After some years of collecting eldest son and his brothers have amassed a very large collection of Brio trains, track and other bits and pieces which frequently covers their bedroom floor. It’s the one thing that they can all play with for hours. Usually they make a big roundy-roundy but recently we made one with two termini and ran trains between them, and a light seemed to go in in Eldest Son’s head. After that all he wanted to to do was “Shunting” -running trains between the two stations and dropping off loads at one end or the other.
Now he’s wanting to make a ‘model railway’ with me.
I somehow don’t think ‘Spitzenwald’ will be what he’d want and it isn’t robust enough for little fingers anyway. On the other hand, I don’t want to just get a train set, as he seems more interested in making things, preferably involving paint and glue. So a few weeks ago I laminated a lot of old cornflake packets to make thick card and dug up an old bogie chassis to see how interested he’d be in actually building stuff. I’ve decided on a scale of roughly 1:32-1:35 because that allows us to use the odd Siku tractor and it makes for bigger, more stable models, asked him to draw a diesel like he wanted, and started cutting card. We’ve settled down to a routine where I cut out the pieces while he’s in bed and the next evening we spend half an hour (after little brothers are in bed) gluing them together and talking about stuff. It’s an excellent arrangement for both of us. (I’ll put up pictures ASAP)
The challenge at the moment is where to aim. On one hand too much detail could make the model too delicate, but on the other, the detail is what attracted Eldest Son, and I don’t think I want to oversimplify it because I think we’d both be dissatisfied. I’ve found that when we give children a high standard they often surprise us by exceeding it, but where should I aim?
Does anyone out there have thoughts or experiences that could be relevant? Don’t be shy…
Well, as with the UK, and it seems most of Europe, we’re just beginning to see the end of the snow, so I figured this would be an appropriate entry for the week… Snow ploughing and on a narrow gauge line no less in (I think) Poland judging by the writing on the locomotive. I’m sure someone else can advise on the location. I wonder why they don’t have re-railing ramps?
I really like that snowplough. I notice the on-board heater is working well…
I’ve not been lazy on the modelmaking front either: I’ve been photographing the snow, on roofs, on the streets, how it sits and how it looks when ploughed… I wonder if ‘Spitzenwald’ should be a winter scene…
After reading about snow chaos in the UK for a few days it’s our turn, with a snow front gradually making its way from south to north of Germany. This, however can be considered good news as the ‘railway budget’ comes from a small retainer I get for working as a groundsman at the boys kindergarten, and snow clearance is paid by the hour, so more snow means more modelmaking in 2010. When when the first flurry of snow came along, the neccesary tools went into the Bakfiets and off we went.
After stopping to get grit from a nearby bin we went to do battle with the snow.
These were taken two days ago when the roads were still passable by bike. since then so much came down that I’m transporting things by sled now, I’ve been shovelling snow for five hours of the last 24. I was happily on my way home this morning after two hours of shovelling white stuff, and one of the neighbours mentioned that there’s more on the way.
Apparently they expect as much again in the next day.
The cunning plan was that I’d get some modelmaking done last month and make you pass out from the shock, but I started a new project at work which needed a lot of time running up to Christmas (and which still isn’t finished) so instead you got silence. Ironically I have been making lots of progress: I designed some rolling stock, then redesigned it because it was too small. After much muttering and looking at detailed pictures I found out more about certain Swiss metre gauge trains than any reasonable person needs to know, and I’ve even started cutting plasticard. I’ve also gained a table which I took apart after much ‘persuasion’ with a hammer and chisel, and dragged into my lair. Much to my suprise, I got it back together again, so “Spitzenwald” now has a leg to stand on, as it were.
Unfortunately I haven’t got around to taking pictures -partly because cut bits of plasticard and old tables are not desperately exciting. I tried putting the baseboard for ‘Sagewerk Pfeifle’ on the table but it brought no improvement. I did get some pictures of metre gauge trams in Würzburg when I went there for a conference, but I haven’t even had time to get those online.
