Model Railway

Thompson bogies were the metal framework and suspension units that housed the wheelsets on Thompson railway coaches. They were hailed a great success due to their smooth running capabilities and were even retrofitted to earlier coaches and later...

In the world of model railways, there is no physical difference between a point and a turnout. They are simply different terms that refer to the same thing, however, in the real world they are very different.When modellers refer to a point, they...

Installing a driver or fireman into your locomotive can really bring it to life and add realism. After all, in real life, if you saw a steam locomotive hurtling down the tracks without a crew on board, then something has gone very wrong!Fitting...

Smoke generators are a great idea for introducing an extra level of realism to your locomotives. The concept is simple enough, you can buy a kit containing a smoke generating chimney with two wires attached to connect to your locomotive, some...

DCC ready engines will work perfectly normal on an analogue model railway. In fact, DCC ready locomotives are just regular analogue (DC) models, the only difference being that they have a little bit of extra wiring installed in case you decide to...

Creating a snowy scene on your layout is unfortunately not as simple as scattering some scenic snow on your tracks. As with most aspects of modelling, a study of the prototype is crucial if you are to create a convincing scene.Firstly,...

For those not in the know, rail joiners are the little metal clips (sometimes referred to as fishplates) that connect sections of model railway track together. Specifically, it's the metal rail part of the track section that slides into the rail...

The era system was introduced by manufacturers to help modellers identify in which period of history their model's prototype would have been seen in service. Both Hornby and Bachmann have a system where they allocate their models a number between...

Put simply, H0m is the scale that modellers would use is they wanted to portray a real-life railway that has a 1-metre track gauge and wanted to model it in H0 scale.Metre gauge railways are a common sight around the globe with many mountain...

Model trains certainly run at a voltage low enough that they can be operated from batteries, and as lithium batteries become smaller and more powerful it is plausible that a model train could run from batteries if you wish, but the question is...

HOe is a scale used by modellers in mainland Europe to construct layouts portraying a narrow-gauge railway with a prototypical track gauge of between 650 and 850mm (25.59–33.46 in).HOe scale trains run on model-track with a gauge of 9mm between...

A crossover is a railway track formation that allows a train to cross from one line to another.Crossovers are constructed from two turnouts (points) to facilitate a train movement from one track to another. A typical arrangement would be to have...