Scratch-Building Model Railway Locomotives Paperback – March 1, 2015

Five stars here with a caveat--this is a very basic book on the subject. It is not necessarily reflective of the scratch-building realities facing model railroaders seeking to build replicas of north American steam locomotives. Steam locomotives on this continent, as a rule, were much larger and contained far more exposed complicated appliances and piping than their smaller "cleaner-lined" British counter-parts. That said, this book is an excellent introduction to the general building techniques common to most scratch-building projects and covers most areas of interest for the beginning modeler.The author has a rather breezy and humorous way of writing, giving sage advice along the way about being patient, working slowly and methodically, and, if all does not go well at a particular point during the build--take a break. He points out that at times, if a process for shaping a part is going badly, stop and start over if necessary. Eventually you'll get it right and the process will be much easier the next time.Whatever your level of skill in this area, Bolton is full of valuable tips on making the job easier and more enjoyable. The best advice he gives is to start with a smaller simpler locomotive building project, even if it is a locomotive that does not hold great interest for you at the time. Make your mistakes early and often (you will), rectify them, get comfortable with the process, have some success, and then move onto more complicated types of locomotives.I highly recommend this book to all those interested in this archane, complicated but fascinating area of scale model building.

An EXCELLENT step by step study on building two motorized brass model railroad locomotives. One representing a 0-6-0 steam engine, and another of a 0-4-0 diesel. This Jewel of a book has extra chapters on chassis suspension, truing up stock, and a multitude of manufacturing tips for any brass model. Finally!

GREAT BOOK !

A nicely done book. It assumes some knowledge of brass model building techniques. If you are an absolute beginner, you will want to round out the info in this book with other sources. Also note that the locomotive that is primarily featured in the book is English, not US, and the scale is a gauge that is common in the US but not in the US. If you want to model in either O or HO, you will need to extrapolate all the dimensions.

An excellent source of information and tips for some one like my self (a total novice). The only short comming is as with all books of this type, not enough info on where and how to obtain cheap materials. I'm sorry but spending $400.00 on a kit shuts me out.

very helpful to scratch loco builders.

The style of writing is entertaining and motivating. The author even explains basic techniques such as soldering and always stresses the importance of practice. One of the most important aspects of this book is that it shows it doesn't need fancy equipment or expensive ready-made components in order to scratch-build a nice model: Indeed, a drilling machine, a handsaw, and a good soldering iron seem to be the most expensive tools for the author's project. Also, the choice of ready-made components is is near minimum (mechanical parts, wheels).I bought this book nearly two years ago as a complete beginner in scratch-building. Indeed it provides a complete and logical step-by-step introduction into building an entire loco. However, doing so requires extensive planning which needs to incooperate experience from previous projects. My way out of this vicious cylce was to start scratch-building components for modifying existing rolling stock and kits. Since each chapter can be studied and practiced individually, so far the book has served me very well!

I have built kits in a variety of gauges but now want to make a loco that the kit manufacturers don't supply.Scratch building is something I would like to try and this book is an inspiration.It contains all the beginner needs to know, starting with details of tools and how to use them. There's also a very useful photo of a locomotive with all its important parts labelled - a real help to those of us who don't know a wash-out plug from a safety valve!The book is written in a friendly and approachable manner and Simon takes you gently through all the necessary stages to build an LNER J15 in 4mm scale. Later in the book, he discusses the requirements of EM gauge and I guess most of the techniques he shows will transfer well to any guage.Supported by lots of colour phographs and detailed descriptions, the book encourages you to have a go and I am certainly looking forward trying my hand at scratch-building.

I really enjoyed this excellent book on a topic that has intrigued me (and terrified me!) for years. After attempting one or two locomotive kits in white metal and brass I was hesitant to take the final plunge into scratch building. Simon Bolton has quite simply opened up massive possibilities for me in this wonderfully diverse area and I feel ready to tackle one or two obscure historical projects full of confidence. I suppose some degree of prior knowledge and previous experience helps, but the way in which this book is written means that it is not essential by any means. Simon writes with great knowledge, clear passion and is never condescending at any stage. He has a wonderful sense of humour that comes across in his writing and that puts the reader and the aspirant modeller at ease from the start. I cannot recommend this book highly enough and I am sure in time it will inspire some truly wonderful creations in all scales of this great hobby.

A book that balances making a model train as a process and as a source of inspiration. It is not an instruction book and in reality does not go into great technical depth. Primarily what it does is to take you from pieces of metal to completed model in general terms not deep detail. You have to put some legwork in learning how to read technical drawings, transferring them, techniques for modelling etc.I enjoyed this book as much for the gentle wander through a model train building process as it is a guide book. I'm an engineer and have the workshop and skill already. I just like reading about the process and working out what/when/how I will start my next project.Overall a decent book that will give you reasonable insight but not take you by the hand.