Welcome

‘Choice facilitates freedom’. It’s one of the guiding

This month’s cover image

Dan Hughes’ ‘Katie Lane TMD’ was built in

An extremely tight squeeze

Following a house move, Mike Turton realised that while his garage needed to accommodate the car, the rest would be full of trains!

Backscene

Not ‘dark forebodings’ but the Spring often brings some mixed feelings and times of change for Chris Leigh .

UPDATE: BACHMANN CLASS 69

OO GAUGE T he first decorated samples of

MORE BULLEID COACHES A BOON

OO GAUGE Bachmann’s acclaimed range of Southern Bulleid

TOUAX CONTAINER FLATS

‘TT:120’ GAUGE New to Hornby’s ‘TT:120’ range is

EFE LAUNCHES CLASS 74

OO GAUGE Although only 10 Class 71 electric

HORNBY TYPE 3 TRIO CATCHES EYE

‘TT:120’ GAUGE Although Hornby had already revealed that

WIN A HORNBY ‘TT:120’ HST TRAIN SET

‘TT:120’ GAUGE Worth £249.99! Hornby’s superb ‘TT:120’

EXCLUSIVE CLASS 26 – ON SALE NOW!

* Pre production models shown Our exclusive

FACTFILE: CLASS 26/1 26043

Built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon

LEGENDARY CHURCHWARD 4-6-0 IS HEADLINE NEWS

OO GAUGE A mongst Hornby’s many new ‘OO’

DIESEL AND ELECTRIC HIGHLIGHTS

With Hornby’s Greater Anglia FLIRT bi-mode units due

RAIL 200

To mark 200 years of train travel, Hornby

ROLLING STOCK

Alongside new runs of GWR Collett corridor stock,

RETRO TRAIN SETS

Hornby’s popular range of retro-style train sets continues

ACCURASCALE’S RUSTON IS HERE!

OGAUGE Marking Accurascale’s first foray into ‘O’ gauge

O&K WAGONS DELIVERED

OO GAUGE Produced by Cavalex for Ultimate Model

‘CLAYHOODS’ GET THE ACCURASCALE TREATMENT

OO GAUGE A key freight wagon from the

CAVALEX ‘60’ ARRIVING

OO GAUGE The first version of Cavalex Models’

RHAPSODY IN BLUE BY RAPIDO

OO GAUGE Following the arrival of the ‘Jones

‘88’ GETS CLOSER

OO GAUGE Final production samples of the Dapol

EVOLUTION BATCH 2 GOES AHEAD

OO GAUGE With healthy pre-orders of Rapido’s first

‘CO-BO’ BACK SOON

OO GAUGE Produced initially by Heljan for Hattons,

NEW LNWR OPENS

OO GAUGE Rapido is adding more pre-Grouping-era wagons

OXFORD’S NEW WAGON A CHARM

OO GAUGE The unusual GWR ‘Totem A’ bogie

MUSEUM SPECIAL ‘SINGLE’

OO GAUGE After much demand, Rapido Trains UK

DAPOL AUTOCOACHES IN COLOUR

Dapol recently revealed a suite of decorated samples

LAR POCKET WAGON SET TO RETURN

OO GAUGE Dapol’s sought-after KQA/KTA inter-modal pocket wagon

TMC LAUNCHES POINT MOTOR

ANY GAUGE Produced originally for Hattons by DCCconcepts,

NEARLY TIME FOR MIDLANDS GARDEN RAIL SHOW

One of the leading model railway events dedicated

30-UP FOR WEST MIDS ‘N’ GAUGE CLUB

The West Midlands N Gauge Club is celebrating

BUILT LIKE A BRICK OUTHOUSE

00 GAUGE Assembled from laser-cut fibreboard and wood,

TIME FOR CAKE

00 GAUGE Noch has introduced a new range,

Modeller’s Bookshelf

Chris Leigh and George Dent present four new titles to inspire and inform your modelling

ON THE WORKBENCH

What new products have appeared in George’s workshop this month?

DON’T SPOOL THE FUN

Billed as a 1:35 scale diorama accessory kit

LIMITED EDITION GRASS MASTER

ANY GAUGE This new special edition of Noch’s

‘AUSTERITY’ CREWS

Modelu’s list of footplate crew packs aimed at

GET TRUCKING

00 GAUGE Among the latest releases from Oxford

TWO MEN AND A BOAT

00 GAUGE Another handy cameo set from Busch

EXHIBITION DIARY – FEBRUARY–MARCH 2025

February 14 &15 SOUTH SHIELDS, TYNE &

…and finally

Photographer: Chris Nevard Unusual scenes captured by

News Real

Our full-size railways are constantly evolving, providing fresh inspiration for modelling projects. BEN JONES looks at a few of the latest developments that could soon be appearing on our layouts.

Staff Show & Tell

A towering tale

IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR FOR YOUR ROUND TUIT…

Inside track with Ben Ando

A legacy layout

Almost 40 years in the making, Phil Mason ’s ‘Ebridge’ covers his entire modelling life and has moved with him, and with the times.

Detail on a deadline

Despite being built within a tight three-week time limit, Dan Hughes ’ ‘Katie Lane TMD’ doesn’t scrimp on the detail.

HOW TO BUILD WHITEHALL HALT

PART TWO

HOW TO DISTRESS PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS

With an urge to recreate a fleet of shabby private owner wagons for the BR steam era, George Dent seeks to create a greater sense of texture to plastic bodyshells.

HOW TO USE PLASTER TO CREATE LIFELIKE ROCK FACES

Peter Marriott dons an apron and sets about testing an interesting new modeller-friendly plaster material that hails from Belgium.

HOW TO RECREATE THE UNIQUE BRUSH ‘HAWK’

Thanks to the arrival of Heljan’s RTR model of prototype Type 1 10800, Tony Kunzmann was able to attempt a conversion project to depict an important research locomotive.

HOW TO BUILD A CLASSIC GWR HALT IN ‘O’ GAUGE

Chris Leigh brings together Timber Tracks and Intentio structures to create a classic Great Western halt in 7mm:1ft scale.

KR Models Bulleid ‘Leader ’ 0-6-0+0 6-0

• GAUGE ‘OO’ • MODEL KR

Hornby ‘TT:120’ Class 66

• GAUGE ‘TT:120’ • MODEL Hornby

Rapido Trains UK GNR Stirling ‘Single’ 422 (1938 condition)

r GAUGE ‘OO’ r MODEL Rapido

Hornby Class 802/2 TPE ‘Nova 1’

GAUGE ‘OO’ r MODEL Hornby R3908

Accurascale BR 16ton mineral wagons

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODEL Accurascale • ACC1024

Darstaed K-Type Pullman cars

GAUGE ‘O’ MODEL Darstaed All-steel

Accurascale BR Mk 1 Suburban stock

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODELS Accurascale •

Heljan 35ton Class B tanks

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODEL Heljan 1114

Hornby GWR ‘King’ 460

GAUGE ‘OO MODEL Hornby R30364

Hattons Genesis coaches

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODEL Hattons Originals

Kernow Model Rail Centre LBSC ‘Open A’ wagons

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODEL Kernow Model Rail

Park side LNER bulk grain wagon kit

GAUGE ‘OO’ MODEL Parkside Model