Les1952

Taking advantage of Kelvin White's liquidation sale- the first batch from him were the BR795 railbus set and the sliding wall vans and railbus trailers. Next we have a Nohab, in MAV livery but when the Iron Curtain was falling the railways of Eastern Europe were liquidising assets so it is feasible one ended up in the Western part of Germany on this private light railway. As A1A-A1A types they would be light enough. It had a Bachmann decoder with it, and despite my dislike of old Bachmann decoders I've used it as the decoder socket is surrounded by quite a lot of bare metal- the Bachmann decoder is encased in blue plastic insulation so doesn't need Kapton tape to protect it. I'll have to get some special couplings for it but in the meanwhile I've put an old-style coupler back onto one of the Piko wagons to act as a converter. The Nohab will be rostered for through freight. Just needs some weathering. Next up from Kelvin an Arnold BR95 which is a little too large for the line, though just about OK on axle load. It will work passenger in rotation with the BR86 and BR94, with the two tender engines only putting in appearances when there is a Plandampf. This has a Next18 socket and although not too difficult to dismantle getting the bits of the front to line up when reassembling it wasn't fun. The vertical boiler handrails down to the cylinders are safely tucked away in the box as I decided I wasn't going to manage to re-fit those... Not the best view of the other end, but it will no doubt appear more as the layout develops. There was also BR215 diesel ( a class being disposed of by DB about the time of the model. This is still in its box awaiting a Plux12 decoder I've not yet got round to ordering... The layout is standing on its end for a week while Bregenbach goes to Ruddington show. All for now Les

The "Not invented here" is probably a bigger reason. The Era system originated outside the Hornby bubble. Les

Layout packed up and ready to take to Ruddington for this weekend's show at the Great Central North. One new operator on Saturday to train. Fortunately there will be three of us there. I ordered a Fleischmann sound-equipped BR140 from Access Models on Monday and it arrived this morning. Set up and ready to go- it will be easier to use than the Minitrix one, which has a very odd sound file. Les

Looking at the Facebook groups (far more numerous than RMWebbers) most people are quite new to the hobby and don't care that the coaches don't match the engines. They'll grow into that, but maybe not until Hornby has had time to line them up... Les

"Not invented here" - didn't it originate with Bachmann, and fail to tie in with the Continental Epochs which were already widespread? Les

Shed and wall progress. The end of the wall has now reached the bank, so the improbable green can be covered over. Below it the shed now has the first of its roof trusses. The improbable green has now been covered with a first layer of static grass. Like all static grass it sticks at the angle it wishes to stick at and some will then allow itself to be dragged nearer to vertical, but it is a hairy green carpet that isn't a uniform shade. Variations and clumps will be applied later. The road will get another coat of grey after next weekend when the layout is re-erected after Ruddington show. The other end. An out-of-sequence pic with more done on the shed. Trigo has arrived and, after an interval, so has its chip. Running in largely successful, though there is a little bogie lift on the radius 2 curves. I'll do the same as I did to 60004 and cut a couple of turns off the bogie spring and apply a little lead to the underside of the bogie to help it stay on the track. It is intended mainly as a showcase queen, but it will make odd Plandampf appearances. Last for this post is an eBay purchase, now fitted with a decoder. A BR280 from Germany. This now completes the roster of off-centre cab B-Bs, or at least will when the Class 110 gets its replacement decoder. There is a Nohab and a BR215 in the next packet together with a BR95 2-10-2T. All I need to complete the roster with spares is another railbus, though the class 212 or 280 pulling three railbus trailers could be a passenger substitute. Les

A new video of trains- the pics will follow later. BR94 with passenger, two shots of the class VT95 set, and the Nohab. More to follow Les

Messy job number one done- the banks have now been plastered. .... and the base layer of improbable green added to give a colour underneath the grass. That will be added in the next day or two as the layout has to come down for a week or so while Bregenbach im Schwarzwald goes to Ruddington show at the start of July. The other end of the improbable green. It makes an improvement on white or wood/card frame. Also in view a couple of the new acquisitions, a pair of sliding door wagons. These were in a batch of goodies with a railbus set and some trailers, bought secondhand. I'm not sure whether to keep these with Tillig couplings or add them to the fleet of vans that will be shunted. I've got the luxury of a few months to decide what goes in which category. Another acqusision in the parcel - posed on the layout with the power off as I've run out of decoders. The 795 set now gives me the basic branch passenger train sets with the Ferkeltaxe behind. A view from the other end. I think this is actually a VT and a VB set, so I'll have to look out for a driving trailer to make the train bi-directonal. I suspect I may also have to do the same with the Ferkeltaxe. In the same batch of goodies (all bought from someone who is moving up to O-gauge) three railcar trailers, BTTB in origin. I'll work on these to make them into a set that can be hauled by one of the small diesels as a backup passenger set. They will get the Bregtalbahn crest over the DR on the sides- I must get on to those nice Fox people and order a transfer sheet.... More later. Les

The frame of the banking of the Donaueschingen end built largely from coffee stirrers and sprues from laser-cut kits. More framing round behind the engine shed. there will be a low wall here. Redutex walling applied to the slope at the baseboard middle. Showing the framing all the way along under the flats block. More to follow. Les

