Brian Lambert has been involved in model railways for many years. As with so many modellers it all began back in the 1950s with a basic oval layout. A few years later he was able to have a ‘train set’ layout permanently set up in his bedroom, followed in his early teens by a medium-sized layout in an unused box room. Again, like many modellers, marriage and family life then intervened, but in the 1990s he took up real railway modelling once again and eventually a fully working layout emerged. Although his interests are mainly in the UK OO gauge, this comprehensive book is written to be of assistance to all modellers, no matter what the chosen scale or gauge. Moreover, not only will it guide the beginner to the hobby, it will also aid anyone who has already started to build a model railway. Page by page modellers will be able to gain more information and explore new techniques, from the basics of construction and track-laying to the intricacies of up-to-the-minute Digital Command Control, allowing them to achieve the true goal of the hobby – to build and operate a true model railway, rather than just run a train set.

Sections include:
• Selecting a suitable scale and gauge • Electrics and control
• Finding a home for the railway • Point operation
• Building the baseboard • Panels, indications and lighting
• Laying the track • Digital Command Control
• Constructing the landscape • Maintenance and tools

Brian Lambert recently took early retirement from Network Rail after a 43-year career as a Signal & Telegraph technician, supervisor and manager. He has been a keen railway modeller virtually all his life, building layouts at home as well as being involved in club and exhibition-standard layouts. He runs a personal website for railway modellers and enjoys communicating with the many people who visit the site for information and advice. He is married and lives in Ashford, Kent.