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Your station is quite complex, so for placing the signals, you need to decide which tracks are the running ones (where train can arrive and can depart from) and which are just sidings. Do you have a trackplan of your station anywhere that I could draw the signals into? Regarding the signals, I think you will need at least one of those https://1185589887.s1.eshop-rychle.cz/es-pecky/eshop/1-1-Es-Pecky/5-1-Es-HO-navestidla/5/3916-29416-1-Navestidlo-odjezdove-z-c-b-stavebnice and then multiple of those https://1185589887.s1.eshop-rychle.cz/es-pecky/eshop/1-1-Es-Pecky/5-1-Es-HO-navestidla/5/4141-29419-1-Navestidlo-z-c-b-z-odjezdove-stavebnice (this one is available as kit only it seems) for the running tracks. If you also want to have some dedicated shunting signals, then either those https://1185589887.s1.eshop-rychle.cz/es-pecky/eshop/1-1-Es-Pecky/5-1-Es-HO-navestidla/5/3720-29415-1-Navestidlo-serazovaci-b-m-stavebnice or those https://1185589887.s1.eshop-rychle.cz/es-pecky/eshop/1-1-Es-Pecky/5-1-Es-HO-navestidla/5/5251-29423-Trpaslici-navestidlo-b-m-serazovaci-stavebnice (again, both kits).

Just be careful about painting them and placing them, the one in your picture is an entry signal. Departure signal in this configuration is not usually used, unless it is a pre-signal for another signal. Do you have more and different types of them or just this one? Edit: I have just noticed that it actually misses the white light, so it wouldn't be used as way/departure signal at all nowadays. Maybe historically somewhere as a group departure signal (just a single signal for all the tracks).

Berka's point indicators are mechanical ones, so it doesn't matter what do you use to move the point. But they must be installed on the point mechanism, which is best done before the point is installed in the layout. The installation (at least in TT) was quite fiddly but manageable. Here is my very old and crappy video showing them in action -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPqyKL3mIu0

If you want to keep it realistic, the most trailers I've seen with single 810 is two. If there were more, then there also was at least one other 810 somewhere in the train. Either in the middle (two trains coupled together) or at the rear, in both cases most likely running and with a second driver. But it's been some time since I had a chance to see a 810 with a trailer around, it's either 814s or single 810 nowadays.

Nope, the translation is correct. Those snacks really are edible insects.

Following news may be interesting for the folks modelling Czech(oslovak) railways in TT. As announced few days ago, Roco is taking over the whole TT model line from Kuehn and their catalogue for 2024 seems quite interesting, as it brings back pretty much every CZ type Kuehn produced (albeit not in all paint schemes, of course) and also promises release of the long awaited M152/810 railcar, which was announced by Kuehn few years back. Also interesting may be two sets of Y coaches (A+B and B+Bds) that together make a decent fast train consist. And the other news, Piko announced they will be releasing TT version of the S499.02/242 electric loco, the "tin pot" - "plecháč".

Yes, they were produced by VEB Waggonbau in Bautzen. BDs and BDsee coaches are 2nd class coaches with service compartment. They are usually used in fast trains, but on some routes they are paired with Bmto double deckers. Nowadays such a consist would be mostly found on some electrified routes.

Same as with the 749 in the picture, this was not a regular train consist. If I recall correctly, it was a replacement for a Regionova that broke down earlier that day and it only did a one trip from Havlíčkův Brod to Pardubice and back. But consists like this were not unusual at that time. Not very often, but it was possible to see 750/754/742 with a pair of Btax coaches or a Bmto coach as an immediate backup for something that broke down.

You can do the same thing with Goggles too :) 750022_03 by Jiri Brozek, on Flickr

The best time to visit Pečky is the end of May, as usually the last May weekend there is a big railroad model show, the biggest in the CZ actually. Plenty of layouts in various scales are on display and many small and big manufacturers and sellers have their selling booths there (some also having special show discounts). This year it's the weekend of 26-28 May.