The engine shed and other ground-level kits have arrived. As the footprint of the engine shed determines the slope in front of the flats it is first of the five to be tackled. A laser-cut card kit by Igra there seem to be about 170 parts to it- an awful lot but not the most ever- the station building on Bregenbach had more. Bregenbach's station building. However, the new shed takes me back to the early days of building white metal locos, when you would sometimes get an exploded diagram or two that wasn't easy to follow, and a closely-typed instruction sheet running into a few pages that were incomprehensible enough to have been written in Czech.... The engine shed has a 17-page instruction boooklet that IS written in Czech... The base placed in position to allow me to scope the slope behind it. Step one is adding windows, door and glazing to the pieces of the wall at the tower end. The tower end assembled with the Ferkeltaxe trying it for size. Behind it the flats are bedded in ready for the slope to be put in. Meanwhile some more trains have arrived. More later on these. Les

The high level round the back is taking shape rapidly. The Redutex for the stone walling arrived. I'm a little less than exstatic about it as the colour I wanted is a little too regular in its stone size. Although it is 1:87 the stones still seem on the small side, and it is a bit of a menace to get level- more imperfections to disguise... Having the road down to the bottom level from the middle may be storing up scenic issues for later, but... Wall now Redutex-ed through to the Donaueschingen end. Next here is to build the frame for the bank- I'm using coffee stirrers and sprues from laser-cut card kits- flat and lightweight. A close up of the pedestrian/trackway bridge at the Furtwangen end. Sourced from eBay it is actually intended for OO9 layouts, but it is about the size I want. Lots of second-user stuff coming, which should see the loco and railcar stock as good as it needs to be. Maybe another railcar as a spare in the future, and definitely a few more vans due but the trains are now just about sorted. Decoder fitting is another matter- I have a baglog to tackle. Arrivals will be photographed as they are readied for the layout. Les

Even a wide-cab can be set up with the cab as the rear and the seats and controls facing the long end... I'm not convinced that any of them have been.... Main line electrics have a 1 near one cab and a 2 near the other. Les

Diesels and electrics (at least on the prototype) have an external 1 or 2 to tell the driver which end is which. American diesels all have a letter F on one end of the frame. F stands for FRONT. Identical diesels were often set up by different railroads to run long end first rather than the more usual short end first, even after the noses were cut down for improved visibility. Hence the need to know which end of any particular loco was set up as the front with the driver's position and controls facing towards it. I tend to place all of my diesels on Bregstadt with no.1 end facing the same way, and program this as the front of the loco. On Bregenbach the front of an electric loco faces away from its train- two of the trains are push-pull. My railcar has the first-class end set up as the front as you can see which end it is when standing in the fiddle yard. On Croft Spa the diesels were all set up so that forwards was away from the train, and multiple units were placed on the track so they normally ran forwards- but Croft Spa is a roundy-roundy. On my shunting plank NO PLACE none of the locos are big enough (the largest diesel is an 08) so the cab is set up as the back to be like the steamers. Others will do things differently. Some use the end with the fan as the front. Les

With an N-gauge fleet that peaked at 16 A4s and 21 A3s, I'm with you on the differences between the two. Then again I'm one of those heretics that prefers them with double chimneys and blinkers. Now all we need is for Hornby to release one with blinkers and a GN tender. Anyone for 60045 Lemberg? Les who would also settle for a double-chimney A4 with a non-corridoor tender (like the one behind Scotsman in BR days-) 60019 Bittern or 60034 Lord Faringdon post its tender swap with Scotsman, perhaps?

I mentioned the A3 running backwards in an email to Hornby Service, and also told them about the lack of adequate packaging in the box. They agreed with my suggestion that it was either the leads to the motor crossed or a rogue motor with the magnet installed the wrong way round. Either way they agreed that as it runs well to leave it and let the decoder sort it out. They were more concerned that it had rattled about in its box from the warehouse to being delivered, and were going to take up inadequate packaging with the warehouse- mine arrived intact but they thought others packed as sloppily wouldn't. Les

The fun begins when my Pacifics run the opposite way on DC to my Piko shunter.. Les I've now checked it again and it runs the opposite way to William Whitelaw and my 08... Not an issue once it gets a decoder inside it.

OO, N and Piko TT.....

