Model Railway Journal No 163

Product Information

auto-coaches / auto-trailers, coaches, drawings / plans, GWR / Great Western Railway, prototype, RTR / kit conversions, RTR / ready-to-run Narrow Gauge World" I get sometimes when there's an article--usually an overseas line, or obscure British system--that catches my eye (and imagination). Three photographs from the Great Northern Railway Society's archive showing the evolution of a Nissen hut between 1951 and 1956

BR / British Railways / British Rail, detailing, goods / freight, kits, RTR / kit conversions, wagons BR / British Railways / British Rail, GER / Great Eastern Railway, layouts, LNER / London & North Eastern Railway Denys Brownlee's 2mm finescale 'Flying Scotsman, and Monty Wells' superbly weathered MR covered goods wagon. Gordon Gravett describes his stunning 7mm diorama depicting a little slice of life on the Talyllyn Railway, now on permanent display at the TR's museum at Towyn. IMHO, there's too much duplication of content across the various titles these days and the really interesting stuff usually appears in the Modeller eventually, even if one (or more) of the others get there first. I like the RM's high quality paper, excellent photographs and less "adventurous" layout / presentation which makes it my "go-to" resource for items I want to extract and file.Iain Rice's little bit of Suffolk in Devon is finished at last. It's taken a while, but, to be fair, he did have to do it all by pushbike! 'The Mills' is an ideal P4 starter - or a useful sharpener for the more experienced. Issue number 25 had a specially designed cover to mark a "quarter century" of MRJs. Now in its fourth year, the editors reported that sales of copies were by now eight times larger than the sales expectation upon which the whole venture had been based and that the magazine found readers around the world, including significant numbers of modellers who didn't model British outline or to any specific sets of finescale standards - quite an achievement.

Low machinery wagons ('Lowmacs') always make interesting and attractive models. They are, in addition, ideally suited to production in miniature from etched material (several versions are now available in different scales). Here John Coates presents his findings on a 7mm scale kit by DJB Engineering for a vehicle which the ever-individual GWR termed a Loriot 'D'. He found it an ideal kit for the beginner. Three examples of the Multivent kit - two with rigid chassis in EM gauge (one soldered, one glued together) and one to soldered with a compensated chassis in P4. A fourth van, compensated in P4, constructed from the Perseverance etched brass kit. Peter Totman looks at BR-built 16-ton mineral wagons and ways of representing them in 4mm scale, using inexpensive, good-quality plastic kits. Stephen Duffell, a qualified pathologist, examines the use of microscope cover slips for glazing coaches.Aerial photographs of and information about Layerthorpe, in the City of York, where the independent Derwent Valley Light Railway sprang off the NER Foss Island branch From issue number 65 in 1993 MRJ changed its cover design for a second time to the style illustrated by issue number 97 on the right. The number and range of contributors was growing, although there had also been some departures. The life and works of a Scalefour Society Area Group - Cambridge area in this case - by Geraint Hughes.

A very good searchable index to MRJ is available here, created by Matt Otts it will open in a new window. Plenty of wagons ran load-less for part of their working life. Martyn Welch builds a wagon with working doors - a versatile model suitable for a part-loaded yard cameo.I have a full set of The Southern Way (if that counts as a magazine), and also buy specific issues of the various "nostalgia / historical" monthlies that include something I want to keep; again, usually filleted / filed after a decent interval.

Hurst Models etched/cast 4mm kit ZZV independent snowplough. MJT Scale Components 4mm scale LNER/Pullman gangways. Talbot of Bath range of needle files that can be bent. Bachman RTR wagons. Branchlines 1833 Mashima motor; compensated chassis for Dapol/Airfix railbus. Studio Scale Models GNR(I) brake van kit now has ready curved brass roof. Gladiator Models 7mm kit Class A1 (LNER B8) Glenalmond 4-6-0. Derek Ascot 7mm detailing parts. Prototype photo of 'Sardine can' Sentinel 0-4-0 run by Fry's, the chocolatiers of Bristol, taken in 1961.Martin McDermott concludes the story of his impressive 7mm scale fully spring Class 37 with details of the electrics. Portsdown Models jig for filing code 75 switchrails in 4mm finescale OO, EM and P4/S4, Connoisseur Models LNER 8T refrigerated van kit in 7mm, N Brass Locomotives AWS ramps in 4mm, speed restriction signs in 2mm and 4mm, and lineside relay cabinet frets in 2mm, Comet Models GWR dia D120 coach kits in 4mm, Laurie Griffin loco lamps in 7mm, MJT Scale Components business for sale The second part of Chris Crofts' important article examines prototype running gear of traditional opens. St. Merryn – Towards Improved Operation, Part 1 by Eddie Bourne [Scalefour Society’s South London Area Group]