Bregstadt, a first exercise in 1:120 scale

[Les1952]

Put in this section as I'm convinced Layout Topics shouldn't be exclusively UK outline OO.

 

This is exhibition layout number six for me- with dementia running in the family I like to try to keep it at bay with new challenges.

 

TT:120 as it has become known is certainly a new challenge- I had a Berliner Bahn 0-8-0T on my TT3 layout in the late sixties, but moved out of 12mm gauge in the early seventies when I first took uop N gauge.  

 

Requisites.

Layout to be to exhibition standard when finished.

Layout must be transportable in the same car that Bregenbach im Schwarzwald and NO PLACE travel in.

DCC operated using Power Cabs.

Lightweight- I will be at least 76 when this layout retires from the circuit.

Must use the same trestles as Bregenbach in Schwarzwald and NO PLACE.

No longer than 8 feet.

Roundy-roundy, therefore 2 feet 6 inches front to back.

 

 

The pic gives an idea of how a mixture of Hornby Radius 2 and 3 give a turn in 2'6"

 

More to follow.

Les

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Les1952
typos

[Les1952]

The layout plan followed my original sketch at first.

 

 

A slightly wonky scan but...   The main change was the addition of the two kick-back sidings in the fiddle yard.  These were as a result of finding that I could only get four trains in the original.  As built the two longest loops will hold a train and a railbus, the other loop either a train or three railbuses.  the revised plan holds 7 trains and t2 railbuses or 6 trains and 5 railbuses, more than enough for a light railway.

 

There will no doubt be changes made as the thing progresses.

 

Les

 

 

 

[Les1952]

The fictional history

 

Those who have read my threads on Furtwangen Ost and Bregenbach im Schwarzwald will have heard of the Bregtalbahn, which in real life ran from Donaueschingen to Furtwangen Ost and which was part of the SWEG, closing in 1976 apart from a couple of kilometres at the Donaueschingen end which was retained as an industrial twig.

 

The fiction for this line puts it somewhere to the east of Furtwangen where the line ran in a valley below the road, and where there isn't a lot of population or anything greatly significant- just the right place to put a small town/large village with the ficticious headquarters of the railway.  The layout is set some time after 1976, when the SWEG closed it.  Instead of being lifted it passed to a community group which runs a similar railcar service to that of SWEG, replacing the SWEG MAN railbuses with whatever they could get cheaply.  They also run a freight service along the line using DB cast-offs and small industrial diesels.  Trains are short.   The local Eisenbahnfreunde have a couple of steamers here for tourist trains, rather like the Rebenbummler service on SWEG's Kaiserstuhlbahn nearer to the Rhine.

 

 

The Rebenbummler train at Reigel brewery in 1987.

 

More prototype pics when I've scanned them....

[Les1952]

Baseboards.

 

Built from Model Railway Solutions kits each is 4 feet long and 2 feet 6 ins wide.  I intended originally to place them on top of the trestles I use for Bregenbach im Schwarzwald and NO PLACE, but there was too much wobble as the boards are wider than the trestles.

 

Idea two was to sink the trestles into the underside of the boards, and this has worked.  The pic shows how.

 

 

The first idea for a power bus was to use a pair of copper rods.  They look good BUT they are such a good heat sink the wires don't solder to them, and I don't have a high temperature iron (and am to mean to go out and buy one with no guarantee it would solve the problem..)

 

The weight of the trestles is taken by the pieces of wood in each slot, and distributed by the adjacent cross members.  the result is a stable pair of boards.

 

 

Version 2 of the power bus is the same as NO PLACE, Croft Spa and Bregenbach im Schwarzwald.  Two rings of doll's house copper tape, one for each side of the track.  Being a single track layout there is only one power district.  The connection between boards reverts to the Croft Spa arrangement of a chocky block above the board immediately behind the backscene.  I've not yet decided on signalling and all points will be hand operated by wire-in-tube.

 

Enough.  More later

Les

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by Les1952
remembered who supplied the baseboards

[Les1952]

First attempt at laying TT track across the baseboard joins- strip sleepers back and solder the rail to screws.

