Die Ercallbahn - Fulfilling a childhood dream.

[ian]

There are two lines that need to pass behind the helix so it makes sense to get them in before construction starts.

 

The lower one runs from Maifeld Rbf to the small harbour at Billshaven whilst the upper one runs from the main line through Maifeld Hbf to Klinkerhoffen. As that runs behind the harbour it became impossible to resist adding a high-level passenger station serving Billshaven on the way.

 

This is a mock-up from the helix end. At the top is Schonblick acting as a PW yard. In the middle is the location of Billshaven Bahnhof which will be a passing place on the single track branch with lines either side of an island platform. Klinkerhoffen can be seen in the distance.

 

The port will be higher - 3.75" below the station - and the train ferry will be lower. The incoming line splits into a pair just to the left forming a run-round loop. Spurs off serve the engine shed for the dock shunter, the fish market, train ferry, dock loco fuel tank and Esso fuel terminal.

 

Looking the other way shows the void for the helix and many wires awaiting re-routing.

[ianathompson]

That is a nice looking train ferry.

Where did you get it from?

It looks quite similar to Fehrmarsund which was used on the Rugensch Kleinbahn, if I remember rightly.

I must do something about my own bare plank!

 

Ian T

[ian]

21 hours ago, ianathompson said:

That is a nice looking train ferry.

Where did you get it from?

It looks quite similar to Fehrmarsund which was used on the Rugensch Kleinbahn, if I remember rightly.

I must do something about my own bare plank!

 

Ian T

 

It is an Artitec model of the old Fehmarn ferry which came from a huge secondhand acquisition. Sadly it has suffered the slings and arrows during storage and needs a lot of TLC.

[ian]

And this is what it is supposed to look like...

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by ian

[ian]

The good Doktor nealy missed the next Sunday special. Being a battery-electric railcar it was far quieter than its steam and diesel bretherin.

 

As before a fellow-enthusiast took photos at Schwarzfelsen.

 

The idea of battery-electric railcars seems odd to those used to UK practice. They were popular with passengers because the batteries under the floor gave a low centre of gravity so they were smooth riding and much quieter than a diesel engined unit.

 

 

The special consisted of a BR 515 battery-electric railcar (on the right) and an unpowered BR 815 trailer (left).

 

After asking around the reason for the specials was unearthed.

 

There are those at Bahncontrol who are keen to eliminate steam haulage from their area. It is especially galling when they get people from British Rail, who are supposed to be looking at the latest technologies and methods, say something along the lines of "How quaint. Of course we got rid of that years ago..." The two specials were to gauge the practicaliies of extending some journies from Klinkerhoffen to Neustadt along the branch to Schwarzfelsen.

 

In an odd way layout reality has decided to mimic the fiction. With the various changes to levels and positioning there isn't enough space for the overhead on the suburban line to Klinkerhoffen - the brackets supporting Schonblick provide enough clearance for the trains but not the OHLE.

 

So Klinkerhoffen has lost its knitting, This actually improves the appearance of the station but does mean a change to the planned traffic. Whilst the long platform was designed to accomodate a three car push-pull rake and loco the shorter one was designed for a BR 420 EMU. As a result it looks like the BR 515 battery railcar will get to play on the layout instead of its chassis ending up under a BR 420.

[ian]

The butchering of innocent lengths of tiimber continues.

 

The van gives some sense of scale.

[ian]

Before work can start in earnest at Billshafen there are some enabling works and outstanding jobs to be done at Schwarzfelsen, Schonblick and Klinkerhoffen.

 

First up was to add an extra uncoupler at Schwarzfelsen (lower left in photo). With the expansion of the layout freight traffic has dropped off here so that the loop is normally empty. This allows a more conventional run-round for loco-hauled passenger trains. Set back from platform, uncouple, draw forward, run around using the loop, couple to the other end of the train and then propel into the platform. This knocks six minutes off the time taken.

 

Klinkerhoffen's Gleis 2 needed both a shunt and main line signal, like Neustadt,  but there was only room for one or the other. Gleis 1 just has a main line signal but is equally starved of space so a standard Marklin colour light signal was removed from the solenoid. The mast was planted above the board with the solenoid below. My intention was to duplicate this scheme on Gleis 2 to pair with a shunt signal.

 

However the acquisition of a secondhand Viessmann departure signal presented a more elegant solution. This can display all the needed aspects and takes up no room at all. Here it is showing the shunt (Sh 1) aspect. Plans are now affot to get a second one to replace the butchered one on Gleis 1.

 

Of course there is a catch. The LEDs in the signal need solenoids to interpret the push button presses from the control panel so a small bank of latching relays has been added below the station to run the two signals.

