German TT - Kirchheim

[rekoboy]

Work-wise the next few weeks are going to be hectic and we shall have Frau Rekoboy's cousin Michaela staying with us so the last couple of days have seen some concentrated activity as I have tried to get the signal box project as far advanced as I can before I am obliged to leave the railway for a while. As you can see, some of my Preiser railmen are amazed! I have had two Auhagen Saxon signal box kits for ages - I had thought of combining the two into one large box as used to be seen at Dresden Hbf - but then I decided to assemble at least one as it ought to be. Some details need adding and a bit more weathering done and the scenery (i.e the ground) around completing but I am quite happy with the product - which has taken hours as many of the parts need painting and weathering before being stuck together.

 

[rekoboy]

I have managed to snatch a few moments to more or less finish the signalbox - the roof needs a final coat of paint and the gutter needs to be attached, though. The sign was produced in Word using the font 'Preussische IV44 Ausgabe 3' which I think I mentioned in a post on 'signs' and printed on photo paper along with platform signs etc etc. As you can see there is a lot of cable still to lay, but the signalman (Stellwerksmeister Sellering) is on duty. As a little reward to myself for my tireless work at the moment I have just bought the latest Piko TT loco from Herr Ludwig in Ziesar - it is a BR 130, the original Ludmilla designed for freight work and fitted with no train heating. She is particularly lovely, and as a Piko product remarkably inexpensive! Aaah!

 

[rekoboy]

Perhaps the attached photo of the Piko BR 130 coupled to her 30 years older sister by BTTB might demonstrate how TT models, especially of diesel prototypes, have developed in recent years! The original BTTB Ludmilla was designed to be produced with minimum extra investment and therefore made use of the existing NOHAB chassis - that meant a rather telescoped loco body as a NOHAB C-C diesel is shorter. This matter never really bothered me until Roco and Piko produced scale models of the BR 130!

[Taigatrommel]

I have a Roco 132, and it definitely leaves the old BTTB model looking comical!

[rekoboy]

As I predicted work has been hectic of late - and dealing with the rainforest garden has been a priority, too! I have managed to get a small amount done on the layout, though. You will see from the photos that the the whole retaining wall behind the goods loading area is finished, and lighting installed, although some dribbling water leaks need to be added, and the tunnel mouth behind the loco shed is more or less complete. I am attempting to work outwards from the middle of the layout to the front, and later back, edges so that complete projects do not get damaged by leaning over them or dribbling dollops of paint on them. The next two big projects - probably in the Autumn - are the installation of the portal / overhead crane (Auhagen again) in the goods area and a canopy on the broader of the two platforms. The canopy and the intricacies of its construction and lighting help me day-dream through tedious meetings!! The eagle-eyed among you will also notice a grain-of-wheat bulb poking up behind the loco depot - that is the site of a further small office building, once again a product from Auhagen.

[rekoboy]

In spite of too many other commitments of late I have managed to find a little time for Kirchheim and to complete the additional office building behind the loco shed. The building is from one of the wonderful 'Schatzkisten' by Auhagen which contain loads of useful bits and pieces for TT and for HO from concrete mixers to bikes to small buildings. As you can see the office is lit and the door, which will shortly have the shedmaster standing in it, is ajar. I need to add the downpipe for the gutter - it's painted and on my work-table, but I forgot it! I have also finished the lighting of the loco shed and goods areas, and my next projects are the overhead crane and the platform canopy - but they will not get done for a while. I have also added an edge to the cobbled area next to the ramp track in the goods yard and plenty of weeds, too. This Autumn I shall definitely tackle the untouched area on the right-hand end of the layout within the spiral - there will hopefully be a tram terminus and a GDR housing estate with a block and a few 'Einfamilienhäuser' and and....I have found a wonderful one-man Czech company that produces fantastic brass trams in TTm on Kato chassis - but I think if Frau Rekoboy finds out what I am about to pay for a Tatra KT4 then my days will be numbered!! You will also have noticed - possibly - the pallets on the trailer and the cable drums by the signal box. They are, like other bits and pieces on the layout, designed for 'N' scale and for 1:160 are over-sized but perfect for TT. On my table there are 3 or 4 packs of pallets awaiting assembly at present!

