I have been extremely fortunate to have employed Bob Dawson of A.C.O.M.B Architectural Models, York to make me a 1/87 model French NG station based on ‘Chey’. Bob has done a excellent job in making a model that captures the essense of the small stations used on the French narrow gauge lines. The original plans […]
As a keen HOe scale model railway builder and exhibitor of my layout “Die Keinnamebahn” my wallet is repeatedly placed under attack by the traders at these shows! It means that I now have several versions of the same model in my rolling stock. This week’s addition is the Roco Mh4 H0e locomotive with DCC […]
I was fortunate to be invited to take Die Keinnamebahn to the Mount Tabor Models Nurnberg Spring Models Show at Cromford in Derbyshire on Saturday/Sunday 5/6th March. A small show but very satisfying to attend after more than 2 years of Covid restrictions. We were able to try out our new overhead LED lighting system […]
A Happy New Year to all my readers. After much deliberation I have made the decision to move away from my home-made Raspberry Pi based DCC control system to use the Roco Z21 DCC control system. The Z21 system is easier to program and use and integrates extremely well with my iPads and iPhone and […]
Custom Model Decals (https://custom-model-decals.com) have announced a new set of decals for the Indian Railway mainline coaches. These accurate Hindi-English decals could easily be used on an Indian narrow-gauge layout. The decals were developed with the invaluable help of Jeremiah Bunyan in India, his mother undertaking the Hindi translations and checking that the Hindi was […]
The 009 Society, which represents narrow gauge modellers in 3.5 & 4mm/ft scales, have recently added a page to their website displaying their members-only model kits. Very reasonably priced they make nice models of narrow gauge rolling stock. https://009society.com/news/009-society-kits/ for more details
The innovative decal design business Custom Model Decals (https://custom-model-decals.com (https://custom-model-decals.com) have announced that they have developed waterslide decals for the Darjeeling Himalayan Light Railway NDM 6 diesels and their accompanying coach sets in both 009 4mm/ft 1:76 and H0e 3.5mm/ft 1:87 scales. The decals use their innovative ‘film-free’ decal technology where accurate cutting out is […]
May I wish all of this blog’s readers a happy Christmas and a safe and better New Year and 2021. I have treated myself to this wagon by the excellent modeller Leigh Hulatt. It is a 16-wheel heavy duty well wagon based on a 1920s Austrian prototype.
The new UK producers of waterslide decals, Custom Model Decals, have designed and produced 7mm/ft scale decals to fit the Mercian Models kit for Welsh Pony. These new decals are for the recently displayed new livery for the Ffestiniog Railway’s latest restoration project. More details on these decals can be found here: https://custom-model-decals.com/decal-news/welsh-pony-decals-to-fit-7mm-ft-scale-mercian-models-kit/
The 009 Society (https://009society.com) have now placed their archive of 009 News, the Society’s journal on narrow gauge modelling, online for access by its members. With nearly 20 years issues currently available this archive in PDF digital form is a history of narrow gauge railway modelling. The public can search the archive article titles but […]
I am pleased to announce that the 009 Society now have a new website at https://009society.com produced by Andrew Jeffcock of Retiarius Internet Design. Some of the new features they have on this website are: New public pages to advertise the work of the Society, its aims and to provide information on exhibitions where you […]
We have now added another 20 UK model shops to our listing.
Well, we are now back home after the North Wales N Gauge Society show at Conwy. We were made most welcome by all the society members there and we had a lovely friendly show with hardly a gremlin in sight. Die Keinnamebahn ran perfectly and only needed occasion track and wheel cleaning to be able […]
I have now completely rewired the underside of the nine baseboards that comprise Die Keinnamebahn. The following tasks have been completed since our recent RF induced system failure at the Bakewell show. All power/DCC buses under the boards have been replaced with 2mm diameter solid copper wire. As many track feeds as possible have been […]
We took our layout “Die Keinnamebahn” to the Chesterfield Model Railway Society annual show at Bakewell, Derbyshire for their weekend-long exhibition. We set up on the Friday evening and immediately had DCC control problems. Locos would start in the fiddle yard but would be jerky in operation and would ‘die’ about 1/4 of the way […]
