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Modellings tips and answers - Modelling a small halt - Videos

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

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Railway song of the week

Reader Phil Button got in touch to suggest "the train song" by The Flying Burrito Brothers. It is a country rock track written by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, both formerly of The Byrds. Released as a single in 1969, it features as the B-side to their more widely known song Hot Burrito #1. The track highlights the band's fusion of traditional country instrumentation, including pedal steel guitar, with the emerging rock influences of the late 1960s. Its lyrics reflect themes of travel and longing, consistent with the storytelling traditions of country music.

The song was recorded during the sessions for their debut album, The Gilded Palace of Sin, but was released separately as a standalone single. While not a major commercial success, it remains a notable example of the Flying Burrito Brothers' pioneering efforts in the development of the country rock genre. The combination of Parsons' emotive vocals and Hillman's tight arrangements cemented their influence on future Americana and alt-country artists.

Click on the picture to listen to it:

This week in history

On Sunday 13th October 1996, the Stagecoach Group commenced a franchised rail passenger service on the Isle of Wight, operating under the name

On the 19th January 1947, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company commenced operations of the Cincinnatian, a named train that ran between Baltimore and Cincinnati in Ohio in North America.

Do you have a few of them?

The Materials Coarse Stone pack from Wills includes four 130mm x 75mm sheets of injection-moulded styrene, approximately 2mm thick, ensuring they are sturdy enough to be self-supporting. Perfect for scratchbuilding, these sheets save you hours of repetitive work by providing ready-made surface patterns and textures. Identical to those used in Craftsman kits, they simplify extension work, making your projects easier.

Take a seat at the halt

When designing a OO gauge layout with little space to spare, using a station halt as opposed to a full-length station platform can often provide a solution, but did you realise how many there are to choose from?

Knightwing produces several models suitable for creating a more modern halt, and their combined platform, shelter and fencing set certainly has everything you need to get you started. If you just need the shelter without the platform, you can get them portraying either a flat or a corrugated roof design.

If it's something even smaller or more traditional you wish to create, Wills Kits can help with their much smaller halt only or halt with shelter kits. Alternatively, for those who already have a platform but require a small building to furnish it, their platform shelter kit may well be just what you're looking for. It is a little larger than the one featured in their halt set, but it's still small enough to be of interest to modellers of small space saving stations.

Although station halts are generally known for their sparse furnishings, many at least feature some seating for waiting passengers. In model form, there are plenty of designs to choose from including plastic ready-painted benches from the likes of Auhagen and Noch, white metal benches you paint yourself from P & D Marsh and Langley, card benches from Metcalfe and a highly detailed ready to plant offering from Bachmann.

When it comes to benches, you had better take a seat because there are a lot of choices out there ensuring you can easily create the right look and feel for your station or halt.

Modelling tips

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

Or re-visit these slightly older ones:

You can read all the articles sorted by categories or from the most recent published one on our website.

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 websit e.

Events and exhibitions

Find all the latest events and exhibitions for the model railway world, on the UK Model Shop Events directory. Hopefully, 2025 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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