Bernard Lamb Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 OK let's join in. Wishing all readers and contributors to the German section of RMweb a Very Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. If Father Christmas is reading this, a new Roco DR BR38 would be rather nice.😀 Re the photo. If you walk to the end of the right hand siding you will reach a road. Turn right and the family weekend bouse is about 200m along this road. Bernard 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 OK! Top of the Brocken in April 2001, the only time I've been over to Germany when it was snowing! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted December 22, 2023 Author Share Posted December 22, 2023 (edited) The Weimar crane is finished - more or less, the hook has been found! As you can see from the photo two workers from the forest enterprise are giving the crane a test! Edited December 22, 2023 by rekoboy 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted December 23, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2023 Can I ask what colour paint you used for the Weimar crane? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted December 23, 2023 Author Share Posted December 23, 2023 It is a kit of pre-coloured parts, I'm afraid! It has had a light coat of matt acrylic varnish to take the shine off. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted December 23, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2023 27 minutes ago, rekoboy said: It is a kit of pre-coloured parts, I'm afraid! It has had a light coat of matt acrylic varnish to take the shine off. Ok thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
natterjack Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 1 hour ago, rekoboy said: It is a kit of pre-coloured parts, I'm afraid! Shades of Matchbox kits? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted December 23, 2023 Author Share Posted December 23, 2023 (edited) Mmm, somewhat! I think maybe Auhagen produces components in rather more delicate, realistic colours - which you might expect, given their somewhat eye-watering prices! €32 for the crane. Edited December 23, 2023 by rekoboy 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 From what I remember they used to be at the cheaper end of the market at one point, certainly compared to Faller! I used them a lot in my early days of H0e as they made several scale models of various 750mm gauge station, in fact they still do but the prices have gone through the roof... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted December 24, 2023 Author Share Posted December 24, 2023 No train cancellations at Kirchheim - but there are plenty of people waiting in the cold for their connections! Frohe Weihnachten! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 You will remember that I completed a kit for a Czech bogie flat wagon some time ago and loaded it with one of my Karsei tram trailers, bought in a job-lot. The tram trailers are more or less redundant as I do not intend to run anything more than single cars on my tram route. A day or two ago, though, after seeing the attached photo of a preserved Gotha tram, I decided it was a waste to use the tram trailers simply as wagon loads and time to motorize at least one of them with a spare Kato Pocketline chassis and the last elderly pantograph in my collection. So far the chassis is complete - it needed some trimming and building up and will be be secured to the body shell with a self-tapping screw at each end. The body shell has acquired a little of the roof detail - the banks of resistors on the roof will be fabricated out of poly strip and rod. The panto is not attached yet, such put in place for effect! The body shell also needs a good scrub in warm water to get rid of the grubby marks and the transfers. More to follow! 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 Happy New Year - und ein gesundes, glückliches Neues Jahr - from all at Kirchheim! 4 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 (edited) In between sessions working on the tram I have finally got round to improving the appearance of a BTTB BR35 2-6-2 tender loco - the one in the BTTB range that looked the least satisfactory, mostly because of a over-large gap between loco and tender, a one piece tender that is too high-pitched on a rigid wheelbase with imitated bogies and a very plastic-y appearance. The first move has been to lower the tender body so that the axle stub ends actually line up with the axle boxes. This was done by removing the original clip fittings and glueing a tapped brass block inside the tender body which takes a screw fitted through the plastic chassis. The trailing truck with the tender coupling has been sawn apart, shortened and glued together - this alone has hugely improved the appearance of the loco. Most of the very plastic-looking parts have been painted. The next move will be a new motor and flywheel - that will give space in the cab. I have a spare tender on which I plan to carry out major surgery to give it actual bogies and lower it even further. Edited January 4 by rekoboy 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 Apart from a little more detailing and a couple of transfers the tram is more or less finished. Instead of the vintage Herr pantograph I have fitted a nice red one by Sommerfeldt from my spares box. The tram has been repainted and reglazed, now there are just bits and pieces to add. The chassis (Kato Pocket Line for about a tenner(!) plus postage from Plaza Japan) runs absolutely beautifully - coreless motor and a flywheel. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Here is a photo of the BTTB BR35 tender which shows the bogie sideframes as an integral part of the moulding. The sideframes are clearly marked where the stub axles touch slightly. Those marks will be used to drill out holes for bearing cups once the sideframes are sawn off the tender body. Hopefully, I will able to construct two free-running bogies and attach them to a new tender internal floor. More to follow! 