My layout “Die Keinnamebahn” uses a Raspberry Pi interfaced to a SPROG 3 DCC controller. Whilst doing my pre-exhibition tests prior to taking the layout to Bakewell, Derbyshire for the Chesterfield Model Railway Society Exhibition this coming weekend (7-8 June 2019) my SPROG 3 suddenly developed an intermittent faults and kept dropping power to the […]
009 News, the members’ magazine of the 009 Society, published this lovely comment on Die Keinnamebahn at its showing at Narrow Gauge North 2019 in April at Pudsey. SWMBO and I are, as we say up North, “well chuffed”! Die Keinnamebahn will next be on display at the Chesterfield Model Railway Society’s show at Bakewell, […]
I wanted to use some DCC Concepts 2-aspect ground signals that I had bought. They came with two DCC Concepts Alpha Mimic LED controllers but at 50 UKP each, and capable of operating 24 LEDs each, they are too expensive to use on Die Keinnamebahn where only a few signals are on each board and […]
I decided that it was taking too long to unpack and pack my rolling stock at exhibitions by having to use the manufacturers packaging. I have therefore started to make stock boxes by adding an inner liner of foamcore board with partitions to keep the stock safe. Ryman, in the U.K., sell various sizes of […]
I made my H0e exhibition layout “Die Keinnamebahn” using the laser cut MDF scenic baseboards manufactured by Tim Horn (https://timhorn.co.uk). Tim’s original 400x250x50 mm scenic baseboards were made using 3mm MDF but his new style boards now use 6mm thick moisture resistant MDF with 3mm ordinary MDF sides and ends. The ends are accurately cut […]
The Aldi Alarm Padlock is, in my opinion, a total waste of money. Publicised by Aldi as suitable for protecting your shed or garage it has a fatal flaw, one night of rain destroys the electronic alarm circuitry! The padlock has upward facing loudspeaker holes which have no effective sealing. One night of rain filled […]
I will be using the 4 litre plastic storage boxes from Rymans to hold my unboxed rolling stock that I will be taking to the exhibitions I will be attending with my H0e Narrow Gauge exhibition layout Die Keinnamebahn. I will fit out the storage boxes with foam board partitions to protect the stock. To […]
This layout, De Graafstroom by Vincent de Bode, was filmed by Ted Polet at the Model Train Expo, Ontraxs! 2019 at the Dutch Railway Museum (Het Spoorwemuseum) Utrecht, 15/16/17 March 2019. Watch the beautiful scene develop as the swan floats down the river and the sailing barge slowly heads up river to pass under the […]
I have been developing a JMRI (Java Model Railway Interface) DCC (Digital Command Control) system for my exhibition layout “Die Keinnamebahn” that uses mobile smart phones as WiFi connected hand throttles connected to the JMRI software running on a Raspberry Pi Model 3B+ microcomputer set up as a WiFi access point. I got the […]
A short video of my Brawa br199 ‘Harzkamel’ running on Die Keinnamebahn at the NMDRM exhibition at Chapel-en-le-Frith on 23/24 February 2019
Because we will be using a computerised, Raspberry Pi based, DCC control system with wireless hand controllers to control Die Keinnamebahn at exhibitions I wanted to protect the system from induced spikes or drop outs in the mains electricity supply. Dropouts can occur if someone accidentally, or inadvertently, unplugs a mains supply lead to the layout […]
As we progress getting ready for the first of our 2019 exhibitions at Chapel-en-le-Frith I have now fitted the Raspberry Pi microcomputer into a £10 fan cooled case that fits onto the back of the TV and connects to the DVI video connection on the TV. The case, complete with fan and all fitting screws, […]
Well, it is another year gone by and I have taken Die Keinnamebahn out of its storage crates to test it, and fix any problems on it, so that it can show at the first of this year’s exhibitions, Chapel-en-le Frith on 23/24 February. Last year we had a minor problem with the track lifting at a […]
it never ceases to amaze me what you can buy via a certain internet auction site. For £4.42 inclusive of postage you get a brass handled precision cutter with easily replaceable snap-off blades for less than you would expect to pay for a flimsy plastic component. Sold as a “Leather Craft Tools DIY Incision Cutter […]
As a little whimsy I designed, and had made, some mugs for myself and my wife for use at exhibitions. They are aluminium heat retaining travel mugs with sealed lids. Labelled “Zugfürer” (Driver) and “Zugwache” (Guard) they, along with our banner and custom Die Keinnamebahn sweatshirts will, hopefully, add a little extra professionalism to our […]
Die Keinnamebahn was invited, and we have now confirmed, to show at the 009 Society’s premier show, Narrow Gauge North, at the Civic Centre, Pudsey, Yorkshire on Saturday 9th March 2019. My wife and I are honoured to be invited to this show which will exhibit some of the UK’s finest narrow gauge model railways.
