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readingtype

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  1. Thank you! We had a great time, some really good chats with visitors (and other exhibitors, and at least one trader with interesting information about upcoming 4mm scale models ...) and I have to say, I didn't expect the level of interest we received. It was great that the 'plywood desert' turned out to be so fertile :-) To be honest I was also impressed by how well things ran on OW -- yes, everybody saw our trains dividing and finding more interesting routes than the ones we'd set up: I'd say these originated equally from track and couplings. On the track front, there are some issues with transitions between level and gradient, one place where with a traverser set to a certain road even a Gronk couldn't get through the gap beneath, and here and there a naughty turnout. On the couplings: they're Sprat and Winkles (3mm) and it looks as if we need to agree which way the hook should be angled and how much. Yes, we do have a gauge. No, it didn't save us! Our layout's got to the point now where hopefully the remaining amount of work is nowhere near as daunting as it has appeared to us over the last few years. It's a club project and I hope we'll see many more of our members contributing to building and running it, not least because as last weekend showed it can be a very rewarding experience. Ben
  2. The Flm BR 94 is a bit of a classic ! No traction tyres needed there :-) Ben
  3. Checked the book, some corrections to what I wrote. It's 4,715 mm to the top of the chimney (54.2 mm at 1:87). And really this is an Ov (the v possibly standing for Walschaerts). Source: Rakov, V. A: Russische und sovjetische Dampflokomotiven. Transpress, Berlin, 1986
  4. Might also be the interference suppression capacitor, the black blob between the two brush holders, getting old. The resistance of the motor coils will be pretty low so that would best not form part of the test. Maybe unsolder one leg of the capacitor and measure across it to see if its resistance to DC is also very low. Caps in good order have a high DC resistance and a low AC resistance.
  5. These are most definitely not DCC, and I am not sure if relevant or already widely reported [note the suitability matrix - H0 fits Peco as far as I can tell]: https://sites.google.com/view/petrberkabiz/domovská-stránka/výměnová-tělesa?authuser=0 I'm struggling a bit myself with German ones, having bought the Auhagen kits: these have I think three parts and I can't actually work out how to put them together :-) Ben
  6. Thanks for sharing! I reckon it is to scale, on 'narrow gauge' track (a bit disappointing given the track is included, 17.5 mm gauge would have been very pleasing). At a guess the height to the top of the chimney for an Ob is probably about 5,000 mm or 57.5 mm at 1:87. The detail is nice but listening to it going round and round would get tiring quite fast I think! Ben
  7. Also there are stations in cities which have platforms on a viaduct or overbridge and minimal station buildings below (eg Köln Süd), the reverse of what you are looking for. Even given the alpine terrain, I think it is true to say that there was sufficient space available around settlements in the area you are interested in to allow easier, more future-proof sites to be chosen for railway facilities. That meant that a conventional layout was possible with the main administration and ticket office building on one side and close to the centre of the plaform length. It does not match your criteria, but for its unusual situation between two tunnel portals Überlingen on the Bodensee is one to take a look at, though on account of its siting it's not got much in the way of 'operational interest'. Note, not the nearby Überlingen Therme which is much more conventional and much closer to the lake. Freiburg im Breisgau has a road running on a big bow girder bridge across the south end of the platforms; that now has trams stops on it and access stairs and escalators leading down to the platforms so perhaps that could be a suitable tactic? Only thing missing is the feature that you are specifically looking for, a big building over the tracks ...
  8. Thank you! But I have a confession: I was sticking my neck out and guessing that classes 26, 27 and 33 (excluding 33/2) have front screens with the same dimensions. The centre window obviously not. It's actually the 33 that is currently of interest to me. These dimensions are fairly difficult to measure accurately from small size general drawings because they're angled in both front and side elevations, and it's relatively difficult to measure the prototype without access...
  9. These photos are not only really interesting to illustrate the steps involved but also very handy if you happen to want to see some good close up details for modelling purposes. On that note, I wondered if you know the dimensions of the main front window screen glass - all four sides being seemingly different lengths, I guess the two diagonal dimensions would actually provide the answer (if the two bottom corners are 90 degrees).
  10. I suspect that in many cases engine changes could be made to line up with the borders of the administrations, and that this was the most convenient solution from an administrative point of view (in terms of dividing revenue, paying for fuel, water and stabling, and arranging crewing). But that is guesswork - would be interesting to read a better informed answer. Ben
  11. Can I wind the clock back a little and share one of the (apparently numerous) videos from the recent FREMO meeting in Magdeburg? One of the arrangements (FREMO-Old - set in 1928) featured German/Czech cross-border operation. It was a biggie in H0 with lots of double track and a genuine incline with dedicated bankers. But one of the nicest things was a selection of what you might call Bohemian steam locos including several with 'lifting handles' (steam driers) and an enormous Skoda tank loco. Some nice Prussian stuff too... but that is going off topic. Turn the sound down is my advice, but a good watch. Incidentally there are also some 'cab ride' videos from the event. Some free time/stamina is required for these. I can report that unfortunately the occasional bewildered Brit wandered into the frame once or twice (oops). Ben
  12. I wrote badly, but intended to say: nothing that represents a non-British prototype in 1:76. That's what my comment was founded on, the fact that there are several recently produced non-British ones in other scales and so it's a pity the work done will not be redirected into models in 1:76. Ben
  13. Excellent! There are indeed 1:87 models of lots of continental UK-loading-gauge ferry wagons but nothing in 1:76, despite the hard work having been done (witness Modellbahn Union producing the same models of DB and DRG ferry vans in 1:87 and 1:160). I did write to MU and ask and (to paraphrase freely) the polite response was that I should ask the right people for the scale. Thing is to judge from what's on the packaging of the H0 models they are working together already. Hey ho. Or should that be H0...
