Voie Libre international2 min read
ANDREAS SCHÖNFELD Pure Emotion!
Born in Berlin at the turn of the 1960s, Andreas’ very first train set was an Egger-Bahn starter one; it was love at first sight! He quickly became a keen modeller, an H0-9 fan, doubling as an enlightened collector of that brand. At the beginning of
Voie Libre international1 min read
Halling Modelle A Rack Railway Carriage
This new model, with no end-balcony nor brakeman's compartment, reproduces the prototypes that run on the Schafberg Bahn rack railway. This Austrian line connects Saint Wolfgang, on the Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut region, to the Schafberg summit
Voie Libre international3 min read
Gherkins! An Immoral Story
Scale: 1/32 Gauge: 16.5 mm Control: digital Plan: terminus to balloon loop Dimensions: L-shaped, 3.80 × 1.80 × 0.60 m deep Michael is quite a character, a generous man who enjoys telling the story of this layout. A story supported by the 3-dimensiona
Voie Libre international3 min read
The great CAROUAL CROSSING
A 4.60m gauge is a long, long way from narrow gauge, there is no doubt about that! 1m diameter wheels, a 10.85m height, and a tiny 42m2 platform. What on earth is this contraption? Jean-Pierre Schenfele: This contraption, as you call it, François, is
Voie Libre international1 min read
In Your Workshop MOTOR-TRAILER
I model in Gn15 scale, the very narrow gauge of 16.5mm in 1/22.5 scale. I do not bother drawing a plan, I simply think ahead about the dimensions, depending on what I have to hand, of the scale and of the realism of the proportions. I dug up a recycl
Voie Libre international2 min read
Press Review
In its issue 94, Rail & Industrie features a fine article by Louis Caillot dedicated to the locomotives used before WWI on construction sites. What with vertical boilered engines, those featuring a Brown valve gear, those designed for variable gauge
Voie Libre international3 min read
My Father's Mine
It's the summer of 1941. We are in Vichy, rue Chomelle, and more specifically in the attic of the house standing at number 7. This is where the young Jean-Marie spends his summer holidays with his grandparents, upstairs from the family medical labora
Voie Libre international1 min read
Livre
In this 80 page colour album, in Italian 28 x 21cm format, James Hilton describes all the advantages and recipes that will inevitably lead you to installing a micro-layout in your home. His approach is a pragmatic one: he tackles the various approach
Voie Libre international1 min read
Atelier Du Tacot: A Billard T 75 D
Atelier du Tacot has released a 3D printed kit of a Billard T 75 D diesel locomotive. Produced in strict 1/87 scale, it is designed to fit over the small 6.5mm gauge Busch chassis. The kit, sold without a driving mechanism, does however feature a sta
Voie Libre international4 min read
Diakopto-Kalavryta A GREEK RAILWAY WITH A FRENCH FLAVOUR!
At the end of the XIXth century, the Peloponnese region represented one third of the newly-established kingdom of Greece. It is a mountainous area and its central part is very remote. This means that the eparchy — meaning the sub-prefecture — of Kala
Voie Libre international1 min read
Jellymodels Locomotive Bodies
This Italian artisan, based in Japan, has released some splendid 3D printed locomotive bodies. They are designed to fit over 0-4-0 driving mechanisms, produced in kit form by one of his Japanese colleagues, Model Imon. Most of the bodies consist of o
Voie Libre international3 min read
Transfers MADE THEM MYSELF!
During WWI, 60cm gauge field railways played a particularly crucial role in supplying troops of the Vosges Army – probably more so than on other parts of the front. Trains were pretty much the only way of supplying the men posted on the mountain pass
Voie Libre international1 min read
Voie Libre international
PUBLISHER: Christian Fournereau - christianf@lrpresse.com/ EDITOR: François Fontana francoisf@lrpresse.com /CONSULTANTS TO THE EDITORIAL TEAM: Éric Fresné (ericf@lrpresse.com), Jean-Paul Quatresous / WITH ASSISTANCE FROM: Yann Baude (yannb@lrpresse.c
Voie Libre international1 min read
Gatherings
Meet narrow gauge enthusiasts and members of the Editorial team to exchange around our favourite hobby: - At MobExpo in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, on 20th and 21st April. - At the second edition of Passions Ferroviaires on the Kaeserberg layout at Fribou
Voie Libre international1 min read
Solidworks Becomes Even More Affordable!
