sncf231e

Awful wheels have nothing to do with 3-rail track. Further: do you really notice the difference between the 2-rail and 3-rail track ? Regards Fred

I have different tracks in 2-rail and 3-rail and can assure you that the 3-rail track, including the Märklin, needs much less cleaning than the 2-rail track: Regards Fred

On October 4, 1883, exactly 140 years ago now, the first Orient Express left Paris going east. I'm celebrating with a video of models of the Orient Express in the larger gauges 0 and 1. Regards Fred

Regards Fred

I never clean my track (when I am running clockwork trains😉) Regards Fred

Regards Fred

Regards Fred

Regards Fred

Regards Fred

I am on RMWEB but not in the UK and run also Märklin AC Digital (H0 and 1 gauge). I might be able to answer questions. Regards Fred

Some TCS (Train Collectors Society) and Dutch HRCA (Hornby Railway Collectors Assocc) members came together to run all sorts of 3-rail O gauge trains in the garden. The theme proved to be UK and France. Regards Fred

Tri-ang or Hornby Dublo, I like them both: Regards Fred

Darstaed as well as Elettren made tinplate style CIWL cars in 0 Gauge. Elettren made these cars from around 1945 folowing their own design. Darstaed made these cars in the seventies/eigthies as replicas of prewar Märklin cars. In this video I show a train of both and you can decide which one you prefer. Since darstaed made no locomotives each train run with a different Elettren FS (Italian) steam locomotive. Regards Fred

I agree when you look at UK products. I always felt and still feel sorry for UK model railway aficionados. The 00 stuff was and is far behind the continental H0 products I am used to. Regards Fred

Her is a video I made of a CIWL LX sleeping car model by Fulgurex in 0 gauge showing outside, inside and underside: Regards Fred

Here is 65.018 in Haarlem and Ijmuiden some 30 (or more?) year ago for a special run. Regards Fred

The type F is much less modelled than the other CIWL cars. The only 00 model is the one mentioned above by Roy. In H0 models were made by Jouef very long ago (not very detailed but not that bad) and LS Models (very good detailed and made in different liveries according to the period modelled). See my e-book on CIWL models: http://sncf231e.nl/ciwl-carriages-by-fredsmall/ Regards Fred

Regards Fred

About "Gauge and rail-profile"": Since I run trains of various makers on track of various makers it occurred to me that the combination of wheel and rail profile sometimes influences the gauge and even sometimes causes problems when mixing manufacturers products. This diagram shows the same wheel on different rail profiles. The measurements are from an S gauge example. The rectangular blue railhead has the contour of an American Flyer rail while the red railhead has the contour of a BUB tinplate rail. It shows that a train made for tinplate track might have difficulties running on rails with a rectangular contour. And indeed, BUB S gauge trains do not run on American Flyer track. Regards Fred

John, Thank you. This is "The trouble with me is you" from a CD of Samara Joy with Pasquale Grasso on guitar, Ari Roland on bass and Kenny Washington on drums (no drums on this song however). Regards Fred

We on the continent don't know what humor is, so he should have added a smiley face 😉 for me. Regards Fred

A run with a Lionel Hiawatha: Regards Fred

The gauge of German "Spur 0" or O gauge is 32 mm, not 35 mm. And of course when Spur 0 was introduced there was no scale associated with it; now it is 1:45. In early days of toy trains the track gauge was measured from between the middle of the 2 rails (or more correctly: between the middle of the two railheads.) Since at that time the (tinplate) rail profile was 3 mm wide the track gauge was 3 mm more than now; for instance, a track gauge of 32 mm now was called 35 mm then. Regards Fred

Here is a version of the Night Ferry with a Southern and a NORD locomotive instead of the BR and SNCF locomotives of the video I made earlier. I am not sure that the train actually ran with a SR Spamcan in England and a brown NORD pacific in France in the same period. I think the Bulleid Pacific was introduced when the NORD was already SNCF. Modellers licence I think I will call it. Regards Fred

Recently I found a small circle of 28 mm track, so now I could run my 28 mm trains on track. I found out that they better run on the floor than on the track as can be seen in another video: Regards Fred