RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted August 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 15, 2015 It all started about six months ago, a member of my late father's model railway club asked if I was interested in a layout which he had bequeathed to them. They felt it would be good for the layout to eventually find its way back to me after a gap of nearly 25 years. I duly accepted, and last Thursday finally got to collecting it - they meet once a month. From what I remember of the layout, it was a terminus layout set in epoch 2 Bavaria. It's name - translated roughly as Extremely Serious was the next stage on from my fathers last N gauge layout, Sein Ernst (Be Serious). So, what do we have? Basically a 20' x 2' end-to-end, with a small station, loco and good facilities, moving on past a small town and into some sort of military/air force installation (which acts as a fiddle yard). It is very much in two parts, with a noticeable difference between the three station boards and the military area. Despite the fact it has not been used for a long time, the layout itself is in pretty good condition. The station area is well modelled, with lights in the buildings and on the platform (the latter mainly work). This section of the layout requires scenic titivation - I'll sort out those bushes, get shot of those trees, reflock the green and resurface the road. A few of the lights need fixing and various eight-legged denizens of the sheds and other structures need evicting. The layout has been on the exhibition circuit (Dad was a member of the Witley club), including Farnham, Witley and Alton, so it has been built to a good standard, with a well thought-out track layout. The scenery is intentionally low as it packs up quite tightly...it now fits into the back of one car (albeit a Volvo V70!) - more anon. The third station board has a coaling stage, a couple of sidings and a saw mill. There is an attractive covered bridge, and the rather oddly-placed signal is operational. This is the last of the original boards, and now we move to the sceniced fiddle yards. The wood yard may need to attention; certainly the bridge does. The front of this board has a small collection of houses around a river. A the back is some sort of shed acting as a fiddleyard. This board is likely to see some drastic action - the shed will go and the sidings will be hidden. The road from board three stops rather suddenly, so will be extended to hide the yard entrance. The village will be spruced up with nicer tress etc. The siding in front of the shed may be retained. The final board had some sort of hanger model on it; presumably to display model aircraft. I did not feel this board really added anything, besides preventing me from getting the whole layout into the car; so this has already been discarded - a fellow club member has taken this on. So there we are - a well made layout with plenty of potential. It has already shortened to 16' in length, which is probably better in proportion...certainly better for transporting purposes. Also included with the layout with some stock. Three locos were included, along with 5 carriages and about 10 wagons. The little Roco mallet is operational, although needs a good running in. The Rivarossi BR89 needs some attention to coax it back into life, whilst the Fleischmann tank engine has a very obviously broken side-rod. This is with a fellow club member for fixing. In terms of electrics, the layout is comprehensively wired, with working lights and signals. Plugging it in revealed all worked, with the exception of the controller - so no trains moved! Tests showed that the single controller is dead. I suspect that the layout will need a rewire, so may take the opportunity to convert the whole thing to DCC. Other duties include replacing the rather chunky and cumbersome legs, as well as the end cheeks. Finally I need to sort out properly connecting the boards - there is a wide variety of bolts used, so some consistency is in order here. This is a long term project, but the ultimate aim is get to the layout back onto the exhibition circuit in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted August 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 15, 2015 Sounds like a good idea to breathe some new life into this layout, Nick! What you describe in terms of refurbishment ideas sounds plausible to me, so I'll be interested to see how things will develop. You planning to re-christen the layout as well to reflect its revival? "Todernst" (Dead Serious) just came to my mind… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted August 17, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 Thanks both. In terms of control, I have my eye on the Uhlenbrock Intellibox Basic (a club colleague has one of these and is very happy with it). The brown fascia will go black (the same as Kanjiyama); I have some blackboard paint for that very purpose. There will be a curtain. The name will probably stay - but you never know, evolution not revolution. I may stray a little into later periods, but will focus on epoch 2 for the moment (although I have a hankering for one of those little 4-wheeled railbuses, and have a V60 currently on order!) I'm already running ahead of myself - those Weinert vehicles look rather nice... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenway Park Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 There is a web site concerning the ex Bavarian branch lines. I think it is linked to the Falls branch which was the last in DB days to use 4 wheel coaches. Will try and find the site. Layout looks very good by the way. Found the site www.lokalbahn-reminiszenzen.de/seiteindex If the link does not work try the German Railway Forum Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenway Park Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 There is a photo on the site I mentioned of the Falls Gefrees branch train in 1973: One V60 hauling one 4 wheel coach. Looking forward to seeing the progress on this layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted August 17, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 17, 2015 There are some interesting things on that site - or at least off-shoots from the site. Also useful is the following: http://www.worldrailfans.info/Articles/Europe/GBriefHistory.shtml Hmmm, if a V60 can haul a 4-wheeler as late as the 1970s, surely one must have done so in the 50s! To add to the fleet at Uberernst, the following turned up the other day. Not 100% sure if these would have seen use on such a small branch at this time (late 20s, early 30s), but they are the correct era. Lots of ESU epoch 2 goodness! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted August 26, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 26, 2015 For those of you interested in plans - this is a rough schematic of Uberernst The blue arrows show the viewing side of the layout. I am not certain if the track layout has any precedent, but it has a great deal of potential. The small black oblong more or less in the centre of the layout is a coaling stage. The large brown structure on the right is a sawmill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted August 30, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 30, 2015 Spent a couple of hours in the shed today seeing if I could coax the layout into life. It Lives! After some digging around, it appears that one of the wires within the controller were loose. They had also frayed a little around the ends, so they were trimmed down a fraction and refitted to the controller - working fine now. The track needs a proper clear - it was given a light scrub just before I tried running. The layout has an interesting wiring method - although each board has a connection to the control panel, only the sidings exclusively on a board can operate if the boards are separate. For tracks which cross the board join, it looks like you need to have the entire layout set up for them to operate. Something I will need to sort out in due course to test my theory. My lovely assistant is sitting on one of the sidings which actually work independently The honour of being first loco to operate on Uberernst since I took possession had to be the little Roco Mallet which came with the layout. It was given a thorough running in last Friday at the club. I have started to look how I can tidy up the station area. The area beside the house is a bit bare...I see this becoming some sort of veg garden. I have already removed the rubberised horsehair bushes (hence the bald patch behind the house), and the grass will need to be improved. The road will also need to be looked at - I'm not convinced by the colours...although to be honest I am not 100% sure what colour rural German roads were in the 1920s; any pointers gladly received! The foot-crossing on the left-hand side of the picture, end the end of the platform, disguises the uncoupling ramps - quite nicely hidden. Finally, I have some further gratuitous photos of the ESU/Lilliput VT858. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted February 14, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 14, 2016 Uberernst made its first exhibition showing for about 15 years today, at Midhurst. It still has a way to go before its refurbishment is complete, but this was a great opportunity for the layout to be put through its paces. It also allowed for a better assessment of the locos and rolling stock. All were fine, with the exception of the Rivarossi loco; I suspect it will need to be replaced fairly soon. A couple of intermittent issues were encountered, and a second point has broken, so probably will need replacement. A couple of pictures... A Piko 0-6-0 tank engine draws into Uberernst with a passenger train The Rivarossi 0-6-0 sits in the yard with a freight train Glaskasten with a local freight Local passenger departure Glaskasten on a rather short local I'm afraid I am not sure about the fiddle yard arrangement - suspect this will change over the next year or so... At the end of show, a few bits came out to play! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Nice - JR East goes to Germany! Who makes the Kiha110? Cheers, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted February 15, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 15, 2016 It is Prus Endo. This one was obtained second-hand...which is just as well bearing in mind the prices being charged for the latest release at HS. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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