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Don't forget to read our latest modelling tips located at the bottom of the newsletter.

This week in history - On July 17th 1981 the Manchester to Sheffield Woodhead-Line carrying electric-hauled freight traffic through the Pennines closed. All British Rail Class 76 electric locomotives that were dedicated to the line were put into storage before meeting their fate at the hands of the scrap merchants.

Denis Nye sent us these pictures of his layout. It is a take on Swanage with an additional narrow gauge line. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

If you love the Isle of Wight and always wanted to create a small 00 gauge layout based on the historical lines or even or the current preserved line, now is probably the best time. The newest Isle of Wight Terrier "Bembridge" has just arrived and, alongside "Cowes" which was released a few months ago and our exclusive Isle of Wight wagon, will be a perfect starting point for your layout.

What a pleasure it is to operate a locomotive or rolling stock with working lights, they add the next level of realism to a model. Thankfully the manufacturers have taken care of the know-how needed to make it all possible. Some modellers even possess the skills to retrofit lighting to their rolling stock, which no doubt involves hours of drilling, wiring and soldering. Well not any more!

A Norfolk family-run business called Train-Tech produces a range of self-contained lighting systems for 00 gauge rolling stock that requires no wiring or soldering. The units take their power from a button-style battery that lasts for months under regular operating conditions and years in standby mode before the battery needs replacing.

The units are automated and illuminate when they detect the train's motion, once the train has come to a stop the light will turn off after 4 minutes of none-activity, perfect!

The only skill required to fit the units is the ability to remove a body shell from an item of rolling stock and satisfactorily attach the unit and lighting strip into the model.

Train-Tech has a really good grasp of what modellers want and how they want to do it. Their tail lamps/lights come in three different types: they have a traditional flickering tail lamp which can be planted on the rear of a coach or truck to mimic an old oil-burning lamp, this unit can also be used to replicate a flickering firebox on a steam locomotive (although we would recommend having a good look at the unit before you buy to make sure that you have enough space in your locomotive to store the battery unit), other tail lamps in the offering include a flashing red light for more modern rolling stock and a constantly illuminated tail lamp.

The same system of operation is employed by Train-Tech's "Spark-arc electric and constant output" unit, this clever little device has two functions, it can be used for straight forward coach lighting that powers up to 5 LEDs to illuminate the interior or used to power a single bright LED that flashes every time the unit detects a bump in the track to mimic arcing on a third rail or pantograph operated train.

Train-Tech also produces convenient lighting strips that illuminate the entire length of a carriage's saloon, they work in the same way as the tail lamps utilising sensors within the unit to activate the lighting when in motion, you can get them to replicate different lighting effects including warm white, cool white and flickering to mimic different types of coach lighting over the years.

If you are planning to fit lighting to your coaches, then it stands to reason that your now visible interiors will need some passengers too. In 00 gauge, there are dozens of seated figures to choose from and on the surface, it can often seem as though one set is the same as the next.

But look again, there are so many figures to choose from that manufacturers often try to give different slants to their products to make them stand out on the shelf, and that is great for us modellers!

A closer look at the figures will often reveal the passengers displaying different positions, body language or activities, not to mention clothing that's relevant to different eras. Noch's pack of six figures incorporates a woman holding a baby and a man with his hand by his side guarding his bag whilst another of Noch's packs features some of the passengers with turned heads as you would expect to see from passengers either talking to each other or gazing out of the window at the world passing by.

Unit-Models also produces a pack of 6 figures, although displaying more generic activities and being less refined than the others, the pack stands out for its incredible value, a great option for bulking-out passenger numbers on a train.

Faller's pack of eight figures display great body language including one with her arms folded, another with legs crossed, one gentleman very comfortable in his carriage as he sprawls back in his seat with his arms stretched out above his head and a Grandmother holding a child's hand.

For modellers that like to make their models truly unique by painting them themselves, Langley produces a pack of ten unpainted figures based on passengers from the 1920s.

There are also figures specifically designed to be fitted into coaches, this is done by the omittance of the passenger's legs. Noch's pack of twelve legless passengers (even though they haven't touched a drop) portray many positions and are much easier to place in a carriage, however, this shouldn't be the deciding factor when choosing figures to go for a ride around the layout because with a good pair of side cutters legs are easily removed from just about any 00 gauge figure.

We keep on adding modelling tips to our website. Here are the latest ones:

• What is a DCC decoder?
• What is a "third hand" tool?
• How do I use epoxy resin?
• What finish should I use on my model: matt, satin or gloss?
• What is the Hornby era system?