Class 74

Hi I don't think it's a problem to discuss or asking anything about these dark times. But Germany was not the only country being in dark times back then. It's definitely not allowed to promote the nazi scum, but it shouldn't be a problem to ask questions about railway related questions or creating a layout in the 30's. The good thing about model railroading is, there are NO politics, no parties, just fun. I have a lot of books with pictures from legendary Carl Bellingrodt, and it is surprising that you can rearly see a flag or anything related to these craziness! Too many beautiful locos, MU's and coaches were created in the 30's in Germany. Politics shouldn't matter in this case... I think! We modelers have the ability to create the world as WE want it!😘 Cheerio Simon (Swiss, not German)

As I am from (and living) in Switzerland I'm quite unique with my british stuff, especially as I am not british! I always sell my OO gauge to Hattons, no chance for selling UK models here. American models are popular in Europe, but not british. The most modellers here have NO idea how a british loco looks like! 😉 Cheers, and a happy new year everybody Simon

Here's a swiss site with nearly daily updates https://www.bahnonline.ch/16097/modelleisenbahn-neuheiten-2022-im-ueberblick/

I like my Piko coaches. Just bad that the Steuerwagen is not dcc for the front lights. But aside that, they are good to handle, not too many details (that can fall off) and a nice price. I turned from a Roco into a Piko fan, those guys are amazing. Can't wait to get my Blue/Beige 181.2!!!

Thank you I did a through station because the Kilmister layout is already a terminal station. But a terminal station is a lot of fun as well, lot of shunting in the US. Not just put another loco on the other end...

Lovely layout, very good! Cheers Swiss-Simon

Of course, but that's not a up and down line system like in the UK. It just shows the kilometers, I never heard or read someone who is saying: This train is running in the direction of descending kilometers, hehe. But the up/down and in the USA the east/west is a well-known term also by the public. The kilometer posts are, as I think, more an information for the people working for the railway. So if there is trouble, they can tell: I'm standing on kp 104 and the loco doesn't move anymore (or whatever). Or you can say the track workers WHERE their workplace is. Every railway system, or at least the most, have this. Sounds better than: I'm standing somewhere and the loco doesn't move. I mean, every overland street have kp or mileposts. But that has nothing to do with the up/down-term.

Et voilà, some more to see! A sketch for the top of the station over the entry Added a railing on the top These are the support for the middle part of the trainshed's roof. The parts are from Faller, a bridge kit. Looks pretty cool! Then I finished the bottom of the warehouse Amtrak E8 is showing up My Atlas S-2 switcher, good runner with nice sound. Have to be weathered! Frontview from under the bridge The whole layout Never heard of a Boston and Atlantic, but I found that milk car really nice. Looking east (in Illinois) or north (as Albany) Holy... how has THAT happen??? Those Walthers PA's looking delicious. A little light weathering and painting the couplers silver will add even more awesomeness! And the sound is so lovely, my god... Empire service arrived Ahhh... have to find that front lifting thing... I added these details because the E7 is numbered for a ex-PRR engine. The PA's just arrived from the Colonie shops, already turned on a wye and waiting to change to another track Train 70 from Buffalo arrives with a cigar band E8 There is also some local freight rumbling through the station. Can't wait to get a Bowser RS-3 for the D&H, already preordered... hope I'm still alive when it will be released... so the PC has to do the job! Probably coming from Selkirk yard via the D&H. But it seems that the GP9 ist serving the local area, because it is running backwards. The local train 405 from Boston, ending here. Ususally there was a E8 or a RS-3 and coach, but today it's a GP9, even with an ex UP-coach. This coach is a respray by Feather in Zurich, unfortunately he has now retired. Another morning, the Laurentian as I am running it now is in position on track 3 to receive the NY through coaches to Montreal, sorry, Montréal! Train 70 already arrived on track 1. Train 71 arrived, the last 3 cars (a D&H coach, a NYC grill and a NYC parlor or as in this case a 10-6 sleeper as the parlor). A D&H heavyweight is behind the PA, came from Colonie with the engine The rest of train 71 Here you can see my compromise Laurentian... Love those RS-3. This is the only loco without sound. Added some weed and bushes and a railing. This is the top railing from that Faller bridge. Still a lot to do. But sometimes you just have to operate it to try everything out. More will follow! Simon

I needed some time to get that with up and downlines... London and Paris are the Center of their countries. In Germany it is a bit different. When the railways started, the UK and France were countries with the biggest city as their capital. But in Germany there was Prussia, Bavaria and all the other smaller countries. That was not a united country like the others. So there was no center or the most important capital. Ok, it was probably Berlin, but don't tell the Bavarians!!!! It's like you tell the scottish people that London is the capital of Scotland! I think that's the reason why. The same with Austria, they had Vienna and Budapest as well as other important cities. And here in Switzerland, I mean we are neutral, that would cause some trouble!

