Bregenbach im Schwarzwald - in the hills of the Black Forest

[Les1952]

Gaugemaster finally got the message, sent for the 147, examined it and discovered that it runs one way but not t'other, failed to find the replacement their computer said they had in stock and sent a refund.

 

Access Models received the refund this morning, and paid me when I called in the shop.  It is now happily sitting in my bank.

 

No more locos needed for N, so for the TT gauge do I go for-

a sound-fitted Class 93 2-8-2T by Piko from Jadlam Racing 

or a double-deck 4-wheel railbus by Kres from Modellbahnshop Lippe?

 

Either way the order goes in on Monday- which is when Bregstadt gets its own thread.

 

See you at York this weekend?  Layout is ready to go....

 

Les

 

[03060]

Hello Les,

 

I enjoyed seeing Bregenbach at the NGS show last week in York, a super looking layout with a trackplan very similar to something that I was working on last year but on a 9' x 2'10" footprint which in the end I decided (having built the baseboards) was going to be too cumbersome for what I was really wanting (a portable, exhibitable layout that can be easily stored and put up at home if required.)

 

Having now seen your proven, working Bregenbach layout in the flesh I may revisit my plan and see if I can squeeze it down into the more manageable 8' x 2' footprint. Don't worry, my version would be of non-overhead electric British outline, based on my favourite mountainous area of the UK, so wouldn't be any competition to your layout.

 

So far I've been unsuccessful at getting hold of the Continental Modeller edition, the KWVR old magazine store strangely had every copy from that year except the Sept copy in which your layout featured, so maybe somebody else was also very taken with Bregenbach ! I'll keep trying.

 

Thankyou for allowing me to take photos of the layout at the show, which I've looked at daily since, you've certainly given me a lot of inspiration to contemplate this Summer.

 

Kind regards,

Ian.

Edited May 23, 2023 by 03060
Wrong dimension stated.

[Les1952]

On 18/05/2023 at 08:00, 03060 said:

Hello Les,

 

I enjoyed seeing Bregenbach at the NGS show last week in York, a super looking layout with a trackplan very similar to something that I was working on last year but on a 9' x 2'6" footprint which in the end I decided (having built the baseboards) was going to be too cumbersome for what I was really wanting (a portable, exhibitable layout that can be easily stored and put up at home if required.)

 

Having now seen your proven, working Bregenbach layout in the flesh I may revisit my plan and see if I can squeeze it down into the more manageable 8' x 2' footprint. Don't worry, my version would be of non-overhead electric British outline, based on my favourite mountainous area of the UK, so wouldn't be any competition to your layout.

 

So far I've been unsuccessful at getting hold of the Continental Modeller edition, the KWVR old magazine store strangely had every copy from that year except the Sept copy in which your layout featured, so maybe somebody else was also very taken with Bregenbach ! I'll keep trying.

 

Thankyou for allowing me to take photos of the layout at the show, which I've looked at daily since, you've certainly given me a lot of inspiration to contemplate this Summer.

 

Kind regards,

Ian.

 

You may find the gradients a little steep for UK outline- try a test track on 4% Woodland Scenics risers before you start.  If using Peco track you may need 2'6" depth- there are lightweight kits for 4' X 2'6" baseboards available.  The extra 6" would allow you to make the turns using Peco radius 1 or 2 or a mixture- Setrack works much better than trying to bend your own that tight.  Bregenbach's tightest radius is Fleischmann radius 1- equating to Peco Radius Zero- ie just under 8" radius, which an awful lot of UK stuff just won't  touch.

 

Best of luck with the project and I look forward to seeing the finished result.   BB will be in the N Gauge Journal in the next year or so.  Neale Monks twisted my arm very firmly to write a layout article- he may be surprised at the length of what he gets....

 

All the very best

Les

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Les1952
typos...

