Obermatt Swiss N gauge layout

[Frutigen]

I ballasted the goods yard today, after which there was nothing to do but watch glue dry. Or run a freight train on the main line.

 

I gave all the rails a good clean the other day and ran a test train (it's the one standing at the platform) but this is the first proper train in months. The loco is the Hobbytrain BLS Ae8/8, which has one motor driving all 8 axles via a cardan shaft. This, along with 16 wheel pickup and flywheel drive makes it a very capable runner, handling longish trains that would otherwise need 2 locos to handle the 2% gradients on sharp curves. It's fitted with a Zimo decoder that has the Back EMF maxed so as to give near constant speed up and down hill. 

 

Most of the wagons are Roco vans that I'm gradually weathering to represent their grimy phase - as opposed to their current graffiti phase. They look good in a long train but they are not up to modern design standards and their couplings can be a problem; there's too much play in them which makes shunting a very low speed affair and sometimes they don't engage properly, so the train comes apart out on the main line. Today they are behaving themselves.

 

Keith

 

 

 

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Keith,

 

The town scene is also coming along nicely. The wagon weathering is looking nice, I can’t stand the amount of graffiti on today’s Swiss rolling stock and I certainly wouldn’t want to “graffiti” my rolling stock. Rather just weather it like yours.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Best regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

[Frutigen]

As part of the goods yard scenics I’m  experimenting with adding Swiss style beams to standard Peco buffer stops. They need something to hold them in place while the glue dries. 

 

[Frutigen]

Here’s the result. I think the beam is too thick but a bit of weathering might help disguise that. If not, I’ll look into cutting a thinner beam before I do the other 7. 

 

[Frutigen]

OK, a touch of Tamiya soot powder, a dash of their rust, and a rub of pencil on the bare edge of the paper and it works for me. The paper end is still visible in this close up but not evident at normal viewing distance.

 

Keith
 

[Jim Easterbrook]

I just used real wood. (Later removed and restuck properly centred.)

N gauge RhB buffer stop by Jim Easterbrook, on Flickr

[Frutigen]

16 minutes ago, Jim Easterbrook said:

I just used real wood. (Later removed and restuck properly centred.)

N gauge RhB buffer stop by Jim Easterbrook, on Flickr

That’s nice work. I must admit I tend to use whatever is to hand, which can lead to some unconventional techniques and probably takes longer in the end. 

[Frutigen]

There's been progress down at the goods yard. Over the last few weeks it has gone from bare tracks, a bit of basic surfacing between them, buildings placed to try them out. Just like this...

 

 

Via this, with a loading dock, small Pola goods shed, perimeter roads surfaced.

 

 

To this; road surface extended down the long siding on the right, track ballasted, goods shed doubled in size (I cannibalised the factory building in the first picture), barrow crossings added, along with a crash barrier along the left hand siding (not visible in the photo), swiss buffer beams with the little stop sign, and a general weathering.

 

 

I got inspired by a cab ride video through Muttenz and Birsfelden yards and there's plenty more detail that could be added, but I think I'll leave it at that for now and make progress on the new housing in the valley. Or maybe do something better with the main platform....

 

Stay safe

 

Keith

 

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Keith,

 

That’s looking really good and the yard scene is really coming to life now. Those cab rides are great aren’t they for capturing those extra lineside details that you don’t always see in photos. I’ve watched a few now and really enjoy them.

Keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing the next bit of progress!

 

Beat regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

[Frutigen]

Here’s another train video, this time with more up to date rolling stock. The loco is the Kato Re460 and the coaches are Roco type EW IV, with a Fleischmann driving trailer.
 

I think this is probably the ideal “long” train length, visually, for this layout. I can fit 6 coaches on the main platform but it just looks too cramped, while the 5 car train leaves a bit of breathing space on the platform. Longer trains also make the layout feel smaller, somehow. That doesn’t stop me running long trains of course, especially freights where it gives a reason for double heading - or even more. 
 

The loco has a Lenz decoder which is fine, but I’ll probably change it to Zimo like most of my collection. The Zimo gives a much softer start and stop, and will creep along at less than scale walking pace if you want it to, whereas the Lenz jerks into motion and lacks that extreme fine control. Also, the speed curves are different, which tends to restrict double heading to pairs of locos with the same make of decoder. 
 

Anyway, enjoy the ride.

 

Keith

 

 

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Keith,

 

Nice video and I have now subscribed to your youtube channel. The 5 coach rake works well on the layout. Really like the view through the church and houses with the train running along the back.

 

Nice loco too, is it a Kato offering? Here is a photo of the real one that I took when I visited Geneva back in 2008.

