SimonHMT

This may or may not be of use, but I have fairly recently bought a couple of single Roco DR-liveried Donnerbüchsen (at least, I think that's what they are...they seem a little shorter than another one I have) second hand. While both have the same catalogue number, 44227, on the box, the actual coach numbers are different, though in the same series (340-220 and 340-237) which is handy. -220 is in the older style blue and orange box and made in Austria, while -237 is in the current darker blue and grey box and made in Vietnam. The window frames are in different shades and the typeface of the lettering differs too, though I suspect that happened in reality. Neither has a route printed on its destination board. I'm also thinking in terms of using mine as "heritage" coaches, along with a couple of DRG liveried vehicles. Cheers, Simon.

That's excellent news...I always enjoy updates on Die Ercallbahn anyway, and it's nice to see a triumph like this, especially with such a smart looking EMU. I hope that once we've moved, I'll be able to build a DB based empire in the garage.... All the best, Simon.

Looks like this is going to be quite something! I've built one layout in N and dabbled in N-6.5/Nm...in fact, somewhere in store there's a (very) small box of kits, chassis and parts for some locos and rolling stock to go on a diorama I built a while back that fits in a wooden box that held a bottle of wine. It's nice to see someone building a proper layout. Will watch with interest, Simon.

I can't remember whether the French magazine Voie Libre has an online index; the sort of thing you're doing has sometimes featured in the past. It may also be worth asking on NGRM (I am Spitfiregoggles on there, and I'm pretty sure we've met) as there are several members who may have knowledge of suitable prototypes for inspiration. Also, some back issues of Chris Ellis' Model Trains International may have info/ideas. What sort of era are you intending to portray? I'll follow this with interest, as one of the subjects I'm thinking about for the future is a standard gauge French Secondaire. Cheers, Simon.

I've had time to test run my new loco and fit Profi Couplings this evening; to do this, you need to remove the coupling mounts from the bogies. I managed to lose the spring from the first one; as I'd tidied the dining room, I thought I had a fair chance of finding it, but it's vanished. However, while hunting for it, I found another spring in a corner of the floor that would do the job. It occurred to me that the original spring may have gone inside the loco body, so I removed it to check. No sign of the spring, but I was pretty impressed with the quality of the build. For the money, this loco is good value indeed. Perhaps there are a number of ways in which it's less sophisticated than the more expensive version, but as an everyday running loco I'm quite happy with it. Another purchase at Ally Pally were 2 further conflats with round (cement?) containers, one swb with 3, one lwb with 5 to complement the lwb one I already had. A Lima twin cement silo wagon found a new home as well. At this rate, I'll need to build a larger layout...

Well, finally, after 5 months, yesterday I bought a Piko Hobby 218, from Scograil at the Ally Pally show. As they apply a 10% discount at shows, I paid £58 for it, which seems more than reasonable for a new loco. The livery has been applied beautifully and the basic shape seems right; I haven't yet had chance to give it a run as the layout is still packed away from its outing last weekend and we have a photographer coming tomorrow to photograph the house as we've changed agents. I've got as far as taking it out of its box... Many thanks, all, for your helpful advice, I'll add a bit more once I have had chance to play with test run it. Cheers, Simon.

Tim, I've got one of the bicycle racks from that kit (it was supplied with the shed which I have used for the platform shelter on Schinkendorf)...if you'd like it, I'll pop it in the post.

Thank you, Bernard, I'm happy with progress so far, as I said above to Paul there may be more developments such as details and I will probably rework one or two items of scenery. Then there's weathering, details and loads for rolling stock and working up a proper operating sequence. I don't yet know when we'll be moving, but a small layout like this can be set up in a variety of places so I'll be able to keep the hobby going. Also, it's been great having it to concentrate on when so many things are liable to change (we're moving from Kent to Herefordshire so I'll be leaving my job on the railway and have no idea what I'll do next!). Cheers, Simon.