 

 

Abandoned quite quickly as I'm too ham-fisted to get them level enough to stay aligned after the rail was cut.  Back to plan B- which is basically the same as on Bregenbach.  The track is laid over the board join and pinned down with a pin every sleeper either side of the board join (up to five), then cut with a slitting disc.  I can get that version level, even if the gaps are a little big in places.

 

More to report whenever...

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

Moving onwards.  

 

I used Hornby track for the fiddle yard partly as it works out a little cheaper than Peco and also has shorter points, but with small locos I'm wondering if that might be a mistake.  

 

The decision wasn't made easier by my having two Peco points fall apart almost straight out of the packet- indeed one was straight out of the packet.

 

 

In both cases the tie bar and the blade had parted company.  I ordered a replacement from Malc's Models while waiting for my second order to reach Access Models from Peco.  The broken ones I sent direct to Peco with a letter asking what had happened to their quality as these were the first points I'd EVER had fall apart so quickly.  I did have a couple of Setrack points disintegrate on Furtwangen Ost, but this was due to a lot of solvent being used to clean them- the plastic decomposed, though Streamline was unaffected by it.  The offending TT points came back a week later fitted with the latest version of the tie bar.  They have been kept in reserve.

 

Joining Peco to Hornby track is OK provided Hornby rail joiners are used. The video shows that things cross over smoothly.

. 

 

 

 

Power feed is by wires soldered to the bottom of every second fishplate on the Setrack, and at frequent intervals on the streamline.  The Hornby points have their DCC clips fitted- these correspond to Fleischmann's "Thinking Clips" which are fitted to every point on Bregenbach im Schwarzwald.

 

Les

[Les1952]

The first item of stock to arrive was one of my favourite DB locos, possibly a little to new to have been sold out of service in the early eighties- so I'm moving forwards to the time that I was in Baden Wurttemberg on four trips based on Emmendingen (two Twin-town trips and two school exchanges).  That puts it at the end of the eighties or start of the nineties.

 

 

Accordingly the BR290 will be on hire from DB.  A useful sized loco for freight duties.  The initial stock is a few 4-wheeled vans of different types.  There were definitely some of these running in and around Emmendingen at the time.

 

One of the few Class 150s I saw passing Kollmarsreute with a freight for Freiburg.  15th April 1987.

 

The second loco is a definite indulgence, and an expensive one at that.

 

 

An Arnold BR58- I fancied a sound fitted one, the sound being exquisite, and it will be in the Eisenbahnfreunde fleet.

 

Stock so far is a set of three DR four-wheeled coaches, which will be part of one of the vintage trains.  These need a van or something.

 

More to follow

Les

 

 

[Les1952]

Next loco into stock is from Tillig, a BR86.

 

 

The first German steamer I actually saw was the Class 64 on the Nene Valley- a prototype for a future purchase as funds permit.  The 86 is a model of the second one I saw. Not sound fitted- they haven't got that far with them yet, and nothing like as well made as the Arnold locos. It shed part of its valve gear (which is nylon) and although I've got one shed part safely in the box the other is still at loose on the shed floor.

 

 

A bit of a pest only being able to run it with one side facing the punters....  Why an 86?

 

 

86457 plinthed at Trier in December 1978, when we spent Christmas there and attended a friend's wedding on Dec 27th or 28th.  I managed to get in to get the photo, despite speaking little German and the gatekeeper speaking little English we negotiated that I needed to sign an indemnity form.  All those NCB visits in the sixties and early seventies paid off...

 

 

More on the Rebenbummler train. The coaches are the same as the Tillig ones I've got, so taking DR off the side (perhaps adding a logo in place) should do.  The second coach of the set was standard green, though I can't remember what if any logo there is on the side.

 

 

Tail vehicle for the train is a vintage Riegeler Bier van.  This is why Bregenbach im Schwarzwald has a Riegeler van on its local train together with a Furstenburg van from Donaueschingen.  There isn't a Riegeler van in TT that I can find, but I'll get something that looks similar to be going on with.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

 

By the end of Feb the basic oval was complete, and more points were on order to finish the job.  The points at each end of the loop were to be worked by wire in tube from Gem Point levers (left over from Hawthorn Dene) behind the backscene. The stock (UK and German) by this time was more than enough to fill the three roads of the original fiddle yard, so the start of the kick-back sidings were laid in.

