Book excerpt: This informative book provides a step-by-step account of the construction, from scratch, of a model railway called Dovedale. The model is operated like a real modern railway and was built entirely by the author within a strict low budget, using, wherever possible, recycled materials. Moreover, Dovedale is based on a specific prototype that exists in Buxton in Derbyshire, where freight trains run into an interchange siding, the locomotive runs round the train and then departs to a different destination. Some model railways are operated somewhat chaotically and are characterized by frequent derailments and locomotives that stop arbitrarily. If you wish to move away from this kind of layout and construct a model railway that operates realistically and reflects more closely the way that railways actually work in the second decade of the 21st century, then this is the book for you. Whilst constantly emphasizing realistic operation, the book covers layout planning and construction, controllers, point motors, power supply, cables and connectors, ways of operating traffic flows, signalling, track droppers, control panels and wiring, control and interlocking, lighting, sequence and block bells, the use of closed circuit television, and much more. Superbly illustrated with 258 colour photographs and diagrams.