Die Ercallbahn - Fulfilling a childhood dream.

[ian]

Meanwhile the main line is acting as a moving backscene as a train circles around. Here a through freight crawls through Neustadt as the branch passenger awaits departure time.

A suspiciously similar freight passes the branch goods shunting Neustadt some time later.

Neusatdt shunting complete. The train comprises a vanload of supplies for the brewery, an empty beer wagon for loading and some loco coal.

The branch passenger has reached Schwarzfelsen and run-around. Schwarzfelsen is currently at 14:21 and will go into statsis whilst Schonblick catches up.

There is a minor drawback to operating the main line as a Paradestrecke rather than part of the timetabled operation: as the trains are left to look after themselves sometimes they misbehave. Fortunately the V200 drew attention to itself by passing in fromt of me before it caught up with the train it has shed.

 

Unmoved by the excitement the branch goods is pulling in to Schonblick.

Unusually the goods pulls into Gleis 1. A sneaky move which will enable the brewery to be shunted before the branch passenger returns from Schwarzfelsen.

Now to get clear of the platform line before it is needed.

There is even time to run around the coal wagon.

A short pause in the shunting lets the passenger train sneak through.

The loco coal was delivered at 12:48 and a quick telephone conference cleared the goods crew for an 33 minute early run to Schwarzfelsen.

13:27 and the crew returns to Schonblick with an empty van and the prospect of a long lunchbreak.

14:09 and the passenger train is parked up and the crew are on the way to join the goods crew in the cafe.

14:27 the railbus passes the cafe on its way to Schwarzfelsen.

The crews are still at lunch when the railbus returns at 14:57.

15:12 and the railbus arrives back at Neustadt. The connecting train is already waiting.

At the moment Klinkerhoffen has no connection with the rest of the layout so it can be well adrift timewise. 12:15 and the daily trip freight arrives.

The empties are collected from Herr Rudyards Kuchen - it looks like they're making Banoffe pie today.

Now to pick up the delivery of packaging.

Once the packaging has been unloaded the van will be filled with outbound cakes.

Ready to return to the yard.

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by ian

[Northroader]

Really enjoyed seeing that operating session, even the problems with V200 couplers.

[ian]

Back from a little R&R to find a parcel from Germany waiting.

 

This little beastie was happy to romp up the gradient and was also willing to do it with a couple of coaches hung on the back.

 

Can you tell where I'm going with this?

[Woody C]

11 hours ago, ian said:

Can you tell where I'm going with this?

Any theories I postulate on this will be completely wrong, implausible and probably involve Blitz the crime solving police dog,  so I have decided to await your reveal on this Ian! However it does look a very nice piece of kit!

 

I take it that the R and R was a good break and you are now recharged and eager to progress further with the layout?

[Northroader]

Looks like you’re opening a branch line, auf der Forest Glen. 

[ian]

Do you remember the ET420 EMUs that wouldn't play nicely?

 

The driving cars are really long - which causes problems with some point lanterns and signals but, strangely to one versed in UK prototypes, the centre car, which is the powered car on the models, is shorter than the two driving cars.

 

How much shorter? Well, about this long...

 

[Ian Morgan]

The ET423s that were meant to replace the ET420s on the Munich S-bahn were about the same length overall, but were 4-car units instead of 3-car.

 

I said 'meant to replace the ET420s' because although the ET420s did disappear from Munich for a while, some returned after the 'A' line from Dachau to Altomünster was electrified and the routes were re-organised, requiring more tains.

 

 

ET423 and ET420 (refurbished 'museumzug') side by side run ('parallelfahrt') from Giesing to Deisenhofen to mark completion of conversion of the route from single track to double track (2003). Any excuse for a party.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Ian Morgan

[ian]

Back with the operations:

 

As the goods crew don't need to do the afternoon run to Neustadt today they have hauled the spare loco out of the shed. Three steam locos  in shot - I'm spoiling you. The shed area doesn't really work with three locos in residence so I suspect that whichever is spare will have to live off-layout.

 

Neustadt's afternoon visit from the trip freight has yielded a few empties to go back to the rangierbahnhof. The return working is seen passing under the road bridge.

 

Last train of the day. The railbus has completed its last trip along the branch. All that remains is to refuel it and then put it to bed.

 

Some of the branch train times need to be adjusted to make the service more usable for the Preiserlings but, on the whole, the first iteration wasn't too bad. Once the various changes have been put into the master schedule I'll move on to Tuesday and see how it goes.