 

 

The Rebenbummler-type coaches behind the BR86, taken much more recently (today).  Since the pic I've successfully removed the DR lettering from the side of one, meaning I can now recrest the set- I'll find something suitably obscure in my transfers box- maybe a Corporation Crest in the old Mabex transfers....

 

Next loco into service is a Roco BR38 with Sound, that 3SMR had had in stock unsold for several yonks.   The video showing it moving over the Peco to Hornby track join is already posted.

 

 

Moving ahead, the track arrived and all was laid in and tested ready for the layout to be packed away so Bregenbach im Schwarzwald could be set up to prepare for shows at Leicester and York.  This was the point at which I discovered that two leftover ends from Gresby would fit and allow the layout to make a 4 foot by 2 foot 6 by 2 foot (I thought) box for transport, with 17 inches between the boards when packed- enough for backscenes and buildings to be eight inches high.

 

 

A close-up of the fiddle yard, also showing the entire electrical connection between the two sides of the board- a two way chocky block above the layout but behind the backscene.

 

The next spasm continues the story from being re-erected on Sunday 14th May after Bregenbach im Schwarzwald came back from York show.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

 

First of five motive power items to arrive while the layout was packed up is this Roco BR80 0-6-0T.  I'm not entirely convinced by the red plastic worm clearly visible in the cab, but I think it might need some lubrication here.  

 

 

Next a pair of Berliner TT Bahn V36 diesels, both now DCC fitted.  The grey one is a much better runner than the yellow, but both are acceptable.

 

 

With the BTTB diesels came this Class 110, again from BTTB.  Easier to fit a decodedr into, the LaisDCC one inside it ran the motor on test but now won't.  I'll replace it with something more substantial later.

 

 

Last in, for now, is a Ferkeltaxe pair in DB colours by Kres.  Interesting to fit a decoder to.  the buffers have to be removed to allow the body to be removed, and the Next18 socket is then on top of the circuit board.  It didn't like the first decoder I fitted to it, running very slowly indeed.  Second attempt sees it with a Dapol Imperium decoder inside it, and all is well.  This will be one of probably three railcar sets running the basic passenger service for the line, with the diesels handling the freight and a steamer on vintage coaches.

 

Scenics and buildings to follow.

 

Les

Edited May 23, 2023 by Les1952
can't count....

[Graham T]

On 22/05/2023 at 20:42, Les1952 said:

 

By the end of Feb the basic oval was complete, and more points were on order to finish the job.  The points at each end of the loop were to be worked by wire in tube from Gem Point levers (left over from Hawthorn Dene) behind the backscene. The stock (UK and German) by this time was more than enough to fill the three roads of the original fiddle yard, so the start of the kick-back sidings were laid in.

 

 

The Rebenbummler-type coaches behind the BR86, taken much more recently (today).  Since the pic I've successfully removed the DR lettering from the side of one, meaning I can now recrest the set- I'll find something suitably obscure in my transfers box- maybe a Corporation Crest in the old Mabex transfers....

 

Next loco into service is a Roco BR38 with Sound, that 3SMR had had in stock unsold for several yonks.   The video showing it moving over the Peco to Hornby track join is already posted.

 

 

Moving ahead, the track arrived and all was laid in and tested ready for the layout to be packed away so Bregenbach im Schwarzwald could be set up to prepare for shows at Leicester and York.  This was the point at which I discovered that two leftover ends from Gresby would fit and allow the layout to make a 4 foot by 2 foot 6 by 2 foot (I thought) box for transport, with 17 inches between the boards when packed- enough for backscenes and buildings to be eight inches high.

 

 

A close-up of the fiddle yard, also showing the entire electrical connection between the two sides of the board- a two way chocky block above the layout but behind the backscene.

 

The next spasm continues the story from being re-erected on Sunday 14th May after Bregenbach im Schwarzwald came back from York show.

