The Club builds and operates layouts in a variety of scales.
Laser cut coaches
Like many Railway Modelling addicts I was born sometime in the middle of the last Century. At that time The Hobby (my capitals) was pursued in a cultural climate where television was monochrome if available and heavy industry was commonplace. Being a master craftsman was a mark of distinction. Computers were unknown to the general …read more.
May 24, 2020
Constructing an Ian Kirk ‘O’ gauge Siphon H – the hard way!
I decided to do things the hard way when building a Siphon H, instead of choosing the quick and easy (and more sensible) option. I soon nicknamed the project ‘Monty Siphon’ as at times it was almost like a Monty Python sketch, where I stumbled from one problem to the next. First a little bit …read more.
May 24, 2020
Building Trapezium Baseboards for Minories
The classic Minories layout is a terminus to fiddle yard design – and that is what we built back in 2007 and how the layout has operated for many years. With a good team of operators we’ve presented a slick service of peak hour trains running in and out of the station’s three platforms at …read more.
May 23, 2020
Lynton and Barnstable – an embryonic “OO8” project
I have always had a soft spot for the Lynton & Barnstable railway: a narrow gauge railway but with standard gauge style. Over the last couple of years we have holidayed a few times in North Devon, visited the area and, of course, the preserved railway itself. A grand little line, that is becoming a …read more.
May 22, 2020
Sarum Road – Part 2
Jumping the gun a bit – here are the completed baseboards and legs. The legs are ballasted with camping water bottles! The white structures on top are dummies for the viaducts, etc to be built. Tools The tools used (so far) have been: Tape measure Carpenter’s marking gauge Bradawl Modeller’s knife Straight edges 3′ and …read more.
May 21, 2020
Corridor Connections – improve the appearance of coaches
Hornby and other manufacturer put in a great deal of effort to ensure that an appropriate model is as accurate as possible within the tooling process, and produced at a price that we can afford. But there are extra touches that make a real difference – including closing up the corridor connections so there is …read more.
May 16, 2020
Sarum Road – Story of a OO gauge layout – Part 1
“Sarum Road” is a model of part of a locomotive depot set in the year 1956 in South London. The yard is small but busy, with a selection of Southern and BR types, as well as occasional LMS and NE locos that have crossed the Thames on transfer services. On the viaduct is a shuttle …read more.
May 14, 2020
Fitting Kadee auto couplings to some CRT O gauge coaches
Some members may remember me bringing along my O gauge Bulleid Light Pacific (34019 ‘Bideford’) into the Club some months ago and running it on the test tracks. She is the pride of my fleet, being built from a Martin Finney kit by notable loco builder John Edwards and painted by Ian Rathbone a few …read more.
May 10, 2020
The Etymology of Copenhagen Fields – Part 1
This article was first published in Bulletin 423 – available to download in the members’ section of the website. The observant amongst you will have noticed that there are many shops, factories and vehicles on Copenhagen Fields, some of which carry names. Quite a few of you will realise that many of these names have …read more.
May 9, 2020
Renumbering a Hornby Bulleid Light Pacific – from Bude to Yeovil
On the 75th anniversary of the first Bulleid Light Pacific rolling out of Brighton, here’s an article from our Bulletin archive about renumbering and detailing the Hornby model. Some time ago fellow MRC member Ian Lamb and I discussed the possibility of converting the then new Hornby Bulleid Light Pacific into one that replicated how …read more.
May 8, 2020
Exchange Sidings – A start in EM gauge
In Bulletin 416, I outlined the plans for a small shunting EM gauge layout that we would try to build in a weekend. So did we do it? The 21 and 22 February 2004 were the days chosen for the project. Despite a number of offers of assistance, I was slightly concerned on whether the …read more.
May 8, 2020
A Tale of Two Signal Boxes in 2mm Scale for Copenhagen Fields
The Model Railway Club’s 2FS “Copenhagen Fields” layout requires no less than six signal boxes. Some years ago I made one of them, “Belle Isle Up” [ “BIU” ], and I was asked to then build its opposite number “Belle Isle Down” [ “BID” ]. Well, what with one thing and another proper 2mm modelling …read more.
May 7, 2020