As part of getting ready for our 2019 exhibition outings at (Chapel-en-le-Frith on 23rd & 24th February, Narrow Gauge North at Pudsey (9th March) , Chesterfield Model Railway Society show at Bakewell (8th & 9th June) and the North Wales N Gauge Society show at Conwy 6th & 7th July) I have designed and had […]
Christmas is coming early for me this year. My wife, forever trying to buy me a useful present, is buying me a model makers’ belt sander for Christmas. It is only 175mm x 110mm x 140mm/6.88” x 4.33” x 5.51” in size and uses 330x10mm belts as used in some electric files/sanders. I should be useful […]
This conversion was made by Andy V8, a narrow gauge modeller. He has given me permission to post this article on his conversion. It used a cheap plastic souvenir model of the Garratt locomotive “ H.R.Zubieta” on the 600mm gauge Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino (FCAF) line in Uraguay. Andy used 2 Koppel locomotive chassis by […]
Many commercially produced locos have bulbs or LEDs to illuminate the headlamps and tail lamps. Modern LED equipped locos usually now have bicolour LEDs to change between red and white depending upon the direction of the loco, but many don’t and just have a single colour LED or lamp that shows white only in the […]
I recently obtained some lovely 1/87 scale models of French road vehicles. They include these two models of Renault Galion trucks. They are not cheap at but in my opinion are well worth the money for the rarity and quality of these models. They would grace any Continental H0 scale model railway.
You can now follow Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Narrow-Gauge-Railway-Modelling-1926030680780061/
I bought a supposedly 1/87 scale cherry picker (lift platform) off of eBay from a Chinese seller. The box clearly states 1/87 as the scale and so I am not complaining against the seller, but the item is clearly not 1/87 in scale and I estimate it to be at least 1/48, 1/43 or even 1/35 […]
The Resistance Soldering Unit (RSU) that I bought was a second-hand unit and appears to be a home-made unit. It was nicely finished but I wanted to check it out for safety as potential mains voltages and hand held probes do not go together! I therefore opened the box and checked that all the wiring […]
You can now follow this blog on Apple News if you have an iOS or MacOS device such as an iPhone, iPad or Apple computer. The Apple News articles will automatically synchronise with posts on this blog. The Apple News channel is called “Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling”. To see this channel, open this link on […]
I built a turntable for Die Keinnamebahn and electrified it using Peco NB-55 n-gauge turntable kit and a 10rpm geared motor, worm and gear obtained from China, via eBay. I had to build my own gearbox frame from strip brass, no easy task for this amateur metalworker! The installation worked but I wondered if there was […]
I was going to be using the European Station models by Bachman for Valdieu-Lutran but, when I tried them in real life rather than as appearing on the track plan, they appeared far too big for such a narrow baseboard, especially against a train. The goods shed especially was too wide and needed to be […]
Welsh Highland Railway South African Garratt articulated NG16 locomotives crossing at Beddgelert, Noth Wales in July 2018. [ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”19″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails” override_thumbnail_settings=”0″ thumbnail_width=”120″ thumbnail_height=”90″ thumbnail_crop=”1″ images_per_page=”20″ number_of_columns=”0″ ajax_pagination=”0″ show_all_in_lightbox=”0″ use_imagebrowser_effect=”0″ show_slideshow_link=”1″ slideshow_link_text=”[Show as slideshow]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]
The Liliput 2095 diesel in H0e is still a much-wanted model even after being out of production for nearly 20 years. The loco is usually very reliable but has an Achilles heel in that the plastic counterweights go brittle with age and split at the point the connecting rod pin is pressed into the counterweight. […]
All modellers have experienced that dreaded moment when a small part goes ‘ping’ from a pair of tweezers or when using a scalpel to cut them from the spruce. Dropped parts, screws and other tiny bits are promptly eaten by the carpet monster only to be found when you have finished or binned the project […]
My copy of the 009 Society News (Volume 45 Number 10, July 2018) dropped through my letterbox this morning and my article on Die Keinnamebahn has been published as the lead article. It is over 20 years since I last had an article published, and that was in my capacity as a Member of the […]
Today has been spent checking that the embedded track was usable by a selection of locos. One, a Roco 0-6-0 tank caused problems by being tight on the track. After checking and resetting the back-to-back measurement on the loco all is now well. The copper clad pcb material was trimmed to 1/8″ outside of the […]
It has been a busy day. I now have a name for my new layout. It will be called Valdieu-Lutran. Valdieu-Lutran is a small town in France near the German and Swiss borders and sits on the Canal du Rhone du Rhin, so allowing me a small quayside and, if it is a heritage railway, […]
It never rains but it pours rocking horse droppings, or rather rare Atlas Editions autorail (automotrice) models. In this case a 3 piece set of L’Automotrice du Train Jaune Z-105 + 2 Remorques (ZR-20001 and ZR-20033) – 1909. The set will join my collection of these lovely models. The Little Yellow Train of the Pyrenees […]
I have for sometime been buying autorail models by Atlas Editions with the intention of converting some of them into narrow gauge models using n-gauge chassis. The other day I saw what, to me, is the rare as a rocking horse dropping, L’autorail Floirat et sa remorque autorail with trailer. I had never seen this […]
