The Broc Branch in Om scale - an ambitious project that stalled for a decade but is now reawakening

[Mol_PMB]

As for traction, well the most appropriate haulage is an MOB or GFM GDe4/4, like this:

I actually own two of these, one of which was acquired damaged and relatively (!) cheap for a Fulgurex brass model. I got part-way through repairing and repainting that one in GFM orange/silver livery (you'll have realised by now that I'm hopeless at finishing things). This MOB blue one was a subsequent purchase.

 

Alpinline made a limited-edition MOB Ge4/4 which I bought new. Not as nicely detailed as the Fulgurex but not quite so expensive either:

Really too new for the layout period but I couldn't help myself; these locos did sometimes work the chocolate train.

 

And then there's my absolute favourite MOB loco, and I suspect a favorite of @MOB 2002 of this parish as well. The model is again a very expensive Fulgurex production that I picked up at auction, second-hand:

I have actually travelled in this loco as a passenger, standing in the postal compartment with the sliding doors open. Quite an experience! I don't know if it ever went to Broc but I wouldn't be surprised if it had done at some stage. Here's a photo I took of it hauling the MOB Pullmans in 2012, on the Blonay-Chamby section:

And here it is in the 1980s with the same train formation as the chocolate train, but on the MOB above Zweisimmen:

 

The chocolate train wasn't the only MOB service to visit the GFM/tpf line, there were other occasional specials too. Some were luxury excursions, others for military or scouts manouevres. Here's an MOB panoramic special I saw on the tpf in 2012:

And here's an MOB coach on loan to the tpf formed into a railcar set on the Broc branch with a colourful mix of liveries:

So it's not too hard to justify MOB visits to the Broc branch, with a bit of Rule 1. That's advantageous because pretty much everything GFM/tpf has to be scratchbuilt whereas there is/was a limited selection of MOB stock available RTR in Om scale.

[MOB 2002]

Some lovely stock there - I did the chocolate train in its latter days, not long before the Broc regauging, with the branded Gde4/4 and it was a good day out. Fully booked too so it must have been worthwhile for the MOB.

 

And you’re totally right on the Dze6/6. I’ve only ever sampled it at Blonay Chamby. Even during the big anniversary steam gala they did a few years back (eight or nine locos in steam I think), there was still a group of photographers around No. 2002 whenever it moved. A really special loco. 
 

One day I’ll succumb and buy a model of it too - but I’m scared I’ll want to build a layout to go with it … and seeing your inspirational work isn’t helping either! 🤣
 

Mark

[Mol_PMB]

Of course, to model anything accurately requires plentiful data on the prototype, and hence a good library. Here's my selection of books relevant to the MOB and GFM/tpf; there are few RhB ones in there too which are good for reference to similar rolling stock for conversion projects. Some of these books are as difficult to get hold of as the models, but they are invaluable for technical and historical detail.

By chance one of the magazines with a feature on the MOB DZe6/6s fell open at this page showing 2002 and the Pullmans passing Gruyères on the GFM in the early 1990s, thereby negating the need to invoke Rule 1 to feature our favourite beast:

 

Here's one of my own photos in the same location 20 years later, perhaps with less rateable traction but I think my composition is better! The tooth-like mountain peaks in the background are the 'Dents de Broc'.

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Alpinline made a limited-edition MOB Ge4/4 which I bought new. Not as nicely detailed as the Fulgurex but not quite so expensive either:

 

Well that’s only the second one of those I’ve seen and the other is the RhB version I now have! 😆 Mine is getting a new chassis as the Alpinline drive is like a bag of spanners. 

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, PaulRhB said:

Well that’s only the second one of those I’ve seen and the other is the RhB version I now have! 😆 Mine is getting a new chassis as the Alpinline drive is like a bag of spanners. 

Mine's not run much at all, but probably needs the same treatment if I ever get back to working on this project.

I wonder how many were made during the brief rebirth of the Alpinline range?