[03060]

14 hours ago, Les1952 said:

 

You may find the gradients a little steep for UK outline- try a test track on 4% Woodland Scenics risers before you start.  If using Peco track you may need 2'6" depth- there are lightweight kits for 4' X 2'6" baseboards available.  The extra 6" would allow you to make the turns using Peco radius 1 or 2 or a mixture- Setrack works much better than trying to bend your own that tight.  Bregenbach's tightest radius is Fleischmann radius 1- equating to Peco Radius Zero- ie just under 8" radius, which an awful lot of UK stuff just won't  touch.

 

Best of luck with the project and I look forward to seeing the finished result.   BB will be in the N Gauge Journal in the next year or so.  Neale Monks twisted my arm very firmly to write a layout article- he may be surprised at the length of what he gets....

 

All the very best

Les

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions, Les, I've just been away for the week so have read back through most of the thread already and had picked up on the reasons for using Fleishmann track. I've also got quite a few Woodland Scenic incline sets available of different grades and had settled on 2% being most suited to my stock but that then makes clearances between track levels tighter. The baseboards were built a few years ago have since and modified a couple of times, they are about to be modified again and incorporated into a more permanent home layout having now abandoned my original idea.

 

The main difference between our trackplan designs is more in what was happening around the back off stage, I made a cardboard mock up (which I put somewhere safe for future reference ...erm, err ??) but I'd got more complications than your design somehow both in track levels and pointwork as I was trying to allow for the layout being a removable section from a larger scheme.

 

Having seen your Bregenbach design and layout I can see that the basic concept would work, especially if I keep it as a 'standalone' layout made purely for testing out skills, exhibiting (if good enough) and just general running and enjoyment. Your design offers me what I was originally looking for and could be a very good middle stage for me before I embark on 'the bigger' project. I've got a couple of spare 4'x2' flat sheets to hand and different radii of Set track curves and slopes so will have another look again at what might or ultimately might not be possible within these limit.

 

I do take your point regarding the width of the layout, my baseboards came out at 2'10" which I found cumbersome to handle so I'll see if your trackplan helps to make this smaller and so more manageable ... I'm strong and fit at the moment as I approach 55 but I'm fully aware that this might change in future years. Your layout 'looked' manageable at York and ticked a lot more boxes for me .... so we'll see.

 

Thanks again for the reply, I'll look forward to reading the forthcoming article.

Regards,

Ian.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by 03060

[Les1952]

 

A rarely seen view of the train board round the back.  As trains always (well, almost always..) return to the same road in the fiddle yard each has a magnetic strip which sits on the whiteboard showing what addresses the two trains in that road have.  22 and 503 are in the brewery but can run back down the line.  111 as spare engine has its strip laid on top of it to swap quickly.  Note the green number 1 for "normal" sound locos and the orange number 2 for Minitrix sound with completely different functions.

 

 

Loco "22" in person, having had a lot of help dragging two coaches up the slope into the station.

 

Les

 

 

 

[03060]

With great help from the employees of Frizinghall M&Rs, both past and present, I now have my own copy of the very hard to get Sept 2022 Continental Modeller and will be studying a certain article for the rest of the w/end. Happy days are a coming !

[Les1952]

A couple of pics of the grotty bits which the punter doesn't normally see.  As the train leaves the scenic section after crossing the viaduct it passes through the backscene and turns very sharp right.  Note in this pic the overhead disappearing skywards quickly so the pantograph is waving around in the air on the sharp bend.  The backscene itself is the bare wood on the left with the false scene on the right.

 

The curve here is radius 4 up to the mast- trains can be seen.  At the mast it sharpens to radius 2 for one length and then to Radius 1, and it picks up the gradient down, though only at about 1 in 100 while out of sight.

 

 

The backscene continues beyond the hole so the punter sees the train going off into the countryside.  Lineside grass also continues though the ballasting over the Fleischmann grey plastic finishes sooner as it is more difficult to see the transition from out front (or at least that's my excuse...

 

Continuing round the curve behind the backscene the loco re-engages the overhead and reappears in front of the farm house.  Again the backscene and some of the ground continue well behind the layout backscene.

