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

[Mol_PMB]

On 04/02/2024 at 15:04, Mol_PMB said:

 (you'll have realised by now that I'm hopeless at finishing things).

This remains true

On 15/02/2024 at 18:14, Mol_PMB said:

I'm sure it will turn out to be more complicated than it looks, and I really should finish some other projects first!

The latter did not happen

 

On 15/02/2024 at 18:14, Mol_PMB said:

A cunning plan is being formulated for the Bemo Kk-w wagon...

The basic dimensions are very close, and a dig through my stock of plasticard has found a big enough piece of ribbed siding with about the right rib spacing.

My mind couldn't let go of this idea

 

 

So this has occurred on the Bemo chassis:

 

There's more to do including ironwork on the body, and a few more modifications to the chassis. My target is to get the construction finished tomorrow and a coat of primer on.

[PaulRhB]

On 14/02/2024 at 17:10, PaulRhB said:

Also found this using code 100 rail via OOK’s blog

 

https://herzynia-weichen.jimdofree.com

 

I’ve sent a request to see if he ships to the UK. 

 

Response from Heinz-Rudolf Ott

The switches are then no longer produced in this form. There are printed switches made of plastic. with small irons and only with articulated tongues.
(Drawing below)
The prices for the new switches have not yet been determined, but they will cost around €120.

 

 

So similar to the others but a better selection of sizes as he does 1:4, 1:5 & 1:6

[Mol_PMB]

Some more progress. The van body is now ready for a final clean and a coat of red primer.

The sliding vents need a coat of metallic paint and will be fitted to the body once that's had its top-coat.

There's still a bit more to do on the Bemo underframe, I've taken off some brake gear bits and will re-fit them in the correct places for my prototype. Then I'll fit the new balcony end headstock and handrails.

 

On trackwork, many thanks for the update from Heinz-Rudolf Ott, that looks promising.

I'm hoping for a parcel with a point in it (and two rollwagen) some time in the next week or so, and will report back.

In my time period, Bulle features a fearsomely complicated scissors crossover with double slips on 3 corners, seen middle distance under the left-hand GDe4/4 here. I don't fancy building that myself!

Photo from Jean-Henri Manara on Flickr

 

Edited February 18 by Mol_PMB
Photo linked and acknowledged after I re-found the original

[Re6/6]

17 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

 

 

A superb picture. thanks. A while ago I finally acquired a Bemo version of one of these after many years searching. Got it from a model shop in Florida! As I have some Bemo MOB coaches and a loco so an H0m layout beckons!

 

I started planning an FO 0m layout and acquiring FAMA/UTZ and Golden Trains stock after visiting Disentis for a skiing holiday and buying various superb books on the line some 20 + years ago..

 

Who knows, it might get started one day!

 

I did start scratchbuilding an FO Deh 4/4II which I would really like to finish...who knows!

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

8 minutes ago, Re6/6 said:

A superb picture. thanks. A while ago I finally acquired a Bemo version of one of these after many years searching. Got it from a model shop in Florida! As I have some Bemo MOB coaches and a loco so an H0m layout beckons!

 

I started planning an FO 0m layout and acquiring FAMA/UTZ and Golden Trains stock after visiting Disentis for a skiing holiday and buying various superb books on the line some 20 + years ago..

 

Who knows, it might get started one day!

 

I did start scratchbuilding an FO Deh 4/4II which I would really like to finish...who knows!

It's not my picture I'm afraid, but when I posted it I had lost my link to the original. I've re-found that now and acknowledged it properly.

JHM's GFM album is well worth a look, it's interesting that these locos were used on mixed trains (including the Broc branch) when new in the early 1980s:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhm0284/albums/72157631418771468/

 

Fototak also has an excellent GFM album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fototak/albums/72157628112845853/

 

I've got a little Bemo GFM GDe4/4 but nowhere to run it! Maybe one day I'll finish my Om version. Your FO loco body looks great, and definitely worth re-visiting.

 

Cheers,

Mol

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

While waiting for the paint to harden on the new van, I'll go back to a couple of wagons from a decade ago, as I've not introduced them yet.

