SimonHMT

Thanks, Philip...sorry i didn't reply before, life has been a bit busy lately so I forgot! The modular set-up is most impressive, I love the wide, sweeping curves and open scenery. Unfortunately, all the various layouts I've built so far have had to fit in very small spaces, however, hopefully that will change soon. In the late 1990s/early 2000s, I visited France quite a bit, attending several model railway shows and also standard and narrow gauge preserved and abandoned lines...at the time, I started on a standard gauge "secondaire" but other things got in the way and it was never finished, with most of my stock etc. being disposed of. More recently, I've been collecting older RTR models, kits and other items so that I'll be able to build something once I have time and space to do so. Kind regards, Simon.

I was in a local-ish model shop yesterday and spotted, high up on a shelf, two single and one double deck "Impéreales", so I will need to order some more wheelsets! For my French project, I'm thinking about replacing the standard couplings with Sprat and Winkles or similar as I've had good results with them. Simon.

Thanks for answering a question, @jonhall Having recently bought a Fleischmann 57301, which is a similar looking (though not identical) wagon with "Railship" branding, I was vaguely wondering what the prototype of this rather unusual wagon might have been used for...I guess Rockwool or similar insulation makes perfect sense, being light but bulky! Simon.

It is definitely kosher...when I was visiting exhibitions in Northern France in the late 1990s/early '00s, more than one of my French friends used it; when I looked baffled it was explained to me that the rationale was that shunters at the time bore the Y prefix and went up and down like yoyos...fairly typical French humour, I guess! Simon.

All very atmospheric! I especially like the different angles and levels of streets and the places where buildings are cut off at odd angles. I found the addition of the overhead to my H0m tram pizza made a huge difference. Watching the pantograph move up and down in response to changes in wire height is hypnotic, in much the same way as the movement of the outside motion on a steam loco... Are your poles commercial or scratch built? I'm really enjoying the updates to your layout. Cheers, Simon.

Thanks for that! The low-angled photo is very useful, and, like Keith's shots, shows that the detail looks fine. I haven't pulled the trigger on one of these yet, but I have bought a first loco...a DB Köf 3 in the bright red which seems to have first appeared in the early 90s. It came as part of a set which includes a short bogie flat wagon carrying track panels, a long wheelbase van in departmental yellow, and a blue 6-wheel Umbauwagen lettered as a crew sleeping car....the latter give a plausible (to me) excuse to have a 6-wheeled passenger coach on a layout based in the 90s!

That was what I was thinking!

Did you manage to get this fixed?

Thank you, Bernard! This was very much my thinking....even new, from a UK retailer, they're about half the price of the Expert version. I've got a few GDR-era Piko items (also Berliner Bahn TT) and find them perfectly acceptable. Kind regards, Simon.

I've been fiddling around with European stuff since my Dad gave me a few items of Fleischmann H0 at an impressionable age. There have been a number of false starts over the decades, in scales from Z, through French Nm, German N and TT, Austrian H0e, "somewhere in Europe" H0m trams to French era V and era III H0, and now German era Va H0. One of the things that started this particular project off was a number of German H0 cars plus a few lorries that I bought from the 009 Society Sales stand at Statfold, mostly for £1 each. They're all appropriate for the late 1980s/early 90s, but while I already had a few building kits, there wasn't any rolling stock...a local(ish) model shop had a few suitable items in stock at moderate prices and I was able to buy a couple more wagons BNIB from another that deals in second hand. Not sure what form the eventual layout will take, it'll largely depend on available space and there's also a plan for a 1950s French SG layout. It's a bit of a shock to realise that the period for this project is already over 30 years ago! In the various boxes of stuff we have stored is quite a collection of (more) H0 vehicles, as well as bits left over from structure kits that I have bashed into other things so it'll be good to make use of some of it. I've always been a sucker for odd H0 cars, I just like the size of them I suppose. I would probably achieved a lot more over the years had I kept to one thing, but whenever I've tried that I soon get bored!