Second half of 1990s.

It is a service wagon, primarily designed for freight trains, it was used in both passenger and freight trains in the past. Train chief guard was sitting there, hence the protruding windows -- he used them to watch the tracks. It was also used for transport of oversized luggage. And on freight trains for transport of the train accompanying shunters. This type (and similar ones) disappeared from passenger trains in early 1990s. Wagons of this particular type are still used in manipulating freight trains (trains that gather wagons along some route to bring them to a cargo hub), albeit not everywhere. Nowadays many of such trains only have a loco and freight wagons and shunting worker is sitting in the loco together with the engineer, but in some areas this wagon is still used, especially if there is more than one shunting worker required. You can find this wagon in two versions, Daa (or Ds till 1983) and Daa-k. The difference is in heating. Originally the Ds/Daa wagon was heated using steam from the steam loco or steam generator of a diesel loco. After steam locos were removed from service and electric heating was introduced in passenger wagons, many of the Daa wagons were equipped with coal stove and their designation was changed to Daa-k, where the k simply stands for "kamna" (stove in Czech).

If you can resize them and print them, just take one from there -- https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Státní_poznávací_značky_v_Česku Scroll down almost to the end of the page and there you will find a table with all the region codes and examples of license plates. Just pick the one you like, resize it, print it and glue it on the model.

Check this out - https://ttauta.cz/katalog.php

OK, so here you go... There are many things that could be included in the details text, hence part 1. I will make a part 2 when I'm able to go through my photo archive and pick right photos. Please let me know if something is not clear or doesn't make sense, it is very hard to find a Czech/English dictionary of railway terms, so I am using literal translation for some items of the Czech terminology. Station details, part 1 -- http://vlacky.brozek.org/en/details1.html Lanškroun station photo walk -- http://vlacky.brozek.org/en/lanskroun.html

Those are type Bmx coaches, originally built in 1960s as coaches for the class 850/851 railcars. They were fairly common on fast trains between Jihlava and Pardubice. Those days, there were two pairs running every day, one pair in the morning and the other in the afternoon, usually led by class 854 railcar with Bmx or Bdtn coaches (2 coaches from Monday to Friday, 1 coach during the weekend). There was a time period in which class 854 from Brno depot suffered lots of technical problems and it was quite usual that there was a class 742 or 750/754 loco running the train instead. In such case there were 3/2 coaches to make up for the missing seats from the rail car. The story behind the pair of 742 is simple. The one at the back broke down in the morning and another one was sent to Pardubice during the day to run the afternoon train, towing the broken one back to the depot too. And the last answer -- yes, those coaches are available from MTB, but they are bit pricey... Local price is about 75 EUR. https://www.mtb-model.com/pages/product.php?id=188&lang=en&meritko=TT

Cool! I found a photos from a walk around one small branch line terminus I took 11 years ago, while I was waiting for my fiance (now wife) who was checking her wedding dress in a shop few streets away... I will post them together with the "details" article, hopefully later this evening

Congratulations on the first public display! Since I know it is still work in progress and you will be adding more finishing touches, I'd recommend not to hesitate to add much more grass and "greenery" in general. Since it is a terminus of a branch line, there should definitely be much more green everywhere. Between the track, inside the track... Something along the lines of this photo. Few years back I wrote an article about various devices and things that can make your layout more real, detailed etc. for my train modelling website. The site is now gone and it was in Czech only anyway, but I found the article and pictures from it on my harddrive few weeks back and decided to translate it to English, as it may help foreign modellers with interest in Czechoslovak/Czech/Slovak railways. I will post the link to it when I'm finished translating it.

In 2004 pretty much all the rolling stock was sporting the ČD white/green colors for few years already, so the "rusty dirt over white" scheme fits. Simon was originally asking about ČSD colors, at that time the coaches were painted with dark green, like in this picture (although the train in the picture is a special train with vintage coaches).