[J-Mo Arts]

Always lovely to read up on your running sessions. The three steam locos look well together. If I may suggest such a thing, is there spare space in the timetable for a double headed steam excursion? If not running, perhaps for a photoshoot. I'm not sure if 3-rail analogue has the same problems with double heading as 2, where one loco may run faster than the other. 

[St Enodoc]

15 hours ago, ian said:

Preiserlings

I like that!

[ian]

Some recent downpours highlighted how damp it gets in the garage. Being slow on the uptake it has taken me a long time to realise that the dehumidifier that has been sitting in its box all the while would be better employed plugged into the mains.

I acquired a thermometer/hygrometer to help monitor the situation and after a few days of the dehumidifier running flat out we are at 50% relative humidity, which is a big improvement, and a slightly parky 15.9 degrees.

When catenary goes bad!

 

This is why Miniatur Wunderland don't model the overhead wires. One of the catenary sections had come loose and slid across the span, leading to the E03's pantograph to get trapped in the wire. As it was travelling at speed the loco's fromt bogie lifted off the track, the windscreen popped out and the first coach in the train rode up on the coupling.

 

Still, worse things happen at sea.

 

Given the level of problems encountered with the main line I am currently expending some attention on the track to eliminate some of the bumps, dips and twists that have arisen from a combination of slightly deformed secondhand track and changes to the layout.

 

I also intend to work through the locos and rolling stock to clear them for main line running. The qualifying test being 15 minutes of faultless running in each direction as part of a train. I have a small selection already passed but given the time involved it will be a while before there is a good variety of stock to hand.

 

Hopefully over the next few months reliability on the main line will be increased to the point where it can be left to look after itself without constant checks or waiting for the sound of an unfolding disaster.

 

As an aside, when I was young I had a Marklin planbook (I still have most of it) and the plan that I really wanted to build but never did was this:

 

Believe it or not it still exists, although the greenery has faded a bit in the intervening 55 years or so!

 

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by ian

[ian]

Meanwhile:

 

 

[Woody C]

You can never have too many layouts Ian! The problem comes with getting them finished although I suspect that you will finish this new layout long before I can bring my glacial progress on mine to a speedier progress! Do I take it the new layout will be an inside project during climatically challenging conditions in the garage this winter? 

 

As an addendum to the above I have now done what I should have done in the first place and read your new topic which clearly states the location before asking the question! As Homer Simpson would say - Doh! Anyone got a doughnut? 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Woody C
Found the. Answer to my question!

[ian]

 

Work continues to eliminate niggles, snags and downright nuisances along with clearing stock for traffic.

 

Mission creep does set in from time to time - one of the niggles was that the umbilical cord from Schwarzfelsen to its control panel was too short to allow the drawer to be fully extended without unplugging it. Of course, whilst I am at it I might as well put a pluggable terminal strip on the baseboard rather than the standard one.

 

No wonder progress on the snag list is slow!

[ian]

Progress on the layout has been static for the last month or so as life got in the way. However a Christmas ceasefire from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune has allowed me to venture back into the garage.

 

One really irritating feature was on the temporary loop. As the trains covered one of the curves they would make a sound like something was coming off the rails. This has caused me to leap for the emergency stop on a number if occasions.

 

The two offending pieces were lifted and replaced by a pair of new ones (no, really new - never been out of the box new) and the strange noise went away. There is no obvious fault with the lifted ones but I think they'll be going in the 'destined for eBay box'.

 

The track section past the signal at the top of the incline has been fed from the Neustadt main line controller which is set at a lower speed than the incline's Uphill controller. Some trains have had difficulty on this section as the train is still on the incline. A trial connecting it to the Uphill controller (it runs to jast past the bridge) is now underway.

The Schwarzfelsen backscene had an 'imminent tsunami' effect which was very distracting so it has been removed. Not great for photos, but better for operating.

Supplies are on the way for new year celebrations in the Ercallverse.

 

May I wish all of you who follow developments here a happy and healthy 2022.

Edited December 31, 2021 by ian

[ian]

The Sad Story Of Henry...

 

Or given that we are dealing with German trains should that be Heinrich?

 

Anyway, early in the Ercallbahn's development I was given a Marklin Rhinegold set - so I figured that I'd need something to pull it. This led to the acquisition of a Br 003 pacific.

 

 

The 003 had never actually hauled the set as the main line didn't exist, although it did manage to pose with three of the five coaches when the Neustadt loop was being planned.

 

It is a handsome beast, but by the time there was a continuous run available it had developed an intermittent fault: it would run for a while and then stop with a dead short. Something was obviously amiss so it was put to one side for later attention. The Rhinegold set continued to live in its box.