 

Les

 

 

Those point levers certainly bring back memories Les - my dad used the same ones on our loft layout (which never got finished) well over 40 years ago...

 

[Railpassion]

I love the railbuses 

 

Here's a more common type at Lissendorf 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Railpassion

[Les1952]

5 hours ago, Railpassion said:

I love the railbuses 

 

Here's a more common type at Lissendorf 

 

 

I'm hoping for one of these in due course...

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

The points on the front are worked by wire in tube from my last stock of GEM point levers, intended to be behind the backscene. Well spotted Graham T.

 

Last in before the layout went back up was the first building, a block of flats by Auhagen.  The idea is that that should be at the right hand end of the layout.  

 

 

Once the layout was set up again the first snag.  It isn't going to fit the space at that end, even if the yard below is seperated from the higher level by a wall rather than a slope.  Interior, balconies and cellar steps are the next to go in.

 

Now almost all of the N-gauge wagons have gone I've started repurposing the interiors of the boxes built by the late Trevor Webster for his stock.  The originals had rather tight wooden sides and a felt base and held the stock a little tightly.  

 

 

I've taken out every alternate wooden divider and lined the interior with new felt, which is also on the underside of each tray to protect the stock below.

 

 

Two of the trays are arranged with the stock across the box and the third one the opposite way.

 

 

Last loco into stock before the layout was erected is this Piko shunter, a model of a Russian-built industrial loco, which will eventually be used on Broken Scar as well.  I waited until the layout was erected again before fitting a decoder, and instead of Tillig couplings I've fitted Dapol Easi-shunts.  Seen shunting Hornby vans as an experiment.  The experiment works, so Broken Scar will use Easi-shunts throughout, subject to the Hornby J94 being suitable.

 

Four more Dapol magnets are on order, enough to put one in the loop, and one on each siding at what was the shed, but will end up as the industrial end.  

 

Plywood backscenes next.

 

Les

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Les1952
typos as usual

[Les1952]

The bendy ply for the backscene has arrived and is in process of being installed.  I've made up my mind which backscene from ID Backscenes best suits and that is now on order.  I've got a Kres double-deck railbus coming from Modellbahnshop Lippe and an Kuehn Class 94 0-10-0T from Elwira (three more N-gauge loco sales paid for those).

 

I've also made a start on ballasting.

 

 

The card carcass is the first stage of a barrel roofed warehouse by Joswood- a laser cut kit.  First looks leave me impressed.

 

The long siding at this end will need shortening to get the industrial section in now @ve swapped the town and industry ends.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

 

A view showing how the hidden sidings and point levers hide behind the backscene. Plenty of room here also to put sheets with the addresses of the locos- I won't be able to use the system from Croft Spa and Bregenbach, so I'll use a development of the permanent sheets on the back of NO PLACE, though this will need a photograph of each loco/unit. I'll also default to the original Bregenbach system of forwards is to the left leaving the yard.  That will make it easier to operate, though I'm not going to make any attempt at getting everything to run at the same speed- this layout will not need consists.

 

 

The Joswood barrel roofed warehouse is proceeding nicely.  Putting the hinges on the doors was interesting- each is about 6mm long.  Next step is the door handles.  Deep joy...

 

 

Similarly the flat block is progressing.  I'm doing the version with balconies and cellar entrances, which will mean it needs sinking into the ground a little. 

 

 

I'm not happy with the DR logo on the sides of the 4-wheel coaches, though the livery is otherwise just what I want for them.  Fortunately my trusty Faber-Castell Perfection erasing pencil has seen off the DR lettering.  A trawl through my box of left-over transfers found a number of Highland Railway crests, which with the garter part cut off and rotated 90 degrees look good enough to be the Bregtalbahn's crest.  There were 12 left on the sheet, and those nice Fox people from Leicestershire do the crest in 4mm so I should have enough for any locos and stock I wish to do.  

 

 

Coach with crest applied to side.

 

 

Train of three.  All this now needs is a van of some kind.  The Rebenbummler on the Kaiserstuhlbahn used a vintage beer van, so something like that might well be appropriate as a tail vehicle.

 

All for now.  More ballasting to follow, and the next phase of the backscene.  Plenty to do.