The change came with the introduction of the unified livery system 88 (aka "unifik 88", 88 meaning 1988), so at the end of 1980s. But not all the coaches were painted immediately, so a combination of beige and grey on one train is possible. Unifik 88 also introduced the 60 cm wide yellow stripe on locomotives. For some unknown reason, Tillig was painting roof of ČD coaches wrong colors for a long time. The white/green ČD coaches should have their roofs painted either white or grey. Another change came with the unified corporate color scheme ("Najbrt") that was introduced in 2008 and the coaches started being repainted in white/blue. Between 2008 and 2011 with grey roof, after 2011 with blue roof and thin white stripe right under the roof.

It seems you have decided to go without signals in the end?

They should be more red than orange and the front black/grey. Here is a nice detail photo of them, from Emergency services exercise -- https://litomericky.denik.cz/galerie/takticke-cviceni-v-lovochemii.html?photo=9

That looks great! I am looking forward to more pictures.

Hi John, greetings from Prague Unfortunately winter months are not very spotter/photographer friendly, especially if you are interested in vintage trains. The railroad museum in Lužná u Rakovníka is only open between April and October and most of the weekend special rides take place in "warmer" months, mostly between May and October. They haven't even published their event calendar for this year yet. If you are staying in Prague, you can however visit the National Technical Museum - http://www.ntm.cz/en - they have a display dedicated to transportation and there are some locomotives too (not to mention various cars, aircraft etc.). It's about 300-400 meters walk from the Letenské náměstí tram stop. Also I recommend to take a ride in one of the trains going via the "Prague Semmering" -- https://www.likealocalguide.com/prague/prazsky-semmering. This ride is actually better in winter as most of the trees around the tracks are void of leaves and you have better view of Prague around/bellow you. You can either take the regular S65 line that goes from Hlavní nádraží to Hostivice (operates everyday with class 810 railcar) or the "Pražský motoráček" vintage railcar trains from Hlavní nádraží to Praha-Zličín that operate on weekends. Both options are integrated in the municipal travel system and inside Prague (in this case between the Hlavní nádraží and the Zličín stations) you can use the same ticket you would use for subway, trams, buses etc. Especially If you buy the all-day ticket, you don't have to worry about checking the validity of limited-time tickets. When you get to Zličín, you can either just jump to the train going the other direction there and go back to Hlavní nádraží or take one of the trams that are going into the city center from there. There is a tram terminus almost in front of the Zličín station. While at Zličín station, you can also check out the special tram-rail ramp used boarding trams on railroad flat cars for transport -- there is a special tram siding connecting the tram terminus to the train station and tram can go directly from a flat car to tram tracks using the ramp and vice versa. Regarding shops, most of the modellers here now shop online, so only few brick and mortar shops remain. U krále železnic was always considered one of the most overpriced shops, but they had a decent offer of small series and hand made models related to Czechoslovak/Czech/Slovak railways (if you were willing to accept their prices). Modely.biz shop mentioned above is mostly focused on H0 and the only interesting thing about it may be the fact, that it actually is just one or two tram stops from the Zličín station (but they are open only during working days, not on weekends as far as I remember). However, if you are of adventurous nature and by chance you will be in Prague on Saturday January 25th or February 22nd, you can visit the monthly swap meet that takes place in the university dinning hall across the street from Masarykovo nádraží - https://mapy.cz/turisticka?x=14.4357875&y=50.0874610&z=17&source=firm&id=2358260. For about 1.5 EUR entry fee you will be able to fight for fresh air and stuff to buy with hundreds other modellers . Lots of secondhand (sometimes priced reasonably, sometimes overpriced) and small series models, electronics, accessories, books... Just beware, dominant scale is H0, followed by TT and occasional N. Don't expect any other scale here. And you have to come really early, usually the best stuff is gone very soon after the door opens (officially at 8AM, but they usually let regular visitors in even before that).

And while now it may seem unbelievable, that heavily weathered little shunter on the left was actually painted exactly the same colors as 810 railcars many years ago.