  14. It was a good weekend. Here's Dstg217, 17:37 off Wfn, hauled by an ex-works 50 with Cabinentender (basically guard's office surrounded by a few thousand litres of cold water). It's running late, as pretty much everything did. I have to say, when I was operating the fiddleyard that the train is about to enter, I was pretty punctilious about dispatching on time... The red circle on a black stick will give way to a proper Einfahrsignal (entry signal) soon, according to the station's owner -- the slot for the signal base can be seen beside the second wagon and the cable run is already in place. My phone camera hasn't magically improved since last time, so apologies for grainy impressionism.
  15. Onc more it's come around to a UK FREMO meeting, which will take place this weekend. Most of the UK FREMO members are attending, along with invited guests who help fill the driving roster and add to the conviviality. There will be something like fifteen of us (or maybe a few more) over the two days. The arrangement, made up of modules mostly from the group, is H0 to NEM standards with code 75-80-ish track and gentle curves, and we run to a timetable (reminds me I need to check over it). Preparation includes checking and fettling modules, cleaning tracks, checking the dedicated FREMO throttles ('FREDs') and of course checking the locos and rolling stock. Each meeting is a chance to refine things, so this time we're tightening up a bit on stock selection which will now be drawn from a more tightly defined time window. Notionally this all represents a secondary main line in West Germany some time 1960-69, which allows/excuses a pretty big range of stock -- but we will happily accommodate one or two 'specials'! Here's the arrangement, lightly anonymised, so you can get an idea of things. There's more about FREMO here https://www.fremo-net.eu/en/home/ Ben
  16. Looks pretty clean to me. Though actually there's a sign just by the path asking all the railway enthusiasts to stop chucking all their rubbish into the meadows where the cows choke on it. This is St. Jodok am Brenner [Google Maps], 29 June last year.
  17. Getting accidentally caught in that photo is likely to be the closest I will ever get to being in Kraftwerk's photo shoot for The Man-Machine album. Incidentally, the control panel for the MRC test tracks is informally known as 'the Mighty Wurlitzer'... Ben
  18. It's great to read the comments and see the excellent layout photos in this thread! I was fairly busy on the MRC's main stand all weekend and therefore unable to immerse myself deeply in any of the layouts. But what I did see was really good: in my experience of LFoRM (2016 onwards), it was to my mind the best selection. There was a relaxed vibe. It was great to talk to all kinds of people who stopped at our stand and even better to receive thanks and positive comments on the show! I realised this morning I got a real buzz from the show -- which to be honest I didn't really expect. There's quite a lot of slogging for everyone involved to get it all in and then out again after the doors close to the public, and that can burn through enthusiasm somewhat! I feel optimistic about the the improvements we can achieve next time. I know how hard my club colleagues have worked over the last year along with the team at Warner's (also our hosts here on the RM Web forums of course) to make the show as good as it can be, so I'm sure that all the comments and suggestions will be considered carefully. Ben
  19. Just back from a good weekend playing trains at the lastest UK FREMO group meeting. It was great to meet up with the regular crew and also to have some newer faces along to run trains. Allowing for occasional incidents, everything was governed by the timetable and run against a 4 x fast clock. These are some of my dodgy mobile phone photos and as usual they fade into dottiness pretty quick, but hopefully you can get an impression of the action. At each meeting it's great to see scenery progressing on all the modules. This time around we also had some new ones, giving longer stretches of running line and of course some more new scenery to pass through. Stock is selected from tables near to the fiddleyard operators. This passenger looks a little alarmed that their Umbauwagen is lying waiting on its side -- should have taken the railbus service...
  20. Well, following a good day at the French Railways Society Summer Rendezvous last Sunday, I'm basically out of mugs. I have passed over £460 to the Help Ukraine Emergency Appeal and there will be a bit more once I have the final figures in. There are a couple of mugs in the wild awaiting owners, but that's it. Thanks very, very much to everyone who encouraged me, and thanks again to those who donated. It's been great to get your reports too -- hearing a mug's made it to its new owner is surprisingly satisfying :-) Sadly out in the world this conflict is far from over, but thanks to your help there has been some relief for some of those directly affected. Ben
  21. Just back from a good weekend in the country running H0 model trains to timetable with fast clock and waybills. Hopefully these photos give a flavour. As in previous posts I'm using the phone camera which takes away all precision and produces an impressionistic result, but this can be nice even though a greater depth of field might be more realistic. Everyone with a module has much work to do either filling in the gaps and adding detail, or just putting something on the bare wood, but there are still plenty of vantage points from which the only really odd aspect is the full-scale school hall in the background. V100s cross on goods services also including passenger facilities (Güterzüge mit Personenbeförderung) at Schwarzhausen. At this meeting, these tended to have several carriages and hence to look rather more like the upmarket version, the Personenzug mit Güterbeförderung -- a passenger service with goods wagons added. Interesting load on an Rlmms at Blauwasser A quiet moment for a BR 70 in the headshunt at Wasserbach BR 78 with a suburban service arriving at Werfen Kaffeepause (tea break) for the south end (?) yard shunter at Werfen Pickup freight train (Sammlerzug) rumbles through Schwarzhausen BR 57 running light engine (Leerzug) waits for the road at Blauwasser BR 29 on postal/goods service at Blauwasser Werfen's other yard shunter, a BR 81, at the coaling point
  22. Very much so. They're not inkjet printed but glazed, which is a (much) older technique that should keep the colours for a decent length of time. Ben
  23. Still one or two left. Buy yours today! Ukraine is still suffering. https://ben9412.wixsite.com/br132mug
  24. Remembering the excitement and optimism in that time, just a kid in front of the telly as I was, sends a shiver down my spine. If we'd known back then...
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