 

 

Best regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

[Frutigen]

Thank you for the encouraging comments Jeremy. There’s something about placing the church there that gives the scene a sense of depth. I tried it in various locations but that seemed to work best. 
 

And yes, it’s the Kato loco. I saw the real one a couple of times on Swiss trips so when I saw one for sale I decided to get it. I think it must have been in that livery for about 10 years, encouraging people to visit the bilingual Valais/Wallis canton via the newly opened Lötschberg base tunnel, but I tended to see it on the Brig - Geneva Airport route. I see it has now been restored to standard red livery and has regained its name “Goffersberg”. 
 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Frutigen

[Frutigen]

New arrival on Track 4 (that’s the one on the right). 
 

 

I’ve had 3 really nice Arnold BLS EW I coaches for years now and always thought they needed a driving trailer. I spotted the Hobbytrain autoverlad driving coach last week and decided to go for it - not quite the right vehicle for the job but close enough for me and it does look good. 
 

 

 

Keith

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Keith,

 

I’ve been contemplating one of those. You might just have tipped me over the edge now with those photos!  

Looks really nice and completes your Arnold rake. Is that an Ae4/4 I can spot on the end?

 

Best regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

[Legend]

Very nice looking layout . And it’s the BLS ! Lotschbergbahn Blue Cream . Excellent livery before they went to that hideous flourescent green . But I think you’ve captured the lush green alpine scenery very well . Puts me in the notion once travel is possible again

[Frutigen]

On 11/12/2020 at 07:32, cornish trains jez said:

Hi Keith,

 

I’ve been contemplating one of those. You might just have tipped me over the edge now with those photos!  

Looks really nice and completes your Arnold rake. Is that an Ae4/4 I can spot on the end?

 

Best regards and stay safe,

 

Jeremy

 

No, but I think I need one of those. The loco there is an old Arnold Re4/4 (now Re425) body on a Minitrix Re4/4 chassis with a coreless motor and flywheels from SB Modelbau. Maybe I should do a post on it some time - I’ve got 2 like that plus one of the newer Arnold versions that came with the flywheel fitted. 
 

I’m struggling to get the lights working properly on the new BLS coach. Using a loco decoder, which might not be the right thing. Must do some research on that. 
 

Keith

Edited February 8, 2022 by Frutigen

[Frutigen]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

Very nice looking layout . And it’s the BLS ! Lotschbergbahn Blue Cream . Excellent livery before they went to that hideous flourescent green . But I think you’ve captured the lush green alpine scenery very well . Puts me in the notion once travel is possible again

Amen to that, I’ve really missed my Swiss trip this year. Feeling the need to top up on inspiration. 

[Frutigen]

I was getting increasingly unhappy with the main platform, somehow it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the station and yard as they developed. I think it was only when I posed the BLS driving trailer for photos (see my post of 10 December above) that it clicked. I fell in love with Swiss railways in the late 90s/early noughties before the current round of upgrading began in earnest and I remember hauling ourselves up into the train from platforms that were so low they hardly existed, it was almost like a very well run Wild West.  These days you can only really find this sort of arrangement at the closed stations such as Wassen and Blausee-Mitholz. This is the feel I'm going for, along with a heavier emphasis on the BLS. 

 

So the main platform had to go in favour of something lower, with those distinctive dropped edges at the foot crossings, and a paler, more worn look. I also decided it was time to install the stairway to the pedestrian underpass (Peco NB-7) and to designate the long siding as an extra platform for specials, accessible only by a foot crossing like Platform 4 at Airolo; see pic from 2016 below - that's the northbound Gotthard main line that you have to cross, which was pretty busy in 2016 and most of them went through without stopping.

 

 

 

It needs a canopy and more detail, but that's for another time - I'm happy that the main platform no longer looks out of place.

 

 

 

 

I've also managed to get the lights working properly on the BLS driving trailer. It was, as I suspected, an inappropriate decoder. This coach takes a Next18 decoder and I tried to use an ESU Lokpilot Micro that I had spare (yes, a total waste of a high end decoder, but it was handy). As I discovered, a loco decoder needs to be attached to a motor before you can programme it, hence my problems. In the end I got a Zimo MX688N18 function decoder. Next problem was that JMRI doesn't have a decoder profile for this model and I couldn't find one to download, but it finally dawned on me that I could use the profile for the equivalent loco decoder, the MX618N18. 

 

Next job will be a new house and restaurant at the top of the meadow.

