Help identifying some TT items

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Hi all.  I’ve not posted in the German Railways Forum before, so I hope it’s OK to ask a general question about some items I’ve been buying for a small TT test layout.  It’s been prompted by Peco’s announcement of UK outline 1:120, but with quite a wait until this gets going and some funds available (following the sale of some Swiss Bemo H0m) I thought I’d get started.  My other active interest is Austrian H0e / American HOn30, so I’m afraid my knowledge of German railways is very limited - plus it’s now 20 years since I was travelling to Germany.

 

My first question is whether this Auhagen station building is typical of those from a particular region of the country:

 

 

As far as I can tell, it’s not based on any specific prototype.  It has the separate toilet block I’d expect, but I wouldn’t know how typical it is for the auxiliary building attached to the three storey station building not to be a small goods shed.  Any thoughts?

 

I also have three coaches - I think this is a standard DB 2nd, which I’m guessing is liveried for Epoche IV:

 

 

I think the other two coaches might have run together, with the Speisewagen part of a Touropa consist.  Is this right?  Both the couchette and the Speisewagen are excellent Tillig models:

 

 

 

I’m happy to do a bit of digging through a useful website, but as I’m afraid I don’t speak any German, any pointers would be welcome.

 

In case anyone is wondering, some advice I was given a year or so ago was to buy generally when starting a new scale, then aim to refine my collection later when I know it’s viable.  As a UK-based modeller buying second hand items, that has had to be my initial philosophy, but is one I’m comfortable with.  I’m just fascinated to know more about the things I’ve bought.  Hope that’s OK, Keith. 

[Ian Morgan]

Some vague similarities with stations around Munich

 

 

 

 

[D9020 Nimbus]

Well, there doesn't appear to be a real Moorbach, but there is (according to Wikipedia) a river of that name in North Rhine — Westphalia, although the box photo shows a DR Reko coach. Most likely not a Bavarian prototype, anyway.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Keith,

Welcome to the German section and of course you can ask questions!

Others are clearly more knowledgeable than me about your station building but I’d say it does have a Bavarian feel about it, with the timber beams but they did also appear in Northern Germany too.

Your blue and cream coach is definitely era IV, as is the dining car - you can spot that by the computer numbers with a check digit, appearing under the DB logo.

The Touropa coach is more of an era III vehicle, the numbers appear in the top LHS of the coach and this has the plain “DB” without the surround that gives it the name of Keks or biscuit - which is what the other two carry.

Cheers,

 John 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Thank you all - some helpful insights.

 

15 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

Some vague similarities with stations around Munich

 

 

 

 

 

14 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

Well, there doesn't appear to be a real Moorbach, but there is (according to Wikipedia) a river of that name in North Rhine — Westphalia, although the box photo shows a DR Reko coach. Most likely not a Bavarian prototype, anyway.

 

13 hours ago, Allegheny1600 said:

Hi Keith,

Welcome to the German section and of course you can ask questions!

Others are clearly more knowledgeable than me about your station building but I’d say it does have a Bavarian feel about it, with the timber beams but they did also appear in Northern Germany too.

Your blue and cream coach is definitely era IV, as is the dining car - you can spot that by the computer numbers with a check digit, appearing under the DB logo.

The Touropa coach is more of an era III vehicle, the numbers appear in the top LHS of the coach and this has the plain “DB” without the surround that gives it the name of Keks or biscuit - which is what the other two carry.

Cheers,

 John 

It looks like I can be fairly flexible with the location of the Station Building - it seems to be suitably German without being specific to one state or region.  I have a Signal Box on its way (also Auhagen) which I know is based on one at Erfurt, capital of Thuringia.  No surprise Auhagen TT models have an East German influence.

 

Interesting to learn the Touropa couchette coach is older than I realised (Epoch III holiday train from the 1960s).  Looking again at the photos / video I’d seen, the accompanying Speisewagen liveries aren’t the same as on mine which explains my confusion. It’s a very nice model in ‘as new’ condition, albeit with the older style loop couplings.