 

 

This time the layout backscene is on the right with the false scene on the left.  Also worth noting is that this turn (like the high level turn at the other end) is completely within the turn at baseboard level.  Trackwork radius- bottom level Fleischmann Radius 2 on a level surface, upper deck Fleischmann Radius 1 out of sight on a 1 in 100  gradient.  As the track reappears into public view the radius eases to Radius 4 for the last 45 degrees of the turn but after a short level section it descends at 1 in 25.

 

Note also that the track on the tight bend is superelevated to keep the big stuff on the track- not elegant but it works- the double-decker sets propel round here quite happily.

 

Closer to the punter's eye view showing the track disappearing through the backscene - to the left of the big tree.  There is a similar false backscene where the line under the viaduct passes out of view, and also where the trains stagger round the curve at the brewery end.

 

Les

[03060]

Thanks for this useful information Les, I've re-arranged my modelling room (again) and recovered my two original baseboards which I intend to modify one final time to make them a little easier to handle as I think a version of your trackplan will work for what I would like to achieve. I also think that this will be a 'quicker' option to getting a runnable scenic layout and allow me time to modify some of my stock  before re-tackling my larger intended home layout in a few years time ... we shall see.

 

Thanks again for the extra input, much appreciated, I'm about to go on a 2 week holiday in between my night shift weeks so I can't imagine anything much happening for a month or so.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited June 13, 2023 by 03060
More waffle added.

[Les1952]

Layout packed up and ready to take to Ruddington for this weekend's show at the Great Central North.

 

One new operator on Saturday to train.  Fortunately there will be three of us there.

 

I ordered a Fleischmann sound-equipped BR140 from Access Models on Monday and it arrived this morning.  Set up and ready to go- it will be easier to use than the Minitrix one, which has a very odd sound file.

 

Les

[03060]

9 hours ago, Les1952 said:

Layout packed up and ready to take to Ruddington for this weekend's show at the Great Central North.

 

One new operator on Saturday to train.  Fortunately there will be three of us there.

 

I ordered a Fleischmann sound-equipped BR140 from Access Models on Monday and it arrived this morning.  Set up and ready to go- it will be easier to use than the Minitrix one, which has a very odd sound file.

 

Les

Hope you have a good w/end and all goes well Les, a few photos would be appreciated if you get chance ... and good luck to the trainee !

 

Regards,

Ian.

[Les1952]

Not a lot posted since Ruddington as I've been too busy during each show to get much taken in the way of pics.

 

Two new ones (there is a video to go with it once uploaded to YouTube...

 

 

The layout set up this weekend at Warley.  Note the idea shamelessly nicked from Dave Paylor, the big German flag to let everyone know where the Schwarzwald is...

 

 

And the Warley show plaque to prove we were there.

 

Pics from the last few shows and the video to follow (eventually)

 

Les

[Les1952]

Some of the recent photographs

 

 

Set up at Ruddington show.  The lack of the German flag meant no end of people asked "Is this in Switzerland?"

 

 

ROCO Taurus powers over the viaduct.  At Nottingham and Warley it was running the other way round the layout.

 

 

Close-up of the fork lift truck

 

 

NGS Hunslet in the brewery yard

 

That's it for the Ruddington pics.  The rest of the Warley pics to follow.

 

Les

[Les1952]

The threatened promised video from Warley.  Taken late in the afternoon on Sunday when there were fewer punters around.

 

 

I'm still getting used to this video business.  The next video will be of Bregstadt now I've got it set up.

 

All the very best

Les

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Les1952
typos...

[Les1952]

The rest of the useable Warley pics

 

A view showing where we were in the hall- and for people who have never been, showing the size of the hall....  European Railway Association to the right and German Railway Society to the left.

 

 

Probably a repeat of an earlier pic, but the Glass train stands while its punters enjoy a brewery tour.

 

 

The brewery loading dock with Italian wagon loading.

 

 

A close-up of the Italian wagon.

 

And that is it until Stafford next October.  Now to get Bregstadt ready for South Notts Show in April with three more in quick succession.

 

Les