 

Happy modelling

 

Keith

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[MOB 2002]

While I don’t think that the previous platforms were enormously high, I’m with you 100 per cent on the draw of the traditional low platformed Swiss station.

 

Although the constant creep of modernisation is everywhere, I’m sure I saw one or two very low platforms still last summer. I didn’t take any photos sadly, but I seem to remember Territet, just outside of Montreux, as being quite a low one. 

 

The replacements certainly give a different air to the layout straight away and the occasional platform is a great idea.

 

Mark

[Frutigen]

Thank you Mark, I think the original platform was around 5mm above the rail head, which might put it around the current standard for FLIRT compatible platforms. The new version is around 2mm, so not an enormous difference but as you say, it alters the appearance noticeably. 
 

I do like the modern rail scene in Switzerland, and it’s a better, more accessible, transport system these days. And you’re right, the old school platforms haven’t totally disappeared, I think the south ramp of the Lötschberg is largely unmodernised and was tickled at Bex a while back to see a siding lead off the main line and run straight across the main eastbound platform. 
 

I think the lowest platform I’ve ever seen was at Tenero in 2004, where there was no platform of any sort. The station forecourt simply extended right up to the tracks and the rails were embedded in it, with a stiff climb up into the EW I coaches. Now that station is a nice modern bus/rail interchange served by TILO FLIRTS. 
 

Keith

[Frutigen]

I've been faffing around with the control system the last few days. My original idea was to run the layout using JMRI and my SPROG3 but I could never get the points to work that way. I ended up using saving the SPROG for the programming track and using my old Roco Multimaus, with a suitable Lenz-compatible interface, which worked the points as required.

 

Five years on and the Multimaus has worked fine but its track voltage is on the low side, you can't do proper consists and it's 3 bits of kit and extra wires cluttering up my desk compared to the very compact SPROG. I was finally motivated to sort out the SPROG and points thing (see separate thread here if you want to know more) and I'm glad I did.

 

The consisting is much better and it's very satisfying to see 2 locos set off at the same instant and keep perfect pace even at low speed. Although the Multimaus will do a pseudo consist, it actually sends the commands to each loco in turn with a perceptible lag in response and consequent jostling between the locos. This might not be a problem for every layout, but I have the BEMF set to max on my locos to keep steady speed up and down the long hills, so the locos fight each other if they're out of sync.

 

The slight lift in track voltage seems to make the locos run better, with a noticeable increase in top speed, and even the points seem to work with a more definite thunk. This last comment might just be my imagination as the point decoders have their own power supply and capacitor discharge system. 

 

The reason I use JMRI to control the points is so that I can use route setting. Here's my signal box diagram:

 

 

Starting from the top, I refer to each siding or through road by a letter A to J. Each route is set up in JMRI so as to set all the required points with one click on my 10 year old iPhone running WiThrottle. Routes A to F set the routes from the siding to the yard throat, routes G to I set the through routes. There are also routes for the headshunt, yard to main connection and the odd siding J at bottom right. Through routes always set point pair 3 to prevent yard moves accidentally straying onto the main line, and route J also sets point 1 to stop main line trains accidentally interfering with shunting on the goods loop.

 

 If you've read this far you deserve this photo of some points. Happy modelling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Frutigen]

I finally got round to building the Kibri Chalet Lenk houses for the scene at the top end of the little meadow, which used to look like this...

 

 

 

And now looks more like this...

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to call that area Mättligasse, which I think means Little Meadow Lane. Once restrictions are lifted, the building with the terrace on the front will become a hikers' restaurant, the sort where you enjoy your rösti or strüdel with your boots on. 

 

As ever, loads of finishing details required, but that will go on for ever so I thought I'd best report in before I go down that rabbit hole.

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Frutigen]

The new scene at Mättligasse serves a number of purposes, depending on where you view it from. The tall trees hide the bare rock face behind, rather than trying to give it a detailed scenic treatment of its own. The trees also hide a sharp transition in track radius which can make some trains appear to twitch as they go through it, and they provide a scenic break between a train on the station approach and the same train down the valley.  

 

 

From my favourite viewpoint, sitting on a stool at the end of the layout, the houses nicely frame a train coming up the valley.

 

 

And I've discovered some new "events" such as Train Emerging from Behind the Trees.

 

 

Not to mention the drone shot.

 

 

Thank you for watching.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Frutigen
Restoring lost photos

[Gook the Goblin]

This looks really good. Nicely done Keith. I like the photos.

[swisspeat]

Lovely....if I did not already have HO stuff I might have gone down the N scale road....or rails to be more accurate.

 

You have captured well the advantages of N in a small space.

 

:-)

 

Peter