Modelling Spanish Broad Gauge Permanent way (was Which HO track make for Spanish Railways)

[Geep7]

23 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

I am assuming that Chris already has some HO stock and so the Code 75 HO option.

 

But just had a light bulb moment and realised that 2.5mm scale models (1:120 TT) on 14.2mm gauge comes out pretty close to being right.

 

And then there is the easier option still of 2mm (1:160) on 10.5mm track.

I did consider going the 2mm route as my Dad already has an Ibertren Talgo set in N that we got from El Corte Ingles in Barcelona back in 1985. However it appears to be even harder to get hold of any stock in the country than the HO.

 

As it happens, I've just spent a few days in Dorset with the in-laws, and managed to visit Frome Model Centre who had a few Electrotren wagons in stock. As you can guess, they don't have any Period IV wagons in stock now.

[Lovemymodelling]

On 15/08/2020 at 14:31, Geep7 said:

Yes, I'll be having OHE, something else I've never modelled before.

 

At the moment, with regard to space, I have a pair of 4ft x 15" boards available, so all I'll realistically be able to model is a branch terminus.

 

I also happen to have just acquired a fair amount of code 75 pointwork all medium radius plus a double slip, all electrofrog, so I think i'll probably go with this for now, possibly modified as suggested.

Im also starting to construct a small RENFE layout in HO but later than your period I’m doing 90-05 just before all the “fancy” colours replaced Danone and TAXI.

When I used to shop in Barcelona a few years back there was a small display in Palau of a manufacturer of Spanish Catenary in HO, the masts were quite detailed and made of metal I simply can’t remember the name , they were cheaper than sommerfeldt items but availability was so-so, on doing some research today there is another Spanish manufacturer but the masts work out at £9 each and this can be expensive but they also offer some nice station cross spans too.

When I get started I will start some type of blog on here, my initial idea was a terminus 2 track renfe and a single SNCF line as well, food for furloughed thought lol, keep us posted.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Sorry to be late to the party with my pedants head on, but the imperial equivalent of the 1668mm Iberian gauge is 5' 5 21/32".

 

Mike.

[Ron Ron Ron]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Sorry to be late to the party with my pedants head on, but the imperial equivalent of the 1668mm Iberian gauge is 5' 5 21/32".

 

Mike.

 

You're 13.09 thou out.

 

 

.

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

You're 13.09 thou out.

 

 

.

 

Rounding out, my prerogative.

It's difficult enough building track to EM+1 standards without any of this ere thou malarkey!

 

Mike.

[Ron Ron Ron]

It was my lame attempt at humour Mike.

Out doing your pedantry with my own....but failing by mixing decimal places back into the imperial fraction mix.

I think that might be “self parody”, but I’m not sure as I’m not clever enough to know if it is, or not.

Probably just a rubbish joke. Sorry!

[Enterprisingwestern]

4 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

It was my lame attempt at humour Mike.

Out doing your pedantry with my own....but failing by mixing decimal places back into the imperial fraction mix.

I think that might be “self parody”, but I’m not sure as I’m not clever enough to know if it is, or not.

Probably just a rubbish joke. Sorry!

 

You were pedantically correct, can't fault you for that!

 

Mike.

[Geep7]

On 22/08/2020 at 13:10, Lovemymodelling said:

When I used to shop in Barcelona a few years back there was a small display in Palau of a manufacturer of Spanish Catenary in HO, the masts were quite detailed and made of metal I simply can’t remember the name , they were cheaper than sommerfeldt items but availability was so-so, on doing some research today there is another Spanish manufacturer but the masts work out at £9 each and this can be expensive but they also offer some nice station cross spans too.

I've been looking into the Catenary myself, and seem to be coming to a conclusion that I may have to scratchbuild it.

 

I see 87Train do a range, very realistic, but they aren't particularly cheap. Especially as i'm going to need quite a few masts. The only thought I have is, if I make the masts out of plastic (I don't think I could do them in brass), would they be robust enough. Maybe if I just go with the Viessmann masts perhaps? Another issue, is the lack of availability in the UK. Does anyone know a reliable source of Viessmann or Electrotren in the UK?

 

I do realise that this is a topic all of it's own, and really off-topic for this thread, unless I re-title it and have it as a general Spanish permanent way thread?

Edited August 24, 2020 by Geep7

[Lovemymodelling]

I’ve started my subject today about my upcoming Spanish HO layout , yes it’s 87train who are expensive,  I know of but can’t remember the company that used to make the metal masts, there is a Spanish version of RMweb called “Forotrenes”!lots of members speak English and help or I have used google translate it does work in a kind of Pidgeon translation, I always translate back to English to make sure looks ok. Most Hornby stockists may help with ordering electrotren I admit I’ve just ordered my railcar straight off the Hornby shop  site for £112 not a bad price. Also eBay is not that popular in Spain they have another site called  https://www.todocoleccion.net/

you can find more Spanish HO on there than eBay, also look on eBay.es as not all listings are seen on the U.K. site.

The maker who used to make the reasonably priced catenary was Technotren I’ve just looked on the forotrenes forum not sure if still available, I’m not paying silly money for masts I may go the Viesmann way myself as I model  90-05 I can use lattice masts guess DR type it’s stations that’s the problem and will be expensive, thank god lots of Spanish Main  lines were single track ££££

[Geep7]

36 minutes ago, Lovemymodelling said:

there is a Spanish version of RMweb called “Forotrenes”!lots of members speak English and help 

I've been frequenting Forotrenes quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. Thank Google and it's auto-translate, but I must admit my rather rudimentary Spanish is getting a huge workout elsewhere on the internet. YouTube brings up some fantastic videos if you search it in Spanish.

 

As regards catenary, my layout is only 8 feet long, but is a terminus, with 4 tracks. 2 with a platform for passengers (1 main and what we would call a bay in the uk) and 2 for freight. It is almost set out like a normal single track through station, just compressed. With that many tracks I'll either need lots of masts, or lots of multi-track spans. As it's my first attempt, I might just model the masts and leave out the actual wires between masts.....

 

As you have done, I'll most likely start a layout thread soon. The boards are already built (reclaimed from another project), so I just need to finalise the trackplan.

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

https://www.milanuncios.com

 

Another source of Spanish modelling requisites.

 

Mike.

[Geep7]

I have another question regarding, not the track, but other permanent way items, so thought i'd rename the thread so as to keep everything in one place in case anyone wants to find it in future.

 

So, does anyone know what height platforms were in Spain circa 1980-1995? And in what year they started raising the height? I think they are low compared to most in Europe (so i'm lead to believe), but would be nice to have a rough measurement.

[readingtype]

Too late for a rather gratuitous photo from the railway museum at Vilanova, south of Barcelona? Furthest back is Iberian, then Russian, then (world) standard, then metre, then 600mm.