 

I also have 3 of the UTZ MOB EW coaches which are very hard to find compared to the red ones.

[PaulRhB]

1 minute ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

I wonder how many were made during the brief rebirth of the Alpinline range?

I don’t know, I was wondering if the 4/4iii was actually delivered in any numbers as I’d only seen it in the catalogue in the early 2000’s and the internals of my one, especially the electrics are rather home built. 

 

I’m using Slaters wheels and 1/8” axles for 20.2mm (back to back) shimmed with washers.

[Mol_PMB]

2 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

I don’t know, I was wondering if the 4/4iii was actually delivered in any numbers as I’d only seen it in the catalogue in the early 2000’s and the internals of my one, especially the electrics are rather home built. 

 

I’m using Slaters wheels and 1/8” axles for 20.2mm (back to back) shimmed with washers.

Many thanks. One day I will hopefully do the same. Maybe when I retire and have more time.

Are you using 22.5mm gauge or 22.2m gauge?

 

 

[PaulRhB]

11 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Are you using 22.5mm gauge or 22.2m gauge?

The Bemo 22.2mm stuff. (I don’t think with my engineering tolerances 0.3mm would matter anyway) 

Edited February 4 by PaulRhB

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, PaulRhB said:

The Bemo 22.2mm stuff. 

I'm using 22.2mm as well, though my project stalled before Bemo started in Om.

The Fulgurex models are 22.2mm as are my scratchbuilt models; I can't remember about the Kiss ones.

The difference is more significant on the flange size and the back-to-back than on the gauge itself.

[PaulRhB]

11 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

The difference is more significant on the flange size and the back-to-back than on the gauge itself.

Tell me about it! 😆 I’ve turned down the wheels on 11 bogie coaches and wagons from UTZ, Fama & Alpinline so far and have another 25 to do. 
 

 

Edited February 4 by PaulRhB

[Mol_PMB]

Looking through my archive I found a few more photos of MOB trains on the GFM, both early chocolate trains and others:

 

There's also plenty of evidence of RhB stock loaned to the MOB. Normally ballast hoppers of various types:

An older photo with RhB cement tank just visible on the left; these appear in a couple of photos in MOB books too:

[Mol_PMB]

Anyway, back to the Broc Branch and I'll talk a bit about prototype operations over the years.

The line was built by the Chemins de fer électriques de la Gruyère (CEG) in 1912 to metre gauge. The Cailler chocolate factory (which existed before the railway) was the primary destination and only significant industry; Broc was a moderate sized village with passing loop and siding, while the other stations were all halts.

 

The CEG and its successors GFM (Gruyère-Fribourg-Morat) and tpf (Transports Publics Fribourgeois) mainly used electric railcars to haul their services across the whole network (passenger, freight or mixed trains). There were a few shunting locos but 'proper' locos didn't appear until the 1980s and rarely worked on the Broc Branch. So the method of operation was in some ways very consistent over a century of operation. 

 

The branch motive power was normally a single electric railcar. The branch is around 5km long so an hourly shuttle service from Bulle could easily be maintained by one railcar. In peak hours (for workers and school traffic) it would haul a few coaches or in later years driving trailers. Off-peak it would haul freight, or just operate solo once the day's freight was dealt with. Remarkably there was even a travelling post office service on the Bulle-Broc branch!

  

In the early years, the freight was all carried in metre-gauge wagons, which included some vans specially branded for the Cailler chocolate factory. Other freight on the branch included timber from a siding at Les Marches, and occasional general freight to Broc-Village.

From the 1950s, the GFM bought some second-hand transporter wagons (Rollwagen) which enabled standard-gauge wagons to be carried from Bulle to Broc-Fabrique. This was successful and the transporter wagon fleet was expanded with more second-hand vehicles and some newly built ones. Traffic to/from the chocolate factory was soon mostly on transporter wagons, and even some internal traffic was carried on GFM standard-gauge vans on transporters. Metre-gauge freight dwindled.

