Voie Libre international

There are two categories of light on our layouts. One is fully part of the scenery. It lights our houses, brings the alleyways to life... Then there is the overall lighting of our diorama, the “sun” of our miniature world. Without aiming for comprehe

Roco has just released a legendary Austrian narrow gauge diesel locomotive, one that caused many modellers to experience a “narrow gauge epiphany” in the 1970s. This engine is available in two versions. The original one, reviewed here – numbered 2095

This German retailer offers two Polish versions of the DR Saxon flat wagon with stanchions and bolster, already available and sold by Technomodell, then by PMT in H0-9. Apart from the Polish markings, they are identical to their German counterparts.

Roco has released a DR version HH 97-45-25, period III, of a flat wagon with low sides and stanchions built by Busch Bautz in 1942/43, which used to run on the Friedland network next to the Polish border. ROCO REF. 34530 PRICE OBSERVED: 28 TO

Bolzano (Bozen) is located in the Italian province of Upper-Adige, also known as South Tyrol. Until the end of WW1, this province was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before being awarded to Italy. Nowadays, 75 % of the local inhabitants remain G

In the mind of most modellers, secondary railways are synonymous with rickety narrow gauge lines. Such is not the case. The laws that governed the birth of local railways in France did not exclude any gauge. Around 1860, the French mainline network

Gilbert Gribi is among those modellers whose style is recognizable at first sight. The overall arrangement, the many life-like cameos, the choice of colours, the cleverly combined sources of inspiration, are all clues disseminated throughout his work

Among those who knew about the project, few really believed it would happen. Nevertheless, thanks to tireless efforts, Patrick Mourot and the Tacot des Lacs team eventually succeeded: bringing back from Serbia one of the two Péchot-Bourdon locomotive

Secondary standard gauge lines were the playground for tiny tank locomotives, small diesel engines and short trains of four-wheeler carriages and wagons. In this scale, there isn’t much in terms of typically French stock, so modellers will have to op

We have drawn a secondary terminus station somewhere in central France. The line that connects this small town with the main line junction is only a few kilometers long. A railcar is in charge of a passenger services. Goods, mainly supplies for the l

Here are two small railway-related objects, full of poetry and wide open spaces, despite being real space-savers! Two small and simple layouts, consisting of ovals, evoking broad scenery and that tend to make the viewer daydream. Both layouts delight

Having visited the area, the first impression that comes to mind is one of significant flatness! The station is located on the outskirts of the village, close to the salt pans, and the very distinctive church steeple looms over the countryside. It is

This line was part of a 366km long network conceded in 1897, then in 1913, to the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l’Etat, which created an affiliate to operate the system: the Compagnie des Tramways de la Vendée. The network was subsequently leased t

Before starting on this project, make sure you have the very latest version of this locomotive. Obviously, the running qualities of earlier versions was erratic, which is not the case for this one. What’s more, this version features complete and accu

For the “Liberated Regions” layout, which I started building a few months ago, I decided to favour several approaches at the design stage. First of all, by using new technologies, such as laser-cutting (see VL 94), to the extent that they could make

A quick calculation based on the formula R = (Usupply-Uled)/Iled will enable us to work out the resistor R to be used, knowing the amperage Iled required by the diode, the voltage Usupply of the supply and the direct voltage Uled on the diode. For e

This is a simple building, but essential in any station that sees steam locomotives operating. It will look perfect over there, out of the way, next to a service siding. Pierre Fichet has selected a simple model, with a perfectly cylindrical base, wh