The GFM had 3 batches of bogie flat wagons, all similar but with subtle differences:

• Rkmo 901-906 of 1904
• Rkmo 907-918 of 1905
• Rkmo 921-930 of 1919

There were small differences in length and underframe details betwen the batches, and the last ten had a different type of bogie. Seven of the last ten were rebuilt into other vehicles later, including tankers, vans and an engineers' flat with hydraulic crane. 901 was also rebuilt into a ski wagon in full passenger livery, but later modified again to a tanker. Nevertheless, several of each type survived into the 1980s in largely original condition.

 

I scratchbuilt a model of Rkmo 905 using brass sections and thin plywood. The bogies were modified, I think based on Weinert brass castings. The stakes were made from thick brass using a water-jet cutter that I had access to at work at that time, and they are fully poseable. This is one of my favourite wagon models:

 

I made a start on a second one, representing the last batch. Again the bogies were heavily modified from commercial castings and the frame was made from brass sections. This one never got finished - I couldn't decide whether to complete it as a flat or a bogie van, and just stopped. I could do with returning to this and finishing it, probably as a flat would be my preference:

 

Here's 924 (now X924) at Gruyeres on a works train in 2012 (my photo); I also took a load of detail pictures:

 

 

And here's a train on the Broc branch, with railcar 111 and a pair of bogie flats going to get some logs from Les Marches:

If I completed the other one (perhaps as 921 as in the photo above) that would make a nice little train...

The standard-gauge vans below are awaiting more transporter wagons...

[Mol_PMB]

Here is a trackplan of Bulle apparently in 1964 but I think a little earlier as there is no transporter wagon siding (built in 1958 and it would be right in the middle of this plan). Nevertheless it shows the basic trackplan of the metre gauge (dashed lines) with Broc and Montbovon off to the left:

https://www.gleisplaene-schweiz.ch/gleispläne-privatbahnen/gfm-tpf/bulle-1964/

I was thinking of simplifying this somewhat on the model, but the scissors crossover with 3 double slips is pretty fundamental to the layout and a great space saver.

Mol

[PaulRhB]

11 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

the scissors crossover with 3 double slips is pretty fundamental to the layout and a great space saver.

That’s gonna be expensive in FS track! 

[MikeB]

I've found this account of a small branch line fascinating.  Having acquired a few second-hand Bemo Om items I've been reluctant to build a layout because of the lack of a range of RTR trackwork.  Searching through the internet I've found that the former FerroFlex track from Ferro-Suisse is now produced by a Swiss company, ABG-Technology. It’s not cheap (it’s Swiss and Om) but he ships worldwide with payment by bank transfer.

www.schmalspur-treff.de/t1159f20374-Ferro-Suisse-Ferroflex-Geleise-von-ABG-Technology-uebernommen.html
www.abg-technology.ch/das-ferroflex-system-gleis

[Mol_PMB]

18 minutes ago, MikeB said:

I've found this account of a small branch line fascinating.  Having acquired a few second-hand Bemo Om items I've been reluctant to build a layout because of the lack of a range of RTR trackwork.  Searching through the internet I've found that the former FerroFlex track from Ferro-Suisse is now produced by a Swiss company, ABG-Technology. It’s not cheap (it’s Swiss and Om) but he ships worldwide with payment by bank transfer.

www.schmalspur-treff.de/t1159f20374-Ferro-Suisse-Ferroflex-Geleise-von-ABG-Technology-uebernommen.html
www.abg-technology.ch/das-ferroflex-system-gleis

Many thanks!

I've just had a look at the ABG website, many thanks for the link. Good to see the range is still available although as you say it's pricey!

When I bought most of my Om stock some years ago the exchange rate was about 2.5 CHF to the £, so everything now seems a LOT more expensive than it used to (currently 1.1 to the £)

Fortunately I'm pretty well provided for with rolling stock now, and plenty of materials for plain track, it's the pointwork that's the big gap.

[Mol_PMB]

Looking through my old files I found the Alpinline flyer for the MOB GE4/4:

Alpinline MOB Ge 44 III € Eng.pdf

 

And another one for an MOB BDe4/4 which as far as I know never saw the light of day:

Alpinline MOB BDe 44 € Eng .pdf

 

At one stage there was a possibility that Lemaco / Lematec would make the MOB BDe4/4 in Om (they did in HOm) but that never happened either as far as I know.

A pity, I would probably have bought one as they did occasionally run through to Broc with panoramic special trains. But I suppose I've saved a load of money!

I can always haul MOB carriages with one of my MOB locos or a GFM railcar...

