `Coronation' and Pullman sets. Text within the book follows the development of model railways in Britain, Doncaster Plant Works' association with locomotive, carriage and wagon building, John's various railway layouts as well as touching upon his business interests. Photographs in the book show in fine detail and from different angles all aspects of the layout to such an extent that the viewer almost believes they are part of a real railway.

For nearly thirty years, John Haining (under the pen name 'Countryman's Steam') contributed a vast range of designs and constructional articles to the pages of Model Engineer magazine. These covered all types and sizes of engine:- steam traction engines for the road and field and standing engines, and the way they worked with ploughs, cider mills, elevators and threshing machines. The articles were always popular with those seeking steam experiences away from the railways, and as a result the author built up an authoritative reputation for the extent of his knowledge in this area. As a technical consultant to Model Engineer, the author built up an enviable reputation for the extent of his knowledge and the immense trouble he took to reply fully and clearly to readers' queries and problems. This book was originally written in 1982 to expound on some of the problems encountered by engine owners, both in full size and in small scale. It places particular emphasis on design and construction, and the care of steel boilers, with formulae and data used by the top firms. A new and enlarged edition was extended to cover more fully the design, construction and care of steel boilers in general, with formulae and data used by firms of repute. An extra chapter was included covering the author's designs of three vertical boilers, the Sentinel, the Caradoc and a 3 inch scale version.

Many railway modellers include an engine shed somewhere on their layout. However, all too often the shed is squeezed into a quite improbable location and is little more than a place to 'park' engines when they are not in use. This well-illustrated and comprehensive book, written by an experienced railway modeller, helps even the beginner to develop a far more realistic approach and to capture the unforgettable grimy but exciting atmosphere of the locomotive shed in the steam era.