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Hello
Saturday 9th of May will see the latest model railway show organised by the Isle of Wight N Gauge Society. Don't let the name fool you, there will be 13 layouts in all gauges: T, N, OO9, OO and O gauge. The largest layout will feature 120 metres of running track!
This takes place at Stenbury Hall, in Wroxhall, PO38 3DP and the entry is only £4. Click on the picture below for full details.
Don't forget to read our latest modelling tips and unboxing videos located at the bottom of the newsletter.
Most images in this newsletter are clickable for more details.
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Railway song of the week
Reader John got in touch to suggest Night Train by Steve Winwood. It is a subtly driving, atmospheric track that blends minimalist production with a steady rhythmic pulse, reflecting the stripped-back, self-performed style of the album, on which Winwood famously played nearly all the instruments himself. The song uses the imagery of a late-night journey to evoke themes of movement, longing and quiet reflection, carried by warm synthesiser textures and his soulful, understated vocal delivery. Its hypnotic groove and spacious arrangement make it a distinctive deep cut on Arc of a Diver, capturing the introspective and organic feel that defines the record. Click on the picture to listen to it:
This week in history
On the 7th of May 1957, USA's streamlined 'Flying Yankee' was retired after 22 years of revenue earning service between Portland and Boston.
If you're after something with real character and history, the
Bachmann Class O4 ROD in BR black with late crest is a superb choice. This heavyweight freight locomotive is in mint condition with little evidence of running and it's DCC ready with a 21-pin socket. For those who fancy express mixed traffic work, the
Bachmann Class V2 "Green Arrow" in BR black is remarkably well preserved with minimal signs of use. This versatile locomotive was capable of hauling both fast fitted freights and express passenger trains in its day. If modern traction is more your thing, the
Hornby Class 59 in ARC livery comes
DCC fitted and has been thoroughly tested.
For those of you who enjoy a bit of variety, there are some rather interesting options available. The Hornby Thomas The Tank Engine with Annie and Clarabel coaches is from 2012 and features the more modern motor. The bodywork is immaculate and it's been fully serviced, making it perfect for younger enthusiasts or anyone with a soft spot for the cheeky blue engine. Moving to more serious railway operations, the Lima Class 73 in Fragonset livery has had a proper upgrade with the original ringfield motor replaced by a pancake motor and hard-wired DCC chip fitted. These electro-diesels were fascinating machines, capable of running on third rail or diesel power. Finally, if you're after something from the Railroad range with sound, the Hornby Class 37 in Railfreight triple grey comes with TTS sound already fitted. It's in near-perfect condition and offers a brilliant way to experience DCC sound without the expense of fitting it yourself.
Modularisation of your Industrialisation
When modelling an industrial building whether it be a distribution centre, warehouse, garden centre or engine depot, we are used to choosing from purpose-built models or kits and if we fancy anything a little more bespoke then we have to rely on our scratch-building abilities. However, thanks to Peco we have an alternative option that offers the design flexibility of a scratch-build but comes in the form of a regular kit. Their 00/H0 'Modular Kit System' produced under their 'Wills Modern' brand is a series of plastic kits that can be added to each other to create a multi-use industrial building ranging in size from a medium to a large structure. You decide how to arrange the models with the two halves of their base kit offering the option of being placed side by side to form a double-fronted low-relief building or back-to-back to create a stand-alone industrial unit. From there, you can add extension kits to create a building of virtually any size, there are even add-on kits that alter the appearance of the building such as an HGV Loading Bay kit, Supermarket Frontage kit, Out of Town Retail Unit Frontage kit or Roller Shutter Doors giving the building many convincing identities from a supermarket to a modern train care or maintenance depot.
If all this talk of designing and scratch-building has got you revved up and ready for a bigger challenge, all of the
materials used to create the kit are available separately in the form of
moulded sheets. An industrial unit is a great place to start if venturing into scratch-building for the first time as convincing models can be produced from basic shapes. The moulded sheets are produced in plastic to imitate a range of common building materials such as
corrugated iron, box steel, asbestos, clapboard and brickwork with ready-made intricate details such as
windows and doors taken care of to give you a fighting chance.
You can see the full range by clicking here.
Modelling tips
Unboxing videos
You want to know what is inside the boxes of modelling products? We open them for you!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified before everyone else or simply click on this selection. Please note that
videos are at the bottom of each page.
You can access all the unboxing videos by visiting this page or simply click on the link called "videos" on our website.
Events and exhibitions
Find all the latest events and exhibitions for the model railway world, on the
UK Model Shop Events directory. Hopefully, 2026 will give us plenty of opportunities to attend events all over the country.
Do you need to order?
Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.
Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street. So no excuse not to come and visit us!
Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm. Obviously, our website is open 24h a day and we can post to most locations, including Europe, USA and Australia.
Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook
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