 

Which brings me to Klinkerhoffen's control panel. The schematic was draw on computer, including the passenger line at Billshaven and was professionally printed on 3mm Dibond. Dibond is a composite sheet, comprising two 0.3 mm thick aluminium cover layers and a polyethylene core.

 

The two section switches on the schematic switch between the Klinkerhoffen and Maifeld Hbf controllers. It rests on a couple of angled plywood cheeks. All that is needed now are some labels on the Marklin switch banks and to add a clock to the right of the schematic.

[ian]

The odd jobs continue.

 

The permanent Schonblick contol panel has been started. Like those at Schwarzfelsen and Klinkerhoffen it will mounted as a drawer under the baseboards.

 

 

The lighting circuit for the brewery has been run to a couple of sockets so that there will be no need to fiddle around under the baseboard when the lights are wired in.

 

 

The lights on Schonblick's platform extension (nearest pair) have been wired in.

 

 

The Viessmann signal occupies a lot less space than a Marklin one so the platform end at Klinkerhoffen has been graced with a ramp.

 

 

The signal is of the 1968 pattern and uses six LEDs (bulbs on the real thing) to display one of four aspects. Unlike most UK colour signals (MAS) these aspects only apply to passing this signal. It is termed an 'Exit' signal which controls leaving a station. The blocks between stations are controlled by 'Block' signals and then an 'Entrance' signal will control entry into the next station. Where required distant signals, either as a separate signal or an extra head lower down the signal post, relay the state of the following block/entrance/exit signal.

 

We start off with stop - being Germany they have a designation for this aspect which is Hp0 (or Sh0 for shunt signals).

 

 

Sh1 - shunting move permitted.

 

 

Hp1 - proceed at normal speed.

 

 

Hp2 - Proceed at reduced speed. This would normally be displayed when the train is going to diverge from the straight route.

 

Given that both platforms at Klinkerhoffen have a wiggly access to the running line the Hp2 would reasonably be the standard proceed aspect but where's the fun in that? Applying Rule 1 I have arranged that Hp2 will be displayed if the next signal (Billshaven Bhf exit) is red and Hp0 if it is green. If it ever offends my inner pedant I'll remove the link.

[ian]

A bit of light relief.

 

It was not unknown for the battery electric railcars to find themselves short of power at the end of a turn. There are stories of them crawling along with the lights and heating off in a bid to conserve enough power to make it to the next station. Of course sometimes a rescue mission was needed...

Meanwhile the control drawer for Schonblick has been wired and installed and the runners put in for the Billshaven panel to go alongside.

Some LED strip has been installed under Schonblick to illuminate the area that will become Billshaven Bahnhof.

Next up is to lay some track (at last)!

[ian]

Some apartment blocks are under construction in Klinkerhoffen - conveniently situated for local transport links.

Meanwhile the head of steel has reached Billshaven Bhf.

The buffer stops on the rear platform road are temporary and are just there to stop any lemming-like behaviour on the part of the trains. The lamp is connected to the platform wiring circuit for test purposes as there are currently no platform lamps. The harbour track is being test laid.

The ferry is out (and it seems to have taken the link-span with it!). The port tracks are tested to capacity.

 

 

And from the other end.

 

Two tank wagons for the Esso terminal, one Aral for loco fuel, a bogie flat as a ferry reach wagon, four incoming wagons for the next ferry sailing, three outbound behind the V100, four Kuhlwagens being loaded at the fish market and the docks shunter by its shed.

Edited May 12, 2022 by ian

[Woody C]

Quote

'The buffer stops on the rear platform road are temporary and are just there to stop any lemming-like behaviour on the part of the trains.' 

Ian, your wonderful wordsmanship always makes me smile no matter how bad a day I have had!  

Some great progress with your project and that whole dock scene has a great atmosphere. As always looking forward to see your continued development of this fascinating project.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Woody C
Spelling mistake! Doh!

[ian]

The harbour tracks have been screwed down (mind you, the baseboard top hasn't yet) so that the various points, uncouplers, feeds and isolators can be tested.

 

How do we do that? We run some trains...

The trip working arrives from the marshallaing yard with some wagons for the ferry.

 

It uncouples and parks up. It could shunt the port but where's the fun in that when you can use another loco?

Adding the ability to isolate the fish market siding to hold a loco was a last minute flash of inspiration.

 

The dock shunter moves the incoming wagons out of the way. You will have to imagine the ferry is docked where the big hole is in the baseboard.

