NGT6 1315

The 423 was designed as a replacement for the 420s and is intended for suburban workings only, whereas the 425 was designed with semi-fast and stopping services on regional lines in mind. The 423 is therefore suitable for 960 mm platforms and has three double plug doors per side on each segment, while the 425 has a lower floor/entry height for 760 mm platforms and only two doors per side on each segment. As you rightly pointed out, the 426 is essentially a 425 without the cabless intermediate segments.

Also, the 423 can only work in multiple with units of its type, while the 425 can be set up in mixed formations with 426s and the smallish batch of forty 424s on Hanover's suburban lines. To complicate matters even further, the 424 is essentially identical with all 2nd batch and later 425s, except for the 424 not being outfitted for 160 kph running.

Danke! :-) Ja, ich denke, ich kann zufrieden sein mit der Note. Jetzt hoffe ich, schnell einen Referendarsplatz zu bekommen.

Still not put all the details on mine (shame!).

That is a time-consuming thing to do on this model, isn't it?

I don't have any more recent reports available than the June 2011 Railway Gazette article, if that's what you were meaning to ask.

You can find ex-DR locos pretty much all across the country nowadays. Many 155s are indeed allocated to Mannheim, and beginning in the early 90s, numerous 143s have found their way to old West Germany as well. A few ex-DR V 100s have also been sold to Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, for example.

I did have a Gützold 155 several years ago, but could not directly compare it to the Roco model as I'd sold it off too long ago. However, from what I remember, it, too was a faithful rendition of this class, aside from it lacking a few nice details such as separate windscreen wipers, and having slightly less delicate pantographs. Its chassis and drivetrain design but was just as good as Roco's, in my impression.

However, with Gützold having closed down, their models may now all become increasingly difficult to obtain, I dare say.

Hi Rich,

assuming you're not afraid of performing model surgery, this here might be a rather interesting conversion job:

http://www.eisenbahndienstfahrzeuge.de/7er/612.9/612.9.htm

...this being 612 901 which has been converted into a route inspection unit.

I always enjoy reading through your blogs. The level of detail is superb and it always makes me wonder whether I should model something further afield from France (dangerous thoughts...).

Oh yeah, Stephen, I'm only too aware of how dangerous it can be to tread upon new modelling paths...

One thing I should like to state at this point is that I probably would not have been able to ever write technically oriented articles like the above without knowing people actually working on the railway, who have been able to answer many questions I've been having over the years.

Yeah, CFL sure did rejuvenate their inventories on a rather large scale. From your description, I am getting the impression that you may yet have seen those famous "Flat Irons" in service?

In any case, CFL did procure a number of NoHAB diesels, which were known as class 1600, as well as the class 1800 diesels, which indeed were rebadged Belgian class 55s, technically. Three of the latter have been retained for revenue service, though they are exclusively working freight nowadays.

Several of the 4000s have also received bodyside advertisements over the past few years, mostly related to such things as musical events as well as travel and ticket offerings.

None of the prototypes are still in service. 120 001 was totalled in an accident in 2004 and subsequently scrapped, as was 120 002. However, the remaining three are to be preserved, with 120 003 being part of DB Museum's inventory and currently on display at the Augsburg Bahnpark. 120 004 and 005 are intended as exhibits for the Weimar Railway Museum.

I can't say I have seen a significant number of Z scale layouts until now, so I sure am interested in how yours is going to turn out, Will. Looking very nice thus far, though!

One thing I might add as an afterthought – those 246s are really quiet . Interestingly, Bombardier have since continued to develop their diesel-electric TRAXX to have four small diesel engines rather than a single large prime mover, with each engine being powered up and shut down as required at any time. This variant is to be rolled out within the next two or three years, if memory serves – with DB Regio's Hessian branch being the launching customer.

This idea of yours very much mirrors what I would want to do if I should ever get around to (as in getting my behind up ) building one of the various Continental scenarios (one German, one French and two Italian) I'm having in mind. All of these would basically be a stretch of either single- or double-tracked mainline with a small countryside station at the centre, which would have two or three platform loops and possibly a few sidings – some of which but could well be represented as being disused. Like you, I would centre operations on regional passenger work, with a few freights thrown in for good measure.