From Mark Evans on Flickr, in 1986:

From Fototak on Flickr, in 1979:

My photo, in 2010:

 

 

The new goods van is progressing well and I am presently adding transfers. Photos soon.

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Looking through my old files I found the Alpinline flyer for the MOB GE4/4:

Is your Ge4/4iii noisy? Mine sounds like a bag of spanner’s so I’m replacing the power bogies and taking the opportunity to do some for the Alpinline 4/4ii as well. 

[Mol_PMB]

21 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Is your Ge4/4iii noisy? Mine sounds like a bag of spanner’s so I’m replacing the power bogies and taking the opportunity to do some for the Alpinline 4/4ii as well. 

To be honest, I can't remember. I must have checked it worked when I first got it, but I can't remember what it sounded like. I've not got an easy way of testing anything at the moment, perhaps I can set something up at the weekend and check.

 

On other matters, the new goods van based on the Bemo chassis is now complete and painted. It's had some very light weathering and may get a bit more in due course, but I quite like the clean appearance as a contrast to my other van which is rather tatty. Seen here on the little bit of the layout with scenics, the prototypically slightly smaller size of Gbk 619 also compares nicely with Gb 657 converted from a Kiss model:

 

 

 

Back in 2010 I had some GFM wagon transfers printed for me based on my artwork, from Rail Graphics in Illinois, USA.

These are waterslide transfers printed using a commercial printing process rather than an Alps printer, and I had 25 sheets like this printed in white:

I'm pleased to report that they still work very well, although getting them to bed down over the corrugated sides of Gbk 619 was a challenge in some places!

 

I also had a set of more elaborate transfers printed to suit the railcars, coaches etc. This was a one-off multicoloured sheet for an Alps printer, as seen here:

 

[Mol_PMB]

I bought a couple of old postcards on ebay showing the Cailler chocolate factory at Broc.

The first one is a pretty piece of promotional art but has a slightly distorted interpretation of the railway station.

The train isn't too bad, with a steeplecab loco (as used at Broc for shunting) hauling a freight train with two of the vans painted in white with Cailler branding. These did exist in two different time-periods although the writing wasn't quite as big. On the reverse, the card is dated 27 April 1914, just two years after the branch had opened.

 

The second card is a black and white photo, a very sharp detailed image and photographically reproduced, with a fairly similar viewpoint.

Of interest here are the trains in view, so here's a closeup of the bottom right-hand corner at higher resolution:

In the headshunt siding on the left is a long train of 4-wheel coaches. In the days before driving trailers, this siding was used to store the extra vehicles used for the peak-time workmens train and school train.

Remarkably there are 7 4-wheelers here, the photo must pre-date 1969 when the GFM bought 8 secondhand bogie coaches from the SBB Brunig line and scrapped or sold almost of their 4-wheelers.

 

Meanwhile on the main line and apparently just arriving at the station is a mixed train formed of an unidentifiable railcar, another 4-wheel coach (possibly a mail/guards van) and 5 goods vans. With the freight entirely in metre-gauge vehicles this suggests that the date is pre-1959 when the transporter wagons were first introduced. So, quite a bit earlier than my model but it's interesting to have a clear photo of the arrangements then.

 

The overhead wires still appear to be of the original tramway style (rather than a catenary) which also supports a 1950s date.

Edit: I should have looked at the other side of the card more closely, as the message is dated 26.8.39, so it's actually older than I thought.

 

When the rollwagons were introduced in the late 1950s, the overhead lines on the branch were modified to a proper catenary, but still on wooden poles as shown not very clearly on this photo at the same location:

and much more clearly on these two super photos from Alain Gavillet on Flickr:

This form of overhead is the condition I'm modelling, there's a lot of scratchbuilding involved, plus some Sommerfeldt components, but it's much prettier than galvanised steel girders:

When the line was upgraded in the 1980s for larger standard gauge wagons on rollbocken, the overhead lines were renewed entirely, here's one of my own photos similar to that on the old postcard:

And another view turning to the left similar to the first of Alain Gavillet's photos above (his train was a bit further back):

This whole section has since been realigned and re-graded for the standard gauge conversion, and I don't know if an equivalent view is still possible.

Edited February 23 by Mol_PMB

[Mol_PMB]

On 20/02/2024 at 18:29, PaulRhB said:

Is your Ge4/4iii noisy? Mine sounds like a bag of spanner’s so I’m replacing the power bogies and taking the opportunity to do some for the Alpinline 4/4ii as well. 