 

[rekoboy]

Amazing news from Kirchheim - I managed to devote two evenings and a bit to the building of the overhead crane for the goods yard. As you can see from the photos some of the railwaymen are astonished to see such rapid progress, but the one in the blue mac, the Health and Safety Inspector, is clearly concerned that Rekoboy still has to add the railings to the ladder! There are all sorts of detailing jobs still to do and there is rust to be added, but generally I think the finished product looks OK, and, yes, it's another kit from Auhagen.

[rekoboy]

Apologies for the lack of articles of late but we were away in Germany (hence the Molli article) and then had our god-daughter from Dessau here with her family - no time for much modelling!! However, I have been involved with the layout of late and, rather than adding exciting new bits, I have had to relay some track and improve access to the 'underground' section. My friend Günther and others told me never to install curved turnouts in difficult locations as they are seldom as reliable as straight ones. I pooh-poohed this, of course, and lengthened the hidden sidings at the back of the layout with a Tillig curved turnout which then caused relatively frequent derailments, especially when visitors were watching the trains! So, a few days ago off came the upper base-board, the turnout and motor were removed, the track slightly re-aligned and a brand-new turnout and Fleischmann motor were installed! Additionally, as you can see from the photos a service hatch exactly above the turnout was cut out. And - success! Everything has been tested to the point of tedium with the two trains in the photo which include as many easily derailed vehicles as possible - and there has not yet been a single derailment on the curve or on the turnout. Yay!!

[rekoboy]

Hello folks, sorry about the lack of news of late - work has been very hectic. An abiding interest of mine during and since my time in the GDR has been the creativity of the TT modellers who had only the BTTB range in the shops. The choice was often very limited, as BTTB exported as much as possible to enhance the state's foreign currency reserves, and especially the fan of steam locos had little of interest to buy. This, as in so many other areas of model rail endeavour, led to an explosion of loco building based around BTTB parts. Some of very popular kitchen-table projects included the conversion of the BR 81 into the very similar but smaller 0-6-0 BR 80. I, too, had a go at that and managed to produce a very acceptable and smooth running chassis but the shortening of the body shell was not very successful. I shall post a photo separately. A further very popular choice was the rebuilding of the BR 86 2-8-2 into the sister loco, the BR 64. I have one in my possession - see photo - and it looks OK except for the fact that the driving and pony wheels are too small. My BR 64 is about to be re-motorized - more later. Now I have just acquired my second BR 58 2-10-0 which has been a matter of my dreams for the last 30-odd years. The conversion is based upon, of course, the BTTB BR 56 as the BR 58 shared many parts with it. Sadly, my experience has been that EITHER the chassis rebuild was really good - as in this one - OR the body lengthening was done brilliantly - but seldom both together. I have a BR 58 in pieces, too - the body is brilliant, but the chassis refused to run. ONE day I will get down to building a new chassis for her. As you can see, though, from the photos the body conversion on this old lady is not too bad, and the addition of some pipework and a fresh go with the airbrush will make her very acceptable.

Edited October 10, 2014 by rekoboy

[rekoboy]

As promised here is a photo of my BR 80 conversion which was done in about 1988! Next to her is a modern Roco BR 80, and even if you overlook my still unfilled crack in the side-tank you can tell that the proportions of the conversion are not quite right. In the days when no BR 80 could be bought officially one was very happy if one had such a conversion which ran well, and mine does, I am happy to say - although somewhat noisily like all old BTTB ladies.

In GDR times such conversions were actually the basis of a small business in some cases and my BR 50.40 which you saw at the beginning of this series of articles (photo here again) was initially made by a model railway club in the Erzgebirge using the body shell and tender from the BTTB BR 35 and driving wheels and motion from the BR 86 and sold only to DMV (Deutscher Modelleisenbahnverband der DDR) members. I got mine by simply being a polite and interested English rail fan who speaks German! The BR 50.40 was then taken up by BTTB who made it more or less just for export - I can remember Mays Models of South London having it on offer.

Some enterprising GDR modellers also made a BR 22 2-8-2 express passenger loco out of 2 BTTB BR 35s - the BR 22 had been rebuilt from Prussian BR 39s in the 1950s and shared a lot of common parts with the BR 35 and the BR 50.40. One day I hope to be able to buy one to complete the collection. Another popular conversion was the BR 92 0-8-0 which was transformed into a fairly acceptable BR 94 0-10-0 - that loco, too, is one on my shopping list. How, you might ask? I am a keen trawler through the TT pages on German E-Bay and my search words are always 'Umbau' (rebuild) and 'Eigenbau' (home produced)!

