HO Eine Sekundärbahn

[Tim Hale]

This a second attempt to describe the building of the layout, the first attempt ended in abject failed, unfortunately uploading images from my old iPad was not particularly successful however the iPad has been ‘seen to’ at the local Apple store and everything seems to working.

Now that the old baseboards have returned replete with the recycled trackwork and electrickery it seems appropriate to restart the thread. The boards are certainly well used, battered but flat and robust.

The trackplan lasted two minor changes, the platform road should be straight and the loco shed has migrated from one end of the runround loop to t’other.
The FY may seem to somewhat overwhelming but the previous version used cassettes which are not really suitable for one immobile person. The layout is designed for home use, ease of use rather than any other consideration.

Now the fun starts, lots of scenery and other such frippery.

Tim

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[Yorkshire Dave]

Ease of use would be my primary consideration. Will you be using Kadee couplers with strategically placed magnets?

Unusual station track plan with a single loop rather than the usual two - one with a laderampe or ladestrasse. However I have noticed some Bahnhöfe in the Eifel region have single loops. I presume a single loop would have depended on the location and/or railway company.

Look forward to seeing the layout develop.

 

[David Waite]

Hi Tim
Thanks for the video link the scenery was lovely and so green and that tank engine didn’t miss a beat.
What gauge is your track work?
David.

 

[Tim Hale]

Hi Tim
Thanks for the video link the scenery was lovely and so green and that tank engine didn’t miss a beat.
What gauge is your track work?
David.

The layout is HO and Peco FB75 is used.

The layout is relatively small, the trackplan is very simple, therefore the scenery needs to be the ‘star’ of the presentation and instead of a generic German landscape, it might be a good idea to take a look at the YouTube of Rennsteigbahn is both spectacular and interesting as it shows the typical trackside flora in the area.

The Rennsteig is located amongst the hills of Thuringia that is just a dozen or so kilometres from Trustel and it shares the same scenery. Notable amongst the lush trackside vegetation are swathes of wild lupins and Busch offers them in HO, their inclusion should ‘place’ the layout in the hills of Thuringen.
These will do rather nicely.

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[Tim Hale]

The previous comment about a dung spreader had consequences, I was reminded that if I am to model a farmyard, shifting the dung into the spreader was not a manual task, instead a loader was needed.

Some larger farms had a fixed loader at the side of the midden. Fortunately, Mr Diamon, our farming neighbour has a comprehensive knowledge of dairy farming since the ‘30s, he described the use of a portable lightweight crane fitted with a claw grab.

Faller recently released a rather nice kit, which is actually cheaper in the UK.

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[Neil]

That's a cracking prototype photo Tim, I presume that the steeple cab electric is an industrial job.

 

[jonte]

Good luck with the conversion, Tim.

Jon

 

[Roger Pound]

Your encouraging articles are making a return to H0 following German practice very tempting, Tim............ ! It is all of great interest, very enjoyable and gives pleasure. Good luck with your continuing travails.

Roger

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The Bayernhafen steeplecab will either be a product of Siemens or AEG who built quite a number of Industrie E-Loks.

 

[Wagonman]

While in the Ruhrgebiet did you geta chance to visit the Dahlhausen Museum at Bochum? It's well worth a visit.

 

[michael080]

While in the Ruhrgebiet did you geta chance to visit the Dahlhausen Museum at Bochum? It's well worth a visit.

Absolutly!

Here is the link to the museum. Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum

My personal favourite is the class 97.5. Only four of these cogwheel locos were built and they were deemed so important that three of them survived.

Michael

 

[Tim Hale]

This may not be the ideal venue for Eastern European agricultural machinery but for anyone modelling the Wild East, these links are peculiarly interesting.
DDR tractors

DDR model tractors

The attraction for Eastern European railways is difficult to explain, the fact that railways are still an integral part of everyday life and the variety of a different lifestyle In some of the more rural locations.
Tim

 

[Chas Levin]

Always pleasing to see a vintage model resurrected (well - 1980s, that's vintage now, isn't it?): looking forward to updates

 

[Chas Levin]