There is nothing like that in Germany (or Switzerland). We don't describe that.

… and a bit of Sellafield… Pengzilla is here!

I hope Bachmann will announce the Arriva 158 in the blue/turqoise livery, I NEEEEEEED that!!! The model looks good, nice one.

Hi Simon Interesting, the commuter trains theme is just perfect for little space. If you do Metra then you have a lot of possibilities with different engines. If you are looking for something special and are good in painting, these is for you: https://www.shapeways.com/product/MHSL3T7S2/ho-scale-emd-f40c-metra?optionId=57248148&li=marketplace But I wouldn't do an functional REA track, exept your layout is set in the 60's. I will use my REA buidling as a local warehouse when Amtrak rules the layout. Another solution is to use one track as a refueling station or just for stagging extra coaches for the rush hour. You also have to think that modern commuters always have the loco outbound if it's the big city like Chicago or inbound when you model the terminal station outside of the city. If it's the "Big City Station", you can change locos easily. As the terminal you have to switch the coaches as well. Of course only if you operate with cab cars. Or you can do this track on the top for a electrified Interurban like the North Shore or the still existing South Shore. Puuuh... that's a lot to think about! Cheers (another) Simon

The boards are 45 cm deep and 80 cm long. The height is 30 cm.

The Faller kit is Oehringen, a beautiful station kit. Can be used for UK, rest of Europe and USA as well. Here's the one: https://www.faller.de/App/WebObjects/XSeMIPS.woa/cms/layout/lid.223/bid.16519/index.html It's good to cut, good plastic, not like the stiff Walthers stuff, it's like trying to cut potato chips!!! I ordered two bridge kits from Faller for the trainshed. I want to use the lower metal supports for the top roof. Here are some more pix with the not complete finished station... First I added a railing Lower support for the big building, the only removable building with the upper station building. Start building the upper part of the station. Loooooot of parts to paint. I painted it even twice! The windows Ta-taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Hi Simon Yeah, they are looking pretty good. Sad that there is no manufacturer doing them. I wrote already years ago Walthers and Rapido to bring out "modern" versions, means late 60's -80's specific version. Hopefully one day... I would love to have a E9 in Amtrak phase 2. Kilmister: Yes, but they were the best pix. Here we have some news from the Union Station! The side wall Here three advertisement to choose from, I decided to use the Jack. Then I used this photo transfer creme. Some parts missing, but its ok I think. Some corrections... Still have to apply a bit of weathering, then it's fine! We go on with the side building Here you see how the background is done The entry The trainshed Looks not bad so far! Here the finished entry I painted the trainshed in a very dark grey, still some weathering to do. (and it's not finished yet) Then I started the foreground. Several layers of carboard, ripped in to pieces and glued. Looks pretty good and realistic Next was the wall on the back Now both pieces united again!

It's funny comparing my original Kilmister layout, starting as a highland terminal, looked a bit different after some years... I made a lot of buildings for the US-version of that layout after a complete rebuilt into a city terminal. And hey, it seems that I used the "white building" on that layout... but I arranged it in different versions, I had a lot of possibilities. All E-units are from Broadway. Not really happy with them, some are really bad runners. I spent 2 E8's and one E7 a respray.

Ok guys, look at this beauty. Some stock and locos still have to be weathered, but.....mmmmh! Really bad that Walthers also cancelled the Cigar Band E8's. But at least the IC version came out last year!