 

This morning I have got the Om test track out and tested a few locos, partly to answer your question. All the locos I tested are still DC powered without decoders fitted although the layout is DCC, so I used a DC controller for the test track.

 

Having cleaned the rails I got out my Fulgurex RhB Ge2/4 222, and it ran faultlessly after 10 years in the display cabinet. Smooth, quiet, reliable. This loco doesn't fit my theme at all, and I suspect it will be less saleable now that Bemo have announced a model of the same class. But it is a beautiful model.

 

The Alpinline Ge4/4 was next, and a big disappointment. Like yours, it is very noisy (despite my choosing the more expensive motor bogie option). Also, it appears to be 22.5mm gauge and the flanges are tight to gauge in 22.2mm gauge track. They're not especially oversized flanges. This is definitely something to come back to, not a priority.

 

Then I tried the Fulgurex MOB GDe4/4. That also ran faultlessly after 10 years in the display cabinet, just like the RhB Ge2/4. Very smooth and powerful.

 

Next up was the Fulgurex MOB DZe6/6. It ran fine, but was a bit noisy. Nothing like as bad as the Alpinline though.

 

I had a look at my scratchbuilt railcar GFM Be4/4 111 (which is DCC fitted). The wheelsets and bogies looked a bit gunged up and didn't turn freely. I think this needs a partial dismantle and clean before I try running it. It used to run smoothly.

 

Finally I found my other Fulgurex GDe4/4, one of those many unfinished projects which fill my cupboard of shame. Looks like I got part-way through repainting it and DCC fitting it. Looking at it now, I'm not very happy with the paint job (the other side is worse) and DCC decoders have probably come on a long way in the past decade. It would be nice to revisit this though.

Those two huge Maxon motors give these GDe4/4s a lot of power and they run very smoothly, so would be ideal motive power for the heavier trains of rollwagens.

Photos on Flickr from Johannes Smit; I got halfway through converting an Alpinline coach into one of these driving trailers too:

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

Google has just found me some more nice photos of the branch from the old days.

There's a good selection here:

https://eingestellte-bahnen.ch/transports-publics-fribourgeois-tpf-gfm-ceg/

One of the nice ones is shown below. Here railcar 111 hauls a 4-wheel coach, a van and a standard gauge van on a transporter up the hill from Broc-Fabrique. A bogie coach and another 4-wheel coach are parked in the headshunt.

111 still has a yellow stripe so this would be before the first class was declassified in 1977, but after the Brunig coaches were bought in 1969.

 

Also a very nice selection on this website, though the images are rather small:

http://bahnbilder-von-max.ch/schmalspurbahnen/gfm/index.html

The one which really caught my eye was this train leaving Bulle for Broc in 1967, a mixture of metre-gauge and standard-gauge freight stock, but most unusually a standard-gauge 'fourgon' passenger van on one of the transporters. I think that might be GFM DZ451. The metre-gauge vehicle immediately behind railcar 115 is also a 'fourgon' DZ401 or DZ402.

 

Also, a nice photo of rollwagen being shunted at Broc-Fabrique in 1983, this is the right time period for me:

https://trainspo.com/photo/76500/

 

There's also a super archive of old Swiss railway photos here, not the easiest to navigate and find what you're looking for, but some gems.

http://www.polier.ch/

http://www.polier.ch/Fotoarchiv/S/SutterP/01-CH-West/000S/GFM-14.htm

 

 

More importantly, I've had a search through some old hard drives and I think I've found the final version of the model trackplan drawing. I'll need to take a look at work and convert it into a format I can read more easily.

[Rick_Skateboard]

On 24/02/2024 at 10:37, Mol_PMB said:

Finally I found my other Fulgurex GDe4/4, one of those many unfinished projects which fill my cupboard of shame. Looks like I got part-way through repainting it and DCC fitting it. Looking at it now, I'm not very happy with the paint job (the other side is worse) and DCC decoders have probably come on a long way in the past decade. It would be nice to revisit this though.

 

 

Only one cupboard of shame; interesting!

 

Very pleased you're restarting work on the Broc Branch, and I'm enjoying the write-up.

 

Sk8

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

1 hour ago, Rick_Skateboard said:

 

Only one cupboard of shame; interesting!