   

The 1980s saw major developments on the branch. Rollbocken (transporter bogies) were introduced to replace the transporter wagons (Rollwagen) and to permit larger and heavier standard gauge wagons to be carried. This also required realignment of some curves and a new, stronger viaduct over the Sarine between Les Marches and Broc-Village. The traditional overhead electrification on wooden poles was renewed in modern style, and the track was updated too. This infrastructure and method of operation continued into the 2010s.

 

Now, of course, the whole branch has been relaid to standard gauge, with further curve realignment and yet another new viaduct across the Sarine!

 

I have chosen to model the branch just before the 1980s upgrade, with the old viaduct, overhead, and track. They are much prettier! My standard gauge wagons ride on Rollwagen, and there are still a few metre gauge wagons around for local traffic. I'm allowing a bit of flexibility on the dates (Rule 1) with regard to rolling stock though, particularly visitors from the MOB. The 1980s period allows me to include 3 different GFM liveries (dark green, 2-tone green, and orange/silver) as well as the very end of metre-gauge freight alongside the standard gauge wagons on rollwagen. The GFM locos were introduced in the 1980s as was the Chocolate Train. This is a very unusual occurrence of the Broc branch mixed train being loco-hauled with a railcar driving trailer for passenger accommodation:

 

 

My previous post contained a lot of photos of expensive brass models. But one of the delights of this branch is that the rolling stock that's actually necessary is one railcar, a few wagons and maybe one or two coaches. Oh, and a steeplecab shunting loco for the chocolate factory. They all have to be scratchbuilt, but that's possible. The next few posts will look at the GFM rolling stock I've built so far.

 

 

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

I’ll start with railcar 111, and some information on the prototype as well as the model.

The CEG (predecessor of the GFM) bought a rather mixed fleet of railcars in the first two decades of the 20th century. Subsequently, several were modernised with more powerful motors and restyled bodywork.

The delivery of new railcars in the 1940s and 1970s saw most of the older ones withdrawn, and by the mid-1980s the survivors were:

·        107 remotored but otherwise original, mostly used for works trains.

·        111 remotored and rebodied

·        114 remotored but otherwise original, mostly used for works trains.

·        115 remotored and rebodied

·        121 remotored; more powerful than many of the newer railcars

107 and 114 didn’t last much longer, but 115 survived into the 2010s and both 111 and 121 still exist in working order (though 121 has since been renumbered).

1980s photos indicate that 111 was a regular on the Broc branch, so I decided to build a model of that one. This was helped by the fact that it still exists in preservation and I have been able to travel on it several times. Railcar 111 only has passenger accommodation (no luggage/mail facility) but has an upholstered first class compartment which was declassified in the late 1970s. Second class is still on wooden benches.

 

Here's one of the most unusual mixed gauge trains on the Broc Branch, probably the first visit of a standard-gauge carriage to Broc in 1976:

 

The model was entirely scratchbuilt using the technologies of about 15 years ago. I designed and drew up the body components in CAD and had them cut from plastic using a CNC laser cutter. The sides are made of 4 layers and the design included a fret surround with alignment holes so they could all be assembled perfectly aligned. I provided slots for glazing which is glass microscope slides. The interior was also mostly laser-cut plastic, while the roof was a modified Alpinline carriage roof. Details were made from wire and other odds and sods.

The motor is centrally mounted under the floor, and the transmission to the bogies was designed using NorthWest Shortline components – all wheels are driven as the branch is steeply graded I wanted the railcar to haul a substantial tail load. The DCC decoder was placed in the toilet compartment, and both external and internal LED lighting was fitted. Pantographs were commercial European O scale, selected to be a close match to the prototype. Couplings are Kadees, not a perfect representation of the real central buffer/couplers but good for operations.

The railcar was mainly spray-painted in the prototypical dark green and grey livery, and lightly weathered. I designed some custom GFM transfers and had them printed. The interior was populated with a variety of passengers and a motorman.

In the 1990s, 111 hauled the GFM’s vintage train, but it was later replaced by the more powerful 121.

