Voie Libre international

Discover every three months in this international issue of Voie Libre in english, new products reviews, layout descriptions, model building, historical information on secondary lines and prototypes...

Voie Libre International

Voie Libre LE MAGAZIEN DES CRÉATEURS FERROVIAIRES

MODELLBAHNMANUFAKTUR CROTTENDORF: 60CM GAUGE TRUCKS

BACHMANN 020ST QUARRY HUNSLET • The small Alice engine from the Dinorwic Quarry arrived just as we were putting this issue to bed, We shall review it in detail in the next issue.

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A PIECE OF NEWS... • A real one, and quite impressive! Bachmann has released a Penrhyn Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0 Saddle tank in 009. A delight.

PÉCHOT TRUCKS FOR HEAVY LOADS • After a lengthy period of non-activity, Pascal Boivin's Atelier du Tacot is enjoying a new boom with the release in kit form of narrow gauge rolling stock in H0-9/00-9. We review the very first productions, they are truly original!

An autumn OF NEW RELEASES • The two main end-of-year shows produced a fine harvest of new releases. So much the better... this proves that the market is in good health!

QUITE A SHOW • We have enjoyed all kinds of colours, under all kinds of latitudes. Many thanks to all the creators who delighted us and took us on journeys. Here are three layouts, ranging from metre to 60cm gauge, from Europe to Africa. Great fun!

The bottle cork train • We discovered Raül Valls' small two-sided H0-9 layout at RailExpo. It evokes the Flaçà - Palamos line in the 1950s. Let's take a trip back in time!

Flaçà - Palamos 750mm gauge for bottle corks

A showcase for fine British locos • Jean-Pierre Hacard had already taken us to the imaginary lands of Syldavia. With this new layout, the destination is a real one: Africa.

A turnkey module to manage alternate running

Bligny-sur-Ouche, just like real thing! • Philippe Muzeau is a very active volunteer at the Meursault show. Besides organizing, he also enjoys taking part, so he created a specific layout for the show. And a very local one at that.

MAiN SUPPLiES

A CATTLE WAGON for small animals • Christophe Deblaère admired the attractive 0 scale cattle wagons that run on Gilbert Gribi's layout; so he promptly asked him for the drawings, Here is how he built the 1/87 scale version.

Wooden skips, a wealth of possibilities! • Vincent Lepais shows how to easily build, and in series, wooden mining skips! His technique is applicable to all scales. So let's get down to work!

MAINS SUPPLIES

The choice is yours! • In this issue of Voie Libre, we have shown you how to build attractive little coal skips. However, something will be required to haul them...

ALMOST prototypical couplings • Martin Klinger has had a thought for all secondary railway fans who want to shunt their short consists buffer to buffer, using standard screw couplings.

Annemasse-Sixt Metre gauge in the Giffre valley • For all of 68 years, the 49km long Annemasse - Samoëns - Sixt line used to connect the Geneva area to the Giffre valley in Haute-Savoie. It was operated in two very different phases: after 42 years, the wheezy steam tramway was replaced by a fully modernized and electrified railway.

How to make STACKS OF PLANKS • Gilbert Gribi used to make his stacks of planks using a miling machine; this was a complex and lengthy process, and the results were often unsatisfactory. He now cuts them out of balsa wood, a simple and affordable method.

Craddonia Mine shunting gondolas under the hopper

Once upon a time... Anoroc-les-Ponts • It all began one Sunday in January 2020 in a swapmeet: Thomas Gallé and his father found a Jouef Decauville train set and suggested to their mother and spouse to give it a try... She replied:

A BALDWIN...