I also have a great fondness for slightly older Fleischmann - well, quite a bit older in fact, the 1960s / 70s metal bodied locos. They may not be quite up to modern detailing standards but they have a great vintage charm (and I was born in 1966 so they were common when I was a kid) and they're so solidly built: as you say, bits don't fall off and the motors, given a really good clean and some new brushes, work incredibly well, very quietly and amazingly well at the slowest crawl.
One of my favourites is the SBB Ae 6/6. I have a nice one that I'd renamed some years ago (I have a Basel fascination) but had succeeded in ignoring the fact that what should be chrome stripes are all in white, until I came across some 'Liquid Chrome' mirror effect pens and finally plucked up courage to try one - you can see the effect on my thread back in February, highly recommended!
I know what you mean too about Rivarossi, though I recently overhauled a PLM 0-6-0 Bourbonnais which now runs very well, especially after adding some weight to both loco and tender...

The one you have there, the BR89, that's what was a KPEV T3 isn't it? If so, that's another that I have as a '60s Fleischmann - you probably know it, very common model, runs so beautifully.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

You do have to watch some of the early Rivarossi productions both locomotives and rolling stock as they were 1/82.

Old Rivarossi was a bit of an odd-ball, peculiar mechanisms with oversized tin-can motors and bronze gears/bearings. My example uses metal where most others would have used plastic and I suspect the Maxon will be a rather wasted effort.

The photo on the SB Modellbau website shows how the replacement motor sits.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The DII (Br 89.6) should be a nice runner now Tim.

Apologies in advance for the slight history diversion here Tim.

For the uninitiated the DRG/DB/DR(DDR) Br 89 was a large class of 0-6-0 Tenderlok (tank locomotive) comprising of various types inherited from the Länderbahnen in 1920 on the formation of Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen, reorganised in 1924 as Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. (In 1949 after the division of Germany the DRG became Deutsche Bundesbahn in BRD and Deutsche Reichsbahn in the DDR. After the 1989 reunification they remained as separate entities until the formation of Deutsche Bahn AG in 1994).

Some more information on the Br 89 can be found here in Tiel1 and Tiel 2. The first page also explains how the inherited Länderbahnen locomotives were re-classified and renumbered by Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft in 1925.

Between 1920 and 1925 locomotives retained their Länderbahnen class designations and numbers until the 1925 renumbering.

 

[Tim Hale]

Grafenwalde

Rarely some modelling is done, not just building the layout but the occasional vehicle. In this case a guards van from ‘41 that occasionally doubled as a luggage vans in branchline use.

This is the Roco Gepäckwagen Pwg41, a rather nice albeit pricey model, it has been weathered as appropriate.

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And to provide a baseline



My thanks to Peter Biewald,

 

[Tim Hale]

And a recent update to the cluster of buildings at one end of the layout
Nothing special, just an assortment of wooden structures although the loco shed is a major departure from a lifetime of plastic kits.

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The above is a laser-cut card kit from MBZ Modellbau a manufacturer who I knew but could never afford to use but the locoshed has two redeeming features, it didn’t cost that much* and it is a TINA (there is no alternative) except scratch building. The inspiration for the layout was Frauenwald, still standing but trackless however both the station building and locoshed were too large for the available space and this is rather nice.

*this is a relative term. It didn’t cost as much as a small station from MBZ

Tim

 

[Roger Pound]

I agree with your comments about GDR model rolling stock, Tim. It was excellent value and generally very respectable reproductions of the various prototypes, both freight and passenger. The locomotives were not in the same class, although one had to admire some of the ingenuity employed in their construction, the mechanisms in particular !

Roger

 

[Tim Hale]

I agree with your comments about GDR model rolling stock, Tim. It was excellent value and generally very respectable reproductions of the various prototypes, both freight and passenger. The locomotives were not in the same class, although one had to admire some of the ingenuity employed in their construction, the mechanisms in particular !

Roger

Roger,

other than the brand new Piko diesel, almost all the locos are rather old and obsolete Fleischmann products (another obsession)

Are you aware that, in the early ‘70s, Piko actually asked the DDR MEC (not sure of the actual title) for assistance to identify the most popular goods wagons wanted by enthusiasts AND co-operated in their production? The result was a truly excellent range of accurate* 1/87 wagons that still exist as their basic range albeit with modern kinetic couplings and better wheels.
As yet I have almost no suitable goods wagons BUT when I do acquire a few, they will invariably have originated in the ‘70s.
*within the limits of existing production technology, superb mouldings not so good metal component.