Die Ercallbahn - Fulfilling a childhood dream.

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, ian said:

Steam still lives, just.

Ian, a slight off-the-wall digression if I may, please.

 

In late 1969, while on a school exchange in Frankfurt-am-Main, from my hosts' house I could see the old Rangierbahnhof to the north-west of the city centre. I remember seeing the occasional large steam loco but could not identify any of them due to a) distance and b) being partly concealed behind various wagons.

 

Do you, or does anyone here, know what classes of loco those might have been? I think they were main line locos; the shunting all seemed to be by diesels.

 

Thanks.

[Oldddudders]

23? 44? 50? But not 52, DB having withdrawn them a decade before, so Trains Illustrated told me ca 1961. 

[ian]

 

On 13/08/2023 at 01:29, St Enodoc said:

I remember seeing the occasional large steam loco but could not identify any of them due to a) distance and b) being partly concealed behind various wagons.

 

Do you, or does anyone here, know what classes of loco those might have been? I think they were main line locos; the shunting all seemed to be by diesels.

 

The final survivors of German goods locos were classes

 

By Olaf1541 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110793

041/2 (2-8-2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRB_Class_41,

 

 

By 8474tim at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11752104

043/44 (2-10-0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRG_Class_44

 

By MPW57 - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3688892

and 050/51/53 (2-10-0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRB_Class_50

examples of all of which survived until 1977 on DB.

 

Hope this helps.

[St Enodoc]

4 minutes ago, ian said:

 

 

The final survivors of German goods locos were classes

 

By Olaf1541 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110793

041/2 (2-8-2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRB_Class_41,

 

 

By 8474tim at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11752104

043/44 (2-10-0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRG_Class_44

 

By MPW57 - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3688892

and 050/51/53 (2-10-0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRB_Class_50

examples of all of which survived until 1977 on DB.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks Ian. Yes it does, in the context that the locos I saw were likely to have been from those classes - I'm not going to worry that positive identification after 54 years is impossible.

[ian]

A new arrival in the shape of a green liveried BR 141 (right - a present for being a good boy at the dentist) has arrived to replace the E41 on the left. Apart from carrying the same cast number as the blue E41 the replaced loco has a Delta decoder with a nest of wires which make sitting the body on the chassis difficult and impairs the ability of the bogies to pivot leading to it occasionally parting company with the rails. The new example has none of thes problems and is in better condition all round.

 

 

Preperations for the first operating sequence proceed. The railbus that was a member of the original cast has been getting more and more erratic. It had developed a reluctance to run in one direction but was fine the other way. I dismantled the motor (try that with one of these fancy modern coreless jobs!) and removed what looked like part of the mesh brush. I have a dim memory of having to replace the brushes when I was young - of course they had worn away totally - and suspect that the scrag end of the mesh brush must have been lurking there all this time. The patient is now fully recovered and should be good for a few more miles.

 

I've always wanted some carriage sidings... Ah well, maybe next time.
This is the TEE and IC coach pool. The set at the front has a TEE lettered bar car and is the loco-hauled TEE rake. The middle set has a DSG lettered dining car and is how the marketing people would like to see an InterCity rake. The rear one is what the IC passenger may well end up with - all first class but a real mixture of colours.

 

 

The ET 420 power unit conversion hasn't got any further forward so a substitute unit will be needed for the operating session. I think I may have just the thing...

[ian]

And today's word is Eilzug.

 

The UK equivalent would be the semi-fast. It stops at the major stations and a selection of less important ones but sails grandly past the small ones. In Ercallbahn terms that means it will stop at Neustadt and Maifeld but not Universität.

 

The great thing about these trains in the 70s was that just about anything that could turn a wheel could end up in them. Cascaded elderly main line coaches, Silberlinge, 8-axle Umbauwagen, you name it. Here is one set in the care of an E41 (BR 141).

 

And here is a similar, but different rake in the care of a BR 216.

 

Still, enough of this testing - it must be time to start the schedule.