 

Fast forward to the past week or so and the main line was up and running and stock testing was back underway. As part of this I finally got around to creating a fault log so that problems could be recorded and then fixed.

 

There is also a 'wish list' of things that I really need to get around to but aren't showstoppers. One of these is some small lights for the control panels as when running the layout in the dark it is quite possible to hit the wrong button. Fortunately the signal caught the TEE before there was a head-on collision!

 

Another is for a wall along the incline to stop things falling to the floor if they derail). It had already happened to a wagon (no damage) and a coach (coupler bent back into alignment and roof put back on).

 

But jobs like that aren't as much fun as running trains.

 

The Br 003 was dragged out of its box to see if its hibernation had improved its performance. It hadn't - dead short as soon as it was on the track. I started to dismantle it in order to locate the problem. The reverser and motor were fine, it turned out to be the contact for the headlight which was occasionally rubbing against the front bogie spring. The former was connected to live and the other to the return. A little bit of Kapton tape made sure that it couldn't happen again and the beastie was reassembled.

 

It was put on the track and set running. All was well. I was about to add a train of assorted coaches to test its haulage capabilities when the devil whispered into my ear and suggested the Rhinegold instead.

 

The Rhinegold coaches are lit and have special conductive couplings between the cars with a conventional coupler at the end. The baggage car was first out - it wouldn't couple with the Br 003 - the new Kurzkupling had to be swapped out for a Relex but then we were off. A couple of laps later I was ready to add another couple of coaches.

 

The conductive couplings combined with the NEM sockets and extending/swiveling coupling mounts are a challenge but with perseverance and a modicum of bad langauge there was a three coach train ready to go.

 

They didn't go very far. The coaches have a greater rolling resistance and the clever coupling mounts add to the force as the train goes around curves. I don't know what happened but before the loco reached the wiggle on the incline the train came to a stop and the loco leapt off the track and fell to the floor.

 

Having had their sport with me the gods were relatively kind. Retrieving the corpse revealed that the tender body had come off, the tender weight, reverser spring and one side of the cab glazing had come out, the top headlight moulding and lens were missing, the front of the chassis was bent down a little and the smoke defelectors were bent out of alignment . All the missing items were found on the floor except the headlight. Given that the reverser spring is about 5mm long I was amazed that it was so easy to locate!

 

So the Br 003 is back on the awaiting attention list and the main line is closed until the fence is fitted.

[Oldddudders]

My "Put a fence up now!" moment involved a Hornby Peckett, which broke its cast front buffer beam. The mend is rather less than invisible.....

 

Many years after the wherewithal to fence the layout had appeared, in the form of hardboard-like packaging strips about 3" wide, it was put in place in one short-ish session, which wasn't bad for about 60 feet-worth.

 

A stitch in time, we are reminded. Sigh.

[ian]

The more white-knuckle ride sections of the main line now have safety fences.

Trains are still visible, and accessible in case of problems.

As the opportunity presents itself main line coaches are being replaced by versions with interiors. Eventually passengers and lighting will follow.

The loco-hauled TEE now has three of its four coaches with interiors. The old and replacement chair coach are shown side by side as the lighting is moved across.

You can't fit the seating units into an existing coach as it would require undoing the tabs and unfolding the tinplate body!

[ian]

A steam hauled train of bogie coal hoppers passes through Neustadt.

 

It is a sham, of course, I only have two of those hoppers. Oddly enough whilst the real thing ran in block trains and the model was in the Marklin catalogue for years and years they very rarely appear on eBay in the UK - and when they do they are singletons. I suspect that a combination of high price and lack of knowledge of German trains meant that not many were actually sold in the UK.

 

Work on the line ground to a halt due to life interfering and a design crisis. I had this idea to revise the layout so that it could be fully timetable worked which would require some form of fiddle yard. The best solution was a facility on an extra lower level that would be laid out and operated as a proper station but connected, via a helix, to both ends of the main line so trains could be sent out and back in both directions. A return loop in the station would allow locomotives and trains to be turned and provide a continuous run facility for testing and display.

 

Much planning went on of tracks and baseboards and a few changes were made to facilities to make things more logical - for example the branch engine shed and carriage sidings relocated from Schonblick to Neustadt. The resulting scheme would have enabled a range of main line trains to live on the layout and run as required. The down side was that virtually everything would have to be dismantled and rebuilt...

 

So, I think that I won't worry about not having enough hoppers for my train and will get back to butchering some pieces of wood for the next stretch of baseboard.

 

[ian]

The prospect of being able to fully timetable the layout was just too appealing. However I have compromised in that the fiddle yard will be a cassette system rather than a fully operable station.

