David Bell

And finally for now at least a rare view of something not according to plan on Swiss Railways. This is A WAB train derailed in Lauterbrunnen station. In typical Swiss fashion this was sorted out in a matter of minutes with hardly any disruption to services to Wengen

And now some general ones of the station

As promised here are some pictures of stock at Interlaken Ost

It is such a beautiful part of the world. I was lucky enough to get to know it well. From a train perspective you can't get better.For a time I actually had a real railway at the bottom of the garden. The old WAB line from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen was still in situ just 50ft from the house. It was still occasionally used for freight. That line was lifted at the end of 2009. We could also see the train from Murren to Grutschalp across the Lauterbrunnen valley from the house. Happy days!

Interlaken Ost is a good prototype for an interesting model which can be accommodated in a reasonable space. The station is essentially a triple terminus station with standard gauge approaching from the west (SBB and BLS) and metre gauge from the east( BOB and Brunig Bahn, now branded ZB). So two gauges and four rail companies. Add to that a daily DB ICE to Berlin and a French TGV (Lyra) from Paris plus a locally based preservation society with steam and vintage train, the variety is impressive. Also because the standard gauge tracks don't terminate in the station, they head east to carriage sidings, the station does not look like a terminus, at least from the standard gauge perspective. This means you can have an oval and watch the trains go round or operate it as a fiddleyard-terminus. My version was 16 ft x 9ft with an additional board on the short side to act as a fiddleyard-terminus for BOB trains. If set in the period before 2010 there are plenty of loco hauled trains requiring locomotives to run round in the station. More recently this has diminished with the increased use of Stadler unit trains, on the BOB and ZB as well as BLS. I will post some prototype pictures later. I hope someone will be inspired to have a go. Cheers David

Hi David, They are building a bypass of Wilderswil. According to the public tender published last year it is about 2km including two bridges over the river and a 500m tunnel. Part of the car park at Widerswil station has been given over to store construction material. Cheers David

This vote has a way to go yet. Did we do Atlantic's, maybe I missed that, then there is best diesel, l know , I know I can hear cries of anguish from some of you, Deltic, Western, Warship,Class 21, ok maybe not Class 21! then maybe best train, Silver Jubilee? Coronation, Edinburgh Glasgow Class 27 pushpull!?

I thought this might interest someone who has an interest in Swiss Railways. I was lucky enough to own a house in Wengen for 15 years and took a keen interest in all things railway in the area,holidaying there 2 or 3 times a year. So much so that I did start and partially complete an HO model of Interlaken Ost. Anyway a divorce and house move later has me pursuing other railway interests closer to home. The point of this is if anyone has any interest in photos of the WAB, BOB, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen or Wengen or the surrounding area especially in the period 2013 to 2020 then please let me know. I have hundreds of photos! Cheers David

I don't know anyone who makes plates such as these. However they should not be too difficult to produce. If you put " Swiss town coat of arms matten" in your search images will bring up loads of pictures of that coat of arms. You will be able to find one you can save to your computer, then print on transfer paper it should look ok especially since these plates are flat, ie not cast with raised details. Hope that is helpful, Cheers David

V4 for me

Your conversion from Metcalfe to scratchbuild has convinced me to follow your lead. I had found a Metcalfe low relief kit which bears a passing resemblance to the building on the left side of the entrance to Glasgow Queen Street, and did buy two kits, but now I will scratchbuild. I will use the kits as a drawing aid. And if that goes well, then there is the small matter of the North British Hotel! Keep up the good work Cheers David

Or Billy Connolly!

Five of the platform roads in the station cross Queen Street Low Level with the rail tied to girders (presumably) rather than sleepers. All rather obvious in any photos at the buffer stop end of these roads. I decided to use Peco engine inspection pit kits to replicate this by chopping the tops of the inspection pit and threading a single piece of code 75 flatbottom rail on each side. Looks to be a good starting point to modelling this feature

Many thanks for these. I have one of these but the earlier ones had passed me by. I will look for back issues Cheers David

I finally got around to building the additional board. The extra space does look better. There will be lots more cobbles to paint though!

Tony, That handbuilt pointwork looks superb. My other half presented me with the attached t shirt the other day. She seems to have captured the sentiment well.I think it probably sums up the mood for most of us just now. Keep well and stay safe everyone

I would vote for the Glasgow Blue Train too. On the 0-8-0 I did look up a picture of the CR machine with a view to voting for it, but it really was not a good looking loco - odd wheel spacing!

That has brought back many happy memories. We kids used to go to Fouldubs box if the right signalmam was on and pass many a happy hour. There was one signal which the signalman said was nearly 1000 ft from the box and he would invite us to try and pull the lever. We could not move it! That is the real power of the hobby we share, it spans a lifetime and transports you to many happy sometimes distant moments of joy

Really enjoyed catching up with this and Caledonian Basin. The quality of structure modelling is superb. The engine shed you built for Braeside reminds me very much of Grangemouth. It looks like a narrowed version but captures the character of the prototype beautifully. It was my local shed when I was a lad in the seventies- spent many happy hours there. Well done indeed Cheers David

Well done. This is really starting to look the part from what I have seen of the prototype on the net. What are you thinking for the overall roof? Quite a challenge especially in n. It is a challenge I am facing too albeit in oo for Glasgow Queen Street Cheers David

I have been thinking about this question for some time. I really want to have walls on both sides of the cutting. So my solution is (first) I have lowered the layout to a height of 28 inches. Also I will construct the near wall (viewing side) in such a way that only the portions supporting the bridges and the signal box are fixed. In between I will be able to fold the wall down for a better view , and to take photographs at ground level. Gives me the best of both worlds.

Lovely to see the 27 out and about. David

I wonder if sandpaper might not be the better option. The colour you are looking for seems to me to be the sort of colour some sandpaper comes in and the range of grades to choose from is extensive, right down to very fine.Just a thought. Great work though Cheers David

Away from the layout I have been working on an addition to the loco roster. The attached will be D49, 62708 Argyllshire. It is a bit of a hybrid. Only the loco chassis is new, coming from the current Hornby Railroad Hunt. The body is from an old tender drive Hornby Shire. This was a non runner picked up for pennies. Using it means I did not need to remove steam pipes as I would have had to do with the Hunt body. The tender is a second hand Bachmann -from the D11. It is a good match for the Great Central type tender which most of the Scottish Shires had. The Hornby models all have an LNER Standard tender. So far I have removed the front coupling, shortened the bogie, fitted coupling and steam and vacuum pipes,checkerplate step in front of the smokebox, new lubricator, thinned the reversing rod. Still to do - fit smokebox door handle, sandbox filler caps sandbox and pipe, brakes in front of the leading drivers, ejector pipes behind the cab footsteps and cab handrails It has all gone well so far. As a bonus the tender has 21 pin decoder socket and space for a speaker all set up

All looking good Andy. Cheers, David