[ian]

Beginners on stage please...

 

The hidden sidings have the ET420 substitute (hiding at the back), the BR 216 on Silberlinge, the TEE RAm, a BR 141 on a freight and a selection of wagons due to go in other trains.

 

Lifting the camera up shows fish vans and a solitary oil tanker at Billshaven.

 

The yard at Maifeld has three trainloads of wagons ready to depart for Hamburg, Bremen and Hanover.

 

The yard locos are waiting for some work.

 

Neustadt is harbouring a Shell and an Aral oil tanker.

 

 

Schwarzfelsen is pretty crowded!

 

 

Schönblick has a van in the goods shed and an empty coal wagon in the brewery sidings.

 

All is quiet at the other end of the station.

 

The clock strikes midnight and something stirs in the depths...

 

We're off!

[ian]

Two (scheduled) hours into the operating session so far. Many issues have arisen and been sorted, others have been added to the maintenance list and some to the pile of round tuits.

 

Just to make things easier I am filming as I go!

 

[Oldddudders]

This is so jolly and unpretentious. Point motor and telex coupling noises abound. Most entertaining!

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Sounds like a windy day: the pilot for the high level drone shots does a good job of holding steady while filming given the wind noise they were battling against 😀.

 

After all the hard work, great to see it come together like this.  Inspirational!  Keith.

[CameronL]

12 hours ago, ian said:

Two (scheduled) hours into the operating session so far. Many issues have arisen and been sorted, others have been added to the maintenance list and some to the pile of round tuits.

 

Just to make things easier I am filming as I go!

 

Love it. How many trains can you run at once without needing ear defenders?

[ian]

On 25/08/2023 at 06:44, Oldddudders said:

This is so jolly and unpretentious. Point motor and telex coupling noises abound. Most entertaining!

I'm having a whale of a time - it is like going back to the 'essence of railway' that was distilled in those wonderful model railway empires like the Sherwood Section, Crewchester, et al.

 

 

On 25/08/2023 at 07:45, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Sounds like a windy day: the pilot for the high level drone shots does a good job of holding steady while filming given the wind noise they were battling against 😀.

I need a taller tripod. Holding the camera whilst fiming and driving the train doesn't work well.

 

 

On 25/08/2023 at 11:38, CameronL said:

Love it. How many trains can you run at once without needing ear defenders?

Three is quite loud enough. There again, the real thing can be pretty noisy too.

 

Round tuit time!

As originally envisaged the main line would be a continuous circuit with three trains running continuously as a background/kinetic storage whilst the local trains dodged between them. With the layout's evolution to full schedule operation this was no longer required but the main line controllers had hung on as a means of working trains between the main line locations - particularly the old ski-jump and the helix.

 

When I came to wire the last panel at Maifeld Bahnhof I realised that keeping the three controllers, at pre-set speeds (one on the level, one uphill and one down dale) was daft as there was only ever one train in motion it was far easier to drive the trains from place to place with one of the panel controllers. This freed up three controllers which could then be redeployed...

One was redeployed at Neustadt to replace the 6699 controller there.

 

The chief advantage being that it will be much easier to match the setting to that on the Bremburg and Maifeld Bhf controllers.

The other transistorised controllers follwed, leaving a pile for possible disposal. I haven't used the shuttle facility on the 6600's so they have both been replaced by standard controllers.

 

How come there are four for disposal repaced by three?

Bremburg and Billshaven Hafen already share a controller so, given the one train moving at a time scenario, it made sense to extend the idea to Klinkerhoffen and Schwarzfelsen. The existing wiring provided the facility to isolate either station.

Edited August 26, 2023 by ian

[Woody C]

That is one fine video Ian. I know from my own Crossroads style amatuer productions  that these things take a great deal of time to put together so thanks and nice one! Looking forward to the next installment.  At the risk of asking a stupid question was that a clock that you are working your timetable to ticking in the background ?

