The books

Small Layout Design Handbook

In this book James Hilton takes a fresh look at small layouts and how to design them. Profusely illustrated with photographs, sketches and plans, the book takes us through completed projects, design considerations and sources of inspiration before presenting 24 practical layout ideas to either follow or provide inspiration for your own ideas. Themes and prototypes considered are wide ranging, covering narrow gauge, industrial and some North American and International subjects too. A thought provoking read, thinking as widely as Iain Rice and with ideas as novel and inspiring as those of the late and much missed Carl Arend. This book really does demonstrate that small in size does not mean small in ambition or enjoyment! This is a very minorly revised reprint of the original book.

RRP £17.50 (buy from 'The Titfield Thunderbolt' bookshop)

The Art of Railway Modelling

In this book, James Hilton develops the ideas and themes of his earlier "Small Layout Design Handbook" around the notion that we could, or perhaps even should, consider and talk about our model creations in terms of their being "art". He starts off by explaining what he means and then considers how we construct and approach our models from an "artistic" perspective. Over half the book consists of newly developed layout themes, considered here as "stage sets", covering a wide range of prototype themes, including North American ideas and prototypes.

RRP £18.50 (buy from 'The Titfield Thunderbolt' bookshop)

Published and printed in the UK by Wild Swan