Edited October 12, 2014 by rekoboy

[Taigatrommel]

I used to have a BTTB based 50, and assumed it was an inventive hack.  The lettering looked hand-painted.  It barely ran though, I think the extra axle was out of true.

 

[rekoboy]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed, planned and built the GWR main line in less time than I am taking with Kirchheim! However, I have found time to start work on the area in the spiral. The landscape is being formed around a curious combination of insulation board and foam board which gives a light, easily sawn or cut foundation. The Haltepunkt  called 'Konradsweiler' after my son (and after a location in a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt!) now has a platform edge which took a lot of positioning as it is on a curve, and the platform will be built up later with the usual white glue and Polyfilla mix. The exact location for the edge was found by lots of shunting moves with an artic carriage set and some Städteexpress carriages. The strange white structure is one of a series of mock-ups in foam board of Auhagen buildings. I can use the mock-ups to work out exact or realistic positions of the buildings and use their dimensions to add or remove bits of landscape. You will also note the arrival of some N gauge track - the tram terminus is on its way. There will, however, be a lot of fiddling around with the track to get the location right. I was planning a reverse loop for the tram but now I have decided to use the Kirnitzschtalbahn from Bad Schandau to Lichtenhain as the inspiration - at the termini the tram runs round its trailer-car. Hence the two N turnouts! They will eventually be sprung so that no motor drives are needed. In fact, I now have a Kato chassis for the first tram in the fleet - eventually, I might even find time to assemble the body kit!!

[steverabone]

What a super layout this is. Back in the 1980s and 1990s I spent a considerable amount of time working on various East German (and West German) TT layouts. Perhaps you might be interested in a little about one of them. 

My favourite one was an exhibition layout called Bad Herzberg which was based in the Harz border area of the DDR. Articles about the layout were published in The April 1991 Continental Modeller and in Miniaturbahnen.

 

I've copied the text from CM below:

 

Bad Herzberg

A TT terminus, former GDR

by Stephen Rabone

 

I STARTED my modelling with Triang TT equipment but, like many others, I changed to the more popular scales of N and HO as the years passed. About eight years ago, however, a friend reintroduced me to TT scale in the form of Berliner Bahnen equipment. I was impressed with the extent of the range and its possibilities so I embarked on a 'sideline' layout. This small layout, 'Bad Steben', has been exhibited in the North East several times over the last few years. However, my growing stock of TT equipment demanded a larger layout. Thus was born 'Bad Herzberg', originally a home-based layout but now converted for exhibition use.

Bad Herzberg is a spa town (hence the Bad part of its name) and lies close to the border of the former German Democratic Republic with the Federal Republic of Germany. I certainly did not envisage building a layout that became politically historical almost as soon as it was completed. Having visited the Harz area of Germany, which straddled the border, I was familiar with places such as Bad Harzburg (in the West) and Wernigerode (in the East). The town of Bad Herzberg is supposed to be an amalgam of the two places.

Bad Herzberg is imagined to be a terminal station at the junction of two main lines. One heads for Magdeburg and Berlin; the other for Halle and Leipzig. In addition there are several branch lines that link Bad Herzberg to small towns in the Harz area. The basic service operated on the layout allows for passenger traffic to these varied destinations, together with heavy freight traffic (as could be found in the GDR). All the freight trains reverse in the station and, after changing locomotives, are presumed to head off to various destinations both near and far.

Having set the background, what about the layout? It is approximately 18 feet long by 16 inches wide, including the storage yard. The scenic section comprises four baseboards of various sizes. These are made of 12mm ply for the trackbase, and 4mm ply for the backscene and front profile boards. Pieces of timber are screwed under the base to provide locating ledges for the adjoining boards. Board alignment is dealt with by my favourite method of knock-down plastic furniture joiners. The whole layout is supported on simple trestles.