 

111 was then preserved by the Blonay-Chamby tourist railway, but their policy in the 2000s was to focus on rolling stock remaining in original condition, and 111 had been too heavily rebuilt over the years to qualify.

A new organisation, ‘GFM Historique’ took on 111 and subsequently a few other GFM veterans, ensuring that they have continued to survive.

111 then played a starring role in the Broc branch centenary celebrations:

 

I'm still very pleased with my model of 111, though if I was starting again now I might have used different methods.

Mol

 

[chb2488]

A very nice pictorial survey! In case you‘re wondering, the standard gauge clerestory coach is SBB X 91140, a former dining car that was used as a cinema car.

 

(…and I still read the thread title as ‚Brock‘ 🙈 )

[Mol_PMB]

I found some old photos of railcar 111 during the construction process, which may show a bit more about how it went together:

 

[Mol_PMB]

On 04/02/2024 at 15:25, MOB 2002 said:

And you’re totally right on the Dze6/6. I’ve only ever sampled it at Blonay Chamby. Even during the big anniversary steam gala they did a few years back (eight or nine locos in steam I think), there was still a group of photographers around No. 2002 whenever it moved. A really special loco. 
One day I’ll succumb and buy a model of it too - but I’m scared I’ll want to build a layout to go with it … and seeing your inspirational work isn’t helping either! 🤣

The little brother of mine just came up on ebay, if you're feeling flush?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256407240198

Actually the price doesn't look too bad compared to the recent Bemo releases.

[Mol_PMB]

Tidying up a cupboard of old paperwork I discovered my album of Broc Branch photos and postcards. So I thought I'd take us on a quick trip along the branch in old postcards interspersed with some of my more recent photos.

 

We'll start at the main junction station of Bulle, seen in this aerial view from the North-West. The station is in the foreground, standard gauge to the left and metre gauge to the right. The metre-gauge sheds and workshops are also visible on the right foreground. The line curves round to the right and disappears into the houses, then just visible on the distant right. In the far left distance, the village below the mountains is Broc, the other end of the branch line.

The old sheds were still in use in 2012 but not any more:

Here's an old view of Bulle station from the other end, showing the passenger facilities. Note the mixed-gauge siding which served some industrial premises:

Turning round to look the other way, the metre gauge lines crossed a road, with the industrial spur (by then standard gauge only) diverging to the right. This photo was taken in 2013 but the situation has now changed: the industrial spur has gone but the main line is now mixed gauge with standard to Broc and metre to Monbovon!

We'll take a zoom out to another aerial view, from the South-East side of Bulle. The station and sheds are just visible in the middle distance. Angling across to the left side of the image is the line to Montbovon. The Broc Branch heads almost directly towards us and the junction is visible middle left. The village in the foreground (with the spiky church spire) is La Tour-de-Trême.

Here's a closer look at the junction, with railcar 421 (later 121 and then 116) coming off the Broc Branch:

La Tour-de-Trême had a halt, and here are a couple of views of the village each featuring a train. One has a railcar hauling a passenger carriage and a guards/mail/TPO van, while the other is just a railcar:

The road and the railway line run parallel in a South-Easterly direction for about 600m until the Chapelle de la Motta is reached. Here the railway curves across the road and there was another halt known as Epagny. Railcar 116 crosses the road with a vintage train:

Looking the other way you can almost feel the chill as one of the Vevey railcars works a school service past the chapel:

I'll continue onward from Epagny in the next post.

[Mol_PMB]

I'll just re-link the map, so far we've gone from Bulle (top left) to Epagny (left of centre):

From Epagny the line runs alongside a lane, and then crosses a stream on a small girder bridge. This view is looking back towards Bulle and the lineside hut is the shelter at Epagny halt:

The line then crosses a field; this train is heading towards Broc and the girder bridge is just visible on the right-hand side:

Soon the line comes alongside the main road, initally with a backdrop of trees, and then a section with open fields.