 

Very pleased you're restarting work on the Broc Branch, and I'm enjoying the write-up.

 

Sk8

 

 

Well, maybe more than one. I’d suggest we have a count to see which of us is the worst offender, but i fear it would take a long time. 

[Mol_PMB]

Now I've found the proper trackplan drawing, I can provide a slightly clearer trackplan of the intended layout as a whole.

 

This is the lower level, plan view. Blue is the lowest level track with the fiddle yard top right and Bulle bottom left. The green line climbs gradually through the halts of La Tour, Epagny and Les Marches. On the layout, Bulle doesn't yet exist but the woodwork for the rest of this is done, and there is some trackwork installed in the fiddle yard and around Les Marches.

 

This is the upper level (green track is shown on both plans). From Les Marches, the line turns red (upper level) and bridges across the room, It then climbs into Broc-Village where there is a passing loop and siding. The line then descends to Broc-Fabrique station, and a rather compressed version of the chocolate factory sidings beyond. On the layout, Broc-Fabrique doesn't yet exist but the woodwork for Broc-Village is done.

The main operating area is at the left-hand end of these plans giving easy access to all the stations. Shunting at the Les Marches siding can be operated from this area too, as can most of the fiddle yard. The idea is that you would only need to duck under the bridge if something goes wrong, or if you need to run round a train in the fiddle yard (unusual, because most trains going that way would be railcar sets). In fact this plan doesn't actually show the run-round loop in the fiddle yard as I decided to add that later.

 

Here's a combined plan with all the layers on, as well as side elevations showing how the different levels are set out. The top view is looking from the operating area towards the side with Broc-Village over La Tour. The middle view is looking in the same direction from outside the building (as if you could see through the wall) at Broc-Fabrique over Bulle. The bottom view is the combined plan.

I hope that makes some sort of sense?

Edited February 26 by Mol_PMB
complete missing words!

[PaulRhB]

On 18/02/2024 at 11:14, PaulRhB said:

 

Response from Heinz-Rudolf Ott

The switches are then no longer produced in this form. There are printed switches made of plastic. with small irons and only with articulated tongues.
(Drawing below)
The prices for the new switches have not yet been determined, but they will cost around €120.

 

 

So similar to the others but a better selection of sizes as he does 1:4, 1:5 & 1:6

Points arrived fast and very well wrapped. 
Came to £147 incl post and Heinz-Rudolf is very easy to deal with. Sad in a way the new points are more but based on this they will be a quality product. 
 

Chairs supplied to add, Bemo (FS) straight top left. 

 

Rail profiles compared. 
 

 

sleeper grain a close match. 

[Mol_PMB]

Many thanks for the update. 

So effectively you have bought some of the old stock rather than the newer ones, but got them for a good price. But it looks like it's that type that's still advertised:

https://herzynia-weichen.jimdofree.com/

 

This link notes that they look a bit 'naked' with the absence of track fastenings, and then shows the use of a product to add them:

https://0m-blog.de/kleineisen-fuer-die-herzynia-weichen/

Incidentally I did something similar with O gauge Marcway points based on soldered copperclad.

 

I found a review of a sample of the new type here; the appearance is better as they have track fastenings included

(note that they are supplied unpainted and the reviewer slopped the brown paint on it):

https://0m-blog.de/es-geschehen-noch-zeichen-und-wunder/

But as you say, they're not cheap. I've also not found any listing of the varieties and geometries available in the new range, except that the sample presented is a 1:5.5 turnout and your post included drawings of a 1:6.6 turnout. Did you get any more info on the new range? The old stock seems to include 1:4 and 1:6 turnouts, a 1:5.5 3-way turnout and a 1:5.5 single slip.

 

My Schnellenkamp parcel should be delivered tomorrow; I had hoped it would be here last week but it was delayed in customs and I've not been at home the last few days. I will report here on the turnout and the rollwagons. I can use the 1:5.5 turnout in my fiddle yard run-round loop, but the same type may be useful in other locations. My minimum horizontal radius is 1000mm which is the same as the Schnellenkamp turnouts. They're EUR135 each so potentially more expensive than the OOK ones.

 

Cheers,

Mol

 

[PaulRhB]

Heinz-Rudolf says he will send details once confirmed but I got the impression he’s doing the same range in the new style. 
He gave me four packs of fastenings for free so I guess clearing out the old stock. 
Will update when I hear anything. 