I decided that I would construct my own track, using the time honoured soldered method. I used SMP N scale point sleeper strip as this gave virtually spot-on sleeper width. The strip was cut to length using a guillotine from my school and was, to say the least, tedious. No doubt SMP would cut it to the correct length if you asked. The position of each rail and sleeper was accurately marked on the baseboard. Double sided Sellotape was laid wherever there was to be track or ballast. The sleepers were laid direct on to this and a fibrous ballast was pressed onto the Sellotape. At point-work I laid the characteristic double sleepers, and also laid some of the imitation point operating wire conduits and cable tensioning mechanisms. The next stage was to redraw the position of the rails, on top of the sleepers, using an overhead projector pen. Finally the rails were soldered in position. Points are operated by the well known wire-in-tube method, with cycle spoke nuts soldered onto the ends of the wires. The rails were carried over the baseboard joints and, after securing to pins at the base edges, gaps were cut allowing the boards to be separated.

Once all track and wiring was in place the whole of the baseboard top was sprayed black, followed by various shades of track colour and general gunge. In true East German fashion, weeds were ‘sown’around the  track area. I was tempted to copy some I saw at Stendal, but felt that my models might find pushing TT  scale weeds out of the way somewhat difficult! As can be seen from the plan, there are four platforms with one carriage siding for the passenger traffic. For freight operations there are three loops plus a fairly large freight shed with loading bank. However, the feature that causes the most interest at exhibitions is the turntable and six-stall roundhouse. I converted a secondhand Fleischmann N scale turntable to 12mm gauge. This is not a job for the fainthearted! Basically it involves removing the turntable locking device and running the motor on straight DC from the layout controller. On top of the 9mm gauge rails, small pieces of brass are soldered. These then form a base for the 12mm gauge rails. The most difficult task is getting the deck tracks to align with those leading away from the turntable pit. I didn't quite succeed in doing this perfectly and some locos tend to wobble a bit when running off the turntable. Surprisingly, the turntable bridge is just long enough to take the largest TT loco I have.

There isn't a great deal of room for scenery on the layout but the use of a Faller backscene gives an impression of the layout being more spacious than it is. In the town area I've used cut out photographs from the Vollmer catalogues. The buildings are, perhaps, a little too smart for East Germany but I'm prepared to believe that a massive renovation programme has taken place recently! The buildings on the layout are a mixture of scratchbuilt (roundhouse station awnings and freight depot) or kit-built. The kits come from those intended for N and HO as well as TT. In TT scale one has to be prepared to adapt kits by reducing in size from HO kits. The sanding tower is a cut down Roco model, for instance.

I decided to signal the layout properly; the first time I've ever done this. I modified the Berliner Bahnen signals by removing their bases and planting them in holes in the baseboard. PECO point motors, tinplate angle cranks and wire provide the movement of all the main semaphore signals. I did draw the line at making the shunt signals work, although they are present on the layout. A further feature of the layout is the system of uncoupling ramps at every position where this normally occurs during operation. A hole is cut in between the rails and an L-shaped wire is fed from under the baseboard edge and up through the hole. A tinplate ramp is soldered to the upright. The wire is pivoted on a brass tube about one inch from the base edge. Press the wire that sticks out from the baseboard edge and up goes the ramp.

All the rolling stock on the layout is from the Berliner Bahnen range with the exception of a few Kruger coaches, and one or two scratch-built or kit built vehicles. Everything has been weathered, close coupled or modified in some way to improve the original. Locomotives are also detailed and weathered. In addition I have undertaken some heavy conversion jobs. For instance a BR86 2-8-2T was rebuilt into a BR64 2-6-2T and two BR35 2-6-2s formed the basis of a BR39 2-8-2. I have also scratchbuilt a BR106 eight wheeled diesel shunter on a modified six wheel chassis. Whilst Berliner Bahnen equipment may not reach the exquisite level of detail to be found in HO, I personally find great satisfaction in improving and modifying the breed.

At exhibitions I now operate the layout to a sequence of movements which purports to represent a typical day's operation. It is an extremely involved, 'but satisfying, experience with a vast number of movements; remember that every train has at least to be given a new locomotive. I definitely feel-that the depot's turntable operative earns his wage! 

 

The MIBA article is available on line as a colour pdf but obviously with German text which was translated by a friend who worked on the editorial staff of MIBA. The photographs were the same in both articles. The link to it is below. 

