Die Ercallbahn - Fulfilling a childhood dream.

[Calnefoxile]

3 hours ago, ian said:

It was a good day in the garage today.

 

 

Despite what the old joke says, it IS the Köf that carries you off! Good news - the Märklin Köf can shift the Brawa one and its wagon.

 

 

I think the Kof's are fabulous lookng machines, I can't wait to get on for my TT layout, not prototypical for the line I'm modelling, but who cares they are cute 

 

Regards

 

Neal.

[Woody C]

Well at least he is socially distanced and likely to remain so up there!

Coming on well Ian and the OHL really adds to the layout.

[ian]

 

All the catenary in the station is now wired and live. One small oops - I had omitted an isolator for one of the main line signals. This was solved by removing a long wire between two of the cross-spans and replacing it with two shorter lengths to give a break in the right place. You can see the extra mast that was requied next to the loco.

 

The posh train indicator boards on the two island platforms were getting dinged by passing trains so have had to be removed for remodelling to get them within platform confines.

[Woody C]

All credit to you Ian for being able to make this OHL work. Personally  I

I would probably have a better chance of understanding a knitting pattern then trying to make sense of what you are doing! Anyone interested in a two collar, three arm cardigan? 

[ian]

 

Whilst the unphotogenic wiring progresses a couple of other things have happened. Firstly the train indicators have been slimmed down and are awaiting reinstallation.

 

And the signal box for Neustadt has been completed and plonked in position. It isn't a prepossesing structure from the rear...

 

...or the front for that matter. It is however a doppelgänger of a model from the original layout (although that had light blue windows and door) so had to have a home. (Naturally it has an interior light - but that is awaiting connection.)

[ian]

 

The track on the incline down to Maifeld is in place and wired, as is the overhead. (Memo to Grant Shapps - it is easier and cheaper to do the OHLE at the same time as the rest of the railway.)

There is even a video:

 

 

[Jon Gwinnett]

I did have my heart in my mouth there at the end 

[Woody C]

There is almost a sense of drama and impending doom as the train heads down the incline. For some strange reason visions and memories of Thunderbirds are going round my head - not much in there so plenty of room for most of Tracy Island and probably Thunderbird 5 orbiting it! .As an interim measure remove the clock and have Thunderbird 2 hovering with its suction grab at the ready in case of an uncontrolled runaway. FAB!!!

[ian]

12 hours ago, Woody C said:

There is almost a sense of drama and impending doom as the train heads down the incline. For some strange reason visions and memories of Thunderbirds are going round my head - not much in there so plenty of room for most of Tracy Island and probably Thunderbird 5 orbiting it! .As an interim measure remove the clock and have Thunderbird 2 hovering with its suction grab at the ready in case of an uncontrolled runaway. FAB!!!

 

Not even Virgil could catch it in mid-air!

 

 

 

[Woody C]

Almost as though you are reading my mind Ian! Exactly the image I had floating around in my head yesterday somewhere between Tracy Island and the orbiting Thunderbird 5! Anyone seen Brains? Unlikely as that is in my head! 

On a more serious note you were talking earlier of putting in a temporary loop at the bottom of the incline. Is that no longer a goer?

[ian]

16 hours ago, Woody C said:

On a more serious note you were talking earlier of putting in a temporary loop at the bottom of the incline. Is that no longer a goer?

 

Still mulling that one over. When I'm not playing with the trains.

 

Another video (and why not?):

 

 

[ian]

 

The ET420s have shown a lack of enthusiasm for working the suburban services so it is back to the Silberlinge for the local services.

In retrospect the ET420s are scale models of a later generation than the rest of the layout - especially the track - and are far more picky about such a thing. I'm somewhat miffed, but if they won't work on the layout - they have got to go.

 

Since the local services will be diesel hauled their platform doesn't need overhead and with that gone the cross-spans seem somewhat over the top for the situation and have been replaced by standard masts.

 

Ah well, onwards and upwards.