 

As @Allegheny1600 has replied, I can acknowledge it was John’s advice elsewhere about getting started I referred to - although we were talking about American HO Model Railroading at the time (which I know more about, and which is probably easier to source still in the UK).  With Peco’s new TT track starting to hit the shops from today, now is an interesting time for this particular scale however.

 

Thanks again, Keith.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Keith Addenbrooke

[Gordonwis]

3 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

Thank you all - some helpful insights.

 

 

 

It looks like I can be fairly flexible with the location of the Station Building - it seems to be suitably German without being specific to one state or region.  I have a Signal Box on its way (also Auhagen) which I know is based on one at Erfurt, capital of Thuringia.  No surprise Auhagen TT models have an East German influence.

 

Interesting to learn the Touropa couchette coach is older than I realised (Epoch III from the 1960s).  Looking again at the photos / video I’d seen, the accompanying Speisewagen liveries aren’t the same as on mine which explains my confusion. It’s a very nice model in ‘as new’ condition, albeit with the older style loop couplings.

 

As @Allegheny1600 has replied, I can acknowledge it was John’s advice elsewhere about getting started I referred to - although we were talking about American HO Model Railroading at the time (which I know more about, and which is probably easier to source still in the UK).  With Peco’s new TT track starting to hit the shops from today, now is an interesting time for this particular scale however.

 

Thanks again, Keith.

 

 

I suspect the Auhagen station is also 'East' German, over half timbered buildings are common in the Harz for example. However half timbered is a bit cliched. In my experience the majority of German stations are red brick of various types.

 

As others have said the turquoise/cream coach is 1980s, the other two are 1960s

 

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

5 hours ago, Gordonwis said:

 

 

I suspect the Auhagen station is also 'East' German, over half timbered buildings are common in the Harz for example. However half timbered is a bit cliched. In my experience the majority of German stations are red brick of various types.

 

As others have said the turquoise/cream coach is 1980s, the other two are 1960s

 

 

 

Thanks Gordon, the Harz was one area I’d wondered about - I’d rather fancied the half-timbered Busch Ilfeld station kit in HO after seeing it on a Noch promotional video last year, but as a laser cut building even a second hand one was above my budget.

 

I see the Peco TT:120 track and UK GWR building kits are now arriving in model shops (as of yesterday), so it’ll be interesting to see how well it sells.  I know from conversations with a specialist retailer that it has generated quite a bit of renewed interest in European TT and he’d basically sold out (they had quite an extensive selection of locomotives to offer, too).  All good stuff, Keith.

[michl080]

On 09/07/2022 at 02:29, Gordonwis said:

 

[...] In my experience the majority of German stations are red brick of various types.

 

Not quite. The states that were ruled by prussia had actually these red bricks standardized. Beside that, red bricks were mainly used in landscapes that didn't provide alternatives. Keep in mind, natural stone requires quarries that are not common in flat regions in northern Germany. I think it is fair to say that the border between brick building and natural stone buildings is where low mountain ranges begin, somewhere south of Hannover or Cologne.

 

Michael

[rekoboy]

Moorbach is based on a station in Thüringen.  It was originally a VERO model before re-unification, later taken into Auhagen's range. The general prototype can be seen in various locations across Thüringen, especially on the branch from Rudolstadt to Katzhütte and on the lines around Ilmenau. I am told that the nearest real station to Moorbach is that at Manebach, near Ilmenau

Edited July 10, 2022 by rekoboy

[Gordonwis]

 

 

Indeed.

 

I had fully intended to expand upon 'Harz' which was a bit of a generalisation on my part and was partly quoted as more people know where that is. In the end, domestic matters (and the hot weather) diverted me. In fact the first place that came to mind when Keith posted the question was the town of Stolberg in the Harz (not for the station but for the buildings in general)

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Stolberg%2C_Harz._DDR_April_1990.jpg/1200px-Stolberg%2C_Harz._DDR_April_1990.jpg?20110727105847

 

However, Vacha station also came to mind. I did Thuringen railways a lot pre and just post reunification and more recently for the Werratal plandampf events.