Rode. A small station on a small branch in the GDR

[Oldddudders]

Gadzooks! A VT18/16 again! The second RMweb reference in a fortnight, the previous one being in Johann Marsbar's photos, of a prototype. I hanker after an HO version, but haven't been aware of one - N and TT seem to be the only offers. 

[Calnefoxile]

9 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Gadzooks! A VT18/16 again! The second RMweb reference in a fortnight, the previous one being in Johann Marsbar's photos, of a prototype. I hanker after an HO version, but haven't been aware of one - N and TT seem to be the only offers. 

 

I'm sure I spied one on Jools Hollands layout on Pete Watermans new programme last night??

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

Edited October 20, 2023 by Calnefoxile

[Bernard Lamb]

6 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Gadzooks! A VT18/16 again! The second RMweb reference in a fortnight, the previous one being in Johann Marsbar's photos, of a prototype. I hanker after an HO version, but haven't been aware of one - N and TT seem to be the only offers. 

This is H0 Ian.

Confusing when Kato are usually associated with N. They have done several models in tie ups with German firms.

I will take a close up of the inter coach coupling. It is an idea that I have not seen before and gives very neat close coupling and electrical connections.

Bernard  

[Bernard Lamb]

On 20/10/2023 at 10:47, Calnefoxile said:

 

I'm sure I spied one on Jools Hollands layout on Pete Watermans new programme last night??

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

I thought that was the DB equivalent, can't remember the class number. Roco made a model at one time.

Bernard

[Oldddudders]

13 minutes ago, Bernard Lamb said:

I thought that was the DB equivalent, can't remember the class number. Roco made a model at one time.

Bernard

VT11?

[Bernard Lamb]

Couplings.

The corridor connectors are not attached to the ends of the cars. They sit on a cam which has quite a large degree of movement. On the power car there is a plug, see the white bit at the bottom of the connector. On the trailer car there are lugs at top and bottom of the connector. These engage inside the connector on the power car. There is also a socket and the plug on the power car fits into this socket when the two cars are pushed together. Do this and continue down the train to complete.

I think it is rather clever.

Oh, that Hornby had done this between locomotives and tenders instead of the arrangement they made with their plug and socket. A short straight connector could have been supplied to cater for trainset curves, to avoid the need for a cam mechanism.

Bernard.

 

Power car

 

 

Trailer car 

 

[Bill Jamieson]

Returning to the subject of painted Kontrollziffern on DR narrow-gauge locos, I 've just been working on some scans of  negatives taken on the RüKB and I see that 99 4633 was still fitted with the original (ie pre-Kontrollziffer) cab-side numberplates in May 1982, despite having been through Görlitz works for an L7 overhaul just the previous December. Perhaps a certain frugality was the order of the day given that the 0-8-0WTs were expected to be replaced by       2-10-2Ts from Saxony within a year or two..

Although completely irrelevant to this thread, such frugality seems to have gone out of the window by the time the Wall came down because in February 1990 I was able to buy 99 1777-4 and 991791-5 plates from Oberwiesenthal shed staff, Both plates are absolutely pristine and have obviously never been on working locos. I suspect that when despatched to Görlitz for overhaul, all plates were removed, ensuring that when the locos returned to the Erzgebirge they came with a full set of new plates which could be readily converted into Deutschmarks from visiting enthusiasts!

Bill

Edited December 18, 2023 by Bill Jamieson

[Bernard Lamb]

A bit of a break over the last couple of months but I have now started on the locomotive depot. A drone shot gives an idea of the track plan and the current state of play. The track came from stock, much of it being very ancient. Hardly to modern finescale standards but it works and does the job. The double slip seems to accept a wide range of wheels without any problem. The turntable is Peco, finger operated at present. I managed to get the polarity switch the right way round first time and the three long sidings are each made up of three isolated sections to hold the maximum number of locomotives. As an exercise I worked out the length of the shed roads to be as long as possible, but forgot that the shed bulding would not be square on to the end of the baseboard, so I have had to add a 20mm strip to make the shed fit.

The buildings are just placed in position but need more details and painting. I also need a suitable water tower.

I have just started on a wheel cleaning programme on some stock that has been stored for a while, so next week  I can let a few locomotives have a bit of a run. 

Bernard