Whether you are just starting out in the hobby of scenic railway modelling, or are more experienced and are revamping an existing layout, this invaluable instructional volume will guide you through the art of using basic materials to create wonderful model scenery. Brimming with practical advice and tips, the book shows you how to create realistic cuttings, natural rocky outcrops, grassy hillsides, steep cliff faces, waterfalls, streams and lakes, as well as weeds, plants and foliage. Containing over 300 step-by-step colour photographs, this remarkable volume covers the tools and materials you will need and fully explains the modelling techniques that are required.

Although most people have heard of laser-cut and 3-D printed model railway parts and kits, most modellers have little knowledge or experience of them. This fascinating and well-illustrated book describes in non-technical language how these machines work and how railway modellers can use them to produce remarkable models for their layouts. With reference to the different modelling scales, the author discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages of different types of machines, and the materials they employ. He also shows how beginners can install and use 'Sketchup Make', a free CAD (Computer Aided Design) program from the Internet. With step-by-step instructions and accompanying photographs, the author takes the modeller through the early stages of using this program before providing many examples of how to design model railway related items such as laser-cut roofing tiles, palisade fencing, brickwork, and the detailed elements of station awning. In addition, he demonstrates how to create 3-D printed furniture, barrels, packing crates, guttering and down pipes, rivet heads, and a workman's hut.

Modern Freight Cars, a new book by Jeff Wilson, provides an overview of freight cars from the 1960s through today. This is an essential guide for model railroaders who model the 1960s through today, as well as railfans and freight train enthusiasts. The book features more than 200 photos and covers various types of cars, including boxcars, hoppers, and gondolas, and how they evolved, as well as new car types, including intermodal cars and 89-foot auto tracks. The book also gives a deeper look into how different industries use freight cars, when cars entered service, and the dates when rules and restrictions took place. Other topics include: Freight car evolution (size and weight increases; new car types) Car components (brake systems, trucks, and couplers) Hi-cube and specialty boxcars Intermodal cars (flat, spine, and well cars) Open and enclosed auto racks Mechanical and cryogenic refrigerator cars Center-beam flatcars And much more!

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.

A model railway layout is greatly enhanced by a good back scene. If a modeller is prepared to go to great lengths to achieve realism in the locomotives, rolling stock and buildings, this should be carried through to the scenics. This book is a comprehensive guide for both railway and diorama modellers to create convincing back scenes. It covers choosing the right materials; rural and urban back scenes; traditional painted back scenes; producing back scenes with camera and/or computer; the correct use of forced perspective and scale reduction; getting the transition from layout to back scene right and, finally, lighting and presentation.

The 00 gauge train set was the ultimate `boy's toy' of the 1950s and '60s. Electric 00 gauge trains were introduced by Trix and Hornby Dublo in the mid-1930s, but the Second World War quickly halted production. However, they burst back onto the post-war scene with great success, and 00 quickly became the dominant scale in Britain, and was taken up by other large manufacturers including Tri-ang. Whilst the components of the sets themselves were often basic, they could be transformed into astonishing landscapes in the hands of imaginative builders. The sheer number of box sets, locomotives, rolling stock, buildings and accessories gave everyone the ability to form a bespoke layout. This beautifully illustrated introduction to the heyday of clockwork and electric 00 gauge trains tells their story up until 1975, when finer detailing and changing trends led to them becoming enthusiasts' models rather than children's toys.

Simple, affordable, straightforward the track plans in Basic Model Railroad Track Plans Vol. 2 have one thing in common they're eminently buildable. Perfect for small spaces and beginner layouts, this mix of HO and N scale track plans emphasizes simplicity, flexibility and interesting operation.

If you want to recreate in realistic model form some of the excitement of watching trains by the lineside - then this is the book for you. It contains several photographs of the available relevant products and includes numerous step-by-step illustrations, with accompanying text, that demonstrate how to build the many features of the lineside, either from kits or from scratch. Moreover, all the various aspects of modelling the lineside are brought together in four layout projects covering typical lineside scenes from the steam era right up to the present.

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.

It is hard to imagine a model railway layout without a signal box somewhere along the line. They were, after all, the most numerous of the steam-era buildings, and some were almost as old as the railways themselves, dating back to the mid-1800s. With the increased availability of signal box kits and ready-to-site versions, this book provides an invaluable and timely guide to just which box is right for your layout. More than twenty model signal boxes are featured in actual layout locations in the book along with forty kits and projects from Alphagraphix and Bilteezi to the latest in downloads and laser-cut kits, specially constructed with detailed and illustrated step-by-step instructions. Tips, hints and useful advice on tools and adhesives is offered along with how to scratch-build your own signal boxes using different methods and materials.

In railway modelling, getting the technical components correct is essential for a realistic-looking layout but, unfortunately, these often present the biggest challenges for the hobbyist. Using his own experience as a railway modeller and electronics engineer, Andrew Duckworth provides a guide suitable for all railway modellers, from beginners to the more experienced. With instructions on how and where to use specialist electronic circuits to enhance your layout, this book will help you to achieve a reasonably sophisticated layout. It provides: an overview of the geometry required for building successful model railways; clear explanations of electronics and electrical components; comparisons of direct control and digital command control (DCC); step-by-step instructions for wiring the track, signals, buildings and lighting; reviews of electrical systems, power supplies, wires and cable, control panels and switches and finally, it covers detection, testing and troubleshooting tips.

This fascinating, well-illustrated and informative book presents a straightforward guide to points, signals and level crossings and provides all the information that railway modellers need in order to get the trains on their layouts moving effectively. The history of semaphore and colour light signals is outlined and the implications for modellers is clearly explained. A variety of different types of points, signals and level crossings is then illustrated with detailed instructions describing how to make them work. Simple, tried and tested mechanical and electrical methods used by modellers are explained together with modern electronic approaches, which are described in a way that enables them to be easily understood. The reader is taken step-by-step through various projects, and clear diagrams and photographs are provided throughout, including wiring diagrams for frogs, signals and level crossings. Written by an electronic engineer, this book contains invaluable information gained in a lifetime's experience of railway modelling.

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 book details the construction of a range of simple miniature steam engines and boilers. The projects, each of which can be completed with only a basic workshop, range from a single-acting oscillator to more sophisticated twin-cylinder double-acting engines and a variety of boilers. A final project brings together engine and boiler for a simple steam railway locomotive. These projects are a perfect introduction to model engineering and an enjoyable exercise for the more experienced engineer or those who wish to pass on their hobby to a younger generation. Stan Bray is an experienced craftsman in engineering and metalworking; among his previous books is "Metalworking: Tools and Techniques."