THE transition from the traditional oval ‘toy train set’ to model railway layout may follow any of a number of routes, but they all have in common the desire to create something looking like a real a railway.

Author Chris Hatton approaches the transition in a logical and relaxed way outlining the aims of the book and breaking up the process into a series of chapters, each looking at one aspect of building a model railway.

Almost certainly more experienced modellers will find something in the detail of interest, but this is really a book for the beginner.

Newcomers will no doubt find their appetite whetted by this ‘primer’ and consider their £16.99 well spent.

From Train Set to Model Railway (£16.99), an imprint of Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, Hersham, Surrey. ISBN: 978 0 7110 3382 5.

INTEREST in DC electrics  continues to grow following the introduction of Southern emu units from Hornby and Bachmann, so this book from modern traction expert Colin Marsden is sure to prove popular with those enthusiasts modelling the railway scene south of the Thames and looking to find out more about Britain’s third rail stock.

Lavishly illustrated using both monochrome and coloured photographs the book — a companion to the author’s earlier work on the AC Electrics — provides an informative guide to both DC locomotives and EMUs.

It is an ideal source book for both enthusiasts and modellers, though readers looking for a more detailed analysis of specific classes may have to look elsewhere.

The DC Electrics (£24.99), Oxford Publishing Company, an imprint of Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, Hersham, Surrey. ISBN: 978 0 86093 615.

THIS book, a sequel to author David Clough’s earlier work ‘Diesel Pioneers,’ draws on BR material now available in the National Archive to illustrate the development of the classes designed during that decade — from the unloved Class 14s, 15s and 17s to the highly revered Class 55 Deltics.

The text includes a series of tables for each class providing the modeller with basic dimensions and is supported by an excellent selection of black and white photographs — many of them unseen before.

This book has a suitably scholarly tone and offers much more than an overview of the classes concerned and is likely to appeal to both modeller and enthusiast alike. Recommended.

British Rail Standard Diesels of the 1960s (£19.99), an imprint of Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, Hersham, Surrey. ISBN: 978 0 7110 3373 3.