 

Les

[Les1952]

Next stage has been getting the ends with the arches through added to both ends of the backscene.

 

 

Assuming we are viewing the scene from the South (as in Furtwangen Ost and in Bregenbach im Schwarzwald), this is looking towards Donaueschingen.  Roco class 290, possibly one of the first sold out of service, heads east on a van train.

 

 

Looking West towards Furtwangen.  In this version of the Bregtalbahn it never got any further than the real one did, ie to Furtwangen.

 

 

Using some available pieces of Balsa to try out heights for the buildings at the town end of the layout.  The exit at this end may be a tunnel as used on Bregenbach im Schwarzwald and one end of Furtwangen Ost or just disguised by trees and a road bridge, as used in Croft Spa and one end of Hawthorn Dene.  I'll make my mind up after I get the backscene paper fixed on. 

 

 

Lastly, progress with the barrel roofed warehouse.  The basic rendered overlays are on the walls, and the doors now all have their handles.  The three sections are firmly glued together.  Just the roof, gutters and cladding overlays left to do.

 

All for now

Les

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Les1952
typos...

[Les1952]

Latest into stock is the class 670 double-deck railbus. Only seven built, in 1996.  The first was a demonstrator (which is my excuse for having one) and the other six went to DB.  They didn't last long.  One no longer survives, the demonstrator is preserved, four were sold on to private operators, with two still in service a couple of years ago and the others were in store last I heard.

 

 

Model by Kres, this one came factory DCC fitted.  At some stage in the future I'll work out how to get into it and add a driver and a passenger or two- not many as the line is supposed to be quiet except for the steam specials.

 

 

Also into stock is a secondhand Hornby Class 08 at a reasonable price.  It had lost its centring spring from the coupling at the nose end, but a little work with superglue while I had the body off has fixed the coupling rigid.  It copes with the longest wheelbase wagons through reverse curves, though it runs better through Peco points than Hornby.  Now fitted with a decoder which was the narrowest non-Lais one I have and still wouldn't sit correctly in the channel. It has gone in diagonally and the body has gone back on cleanly.  There were plenty of banger blue 08s sold out of service by the period the layout is set, so it might stay banger blue.  OTOH if it is also to be used on the UK layout it will need a repaint into an earlier livery.  Not yet, though.

 

 

Comparison of size between the 08 and the German equivalent.

 

 

Lastly a pic showing the difference between the UK loading gauge and a modern German wagon.

 

All for today.

Les

Edited June 5, 2023 by Les1952
status update for prototype railcars

[Les1952]

 

Test fitting the backscene gives a huge gap where there will be nothing but sky.    I'm going to move it along from the original idea of using one sheet on each half of the board.  It will create another two joins but judicious trees should disguise these.

 

 

The Donaueschingen end papered.  The tunnel mouth will be well forward to allow the road to pass over the top.  There will also be a higher level so the dip in the hills will be behind this, and a suitably large tree will disguise the discontinuity in the sky.

 

 

 

A close-up of the almost finished warehouse- just a little tweaking of the roof and some judicious dirt to do.

 

Pics of the other end of the layout to follow, with a vid.  Such excitement promised.....  Oh, and the Class 94 has arrived.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

More ballasting done

 

 

Round the first Dapol uncoupler, which still works after the experience.  More stock to convert..

 

 

Showing the extra joins in the backscene which will need disguising with random trees..  The town will be here at a height of between one and two inches, covering about 2/3 of the space behind the shed road.

 

 

Closer view showing the exit at this end.  The re will be an overbridge at this end with a track into the woods, and I'll only decide whether to use the tunnel mouth once it is in place.  the road will go offstage behind the flats disgusied with another building.  the position of the flats is still not yet totally decided on.

 

Not got the video processed.  Friday perhaps as I'm out most of tomorrow.

 

Les

 

 

 

[Les1952]

As promised a few days ago, the video of the 08 and the class 670 railbus is now published on Youtube.

 

 

 

Only after publishing it did I notice the finger in the 08 section of the vid....