Thank you both, gentlemen...most useful! I'm really looking more for a "layout" model; as this is a very tentative exercise and I'm trying to keep costs under control, most of the wagons I currently have for it to do its thing with are older or "starter" models from Fleischmann, Piko and Roco and I've managed to buy several suitable building kits and road vehicles for bargain prices, so the Hobby version is perhaps a better choice than the Expert, though I will bear in mind Rekoboy's advice on motors...I might see if I can compare the different versions running. Keith, thanks for the close-up photos, they're far more useful than any others I've seen. We have met several times...I'm AKA Spitfiregoggles over on NGRM. Kind regards, Simon.

I'm contemplating purchase of a Piko DB BR218 diesel loco as a first item of motive power for a late Ep.IV/early Ep.V layout. I'm rather attracted by the low price of the Hobby version compared to the Expert. I guess that the latter has more/better details, but what about the mechanism...are they fundamentally different? I'm talking the difference between, say, central motor with flywheels and gear towers and perhaps something like the old Lima/Hornby mechanism with drive on only one bogie...and if this is the case, how good (or not) is the cheaper mech? Not particularly fussed about working lights, bells and whistles or DCC suitability as I'll be sticking with analogue and even haulage capacity needn't be huge as this initial effort will be pretty small. I've had a bit of a look on line but not really found anything that answers my question! Thanks in anticipation, Simon.

Many thanks for this thread, Bill...I've recently acquired a number of older Jouef items, including an "Imperiale" coach, and was wondering how to replace the wheelsets...now I know! Kind regards, Simon.

Thanks, Andy!

Thanks David, apologies for the somewhat tardy reply, things have been a bit busy with packing up everything we're not using at the moment and the little matter of a wedding (ours) tomorrow... I've seen several models of the station building at Le Mortier-Gumond in various scales, even in France, and while it's a delightful building it is, as you say, in no way typical. There's some background to the types of buildings in common use, and much else, in both "Light Railways" and "Minor Railways of France" by W.J.K. Davies, as well as a lot of useful information in the same author's "Modelling Continental Branch Lines" series of articles in Model Railway Constructor in the 1960s...though I suspect you already know of these. I've a feeling that my eventual effort will also have a somewhat flexible approach to its operator; stock so far includes a K's FNC, Electrotren ABJ, Jouef freelance 0-6-0 side tank, Roco ex-Wehrmacht V35 in SNCF livery and an assortment of coaches of various parentages. I may go for something like a 140C at some point. Era again may change...perhaps from early 1950s to mid-1960s, possibly even later with freight-only and possibly the occasional tourist train...something that struck me when visiting the CFV was how unchanged the whole thing seemed, devoid of the souvenir shops etc. that you'd find in a similar situation in Britain...even the rolling stock was discreetly stabled at a small yard with several sidings and sheds on the outskirts of St. Quentin, rather than at stations along the line. I'm not currently a member of the French Railways Society; although I have been in the past, interest waned and I didn't renew, I will wait to rejoin until we've moved, as it's otherwise yet another address change to do! Cheers, Simon.

Hi Ian, Having found the Ercallbahn in the German Railways section a few days ago, I went right back to the start and have read (and watched) the whole topic, mostly in between trains at work.... Wow, while I was aware of the Marklin ac system and have seen a couple of layouts at shows abroad, this is just something else! I had a little flirtation with MiniClub in the early 1990s courtesy of my ex-wife's (German) Father who bought me a level crossing whilst on holiday, so remember looking through the catalogue at various stuff like signals and automation for H0, but this is the first time I've seen it in action, great stuff. I'm intending to build a small DB layout in (dc) H0 though I have nowhere near the space to do something on the scale of the Ercallbahn...well, not yet, anyway. Cheers, Simon.