 

http://steverabone.com/Bad%20Herberg_27.pdf

 

I frequently think about returning to TT (although at the moment I'm modelling in S Scale - 1920s Midland Railway. Incidentally I wonder if your BR64 2-6-2T is the one I modified from an 86. All the models I had were sold to a dealer in, I think, Swindon.

Edited October 20, 2014 by steverabone

[rekoboy]

Steve - thank you for the kind words about my efforts! I have to say, though, that Bad Herzberg looks fantastic - a very impressive piece of TT layout building. My BR 64 came from a gentleman in Berlin - there are always home-produced locos or Kleinserien products based on BTTB parts to be found on German E-Bay or, indeed, on the secondhand shelves of model shops in Eastern Germany.

It would be great if we could see more photos of Bad Herzberg!

[steverabone]

Sadly I don't have any more photos and the layout went to the tip long ago.

[rekoboy]

More action, folks! The arrival of the BR 58 has led to more play sessions and less solid work and I have attached two shots of her doing a little shunting! However, some serious work has gone on, too, and I have finally worked the position of the upper hidden sidings which, in order to save space, utilize a further three-way turnout. At first I was sceptical about the safety of the turnout which will be hidden behind a backscene and scenery but it has been tested and tested - including high-speed shunting moves, propelling and trailing, with a rake of bogie coaches and bogie goods wagons. The hidden sidings are energised by means of push-to-make switches - therefore, any loco which might stray into one of the dead ends will stop unless my thumb is on the button, and the Viessmann turnout switches have LEDs to indicate correct setting. The final feature of the hidden sidings are track contacts almost at the buffers which may illuminate a lamp as in the test which you can see OR may be used to trigger a power-off' relay - or both. We'll see. Now I can get on with some scenery building at last! As you can see I am also experimenting with track layouts for the upper terminus - but nothing serious yet!

[rekoboy]

Rather too many urgent tasks at work have left me little time for modelling of late, but I have at last made a proper start on the upper right corner and the Haltepunkt 'Konradsweiler'. As you can see from the photos the edge of the layout and the rear have now been fitted with thin plywood boards to finish everything off, as it were, the piece of retaining wall has been completed (including, for the hawk-eyed a broken coping stone!), the tunnel has acquired a card lining for the first few centimetres to make it suitably black and dark, and a foamboard box has been constructed above the tunnel to take the weight of the scenery - when it gets made! For 30-ish years I have had a box of yard lamps by VEB Modellbau Plauen and although they look a little basic I have decided to use a couple to illuminate the platform. They stand in a kind of styrene foot for two reasons. Firstly, I am about to cast the platform out of my usual Polyfilla and white glue mix and I do not want to fix the lamps permanently nor do I want the bottom end of the lamps with connectors to corrode at all. Secondly, experience has taught me to make electrics easily serviceable so the lamps are a friction fit in the styrene boxes and so removable. The white styrene tube, which you can see by the platform, will carry the wires to the lamps and will be buried under the surface of the platform - just like in real life! Those wires will terminate in a corrugated iron hut by Auhagen where the connection to my ring-main will be made. Thus swapping a duff lamp will be moderately easy. All of my yard-lamps are push-fitted into the baseboard and can also be easily exchanged.

[rekoboy]

Those of you who have read my post on the Brandenburg show will have noted that I mentioned a couple of purchases. There were actually three - firstly, Herr Ludwig had got me the latest V 180 by Piko and secondly I obtained from Günther's acquaintance Klaus at the club a white-metal kit of an SKL by Kehi which is a BIG project for later, and finally then the item that really made my heart beat faster! It is one of Joachim Beckmann's very first models when he started his business in the early 1990s, the BR 80 which incorporates quite a lot of BTTB parts including the wheels and valve-gear. Only 150 were made and I have been in pursuit of the loco for years! So when Klaus offered me the BR 80 for a very reasonable price I could hardly believe my ears and eyes! For those of you unacquainted with Beckmann just take a look at the beautiful TT machines on his website - the latest product, the BR 41, is already sold out. www.beckmanntt.de

The V 180 by Piko is the C-C version that was built by LKM Babelsberg for lines with a low axle-load limit - she runs absolutely beautifully.

[rekoboy]

I would like to wish all my readers a Happy Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. Hopefully, I shall be able to use part of the festive season to make some serious progress with Kirchheim!