[ian]

On 26/08/2023 at 17:01, Woody C said:

That is one fine video Ian. I know from my own Crossroads style amatuer productions  that these things take a great deal of time to put together so thanks and nice one! Looking forward to the next installment.  At the risk of asking a stupid question was that a clock that you are working your timetable to ticking in the background ?

 

Given that most of the stations are in their own time zone (a strange phenomenon that affect this part of Germany - eddies in the space-time continuum I expect) clocks tend to sound like an irritating insect stuck in a room. Periods of silence interspersed with bursts of frantic buzzing.

 

Each 'move' - through run, shunt in one direction, etc. counts as three minutes (except where it doesn't - see local rules). Most locations have their own clock which is incremented manually after each move (or series of moves). Trains can wait around on the linking sections for the next station along to catch up.

 

Filming has got to 5 a.m. now - but much of the last half-hour needs to be reshot after a change to the timetable to make it better.

 

Infrastructure works of various sorts have been underway - some of which will be visible to the observant as the film unfolds.

Edited August 30, 2023 by ian

[ian]

Carrying on from where we left off - new readers or those with short memories will need to rewind.

[Northroader]

There’s a very evocative line side shot of the sleeper passing through the tunnel bit that I really liked.

[ian]

 

Carrying on from where we left off.

 

Whilst wagons are sorted in the Rangierbahnhof, the passenger trains come out to play.

[Northroader]

That Maifeld Bahnhof reminds me of a certain station in Birmingham…?

[ian]

4 hours ago, Northroader said:

That Maifeld Bahnhof reminds me of a certain station in Birmingham…?

 

Ah, you've discovered my muse!

[ian]

There has been a hiatus in the operating session as one or two things happen at Maifeld. Firstly the gap in the catenary has been filled.

A test fit of some buildings to link the viaduct with the town centre.

A shunt signal has been installed at the end of Gleis 5. This is a Viessmann product with LEDs inside. A Gaugemaster GM800 relay is used to switch it like a Märklin solenoid operated signal.

[ian]

No more running about with pants down!

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by ian

[ian]

Back from a week in Somerset and wondering where I had got to with everything.

 

Relocating a section gap and adding an extra feed at Neustadt meant that I had removed the Shell depot to gain access so here is the view from the access hole.

 

On the top level you can see Schönblick (left centre) with Schwarzfelsen off in the distance.

Below Schönblick is Billshaven Hafen - you can just make out the station platform at the top of the retaining wall. On the far side of the freezer is Klinkerhoffen. The hidden sidings are out of sight below the control panels which are below Billshaven.

[SimonHMT]

Hi Ian,

Having found the Ercallbahn in the German Railways section a few days ago, I went right back to the start and have read (and watched) the whole topic, mostly in between trains at work....

Wow, while I was aware of the Marklin ac system and have seen a couple of layouts at shows abroad, this is just something else!

I had a little flirtation with MiniClub in the early 1990s courtesy of my ex-wife's (German) Father who bought me a level crossing whilst on holiday, so remember looking through the catalogue at various stuff like signals and automation for H0,  but this is the first time I've seen it in action, great stuff.

I'm intending to build a small DB layout in (dc) H0 though I have nowhere near the space to do something on the scale of the Ercallbahn...well, not yet, anyway.

Cheers, 

Simon.

[ian]

Willkommen im Ercallverse @SimonHMT.

 

As a boy I was fascinated by and dreamed of the large system layouts that sometimes appeared in the model railway magazines. I also thumbed through those precious catalogues looking at all the things I would like to have on the layout. It has taken half a century but I am finally getting there!

 

The internet has made much of it easier - photos, videos, eBay, ordering from shops overseas, forums and sites full of useful information. Whilst information on how German railways operate is scarce in English you can still find out enough - I have changed some ideas and operations as I have learnt more.

 

I'm glad you have enjoyed it so far - stay tuned and see how things develop.

Edited October 4, 2023 by ian

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, ian said:

Willkommen im Ercallverse

 

Ercalluniversum, shirley?