[ian]

 

The observant amongst you may have noticed the empty space where Neustadt's station building is supposed to be. Well, I can'tt prevaricate any longer so construction is under way.

 

Mind you, there's a fair bit still to do.

 

Still, the signal box has been connected to the layout's power supply and as illuminated both by day...

 

...and by night.

 

So now I can get back to running the layout. The P8 has brought a train from Schönblick to connect with the service to Maifeld and its western suburbs.

 

Once the suburban train has gone the P8 uses its platform to run round its own train. There is a shunt signal at the end of the platform which is easily seen from the signal box so there is no excuse for not clearing it promptly.

 

A few minutes later and the branch line train is ready for its bummel up the line.

 

Whilst I have been messing around with Neustadt Schwarzfelsen has been left to its own devices. It appears that the unloading crew have put a crate aside for later consumption!

 

[Woody C]

Its all coming together well. Pity about the OHL being made redundant but are we likely to see it emerge elsewhere as the line develops or will there be an alternative use such as an electrified fence protecting goods from being liberated by thirsty ho scale workers? 

[ian]

15 hours ago, Woody C said:

Its all coming together well. Pity about the OHL being made redundant but are we likely to see it emerge elsewhere as the line develops or will there be an alternative use such as an electrified fence protecting goods from being liberated by thirsty ho scale workers? 

 

Fear not, the OHLE will not go to waste. As for that crate - things are afoot.

 

 

Time for the local freight from Maifeld Rangierbahnhof. Today's load is two Shell tankers for the depot at Neustadt and two vans for the branch.

 

As usual it pulls into Gleis 4.

 

An outgoing tanker is added to the wagons that came down from the branch and they are pushed into Gleis 3.

 

The incoming tankers are delivered and then the vans will be left on the interchange track (Gleis 5).

 

The loco has run back down on Gleis 4 and is now pushing the outbound wagons out of Glies 3 to clear it for the next passenger arrival.

 

Now sitting safely on Gleis 4 the freight waits for the passenger service to arrive before it gets cleared onto the main line. The lucky photographer has caught two locos in the latest livery.

 

Whilst all this was going on the TEE was hiding in plain sight on the loop. Once the freight has been removed from the line it can return to its track on the 'ski-jump'.

[Woody C]

I will await with interest as to where the OHLE will reappear and with anticipation as to the fate of the crate and its contents!  Illustrating the further strange manner in which my mind works once Tracy Island and  the orbiting Thunderbird 5 have gone to sleep,  the mention of 'ski jump' does make me wonder whether you actual meant ETE rather than TEE?

 

ETE AKA Eddie The Eagle would no doubt relish the opportunity to  try out the current ski jump and given his performance at Calgary and taking account of the alignment, slope and likely weather conditions within your railway room, may well, if he misses the buffer stop, make it as far as your freezer if its still in the room.  Possibly drinking the contents of the crate might add to the level of performance.

 

Who said railway modelling was boring and not mentally stimulating?

 

 

 

 

[ian]

1 hour ago, Woody C said:

I will await with interest ... the fate of the crate and its contents! 

 

 

The workers on the loading platform have repaired to the goods office for their morning coffee and, in their absence, Herr Bolwieser's assistant has spotted something amiss.

[ian]

In the previous thrilling episode we left Florian, Herr Bolwieser's assistant staring in amazement at a crate of beer that was in the wrong place.

 

Now Florian, lovely chap that he may be, is the sort of person who you wouldn't trust to sit the right way up on a lavatory. This, of course, is why he had ended up at Schwarzfelsen - the railway felt that having made the fundamental error of employing him the best thing to do was to assign him to an inconsequential station at the end of a half-forgotten branch line in the back of beyond.

 

Brimming with excitement he rushed to speak to Herr B., breathlessly relating that he had stumbled upon a theft in progress. Herr B. listened for a moment and then told Florian to ring the Bahnpolizei whilst he went and told the freight loaders to extend their coffe break so that they didn't get the chance to cover their tracks.

