Modelling the East Coast Main Line – Tony Wright

Modelling the East Coast Main Line in the British Railways Era follows the construction of Tony Wright’s East Coast Main Line layout in 00 gauge, based on Little Bytham in rural Lincolnshire. Tony’s work will be familiar to readers of BRM magazine. Little Bytham and many of Tony’s locomotives have featured in the pages of the magazine over the years.

I’m an ECML modeller myself, though my interests lie in the line further north in the ex North Eastern Railway territory, and the book is a great reference for anyone like me attempting to build a real main line in miniature.

Little Bytham is the station nearest to where the fastest steam exploits in the country were achieved. Nearby, the Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to reach 100 miles per hour, Papyrus broke the world speed record for a non-streamlined locomotive, and Mallard set the current world speed record for a steam locomotive.

This practical guide escorts the reader through all aspects of constructing an East Coast Main Line layout and topics include baseboard construction, track laying and ballasting; wiring and making signals; modelling scenery, buildings, locomotives, carriages and wagons and how to plan an operation sequence.The book also covers research, planning and preparation; constructional procedures, methods and techniques applicable to all scales, gauges, and time periods, and is a practical guide to all aspects of constructing an East Coast Main Line layout. Lavishly illustrated with over 600 colour photographs including step-by-step sequences.

Tony Wright has had an interest in railways, both prototype and model, ever since he saw a Princess Coronation in Chester General Station at five years old. Following a career in education, he became a freelance photojournalist in 1992, specializing in model railways. He also took up professional loco building and, with Wolverhampton MRC, was involved in the building of several highly successful exhibition layouts. Tony was Assistant Editor/Photographer for British Railway Modelling until 2011 and also served as President of the Historical Model Railway Society. He now spends his time making models, writing articles and photographing products and layouts. This is his first title for Crowood.