[Allegheny1600]

And to you also Herr Rekoboy,

It has been a pleasure following your progress through the year, here's to many more.

Frohe Weihnachten und die besten wünsche für das neue jahr.

John E.

[rekoboy]

The Christmas celebrations - with a houseful of guests - have delayed work on the layout somewhat but I have made some progress. In the Autumn I acquired a Berliner BR 110 for a very modest sum but she turned out to be a poor runner. My major success this holiday has been to put the 110 through the works and, I am pleased to say, it was worth the effort - after a strip-down and a clean and grease she is as good as new.

I have managed to complete some work on Konradsweiler HP - the lighting was put in place, the wiring fed through the Kabelkanal (the square of ply and the screw were there simply to hold everything in place until the glue had set!), the main part of the retaining wall has been added and now I have managed to pour the Polyfilla/glue/powder paint mix to create the platform. With the current temperatures in the attic I might need to wait a while before the mix hardens! Note please my improvised shuttering made out of a piece of ply at the end of the platform!

There is also a photo of the track-cleaning train passing the platform. I cannot praise Noch's Reiningungszwerge enough. That particular open wagon has two cleaning Zwerge clipped on - they do make a huge difference to running on the layout, especially as my goods trains all have at least one vehicle with pads.

 

[Taigatrommel]

The sharply curving platform on a gradient reminds me of the Windbergbahn.  Have you seen Piko's announcements for this year?  In TT, a DR V60 and BR 119.

[rekoboy]

Wow! Thank you, Taigatrommel. I have just taken a look at the Piko website

http://www.piko-shop.de/index.php?vw_type=warengruppe&vw_view=detail&vw_id=43&page=4

....and there is the V 60. Brilliant news. I think my Klose V 60 will soon be banished to the display cabinet!

As to my inspiration for Konradsweiler - it is more from Thüringen where my late sister-in-law lived (Wutha-Ruhla, Suhl-Schleusingen etc), but I can clearly see what you mean about the Windbergbahn!

[Taigatrommel]

My Tillig V60 has such a low gear cover that it can't clear the check rails on the same brand's points.  I suspect I'll end up with a Piko one for its chasis, as I doubt they'll produce the industrial livery (Fels) mine is in for a while.

[rekoboy]

A bulletin from Kirchheim at last. Progress has been slow of late - not especially because of a lack of time, but because of several knotty problems that needed (and still need) to be solved. The first was the bridge over the branch line which will carry a road and a tram-line - with the single-line tram operating in the return direction on the wrong side of the road! This is a small memorial to the much-missed route from Brandenburg to Kirchmöser which caused unsuspecting motorists plenty of Angst when they encountered it on the 'wrong' side of the street in Plaue! The bridge caused me a lot of thoughtful moments - and helped pass the time on my many journeys to schools around Yorkshire! In the end I made the bridge supports from 2 Zeuke bridge piers from the junk box. One was firmly glued to the top of the other and later the new taller pier was carefully sawn vertically in the ratio 2:3 to make two bridge supports. The cutting then acquired retaining walls and a rock face cast as usual from a rubber mould and the track could be finally ballasted. The retaining wall and the rock faces are attached with white glue to a backing piece of thick card to aid positioning. Now it all needs painting!! The landscape around Konradsweiler is taking shape very slowly - as you can see the basis of the scenery is insulation board or foam-board - some polystyrene blocks are awaiting use, too. The foam-board mock up of the Auhagen block gets moved about nearly every day - it will be eventually set into the landscape with retaining walls at the side and back with a block of garages at the side - based on my late sister-in-law's place. The cardboard curve is one of the various templates that I make up to plan the layout of roads and gradients. But before anything is finally fixed I need Frau Rekoboy's artist's eye to get the locations exactly right. The building next to the mock-up - the Czech station - is about to undergo radical surgery to remove a storey and make it more private house-like. Down near the tram terminus where the corrugated iron shed is standing temporarily I shall be adding Auhagen's pub and dance hall to keep the users of the tram and station happy! Other buildings MAY appear - but more thought is required! The tram terminus is based on that of the Lockwitztalbahn (sadly no more) or of the Kirnitzschtalbahn where the motor coach runs round its trailer at the terminus.