NOW IS THE TIME TO GO LARGE

Supplier

Where to go for larger scales

Product/service

Contact

Talisman Castings 7/8ths axleboxes, brakes, couplers and other brass detail items. http://TalismanCastings.net (but use contact here, not on the web). Glynis Coulter, 102 Portland Crescent, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 5NW Tel: 01743 369591, e-mail: glynis@talismancastings.net

Busy Bodies

Wide range of characterful figures in 16mm, 7/8ths or larger by request. Ready-built wagons and coaches.‘With brass knobs on’ brass chimney caps, domes etc to add character. ModelEarth wagon kits can be viewed on website.

ACME Engineering Repairs, overhaul and modification of live steam and electrically powered engines; design, build and manufacture of rolling stock kits. 7/8ths kits include a Penrhyn quarryman’s coach, slate wagons, coal wagons and GVT coaches, also a range of add-on enhancements and a bespoke building service, both from scratch and from kits.

www.robbennett.org. Rob Bennett, 5 Hawkstone Court, Weston under Redcastle, Shropshire, SY4 5XG. Tel: 01939 200634, e-mail: robert.bennett2@virgin.net www.acmesteam.co.uk. Mike Ousby, 1, The Coppice, Beardwood, Blackburn, Lancashire BB26 7BQ Tel: 01254 664433, e-mail: steam.tram@btopenworld.com

Back 2 Bay 6

1/12th kits for Lister, Ruston, O&K and a Hudson skip wagon in both 32 and 45mm. Sierra Valley wheels; ModelEarth wagon kits; varied parts, accessories and other useful bits. Products also include 7/8ths and 1/12th figures.

www.back2bay6.com. The Craft Village, Mere Park Garden Centre, Stafford Rd, Newport Shropshire TF10 9BY Tel: 01952 820835, e-mail: steve@back2bay6.com

Modelearth

1/12th scale resin-based kits including wagons, estate coach, various skip chassis, for 32 and 45mm. Accessories and detailing items, batteries, toolboxes and loco coupler pockets. Bespoke model building, painting, and weather service.

Simon Harris Products viewable online at www.7-8ths.info/busybody/modelearth. html. Tel: 01926 490171, e-mail: modelearth@ukonline.co.uk

I P Engineering 7/8ths coach kits and a Hudson skip chassis. A steam loco body kit is in preparation as are a couple of i/c style locos. www.ipengineering.co.uk. I P Engineering, Winterdyne, Spilsby Road, Eastville, Lincs

PE22 8JR. Tel: 01205 270373

Simply 7/8ths

A range of body kits for Accucraft’s Edrig, together with a skip wagon. www.mikes-models.co.uk. 3-5 Brockwell Road, Kingstanding, West Midlands, B44

9PF. Tel: 0121 360 4521

Triassic Model Works 1/12th kits for Heywood coaches and other rolling stock. 140 Islip Manor Road, Northolt, Middx,

UB5 5ED, e-mail: alantrainbuff@aol.com

Sierra Valley Enterprises

American supplier: 7/8ths CNC milled scale wheels with a scale tire width of 4 1/2”. A Plymouth loco and rolling stock based on American prototypes.

www.sierravalleyenterprises.com. Wheels stocked by Back2Bay6 in the UK

Ozark Miniatures American supplier: Over 90 detail parts, accessories for 7/8ths. www.ozarkminiatures.com 7/8” Railways American supplier: wagon kits, bogies, parts and accessories www.7-8railways.com Bommelbahn German supplier: 7/8ths wagons and detail parts. www.bommelbahn.de Bertram Heyn German supplier: 45mm track (similar to Peco smaller scale

‘crazy track’) including points, also 7/8ths wagons, accessories. www.modellbau-heyn.de

The 7/8ths internet Forum Known as the Lounge with a multitude of threads. Majors on building and running 7/8ths models but has sections for

1/12th scale and larger, some modellers dabbling in 30mm, 36mm and even 2in to the foot. It is necessary to join to view or contribute but membership is free. All are welcome.

www.7-8ths.info

28

ARDEN G Rail ??????????????????????

Top: Small wagons but big on details, Ferd’ Mels fruit and veg skip chassis put a lot of colour into a small industrial train. Squint hard and you might spot what looks like a rat.

Above: This 7/8ths Lister body was created from Plastikard by Christian Cenac. Just visible is the Accucraft power block that provides motive power. This example is owned by Ferd Mels in Canada who did the vibrant paint job, added the accessories and crafted the driver from resin and epoxy. Photo: Ferd Mels

Above right: This estate style coach is a five-piece resin body kit mounted on a 45mm estate chassis. The chassis kit includes iron filled resin coupler blocks, and resin axleboxes with brass bearing inserts. Both kits are currently available from ModelEarth. Photo: Si Harris

Right: Each year the 7/8ths Lounge runs a secret Santa-style car swap. Si Harris built this Way Car for last year’s, in oak and pine over a set of resin test castings for a Western Wheeled Scraper style chassis. Various details include a brake wheel and ratchet, along with lamp irons from Talisman Castings, steps from Ozark and grab handles from Mamod. Photo: Si Harris

Fond, therefore, of brave little engines jolting and rattling at the head of a handful of wagons, or a couple of coaches, I eventually found myself amongst those who dared to go that bit larger than the norm with their modelling. A few things about the first 7/8th models I saw really struck me. One was their delightful chunkiness. They rumbled along the rails, perhaps with a slight waddle to their gait, in a way in which ‘00’ and sometimes 16mm, never does. And then there was the detail, lots of it, easy to see, using real nuts, bolts and rivets. Planks were just that, planks, not scored pieces of wood.

The realism of your new large-scale venture stands out in other ways. Everything from the ballast on which the track sits to the flora through which your train trundles seems to work more effectively.

You are no longer straining so hard to get ‘the look’. Extra atmosphere is easily added by purchasing some of the vast range of doll’s house products. Indeed, with everything from greenhouses to ornate Victorian loos available what might have been considered add-ons can become the raison d’être for your line. No longer bound by the likes of slate mining, your railway can follow the same practice as Arthur Heywood’s estate line did in the late 1890s – and all nicely to scale in 1/12th too.

But enough of the blather, by now you are probably looking at the pictures anyway – and very nice they are too. Don’t forget to take a good look at the table of suppliers before you move on – you never know when the larger scale bug might bite…

ARDEN G Rail

29