 

 

New locomotive is the BR94 by Kuehn.  Nice loco that runs well.  A little disappointing is the nylon valve gear.  Probably the last steamer for the time being, unless something really exciting comes up on eBay.  Talking of eBay I've managed to secure a class 212 diesel by Modist, and an ex-set class 280 diesel by Tillig which are winging their weary way to me, no doubt via a customs shed that will relieve me of more of my hard-earned readys in import duties.  I've also pre-ordered the latest Arnold Kof, this time from Hornby (more loyalty points...)

 

The intention is the BR94 on one vintage  passenger set with the BR86 going the other way, the three or four B-B diesels (110, 212, 280 and 290) on through freight with the 4W diesel , the 08 or a V36 on pick-up duties, and railbuses on regular passenger.  The bigger steamers (Class 38, class 58 and A4) will appear on Plandampf days only.  One more railbus to buy with more freight stock.

 

All for tonight

Les

[Les1952]

Hello again.

 

I've laid in a stock of Balsa for the high level "flat" (ie flattish) bits and almost cleaned Access Models out of the thin stuff.  I felt that building the town on a balsa sub-base would help keep the layout manageably light.  I may be wrong...

 

 

First view of the Donaueschingen end with an area of thin stuff also allocated to a hardstanding between the tracks in the factory area, not yet built in this pic.  The part-finished building on the front is a Busch warehouse-type building.  I've got to do some tweaking of the widths at this end to get a slope down at the end and a plausible wall in front of the warehouse etc.  The ramp down to the bottom is nearer the middle of the layout.

 

 

The warehouse might end up here if I can get the widths to work.  The grey one MIGHT go next to it with a chimney  hiding the backscene discontinuity as a change from a tree...

 

 

A pair of vintage vans has now arrived for the rear of the two vintage passenger trains.  The other is a beer van but this one is a definite rule one creature.

 

 

The start of the inset track for the industrial area.

 

More pics to follow.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

 

The other beer van, bringing up the rear of the train of four wheelers going the other way.

 

 

The front end of the passenger that has the yellow van at the tail.

 

 

I've chopped the shed road and the longest siding back so they don't go as far as the scenery.  A closer look at the grey warehouse under construction.

 

 

At the Donaueschingen end of the line the tunnel mouth now goes into something approaching blackness.

 

The risers are my usual mix of accurate, workable and downright rubbish.....

 

All for tonight.

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

Another "new" purchase, a Class 212 by Modist.  Secondhand.  New enough to have a 6-pin interface hiding in the fuel tank, but old enough to have a battle scar in ths shape of a broken handrail I hadn't noticed until uploading these two pics...

 

 

On the building front the high level in front of the backscene is going in.  

 

 

The Donaueschingen end, showing how dark the tunnel mouth is.  Also shows the main area of the hardstanding- still a couple of adjustments to make here.  The roadway gradient over the tunnel mouth is still a bit of a disaster area but will improve when I've worked out what I need to do to it.

 

 

The Furtwangen end.  the block of flats is almost in its final position, but needs to be bedded in.  I've now ordered the engine shed, a single track one with a water tower at the end.  Not that common to the West of Germany, but sufficiently rural to be reasonably acceptable.  I'm looking at a rather nice 3D printed footway (or small tramway) overbridge designed for OO9 modellers.  Set onto small risers either size it looks to be a suitable footpath bridge to disguise the exit at this end, helped by enough random trees.

 

Lastly, a pic from early on that escaped the blog.  The Roco BR38 seen early on.  This features in a video near the start of the blog but up to now no pic of it.  Definitely a Plandampf loco for the passenger trains, though it will share workings with the 86, 94 and the Arnold 2-10-0.  I don't need any more steam (though there is still a Hornby A3 to come at some stage....)

 

Les

 

[Les1952]

Looking at the 212 it is clearly much smaller than the 290.  East German 110 in the background,

 

 

A view showing a bit more of the concrete apron.

 

 

The front will be bedded in and suitable fencing put round it.

 

 

A day later and the concrete has been painted with Tamiya acrylic "concrete" paint - aka deck tan.  Pictures of the developments rtound the outside to follow.

 

All for now.

Les

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Les1952
typos...