But that was probably not even the correct diner... they were unique because the D&RGW rebuilt them from 44 seat diners into a 22 seat diner with a 16 lounge section... it's complicated! The diner Rapido is producing now is definitely not the correct car. They had a unique window arrangement after the rebuilt. But I rather have the lounge from Walthers. Just don't get it why they cancelled the release... 2 cars were built in total, one for the C&O (Chessie Club) and one bought the D&RGW (Castle Gate), the one that the D&H bought from Rio Grande. You can buy a lot of non existing stock, just like my NYC coach with the small windows you can see above. I've never seen that one as a NYC coach. Or dome cars for NYC/PRR/PC and a lot of other "wrong" stuff. Then they produce the lounge, a very rare coach in the whole US, but they just released the C&O version instead of at least 3 possible designs... I think this car still exists and was also part of a business train for Guilford. I'm sad now...

Yes Andy, it will be fun both ways. For longer trains I have to remove cars, I will pull out the rest with a Roco BR 260, that's the shortest locomotive I have. And a strong one! So there is the possibility to have a 7-coach train with 2 E-units! Not bad! I planned a loooot to reach that, hehe... and the fiddles are long enough for one loco and 4 coaches. That's the good thing about US-railroads in the late sixties/early seventies, short passenger trains. I ordered a lot of these "Through passenger trains" from Morning Sun Books, and there are so many short trains to see... perfect for smaller layouts.

Hope is here because they are doing the PA's, probably that gives a kick! Here is the diner: https://myrailroad.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/img_3327.jpg?w=500&h=375 The coach Rapido was doing I think it was a Erie Lackawanna coach. The D&H sold the coaches to Mexico after 1971. They removed the steel panels when using the diners and lounge for the Adirondack. The equipement just looked like Budd's. At this time they didn't used the baggage cars anymore.

Thank you. Unfortunately the D&H had no Budd equipment, those where Pullman's! I have a NYC Budd baggage car that could be resprayed as a compromise. But the main Problem ist the diner or the lounge/bar, the lounge was produced by Walthers, but just as a C&O car, the "Chessie Club". This would be the correct car, but it's not only hard to find, they want 160 -220 Dollars on eBay! And another 100 for a respray for a car… you see, thats a lot of money. Just don't get it why Walthers didn't produce the D&RGW and the D&H versions. But time will tell, and yes, I wrote to Walthers... but I don't have any hope for that. Another solution is to respray a cheap grill diner but it's just not the same!

Thank you Nick There are two ways to operate it but it will be a through station for both. First as the empire service, every 2 hours a train with normaly 2 - 4 coaches and one or two E8's. In my Albany there would be still a D&H local to Saratoga Springs as well as the famous Laurentian (with Amtrak the Adirondack). Unfortunately the only train I have to miss is the Montreal Limited, arrived in both ways from NY and Montreal in the middle of the night. The local Boston with an E8 and a single coach will be a part as well as the shunting of a coach and sleeper for Boston from the predecessor of the Lake Shore Limited, coming from Chicago. And of course the Laurentian with through coaches to New York will require some shunting as well. And there is the REA/Freighthouse... The only problem is that there are no D&H diner and baggage, just the coach from Walthers, just Rapido did the coaches, baggage and diner for the 1974+ train. But this stuff is hard to find and the prizes are extrem... still have to found a solution. The second way to operate is in the early 60'ies, about 1962/63 with NYC running through, and the IC ends here, coming from the right. This will need a lot of shunting together with the REA loading bay. Really can't wait to operate it!!! Rock on!

Some more... Here you see some wooden crossings, as most stuff made out of cardboard. Of course they will be weathered, but I think it will be the last thing to fix them. Some details in the loading area The white building is one I never used but built years ago. Now I painted it white, and I shortend it in the height. It will receive also a damn cool advertisement, still have to find something (NO Coca-Cola ad, NO). Here the finished bridge and embankement. Plants and ground cover from Welberg. Fantastic stuff, also some model scene plants. The station building! Placed completely on the right side of the scenic part it is a mix of cardboard, wood and some leftovers from some Walthers buildings. The only concrete crossing These shops were another part of the Kilmister layout but you will barely see them behind the window front. But I thought why not using them... The left side tracks are for the IC or D&H, the right ones for NYC/PC Hopefully I can finish the lower level of the station this week(end), then the station building on the top will be made from a Faller kit. See ya Simon

Now you can see the embankement, it's done with some cardboard and hardfoam Always a big mess with that material, but it is very light, and it worked well! Here I painted the tracks and ballast with some brownish color The upper and removable top of the side backgrounds After working a lot on the bridge and embankement I cut the platforms into the right shape Looks nice (there not glued at this state) A lot of heavy books for glueing the bridge!