THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST   A UK Registered Educational Charity

Modelling British Overseas Railways - Research Sources

BORHT Webpages and Library

I am hoping that if you are interested in modelling British Overseas Railways then you got to this article through our website and have seen our listings of reference material available and our library listings. We have concentrated on listing research material from those countries that do not have an active or very large railway preservation movement. We try to keep these webpages up to date, but we do hold down jobs ourselves.

We have a Library at Greenwich that may be visited by appointment but do please remember that we are a voluntary organisation and do not man the office every day. Please give us as much notice as possible. I will not in general make reference to history books in the country sections unless I believe that they are significant.

Specialist Societies

When I cover the individual country sections for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa I will deal with their societies then. There are several UK-based societies devoted wholly or largely to railways outside Britain. Some are country-specific, while others cover overseas railways in general. Some may have modelling sections, others are focused on travelling in the country of interest.

I will only cover the societies where we know that British export locomotives worked. The Austrian Railway Society appears to have ceased operations nor I am confident that it was appropriate anyway.

Continental Railway Circle (CRC)

It was founded in 1960 and covers railways throughout the world outside the British Isles, including main-line, industrial and preserved systems. Historically it published the Continental Railway Journal but has not done so for many years, it is now an Internet discussion group, focused on the prototype. It still holds regular meetings in London and the Midlands.

Benelux Railways Society

Covers the railways of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The Benelux Railways Society was originally formed in 1992 as the Netherlands Railway Society, following the publication of the layout Engelsdrech as Layout of the Month in Continental Modeller magazine. It has a useful listing of the websites of the other European special interest societies, links to model shops and manucatureres.

European Railway Association

They did in the past organise a modelling show in Edgbaston. They moved to Longbridge about two years ago, but I find it very difficult to contact them. As I research this article in September 2026, their website appears down. I think that they descended from the Alter Zeit Group.

French Railways Society

It was founded in 1976 as the SNCF Society and become the French Railway Society around 2023. It covers all aspects of French railways, past and present. It publishes a well-regarded quarterly journal and maintains a large photographic archive. They also run an annual Summer Rendezvous in early June which for the last few years has been held in the Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall and has become a major overseas modelling show. All the specialist societies attend this show. They also attract transport book sellers, and stands selling overseas new and second-hand railway models.

German Railway Society

Focuses on German railways and tramways and they produce well researched booklets on various aspects of German railways. They used to hold a major show at Didcot Town Hall, but that fell apart just before or after Covid and has not been reinstated. That is a pity as they attracted model railway shops from abroad.

Italian Railways Society

Dedicated to Italian railways, traction and modelling.

Scandinavian Railways Society

Covers Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Looking at the contents pages of their Journal they seem to have an active modelling section.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society

The Society has been going for approximately 30 years now and concentrates on supporting the DHR. It organises trips to India and publishes book on the mountain railways. They have in the past organised events using the DHR B Class 19B at Launceston in Cornwall and at Statfold Barn.

Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust

The late Adrian Shooter brought the DHR B Class locomotive back to the UK and on his death the DTLT was set up to maintain and operate it.

NMRA - British Region

The British section of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is officially called the NMRA British Region (BR). It is the UK regional organisation of the NMRA and serves modellers interested in North American railways, as well as many members who model other prototypes.

The NMRA British Region is divided into a number of geographical divisions across the UK, such as London, Scotland & Ireland, Wales (Red Dragons), Thames Valley & Chilterns, and others.

Industrial Railway Society (IRS)

It was founded in 1949. Although primarily UK industrial in scope, it has long published books and research on industrial railways worldwide, including South Africa, China, India, Spain, Greece and many others. Their overseas books can be helpful in establishing what locomotive was where and when. The export of industrial locomotives did not always follow the same pattern as exporting main line material. Modelling a short industrial line could be easier than trying to model the main line, or you could model an interchange point with both mainline and industrial lines, such as the Rhodesia Railways and Selukwe Peak Light Railway interchange or perhaps the interchange of Myanmar Railways and the Burma Mines Railway. Such a scenario might not require a great deal of main line stock if that is scarce, and for narrow gauge industrial rolling stock use could be made of generic 009 rolling stock.

Locomotive Club of Great Britain (LCGB)

The Locomotive Club of Great Britain was founded in Aylesbury in 1949 by the late Jack Turner. The aim is to foster a keen interest in railways in the UK and abroad. It organises overseas tours.

Stephenson Locomotive Society (SLS)

Founded in 1909 and named after the Stephenson family it encourages the study of railways. It is worldwide in its interests. It has an extensive library and photo archive.

The Military Railway Study Group

The purpose of The Military Railway Study Group is to collect, exchange and whenever possible, to publish factual information on the operation of the railways of any combatant nations. Relevant material from any era, when the military used railways in war and peace, and other associated subjects, from supporting or neutral countries, is also of considered interest.

The wartime railway had not been extensively studied by serious railway historians until fairly recently. The Study Group was founded in 1989 as The World War 2 Railway Study Group to address this. The Group offers a bi-monthly bulletin and produces pamphlets and books at irregular intervals. It has a modelling section.

The Railway & Canal Historical Society (RCHS)

A British historical society but with occasional papers on overseas and colonial railways. Worth monitoring for serious academic research.

Tramways

Just off the top of my head I can think of the following places that had a tram system. Alexandria, Auckland, Bombay, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Calcutta, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Jo’burg Melbourne, Rangoon, Umtali and Victoria Falls. The trams can transport your passengers to and from the railway station. It should be remembered that Britain exported trams as well. I am not sure how much that has been studied, although I do know that there are histories of the Cape Town, Jo’burg and Hong Kong Tramways. There are also models of some of the Australian tram systems. In fact, there are just not passenger trams, there are works trams, rail grinders, postal trams and tower cars. We are fairly certain that Paulings, the contractors sent two of the ex-LB&SCR Terriers to Argentina to work on the La Plata Tramway either for first construction or afterwards to haul maintenance trains when the power was off. If you do not want to attempt catenary, your system could be horse drawn, steam powered or have an underground supply. Talking of steam haulage, what about the Lagos Steam Tramway and the accompanying Sanitary Tramway for the disposal of night soil? The labour was supplied by local convicts.

The Tramway and Light Railway Society was founded in 1938. It is interested in both historical research and current operations. The produce a journal that includes article on modelling. They have a collection of model trans and an archive of books, photographs etc.

Modelling Magazines

I will attempt to cover magazines concentrating on individual countries when I deal with those countries. However, the magazine that is most easily obtainable in the UK is Continental Modellers produced by Peco Publications. It started out in 1979 under the title of International Model Railways as a quarterly journal, to accommodate overseas modelling material that had been offered to Railway Magazine. The early issues carried volume numbering that was continued later by Continental Modeller. In 1981 it increased its frequency to bi-monthly (six issues per year)., In 1983 the magazine was relaunched/rebranded as Continental Modeller, initially subtitled "Incorporating International Model Railways". The 1983 issues were still bi-monthly and since 1988 has been published monthly. It covers all railway modelling outside the British Isles. It gives reviews of recently released models, books and videos. There are always two or three layouts covered, normally an article on modelling techniques and a listing of upcoming model railway exhibitions and events. There has been a change of emphasis over the years, many of the earlier issues contained information on the prototype railways and what models were available, today reports of layouts and modelling techniques seem to predominate.