Launched a couple of years ago, the annual subscription price of the «Makers» offer by Solidworks has just fallen from US$100.00 to US$48.00 without tax. If you add to this a rather favourable euro/dollar exchange rate, an annual subscription now cos
Voie Libre international1 min read
The «quatre Chemins» Collision
«Round about 1938, electric railcars had been introduced to operate the service between Saint-Joachim and SaintNazaire. These machines continued to run throughout the Occupation and one of them almost killed me. It was one morning around Christmas 19
Voie Libre international1 min read
Smoky Bottom Lumber C° A New Locotractor
Motive power is back in the SBLC range, with a new locotractor based on a D22 agricultural tractor. As is customary, Richard has concocted a kit consisting of some 20 neatly injected resin parts. Once separated from their spruces, the parts are assem
Voie Libre international1 min read
Schmalspurbedarf Pkp Wagons
H0-9 Schmalspurbedarf is a German retailer who sells Polish wagons from the national PKP network, made by the artisan Mano. The two new releases presented here are an open wagon and a breakdown box van. These very original wagons are 3D printed and f
Voie Libre international6 min read
The Dk Sets
At first, we opted for the Billard set, mainly because we had a dimensioned drawing and a rough sketch. When examining the many photos visible online, I realized that the trailers all seemed different. I decided therefore that the trailer would be th
Voie Libre international4 min read
HOW EXACTLY DOES Digital Work?
Digital covers a very down-to-earth reality: instead of being operated by a voltage regulator, a digitized locomotive is operated by an on-board chip which communicates with a central unit and its controller. The principle was explained in Issue 113
Voie Libre international1 min read
Evemodel: 16.5mm Gauge Diamond Bogies
Evemodel (China) produces a range of Diamond type bogies in H0 scale for 16.5mm gauge track. The price is ca. 12€ for a pair of bogies with metal axles or for 12 bogies with plastic axles (customs duties may apply). The diameter of the tyres at rail
Voie Libre international5 min read
Building two Wagons In On18
MY WORD, WOOD AND NOTHING ELSE! We are going to model prototype 40cm gauge, by using H0e 9mm gauge track. True, 9 mm x 43.5 = 391.5mm, but let's not split hairs over the shortage of a prototype 8.5mm. The advantage is using a scale that has plenty of
Voie Libre international4 min read
A Night In The Peloponnese
At first, it's just a slightly crazy project! One of those projects one has been dreaming of creating for years, but that are always postponed, for all kinds of incredibly good reasons such as… well, you know, good reasons… you see what I mean, don't
Voie Libre international1 min read
Roman Abt
A Swiss engineer, born in 1850 in the Zurich area, Roman Abt cut his teeth under the tutoring of Nicklaus Riggenbach, 33 years older and the inventor of a railway rack system in which a pinion driven by the motor meshes with a kind of ladder laid dow
Voie Libre international1 min read
Tramfabriek: Magnoled, Magnetic Light
The British artisan Tramfabriek has produced these small autonomous lighting systems, MagnoLED, hyper-convenient for our tiny carriages. Just imagine: a circuit board carries on one side the components required for it to work, as well as a LED. On th
Voie Libre international1 min read
Editorial #117
It is generally accepted that railway modelling calls on a wide range of abilities: a touch of historical research, just to know where we stand and provide some context. A bit of technical know-how, to make sure everything works properly and smoothly
Voie Libre international5 min read
THE RAILCARS OF the Economiques des Charentes
PLANS 1/43.5 PAGES 42 TO 44 Irrespective of the gauge, the main reasons for which railcars were introduced were the same everywhere: to cut back on running costs and increase the average speed. After WWI, road transport became a strong competitor and
Voie Libre international1 min read
Bachmann Europe A Highly British Carriage!
Built on bogies drawn from military surpluses, these carriages were supplied by the Gloucester Carriage Company to the Ashover Light Railway in 1925. Quite logically, to complement the Baldwin 4-6-0s and the ALR open wagons that are already in their
Voie Libre international1 min read
Atelier Du Tacot: End-tipper Wagons
Never produced in H0 scale, these small endtipper wagons used to be found all over public works sites and quarries from the mid-XIXth century until the 1960s. Their wooden structure meant that very few were preserved. Pascal Boivin has just released
Voie Libre international1 min read
Bemo: A 4-wheeler Carriage For The Velay Express
H0-12 Built by SIG Neuhausen in 1908 for the Bernina line, it was transferred to the RhB in 1942 under number BC 1415, then converted to AB 1415 in 1956 when 3rd class was abolished. It became a 2nd class carriage (B) in 1973, and was withdrawn on 4t
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