[Mol_PMB]

My parcel from Michael Schnellenkamp in Germany arrived this morning, nicely packed and I am very pleased with its contents.

 

I'll deal with the turnout first. This is a nice piece of work, with a moulded plastic base and code 100 rail. I've tried a range of my finescale Om stock through it and everything runs well.

There are good moulded representations of the rail fastenings and slide chairs. The turnout was supplied with rail joiners attached (4 metal, two insulated). The blades are electrically connected to the stock rails and closure rails. A wire is also soldered to the crossing (frog) so that its polarity can be switched.

I joined it to a section of the plastic flexitrack base that I have plenty of, fitted with code 100 rail. It's a very good match in sleeper height, dimensions and sleeper spacing (noting that the sleepers in some parts of the point are prototypically closer). I think this trackwork is intended to represent a 'light rail' metre gauge prototype rather than the RhB 'main line' style, but it's pretty good for my prototype in the early 1980s before the line was upgraded.

These are available for EUR135 each (not cheap, but this is Om scale...) here:

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

https://spur-0-kaufhaus.de/epages/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/f9725276-ffe7-4b2e-aab8-fd80f674b4d6/Products/7966

The radius is 1000mm (which matches my minimum limit) and the crossing angle is 1:5.5.

I'm very pleased with this and I think I will use this form of trackwork for Broc-Village station (which needs 3 points) as well as the one missing point in the fiddle yard. The geometry is very suitable for this location:

 

I'll keep an eye on the Heinz-Rudolf Ott range as well though. I'll need a wider range of turnouts, crossings and slips for the major stations.

[Mol_PMB]

Now, the rollwagen. The arrived very professionally boxed and packed. They're supplied with the bogies painted matt black and the underframe in grey primer, and there are some sheets of decals to suit a variety of prototypes.

They represent a 7.2m hand-braked rollwagen built by Both & Tilman of Dortmund. There are works photos of similar wagons here:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Both_%26_Tilmann

The GFM bought 4 of these secondhand from Geneva tramways, and fitted them with vacuum brakes and some other modifications. Soon after they lengthened all 4 to 10.0m to carry long-wheelbase 4-wheel vans, but later put two back to their original length to use as a pair under bogie vehicles. Here's one of the lengthened-then-shortened ones:

and a similar view of the Schnellenkamp model:

The model has some very nice brake gear detailing on the bogies, but it lacks the vacuum brakes of my prototype, and I will add that in place of the handbrakes:

 

I'll use these two rollwagen as a pair under my biggest standard-gauge wagon, like this:

As such, the vacuum brake gear equipment is partly hidden by the standard gauge bogies. Actually none of the photos of these wagons that I have show the details very clearly, but I can tell how the reservoirs, cylinders and weighshaft were positioned and will make up the rest to be a plausible impression.

 

When used with the bogie van, the ends of the rollwagen protrude beyond the ends of the standard gauge van, so I intend to fit couplings direct to the rollwagen outer ends to simplify operations. It looks like a Kadee coupler box will fit on here reasonably well and end up at the right height without too much difficulty:

 

A quick check to make sure the height is reasonably similar to my existing Henke rollwagen: close enough.

 

And finally, I've taken one apart to show the components separately.

I've got a few mods to make before it looks like the top one here:

 

I have a plan to buy two more and 'stretch' them like the GFM did, to suit longer wheelbase wagons.

[Mol_PMB]

Rule 2 is that starting a new project is always more exciting than finishing an old one.

Rule 3 is that any shiny new toy must be torn apart and modified.

 

So, I've been playing with one of the new rollwagen. Task completed so far are as follows:

• Kadee fitted to one end to replace the old coupling; screwed in place
• Reinforcing plates made from plasticard and fitted to the solebar on each side
• Wheel chock support beam fitted to each side with supports at the ends and in the middle as per prototype, glued into holes drilled in the frame
• Mudguards removed from the bogies as not required for my prototype
• Handbrake wheel and screw removed from the bogies as not required for my prototype

The next task will be to cut out the floor in the middle and start fitting some vacuum brake gear in that area.

There's also the brake changeover valves to add to the solebars, a little block under each corner, and vacuum pipes and fittings along the length of the wagon.

Then I can do the same tasks on the second rollwagen before painting them.