The road is partly hidden by the bank of snow here, as a train heads towards Broc:

From almost the same viewpoint but looking the other way, the line follows the road round a sweeping curve:

The line then leaves the road and runs into the halt of Les Marches. There used to be a siding here for timber traffic (and there still is on my model). Even in 2012 the area behind the halt was being used for cutting and storing firewood. The view below is looking back towards Bulle. The regauging of the branch has swept all this away and the halt is no more.

From the end of the platform, the the line curves directly onto the high viaduct over the Sarine:

There have been three iterations of this viaduct. My model represents the original, while the photo above shows the second one. A new standard-gauge version has now replaced it. The original was a nice lattice girder:

Coming off the viaduct the line rises and curves into Broc-Village station, the only passing place on the branch. Here's a vintage train for Broc arriving on the centenary weekend:

And turning round the other way whilst going back 100 years, a view of the station building:

I'll pause there, and continue to the chocolate factory in another post.

[PaulRhB]

On 10/02/2024 at 11:15, Mol_PMB said:

The little brother of mine just came up on ebay, if you're feeling flush?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256407240198

Perspective modelling by Father Ted!

[Mol_PMB]

Broc-Village station is a summit, and from there the branch drops steeply (1 in 20) down to Broc-Fabrique, the chocolate factory. There's a short section through the village with a couple of level crossings, and then the line drops in a series of sweeping S-bends cut into the hillside:

From the same viewpoint, looking down towards the chocolate factory which is the large complex of white buildings (old and new):

Going back 100 years, here's a view of Broc-Fabrique station as built, and the chocolate factory as it was then. Station building lower centre, with the loop on its left. Beyond that sidings curve round to the right to 'goods-inwards' and also branch down to the left where (certainly in more recent years) outgoing products were loaded.

Here's an early coloured view which nicely shows the 'goods-inwards' sidings on the right, with a steeplecab loco and a few vans visible:

This shows the other branch down to the left:

Here's a 2012 view of the two 'goods-inwards' sidings showing 3 different types of standard-gauge vehicles on transporter bogies:

A snowy view of the station itself:

Still covered in snow, the steeplecab shunts wagons in the outgoing goods area:

Sometimes the railcars helped with shunting:

[Mol_PMB]

Now, back to some models, and having featured the relatively modern rollbocken operations in the photos above, we'll step back 30 years to the period when the standard gauge wagons went to Broc-Fabrique on rollwagen.

 

The GFM had the following rollwagen:

• Eight wagons Ua 951-954, Ua 961-962 and Ua 971-972, which were all acquired secondhand from CGTE (Geneva tramways) between 1958 and 1960. Over the years they were modified, including lengthening and lowering  to cater for the increasing size of standard gauge wagons.
• Four wagons Ua 981-984, acquired secondhand from the Zell-Todtnau line in Germany in 1968.
• Eight wagons Ua 991-998 built new in 1972.

Higher-numbered rollwagen were longer. The shorter rollwagen could carry a 7m wheelbase standard-gauge wagon, whilst the longest rollwagen could carry a 12m wheelbase wagon. Two short rollwagen could be used to carry a standard-gauge bogie wagon.

 

I found an O scale rollwagen kit made by Henke in Germany, and bought two of them. Whilst not quite identical to any of the GFM vehicles, I decided that they could be made into a good representation of Ua 961-962 with some fairly minor modifications. This was certainly a lot easier than starting from scratch!

Here's a real one:

 

Here's one of the models, unloaded:

 

Loaded with an open wagon, which is a detailed and repainted Lima RTR vehicle that scrubbed up quite well:

The other one, loaded with an SBB van which is an Allmo model, again detailed and weathered:

The third wagon I presently have which is short enough to load on these is a much older van, a GFM internal user, which again is a detailed and repainted RTR vehicle:

Seen in reality here, on one of the Ua 951 series transporters:

I also made a start on a batch of the longest Ua 991 type, scratchbuilt from brass. If I start work on the Broc Branch project again, those should be my priority wagons really as I have several suitable (longer) standard gauge wagons to load them with. Operationally, a big advantage of the longest rollwagen is that they have normal couplings rather than needing coupling bars. This was how far I got:

A couple of photos of the real thing:

And finally a view at the chocolate factory showing a bogie van on two medium-size rollwagen:

[MOB 2002]

On 10/02/2024 at 11:15, Mol_PMB said:

The little brother of mine just came up on ebay, if you're feeling flush?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256407240198

Actually the price doesn't look too bad compared to the recent Bemo releases.