Thanks Paul, I'm gradually adding details, scenery and so on, though obviously the whole thing is a huge compromise to get some operation on a very small footprint...it's just a loop and two sidings. The idea is that the line used to carry on further past the short platform but has been truncated at some point. Most of the reason for it remaining open is the small factory and poor roads in the area. Hopefully, once we've moved and settled in, I'll have time and space to build something bigger, with more operational potential (and, to be honest, a bit more realistic...), but this will do for the time being. It's certainly nice to have a working layout in the dining room, so I can play trains operate a service when the mood strikes, or just do a little fettling. Because the baseboards will fit in two Really Useful Boxes, I can pack it away safely in a few minutes. I need to figure out whether some sort of signalling would be appropriate, certainly point indicator lanterns seem appropriate. The points are just operated by hand for now, and there are a couple of section switches so I can isolate the platform and/or the goods sidings. A possibility would be to one day "re-open" the line beyond Schinkendorf, so it would become a through station again, or perhaps re-assign it to an independent operator, perhaps replacing the little tin shed with something a little more salubrious! We're now relaxing at a hotel a couple of miles from Steyning, so we'll have a couple of hours lie-in tomorrow compared to the usual 5am start on a work day. Cheers, Simon.

A few months ago, I decided to build a small layout to fit on two cupboards that are in our dining room and contain some of my hobby stuff. As we're planning to move this year, I didn't want to get into anything too involved, which meant RTR locos and stock, so what to do? I had bought a few building kits, mostly by Busch, that would be simple and quick to build, and also had some Peco Setrack I'd bought to run my old Triang on. I'd also built some baseboards....specifically, Scale Model Scenery BB018 micro-layout boards and a couple of the matching expansion boards, together with the Really Useful Boxes to store them in, so at least if I had to pack everything half way through the build it should be safe. What I didn't have was any rolling stock. It was going to be German H0 (because of the building kits), standard gauge (because of the track) but era wasn't pinned down. A chance purchase of some H0 scale cars etc. sorted this out, as they were mostly from the late 1980s, so late Era IV DB it was...at least I could fill the station car park, if nothing else! Six months on, the layout is more or less ready for its first outing, to the Wealden Railway Group Personal Layout Show at Steyning...tomorrow! I haven't got around to a layout thread before, mostly because I've been busy getting ready to move as well as working on the layout....that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! There have been some jottings here: https://schinkendorfh0.blogspot.com which will have to do for now. Hopefully, a couple of pictures as well... Details of the show... That'll have to be it for now, as, inevitably, I need to get a few last minute bits done, but I'll add some more after the show. Thanks for looking, Simon.

Drat...I missed that! I was the the hairy bloke that turned up just after opening, I think you were running a BR64 at the time.

Thoroughly enjoying your photos (you may have noticed the likes over the past few days as I've pretty much binge viewed it!). Many thanks, Simon.

This is fascinating, thank you so much for sharing the photos and information on it! I don't recall ever having seen any other Temos items, but the scenic materials used (dyed sawdust, etc.?) remind me of those included in a couple of GDR-era structure kits I have. The whole thing, box and all, has a real charm and it's great that it has survived so long and in such good condition. Among my small collection of TT items is a ready built house with small garden centre (glasshouses etc.) attached...I can't remember the manufacturer (Vero perhaps) but it has a similar sort of vibe to it albeit with a higher moulded plastic content. I'll see if I can find it next time I'm at the storage unit. Totally understand your delight at finding this, Kind regards, Simon.

I wondered about that. If you disconnect the capacitor the loco should still run, so you could eliminate it as the cause by testing the loco without it...if the problem goes away, it's a duff capacitor. Be aware that running the loco without the capacitor, which is intended to present a short circuit to any Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) caused by sparks between the brushes and commutator, may cause interference to some items, particularly old-tech analogue radios and TVs, so it would be best practice to replace it. If the capacitor has failed, it may well present a low resistance to the DC traction current, perhaps decreasing as it gets warmer, then becoming low enough to overload the controller. In this case, I'd expect the capacitor to get hot, as the energy flowing through it has to go somewhere! Good luck solving this, I remember the BR70 being one of my favourite locos in the Fleischmann catalogues my Dad used to get in the 1970s! Simon.

Thanks, Keith...you're right, it is, indeed, crisper! I still haven't got round to purchasing a 218, though it's still on the target list. I bought a brand new Roco 212 in blue just after Christmas, and have also spent quite a bit on layout "stuff" (platform edging, a shelter, St. Andrew's crosses for crossings etc., etc.) as well as a few more applicable wagons for my late 1980s/early 90s branch line idea and 2 bulk packs of Profi-couplings, so it'll have to wait a bit. Those roof exhausts are quite a feature, though looking at prototype photos, it seems not all locos were fitted with them. I need to get on with the layout, too, as it's scheduled to appear at the Wealden Railway Group Steyning show in March...less than 6 weeks, so no pressure! Cheers, Simon.