Looking at the 212 it is clearly much smaller than the 290. East German 110 in the background, A view showing a bit more of the concrete apron. The front will be bedded in and suitable fencing put round it. A day later and the concrete has been painted with Tamiya acrylic "concrete" paint - aka deck tan. Pictures of the developments rtound the outside to follow. All for now. Les

My Trigo appeared this afternoon. Runs nicely- just one check- On the test track it goes the opposite way to the way I turn the control knob- all other makes go the same way. Fetching Blink Bonny out of the showcase this does the same. I'd not noticed this before as BB was decoder fitted as soon as I'd checked it worked and run-in on DCC, as was William Whitelaw (which I can't check now as it still has its decoder, BB lost its decoder as it is a permanent showcase queen) Are all Hornby's Pacifics like this? Not that it matters because when my Dapol Imperiums appear in the next day or two it will be DCC fitted and run-in DCC, though it might explain why BB's decoder had to be told the chimney was at what it thought was the back of the loco.... There was an issue with the packaging, however. The shipping warehouse is going back to their old ways, with an inch of air between the inner and outer boxes. I thought someone had finally persuaded them that unpressurised air isn't an absorbent material when it comes to bumps. Les

Another "new" purchase, a Class 212 by Modist. Secondhand. New enough to have a 6-pin interface hiding in the fuel tank, but old enough to have a battle scar in ths shape of a broken handrail I hadn't noticed until uploading these two pics... On the building front the high level in front of the backscene is going in. The Donaueschingen end, showing how dark the tunnel mouth is. Also shows the main area of the hardstanding- still a couple of adjustments to make here. The roadway gradient over the tunnel mouth is still a bit of a disaster area but will improve when I've worked out what I need to do to it. The Furtwangen end. the block of flats is almost in its final position, but needs to be bedded in. I've now ordered the engine shed, a single track one with a water tower at the end. Not that common to the West of Germany, but sufficiently rural to be reasonably acceptable. I'm looking at a rather nice 3D printed footway (or small tramway) overbridge designed for OO9 modellers. Set onto small risers either size it looks to be a suitable footpath bridge to disguise the exit at this end, helped by enough random trees. Lastly, a pic from early on that escaped the blog. The Roco BR38 seen early on. This features in a video near the start of the blog but up to now no pic of it. Definitely a Plandampf loco for the passenger trains, though it will share workings with the 86, 94 and the Arnold 2-10-0. I don't need any more steam (though there is still a Hornby A3 to come at some stage....) Les

A couple of pics of the grotty bits which the punter doesn't normally see. As the train leaves the scenic section after crossing the viaduct it passes through the backscene and turns very sharp right. Note in this pic the overhead disappearing skywards quickly so the pantograph is waving around in the air on the sharp bend. The backscene itself is the bare wood on the left with the false scene on the right. The curve here is radius 4 up to the mast- trains can be seen. At the mast it sharpens to radius 2 for one length and then to Radius 1, and it picks up the gradient down, though only at about 1 in 100 while out of sight. The backscene continues beyond the hole so the punter sees the train going off into the countryside. Lineside grass also continues though the ballasting over the Fleischmann grey plastic finishes sooner as it is more difficult to see the transition from out front (or at least that's my excuse... Continuing round the curve behind the backscene the loco re-engages the overhead and reappears in front of the farm house. Again the backscene and some of the ground continue well behind the layout backscene. This time the layout backscene is on the right with the false scene on the left. Also worth noting is that this turn (like the high level turn at the other end) is completely within the turn at baseboard level. Trackwork radius- bottom level Fleischmann Radius 2 on a level surface, upper deck Fleischmann Radius 1 out of sight on a 1 in 100 gradient. As the track reappears into public view the radius eases to Radius 4 for the last 45 degrees of the turn but after a short level section it descends at 1 in 25. Note also that the track on the tight bend is superelevated to keep the big stuff on the track- not elegant but it works- the double-decker sets propel round here quite happily. Closer to the punter's eye view showing the track disappearing through the backscene - to the left of the big tree. There is a similar false backscene where the line under the viaduct passes out of view, and also where the trains stagger round the curve at the brewery end. Les

My silent A3 with blinkers is now on its way. I must get some more next18 decoders as I've got a VT98 railbus by Kres coming as well... Les

The other beer van, bringing up the rear of the train of four wheelers going the other way. The front end of the passenger that has the yellow van at the tail. I've chopped the shed road and the longest siding back so they don't go as far as the scenery. A closer look at the grey warehouse under construction. At the Donaueschingen end of the line the tunnel mouth now goes into something approaching blackness. The risers are my usual mix of accurate, workable and downright rubbish..... All for tonight. Les

Hello again. I've laid in a stock of Balsa for the high level "flat" (ie flattish) bits and almost cleaned Access Models out of the thin stuff. I felt that building the town on a balsa sub-base would help keep the layout manageably light. I may be wrong... First view of the Donaueschingen end with an area of thin stuff also allocated to a hardstanding between the tracks in the factory area, not yet built in this pic. The part-finished building on the front is a Busch warehouse-type building. I've got to do some tweaking of the widths at this end to get a slope down at the end and a plausible wall in front of the warehouse etc. The ramp down to the bottom is nearer the middle of the layout. The warehouse might end up here if I can get the widths to work. The grey one MIGHT go next to it with a chimney hiding the backscene discontinuity as a change from a tree... A pair of vintage vans has now arrived for the rear of the two vintage passenger trains. The other is a beer van but this one is a definite rule one creature. The start of the inset track for the industrial area. More pics to follow. Les

No problem coupling, uncoupling needs something broad and preferably non-metal to lift the droppers. However, Dapol Easi-Shunt couplings fit in the NEM pockets quite happily and seem to work better than they do in the N-gauge stuff they were designed for. Les