Just back from a work trip to the South Coast - if that’s still available after I find out how much it’s going to cost for repairs to my car caused by the utterly horrendous road surfaces in Kent and Sussex (at least one shock absorber now on the way out) I might be very tempted by a bit of articulated MOB filth!

 

I think I’ve got space for a shelf style HOm layout, but not a lot more without scrapping my N scale plans at great expense.

 

Mark

[Mol_PMB]

Lunchtime Googling is a dangerous and potentially costly game. 

 

I see that Henke still exist and are still offering their transporter wagon kit that I used for my models of Ua 961 and Ua 962:

https://www.modellbauhenke.de/downloads/Henke-Preisliste_01072023.pdf

 

 

However, there's now another option, Schnellenkamp. They're offering a Om scale model of the 7.2m long Rollwagen built by Both & Tillman of Dortmund. That's exactly the type that the GFM bought secondhand from CGTE, becoming Ua 951-954. The GFM did modify them with vacuum brakes and later lengthened some, so it would need a bit of work, but the price isn't bad:

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Products/7230

They do some other useful Om items including locos, rolling stock, trackwork etc.

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Categories/Shop/"Schnelli´s Meter"

Hmmm...

 

 

On a broader topic I was wondering whether a thread of links to Om scale resources would be useful?

 

 

Mol

Edited February 13 by Mol_PMB
first link corrected

[PaulRhB]

Slightly odd there’s no reference to gauge or radii, 

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Categories/Shop/"Schnelli´s Meter"/GleiseGleisbauOberleitungKupplung

 

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, PaulRhB said:

Slightly odd there’s no reference to gauge or radii, 

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Categories/Shop/"Schnelli´s Meter"/GleiseGleisbauOberleitungKupplung

 

 

Not sure if this link is any different?

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Products/7965

The details given are as follows:

Die 0m-Weiche ist gefertigt aus Code 100 Profil der Fa. Peco. Radius im Modell 100cm - im Vorbild 45Meter. Herzstück und Zungen sind aus Neusilber gegossen und wurden nachgefräst. Die Struktur und die Oberfläche der Schwellen entspricht dem meines Flexgleises. Der Klammerspitzenverschluss wurde nachgebildet. Mein Handstellhebel kann links oder rechts montiert werden. Bitte extra bestellen. Sie wird komplett geliefert mit montierten sechs Schienenverbindern. Das Foto zeigt ein weitgehend fertiges Serienmodell. Die Länge beträgt 265mm.

Eine vergleichbare Weiche liegt in Hüinghausen/Plettenberg.

Zur besseren Planung gibt es hier eine Zeichnung der Weiche (am Drucker müssen Sie einstellen: "Tatsächliche Größe"):

 

The 0m switch is made from Code 100 profile from Peco. Radius in the model 100cm - in the prototype 45meters. The heart and tongues are cast from nickel silver and have been re-milled. The structure and surface of the sleepers correspond to that of my flex track. The staple tip closure has been replicated. My hand control lever can be mounted on the left or right. Please order separately. It is delivered complete with six rail connectors fitted. The photo shows a largely finished production model. The length is 265mm.

A comparable switch is located in Hüinghausen/Plettenberg.

For better planning, here is a drawing of the switch (you have to set on the printer: "Actual size"):

 

 

I THINK they are a finescale 22.2mm gauge outfit, the wheelsets certainly look like that:

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Categories/Shop/"Schnelli´s Meter"/Radsaetze