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How to Build a Model Railway
Pen & Sword

How to Build a Model Railway

Regular price £25.00 £0.00 Unit price per

Moving from a train set out of a box to making your own model railway can seem a daunting proposition. Whether you go your own way, wish to follow a prototype tightly or have an inherited stock that you want to make the best of. This book covers the act of deciding on a design that will keep the interest alive. Executing it in a manner that is within your skills set, and finishing it to a quality you are satisfied by within a time and financial limit. Here learning from those who have had both successes and the occasional false start will assist you in execution of your project and maintaining its interest. The book aims to explain jargon and includes such subjects as project design and planning, alternative baseboard construction methods, track laying, basic electrics accompanied by a rich and varied imagery. The Market Deeping Model railway club rose to public notice in May 2019 following the sad overnight vandalism of their annual railway show. The breaking news story became a worldwide cause celebre bringing a whirlwind of kind support from modellers and the general public. The rebuilding of the club's damaged layouts and new projects for replacements gave the rare opportunity of experienced modellers to photograph and document the build process and revisit the basics. The results are incorporated into this book making a positive and cathartic activity from a distinctly negative situation.

Hardback, 106 pages, colour & black & white photographs

ISBN: 9781399094849

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Updated: 2 April 2024