 

Then it runs onto the ferry track to pick up the reach wagon. It seems that the prototypical ferry could accommodate a diesel shunter (and this has now been factored in to the full ferry traffic) but, again for fun, the Hafenbahn prefers to use a reach wagon just in case

 

The ferry is unloaded.

 

Then reloaded.

 

The shunter parks up and the trip loco collects the wagons for the marshalling yard. All in all this has taken about an hour of Ercallverse time.

 

The temporary wiring to allow testing. There's much knitting to look forward to.

[ian]

Blue sky thinking.

 

The Ercallbahn's backscenes have been a long running problem. The first ones didn't react well to the constantly changing humidity and temperature and the replacement one at Schwarzfelsen gave the sense of an iminient tsunami as it wasn't really suited to eye-level viewing.

 

As the photographic backscenes never seemed quite right so at Schonblick I filled the gaps between the buildings with photos of model buildings which blended in far better.

 

However at the new Billshafen station I decided that any attempt at a proper backscene would be doomed to failure as it would only be a few inches tall and have shelf brackets jutting out of it.

 

The answer has been to fill in the gaps between the brackets with foamboard and then paint the whole lot, including the brackets, light blue. This gives something which is uniform and doesn't draw attention to itself.

 

For those whose grasp on unreality is tenuous the ferry dock has been added. There is now no longer a potential drop to the floor for unguarded rolling stock.

Now it is on to the running lines!

[Jon Gwinnett]

3 minutes ago, ian said:

For those whose grasp on unreality is tenuous the ferry dock has been added. There is now no longer a potential drop to the floor for unguarded rolling stock.

I’m firmly in that category, but inquiring minds are wondering what stops an enthusiastic Rangierlok from punting a wagon right through the ferry and onto the (sea) floor beyond?

[Northroader]

The train ferry fits in really well, not too large, and gives  Billshafen a good “feel”.

[ian]

22 hours ago, Jon Gwinnett said:

inquiring minds are wondering what stops an enthusiastic Rangierlok from punting a wagon right through the ferry and onto the (sea) floor beyond?

Buffers! No, not the inquiring minds, these ones:

 

 

As I have added proper track to the ferry deck in place of the channels in the resin deck they need to be raised a few mm.

 

 

...but they still do the job.

[ian]

Fun with ferries...

 

 

 

[Ian Morgan]

Fun With Ferries 2 ...

 

 

 

[Woody C]

Brilliant  videos. I can see how the whole train ferry idea can become a layout on its own but I think that you have the best compromise with your build! 

I trust that you have all survived the earthquake and no damage to the layout?

[ian]

15 hours ago, Woody C said:

I trust that you have all survived the earthquake and no damage to the layout?

 

Some say it happened just after I dropped a Marklin loco on the floor...

Edited May 31, 2022 by ian

[Woody C]

1 hour ago, ian said:

Some say it happened just after I deopped a Marklin loco on the floor...

That would explain the rumbling thunder I heard!

[ian]

May I present the Ercallbahn's latest station - Billshaven. A somewhat gloomy, unprepossesing place in the hours of darkness.

Not that it is much better in daylight. Those people have just run up the access stairs hoping to catch the Hamburg train.

Pulling back you can see the position of the station in relation to the harbour sidings.

The other end of the platform. Passenger facilities are minimal.

Rule one at Billshaven - don't look up!

[ian]

In the bowels of the earth wires are being wrangled.

In other news Klinkerhoffen now has a plain backdrop and has finally gained its second departure signal.

 

Whilst the two signals are identical the shunt aspect hasn't been wired in on the new one as there is no cause to shunt the main platform (famous last words).

[ian]

Klinkerhoffen is at the end of a suburban branch so attention has turned to somewhere for the suburbanites to reside.

 

A pair of low-relief apartment blocks have appeared behind the station (actually one Auhagen block cut into two) along with a bus service for those whose humble abode is not so conveniently close to local transport links.

 

The station forecourt is, as you can see, still being roughed out.

 

There is some light bleed from the apartment blocks to be sorted before they are fixed in position. The area will need some street lights too.

[ian]

Klinkerhoffen's station forecourt is taking shape. The bus shelter has been planted along with a floral display and clock.

There should be road markings for the bus stop but my stock of rub-down German road markings that has been waiting a decade or two to find a use was past saving so that wil have to wait.

Behind the bus shelter is a telephone box and there is a post box by the station steps.

Billshaven Hafen now has its control panel and just needs the track daigram for completion.

 

Meanwhile the electrical works have moved on to Neusdadt which has had all the wires stripped out ready for reknitting. The combination of some temporary wiring, some changes to the track layout and new routings for the planned tracks below the station meant it was better to start again rather than wrestle with what was there. No photo as it is all a rather uninspiring sight.