 

The Bahnpolizei are the German equivalent of BTP and deal with vandalism, thefts from wagons and so forth and, like everyone else employed by the railway in the area know better than to take any notice of Herr B. and his idiot sidekick. After listening to Florian's garbled report and asking a couple of questions the duty officer explained that they didn't have anyone available to deal with it at the moment and to let them know if there were any further developments or, if it was an emergency, to contact the Landespolizei (state police). With the benefit of hindsight he could have phrased that in a way that wasn't open to misinterpretation.

 

Florian immediately rang the Landespolizei and told them that there was a theft of a large quantity of alcohol from a shipment at the station underway as he spoke and that the Bahnpolizei had told him to call them. Now, East Frisia is not known as a hotbed of criminal activity. Any villain with a bit of ambition heads to Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven or Wilhelmshaven where there is far more scope for indulging in nefarious activities. The average policeman in East Frisia thinks it is a good day if he has issued a ticket for failing to use a pedestrian crossing so when an apparently responsible railway official said that a major crime was in progress the call handler knew that everyone would want in on the action so he commanded every available officer to attend - with blue lights and sirens.

 

Give the nature of the area there weren't many available officers. First on the scene was Thomas with Blitz, the police dog. The only reason he was to hand was that he had been exercising Blitz on the beach nearby. Second were Michael and Stefan who had been 'on patrol' sitting in their car in the square at Shonblick watching the young ladies walking past. Finally Jens rolled up in the minibus. He had dropped a group of his colleagues in Neustadt to sweep the town for illeagally parked vehicles and the prospect of using the lights and siren was just too much for him.

 

 

So now there are three police cars blocking the goods yard access road and four police officers (and a very upset dog) having a free and frank exchange of views with Florian and Herr B.. The freight loaders are, however, enjoying their extended coffee break and have got the cards out.

[Woody C]

You can't leave us all in suspense like this Ian! I take it, as they use to say at the end of Batman (the original TV show complete with Kerpow Biff, Splat, etc!) and believing that Blitz will have a major part in the next episode as he appears to be the only one looking in the right direction , ' Same Blitz-time, same Blitz-channel next week!' 

[ian]

12 hours ago, Woody C said:

You can't leave us all in suspense like this Ian!

Would you care to bet on that?

 

 

[Woody C]

2 hours ago, ian said:

Would you care to bet on that?

 

 

How about a crate of beer which I should have available once I finish this coffee and game of cards with the lads?

[Mick Bonwick]

On 24/01/2021 at 19:48, ian said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheeeeeeee!

[Northroader]

Neustadt escape lane:

 

[ian]

It has been somewhat parky in the garage of late so it has been a while since we could catch up with the inhabitants of the Ercallverse.

 

 

The morning freight has finished work at Schönblick and is now making its way to Schwarzfelsen, the crew are expecting an easy day and are blissfully unaware of what is going on at the end of the line.

 

Jens has been despatched with the minibus  back to Neustadt to round up the ticketing crew. Maifeld's top detective team (well, its only detective team, I told you it was quiet around here), the two Manfreds, commandeered the only spare vehicle with a blue light and a siren - an elderly Ford Taunus - as they weren't going to miss out on the fun and are currently interviewing the suspects/witnesses. Stefan is sitting in the goods office with the loading crew to make sure that none of them slip out before the Manfreds get around to them.

 

Thomas and Blitz are guarding the crime scene. Blitz would rather be on the beach and Thomas would rather like to go the toilet.

 

Michael, who had been scouting around the area, has found a potential witness at the holiday cottages. The fact that she couldn't possibly have seen anything is neither here nor there.

 

The arrival of the goods train gets Herr B. out of his office like a jackrabbit.

 

As the loading dock and the empty wagon for collection are part of the crime scene they can't be touched. The crew can see their hopes of an early finish disappearing.

[Mick Bonwick]

I love stories like this.

 

Keep it coming, Ian.