 

A helix will link the various layers starting at the Hamburg end of Neustadt and descending clockwise to Maifeld Hbf then Maifeld Rbf and then 2 or 3 loops to the cassettes. Timetabled trains will run from a cassette, up the helix to the appropriate level, do what they have to do and then descend back to the cassette which can then be changed for another train.

 

For ad hoc running a continuous loop will be provided from Neustadt, down the old ski-jump to Maifeld, along to the helix and back up to Neustadt.

The photo shows roughly where the helix will be which will solve one of the least appealing aspects of the old design - the loop at the end of Neustadt.

 

Now, I wonder what that train is doing on the branch?

 

[Woody C]

Sounds very impressive Ian and I guess like most of everyone's projects, what you envisage to be content with at the start morphs into bigger and more complex matters as opportunities and thoughts develop as the build progresses.  I take it as you have built the layout somewhat unconventionally (depending on how you define conventional) starting at the top working downwards you won't be down at floor level on your knees or constructing some form of pit for the cassettes? Or could that be an opportunity to incorporate and develop a U-Bahn?

 

On a totally unrelated matter that rather industrial looking gauge on the wall looks very interesting. Showing my ignorance what is it? 

[ian]

On 16/02/2022 at 18:32, Woody C said:

...you won't be down at floor level on your knees or constructing some form of pit for the cassettes? Or could that be an opportunity to incorporate and develop a U-Bahn?

Neustadt and the branch have a baseboard level of  61.5" - there's a little bit of wiggle room before I get to the floor.

 

On 16/02/2022 at 18:32, Woody C said:

On a totally unrelated matter that rather industrial looking gauge on the wall looks very interesting. Showing my ignorance what is it? 

'tis not mine sir. It is an heirloom from SWMBO's family.

 

 

[ian]

Herr Doktor Muntz, Schonblick's dentist lives above his surgery next to the station. As it happens he is a railway enthusiast and has a large model railway on the top floor. Given the admirable view of the railway afforded by the front windows of his abode he knows every train that works the branch so, one Sunday, the sound of a diesel locomotive on an unscheduled train sent him flying to the window. He was just in time to see a couple of Sieberlinge coaches disappearing up the line to Schwarzfelsen. Guessing that the mystery train would have to return before the scheduled railbus service He made a quick 'phone call to a fellow enthusiast in the Schwarzfelsen area and agreed a selection of locations to photograph it.

This is believed to be the first time that a V100 has run to Schwarzfelsen.

The push-pull capability of the Sieberlinge means that there is no need to run round the train.

Herr Doktor was correct in his guess that the train would return almost immmediately so didn't have to wait too long to get this shot.

Whilst the special awaited the railbus he was able to move down to the other end of the station to capture the driving coach.

Follwed by the departure.

Meanwhile his friend had had a frantic drive to position himself just outside the station.

Followed by an equally high-speed dash to capture it enetering Neustadt. The link from the branch to Gleis 3 is normally only used when shunting at Neustadt so to see a passenger train on it was another rarity.

Mind you, there does seem to have been a bit of subsidence on the main line beyond Neustadt!

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, ian said:

Herr Doktor Muntz, Schonblick's dentist lives above his surgery next to the station. As it happens he is a railway enthusiast and has a large model railway on the top floor. Given the admirable view of the railway afforded by the front windows of his abode he knows every train that works the branch so, one Sunday, the sound of a diesel locomotive on an unscheduled train sent him flying to the window. He was just in time to see a couple of Sieberlinge coaches disappearing up the line to Schwarzfelsen. Guessing that the mystery train would have to return before the scheduled railbus service He made a quick 'phone call to a fellow enthusiast in the Schwarzfelsen area and agreed a selection of locations to photograph it.

This is believed to be the first time that a V100 has run to Schwarzfelsen.

The push-pull capability of the Sieberlinge means that there is no need to run round the train.

Herr Doktor was correct in his guess that the train would return almost immmediately so didn't have to wait too long to get this shot.

Whilst the special awaited the railbus he was able to move down to the other end of the station to capture the driving coach.

Follwed by the departure.

Meanwhile his friend had had a frantic drive to position himself just outside the station.

Followed by an equally high-speed dash to capture it enetering Neustadt. The link from the branch to Gleis 3 is normally only used when shunting at Neustadt so to see a passenger train on it was another rarity.

Mind you, there does seem to have been a bit of subsidence on the main line beyond Neustadt!

Very nice story, Ian. Please may we see more of the good doctor's model railway?????

[ian]

23 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Very nice story, Ian. Please may we see more of the good doctor's model railway?????

 

Just as soon as I can work out a way to get my camera in there!