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 I mentioned in an earlier post my home-produced couplings for use within sets of the original BTTB Reko carriages. The outermost carriage still needs a standard TT coupling, of course. My couplings are made up from the shaft of an original Zeuke/BTTB coupling with the head of a standard N scale coupling. They reduce the distance between vehicles and are handy to use, in that carriages and wagons can be simply lifted out of a train without disturbing anything coupled to them. From the photo you can see the stages of manufacture - firstly the removal of the coupling loop, then the removal of the front hook, the trimming of the N scale coupling, finally the glueing together (with Araldite or similar). Whether it is still possible to find the old-style Zeuke couplings I am not sure - I have a bag-full from conversions and rebuilds, and can spare a few if any reader needs some. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 (edited) My New Year's resolution to buy no more motive power for Kirchheim, ever, has been broken already, I am sorry to say. For years I have been a keen fan of the products of Jatt and Jago, long-vanished manufacturers of upmarket TT locos and stock. Both companies were started and owned by Jürgen Jagoschinski, who was employed originally by Bemo - he sold Jatt to Tillig, and then started a new TT manufacturing business under the name of Jago. The only Jagoschinski-designed loco still in production, as far as I know, is the BR106 diesel shunter at Tillig. Production ceased at Jago quite a few years ago. All of Jagoschinski's steam locos have cast metal bodies and fine, elegant spoked wheels and metal valve gear, but are not always reliable runners. So when I found a BR78 on offer at a well-known Sheffield model shop I could not resist! The 4-6-4 BR78 is one of his better creations - it has a very beefy Maxon motor and a large brass flywheel which allow it to coast to a halt realistically well. The products by both Jagoschinski companies are not easy to find nowadays and tend to command a high price on German EBay. Ať present there is a BR94 on offer at around €430. I have one Jago loco, a BR 57 0-10-0, I shall write about her at a later date! The new loco is already in test service. After a little lubrication she runs like new. Edited February 2 by rekoboy 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Here is my only Jago loco, the BR57. The loco looks great, but runs quite badly on turnouts and sharper radius curves. The reason is simple - the axles on this 0-10-0 need more sideways play and the centre axle could really do with a set of flangeless wheels. She looks good in the display cabinet, though! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 Thanks to numerous tasks about the house and garden and plenty of grandparent duties virtually nothing has been done at Kirchheim of late. Today I did manage an operating session - and a lot of track cleaning! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted April 21 Author Share Posted April 21 Apologies for the lack of any contributions of late - we were away in Germany and busy with the grandchildren, the house and the garden. For the last few days I have been working away steadily on a tedious task - the paving of the tracks around the tram depot. This involves the production of a paper template which is then transferred to balsa sheet of 1.5mm thickness. This is the first layer of the paving which reaches almost to sleeper height (Peco and Minitrix track is in use for the tram). The second layer of 1.5mm balsa has the same shape but is approx. 2mm wider around the edges so that it rests on the ends of the sleepers and butts up to the rail. On to this second layer is glued the surface layer of Auhagen card cobblestones. You can see the procedure in the attached photos. The next step is the production of the inserts between the rails. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taigatrommel Posted Monday at 15:50 Share Posted Monday at 15:50 I don't know if you've seen it or not, but available through DM Toys are various laser cut parts to make conversion of Minitrix track to inlaid tram track easy. They're Modellbahn Union brand. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted Monday at 20:03 Author Share Posted Monday at 20:03 (edited) There are at least two ways of doing things - the easy way and then Rekoboy's methods! 😄Seriously, though, I have looked at commercial products, and tested one from Scale Model Scenery, but my track layout for the trams requires a lot of cutting and fitting of inlay parts, plus, of course, in any case, the addition of the cobbled surface, so I might as well do the whole lot myself. Edited Monday at 20:03 by rekoboy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted Tuesday at 11:36 Author Share Posted Tuesday at 11:36 (edited) Paving activities continue - E-Lok 2 has now arrived with a works train. Edited Tuesday at 11:41 by rekoboy 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted Friday at 17:44 Author Share Posted Friday at 17:44 (edited) More progress on the paving - slow progress. Ensuring everything is to gauge and testing with the loco and two wagons is time consuming. Only when the loco runs at speed over the infilled track and turnouts with the two wagons, forwards and reverse, can I 'sign it off'! Now I need to disguise the turnout motors with a grey coat of paint and do some very fiddly paving infill on the turnouts - and finish the rest, of course! Edited Friday at 17:44 by rekoboy 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekoboy Posted 19 hours ago Author Share Posted 19 hours ago I have now decided on the backdrop to the tram depot - a half-relief factory based on Auhagen components. More to follow! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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