One of the two Italian scenarios – to which my "Emilia-Romagna" blog on here would be dedicated – would, for example, thus feature one loco-hauled regional set and one worked by an EMU running end to end as the baseline passenger fleet, with the rest being freight – which would be assigned to a total of six locos, possibly as much as eight at some point, taking turns as I would see fit. This scenario would be of the single-tracked variety, so traffic throughput on this kind of line would be technically limited anyway.

I might but also add one historic passenger set for a change of pace .

In any case, I shall follow your progress with your Sidcup scenario as it hopefully evolves!

Oh gee, totally forgot replying here... I believe I had been into aircraft modelling for about six or seven years, but have totally dropped out of the active part of it, to be honest. However, I don't claim to have ever reached a similar level of expertise as many fellow modellers on those sites I referred you to have.

I guess you could say that I had been as enthusiastic about aviation modelling at the time as I am about railway modelling nowadays! Anyway, glad I could be of help!

I admit I never tackled any biplanes or other aircraft with rigging like that, though. I did consider that 1/32 scale Grumman F3F from Revell at one point, but never did go for it.

Well, if you're going to superdetail the plane (which I assume is a Supermarine S.6B) I'm sure those aviation modelling sites I referred you to a while ago may be a useful resource. I also found the gents on the forums there to be very helpful and knowledgeable, so if things are still the same on there as they used to be years ago you can't go wrong asking for advice there!

Edit: Have a look here – the model's in 1/48 scale, though: http://hsfeatures.com/features04/s6bbs_1.htm

I think you gave some good advice, James – I myself cannot think of anything to add at the moment. Except that I have seen only a small number of Z scale layouts thus far and thus am looking forward to what you may come up with, Will .

I guess you could say that the last two batches were built mainly due to the low effort involved in putting this class back into production quickly. In many respects, they certainly were obsolete by that time, but definitely a proven design which worked well all the same. Of course, those 420s from the earlier batches which remain in service are, in fact, beginning to show their age by now, and the remainder of this class is due to be retired with the start of the new suburban franchises in Stuttgart and Frankfurt within the next three years.

Well, the 420s were produced from 1969 onwards. Initially, six batches were built, the last of which was completed in 1981. Various network extensions but required another two batches to be procured. These were treated to various technical improvements, such as the plug doors which replaced the sliding doors present on the first six batches. The 7th and 8th batch sets all date from between 1989 and 1997, and are still in rather good condition. They were also fitted with LED destination signs and a Railvox passenger information system after having been allocated to Stuttgart.

At various points, 420s were also used in the Ruhr area, so for you to have seen them around Essen was not an uncommon occurrence.

This sounds like an interesting project, Jon . What I've seen thus far looks great, too!

How long were you there? Not a bad selection of freight trains for a day, and most of them electric too.

I arrived just a few minutes shy of 11 am and left around 12.15. I was actually surprised by the volume of traffic – I don't remember having seen just quite as much of it the last time I'd been there. Which but I admit has been a while ago.

Thanks, Jam . Something tells me that, far as mood is concerned, "Streets of Philadelphia" is just the right kind of music to go along with them...

It was certainly 'interesting' painting that thin bit of window beading on the cab side windows!

I didn't bother to mask the windows so I'm lucky I didn't manage to get much paint on them - in fact I barely got any on the clear windows which was quite lucky - especially with my old brush!

If I may provide you with one hint – wooden toothpicks are very well suited for removing excess paint from window surfaces .

What you said about the cab on the MK so reminded me of painting canopy frames on aircraft models, many a year before! I like what you've been doing on your expansion project thus far – keep it up! B)

All the stock looks so clean! Its a pleasure to see such care taken.

Well, it does strongly depend on a variety of factors...time of year (school holidays often seem to result in a growing number of graffiti, for example), TOC (think of budget constraints) and region, just to name what I believe are the most important. Generally speaking, long-distance stock usually looks cleaner than your average commuter set, so types of service are another factor.