Train Shunting and Marshalling – Bob Essery

Train Shunting and Marshalling for the modeller by Bob Essery is an absolute must have for anyone wanting to operate a model railway in a prototypical way. Bob Essery will need no introduction to most  experienced railway modellers, and he has written extensively in the model railway press and produced many books about railways in general. For those not familiar with his previous work he has extensive in-depth knowledge of prototype railway history and operations, particularly the LMS & BR(LMR), combined with wide modelling experience. Thus, he is ideally placed to write a book on shunting and marshalling.

Accurate, prototypical operation has, perhaps, often been somewhat neglected in the UK railway modelleing scene, at least in comparison with the attention it receives in the USA. Readers of this book, and indeed the author’s previous books on the subject, will be well placed to ensure their layouts are planned and operated in a realistic manner. Bob Essery supplies the information which will allow you to be as prototypical in your layout operation as you wish. How far the individual modeller takes that is a matter of personal choice.

With any decent size of layout in any scale there is likely to be some movement of goods stock. Using this book you can make each move have a purpose. If your interest is only in passenger trains the book may surprise you – it covers many aspects of carriage shunting and that you may have neglected and which with the use of ‘through’ coaches can change the way you run the railway. If the knowledge you gain from this book is applied it gives a whole new dimension to running a model railway. Coupled with the other Bob Essery books in this series covering freight and passenger operation for the modeller it offers a great opportunity to bring a whole new dimension to running a model railway.

With his early career as a footplate man, Bob Essery brings his own personal experience to judge how effectively most model railway layouts are operated and provides readers with this in depth and instructive volume on Train Shunting and Marshalling. As a firm believer in realism in miniature he knows that over the past 20 years there has been a phenomenal increase in the physical standards of layouts built and exhibited; the quality of proprietary locomotives and rolling stock has improved immeasurably as have the signalling and scenery. What is still lacking, however, is the knowledge as to how the railways actually operated and, in an era when DCC makes the realistic operation of model railways all the more practical (along with the hazards associated with the industry), this leads to all sorts of schoolboy howlers perpetrated upon the viewing public at model railway shows. Since the publication of Railway Operation for the Modeller in 2003, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of replicating correct operating procedure and this volume is the fourth volume designed to build upon the success of that original book. Many model railways, unless recreating an exact replica, often add more complexity to the scene in terms of over-large locomotive sheds and goods yards in order to give variety of operation and this volume is designed to provide the modeller with a comprehensive guide to working practices when shunting and marshalling passenger or freight trains and the handling of locomotive sheds. The book will include descriptive text allied 200 mono and colour illustrations. Individual chapters will include the evolution of shunting, the men and equipment, marshalling passenger trains, types of locomotive used arrangements of locomotive shed and shed operation. This title has great appeal to both modellers and railway enthusiasts