This topic seems to have gone a bit quiet, so to wake it up again...Bonjour! I've had an interest in French railways for over 40 years; photos in the History of Railways/Great Trains partworks bought for me by my father probably started it off, along with some of Dennis Allenden's articles in the old Model Railway News magazine. My first item of French rolling stock was a Jouef Draisine and open trailer, which leered at me from its open box in the window of Silverhill Models in St. Leonards-on-sea in about 1980 or so. There have been other odd excursions into French modelling since; as a member of Greenwich & District narrow Gauge Society I went on several club trips, mostly to narrow gauge lines and have also travelled independently to the Baie de Somme metre gauge line, the CF Froissy-Cappy-Dompierre on 60cm. I have been to a number of exhibitions in France, and my British-outline 0-14 industrial layout even featured in Voie Libre! A visit to my good friend Jacky Molinaro saw us riding the CF Vermadois from St.Quentin to Origny St. Benoit...this visit also featured a bit of quality gricing around other parts of the same light SG railway network. Models have included modern(ish) SNCF, metre gauge in N on Z chassis and some 1950s SG Secondaire, though all that has long gone. Currently, I am collecting suitable RTR and a few kits for locos, rolling stock and buildings with the aim of building an era 3 H0 standard gauge line, which may or may not be operated by the SNCF depending on what I run on it. Not sure about area, though probably North East, and it'll likely be a branch terminus at least somewhat inspired by Origny-St.-Benoit. I don't currently have a clue how big or what shape this thing is going to be; we're currently preparing to relocate from South East Kent to Herefordshire but a lot will depend on how big a place of banishment (by the Mrs.) I manage to get. As and when progress happens, I'll start a layout/modelling thread... Au revoir, Simon.

Hello Jon, I just realised that I hadn't posted after seeing the layout at Lenham...it really is excellent, sorry I didn't come and say Hi; every time I passed the layout, there seemed to be someone inspecting it and talking about it...suddenly realised I needed to head to the station for my train home and I had only really looked from a distance. I hope you're able to exhibit it again, it's very entertaining with plenty of trains passing and scenery to look at when they aren't. All the best, Simon.

It was good to meet you and see the layout at Lenham yesterday, Rod; many thanks for showing me various aspects of it, all very inspiring. I'll be interested to see further progress. Now I need to get on with mine, though there's the little matter of a house move first! Kind regards, Simon.

Hope to visit Lenham, and I look forward to seeing your layout! Simon.

A couple of years ago, I decided to have a go at a small 00 layout as I'd been given several items of 1970s-era Triang-Hornby by relatives, bought other things in a fit of nostalgia for my misspent yoof, and wanted somewhere to run it occasionally. It was never intended to be a "budget" layout as such (Scale Model Scenery baseboards, the Really Useful Boxes to put them in, and new Peco Setrack saw to that), but your idea does sound somewhat similar...small locos, freelance approach, etc. It's a nice diversion from my more usual narrow gauge (and a bit of EM) modelling. I've taken a somewhat similar approach to you when acquiring stock; there's the odd bit of "new condition in box" if the price is right, but mostly purchases have been the sort things that lurk on second-hand stands at shows or in the less fashionable corners of model shops for very little money. There's been the odd bargain from places like "antique markets" of the sort where there are lots of small traders under one roof as well; while some traders' prices are firmly in the realms of fantasy, others seem a bit more realistic. My scheme has since stalled due to an upcoming house move, and may end up taking a completely different form (perhaps a roundy-roundy in the garage rather than the boxed microlayout boards...I can do something else with those!), but hopefully it'll come to fruition at some point...in the meantime, I'll watch your project with interest! Also, something I've noticed of late is how cheap many older kits have become, especially from the likes of society "bring and buy" stands at shows, and even more so kits for prototypes that have since become available ready-to-run. I wonder how many of the kits I've stashed away over the decades will end up as someone else's bargains in due course... Cheers, Simon.