Lovely carriage! Seeing this sort of vehicle in the Fleischmann catalogues that Dad used to bring me was one of the things that started my interest in German railways. I don't know whether original spare bulbs are still available, though I wouldn't be surprised if they are. Just check the intended voltage of any substitute doll's house (or other) bulbs as i suspect they may vary. Cheers, Simon.

It sounds to me like it's been "got at"...after all, why would the factory fiddle about with an existing arrangement that has been engineered to be mass produced, and which works? The only Fleischmann vehicle with lights I've got at the moment is a 4-wheel PWG, I haven't investigated how it works yet...will have a look as I'm in the process of changing its couplings.

Is the pick up for the lights through the axles, via a contact strip bearing against them? If so, putting the axle in round the wrong way will cause a short circuit as the "live" wheels on both sides will be connected via the strip. Also, if the insulated sides of the wheels are all on the same side, if lighting is fitted then it won't work...try turning the wheels on one bogie round and it might! Hope I'm not missing something/getting the wrong end of the stick and trying to teach Grandma to suck eggs... Simon.

That looks great, Ian! The box artwork takes me back to my teens when I was first introduced to German model railways and it's nice to see the completed model more than fulfilling the promise. Happy New Year and thanks for the updates, Simon.

A few evenings ago, I fitted the few Profi-couplings that came with Fleischmann wagons I bought last autumn to my Köf 3 and a selection of wagons, and had a bit of a play to see how they behaved. In general, I found them pretty good; certainly a lot better than the "standard" hook-and-loops. Another big advantage is the ability to lift vehicles out of a train without derailing the whole thing. I've also tried the Roco close couplings in an earlier (20 years ago) attempt at a layout but also felt they were a bit flimsy. The older Märklin coupling I mentioned earlier seems to be a bit of a backwards step, at least for hand uncoupling, as it tends to exert a bit of a "death grip" on its neighbouring coupling, though I don't suppose this would be a problem if I were using it as the manufacturer intended ie with a ramp!

I bought a couple of Märklin wagons at the Warley show; one (a long wheelbase 4wh low sided wagon with stakes, picked up very cheaply as most of the latter were broken or missing!) has what seems to be a variation on the standard NEM coupling we all know and love(?) but with a sort of delay latch. The other, a newer (boxed) van has something similar to what you describe. I haven't really examined either in detail yet as my current plan is to replace everything with Fleischmann Profi-couplings, but the newer Märklin coupling seems to work very well, coupling up to it in particular being more consistent than with standard couplings. I guess I need to have a look round for a comparison between the various coupling systems somewhere before making a final decision... Simon.

Can you somehow make/obtain smaller, less obtrusive signs (in TT perhaps)? Particularly for the street names, and if mounted on the buildings, it may give a better effect. Something, say, 2/3 the size of the blue Bahnhofstrasse signs, mounted as you suggest on building walls, should look OK I'd have thought... As for the disc traffic signs, would they need to be as high as the ones you've put on the layout, which look to scale about 3m tall, given the urban environment? Given the likely traffic speeds, they're not going to need to be seen from several hundred metres away like a sign on a more open road and I wonder whether they would be smaller in diameter, for much the same reason. Do road signs in Germany actually have stark white posts (they're often grey in Britain)? I honestly don't know the answer to the latter, but something other than white might help! I hope this is helpful...it's intended that way. I'm really enjoying watching the layout evolve and operate, many thanks, Simon.

The only item I remember seeing which fits your description was a self-assembly version of a German vehicle roughly equivalent to a guard's van, by Arnold; however, this dates from the 1970s or 80s so isn't likely to be available new. I did see, and nearly bought, an unbuilt one from a second hand dealer at a show a couple of years ago so perhaps a look on ebay might find you one.

Thanks for the chairs...much appreciated by me on saturday to give my bad knee a rest for a bit! Simon.

G0CIQ. Not very active at the moment as most of the gear is packed away pending a house move. When I am on, mostly HF QRP CW.