Next week I’ll be away with the family, flat sitting for someone, near Freiburg. We’re going by train, and I’ll be taking some pictures, of course.
I’ve also decided to be ambitious. I reckon I can operate ‘Spitzenwald’ very well with eight wagons, the the mail carrying railcar (of which more at a later date) with a driving trailer, a shunter, and a bogie diesel. I’d possibly add another passenger train in the distand future. Any more any I’ll saturate the layout. I’m going to try and finish all the designs while I’m away. This isn’t as much as it sounds: I’m working on two vans, three wood wagons will be scaled down 7mm scale stock I already built, I’ve designed one container carrier already, so that only leaves one more container wagon and a final design of some type I’ve not thought of yet, and which will probably be something boring like an open wagon. The diesels may be more tricky unless I can get at some prototype pictures.
Of course this may be tricky as there are a lot of distractions. Apart from the local government owned standard-gauge line, I’m interested to see the metre gauge trams in Freiburg itself, and as we’re right by the French border, there is just a chance I can cycle over the Rhine and see some French rail-borne goodness.
I’m sure I’ll be as disciplined and focused in my modelling as I usually am…
I grade meetings at work by how many doodles I manage in my notes. A productive meeting usually has very little: perhaps a one-point micro layout or a small Celtic knot. Slightly less interesting meetings will usually result in a more complex plan like a locomotive depot or a factory. The plan above was the only thing that stopped me going to sleep a couple of weeks ago, so I present it here for posterity, still on the notepaper I had at the time (which is devoid of notes from work)
A couple of other blogs have been discussing the idea of a ‘small empire‘ type model, (Started by the ‘Eastmoor’ blog) where you have several stations/freight sources and a line connecting them, designed to fit into a small room, which is the absolute maximum most of us have available. In 1:55 scale it would be easy to try and squeeze too much in, and two or more stations would be rather tight, so this may be a compromise, a sort of ‘empirette’.
The idea is that the station is one stop before ‘Spitzenwald’, serving one of the many walled towns in the Black Forest. The station is the generic through station of many single track European lines, with a goods loop and two through lines. The town has recently built a new bypass, and the roundabout to access this is cut by the railway, a method in place in at least one place in Stuttgart. I’ve seen it in Duisburg as well. I’m not so sure about the city gate: on this plan the station is outside the old city, but I think I’d need more buildings between the station and the wall itself.
I’ve long dreamt of having a spiral on a model. I just like spirals for some reason: perhaps it’s because I’d get a much longer run and two levels of track. At the bottom of the spiral is another incarnation of ‘Sägewerk Pfeifle‘, with a siding just long enough for a wagon. This would probably be brought down as a single wagon load between trains to and from Spitzenwald. The station could also be the terminus at Spitzenwald, of course, although after the Zillertalbahn has added a double track section, I’d be tempted to leave it as a through station with double track to the left but perhaps that’s a bit too ambitious.
I’ll keep it ready for the future when I have time to build the model. At the moment there are too many meetings…
The youth centre I work at was having a clear out and I ended up tidying the workshop. No-one else wanted to do it, but then, no-one else has a use for lots of plywood offcuts and funny shaped bits of metal. I think this is because they have a social life. So I parked the Bakfiets outside the door and loaded up while everyone else was sweeping. This is the second load, the first being about 60kg of firewood delivered to a friend. The third was enough dowel and aluminium tube to make a steampunk oil refinery.
I’ve now got enough wood to make a baseboard like that used on Port Pennan on RM Web. (Keep scrolling down for pictures…) The baseboard on that model was built using cardboard fruit boxes and ply, and the result was a cheap, lightweight and very strong baseboard, which makes me hopeful that I may even be able to start on a proper model over the next year.
Which means I need to get building rolling stock. More anon.
At the beginning of November the Zillertalbahn -a 760mm gauge line in the Austrian Tyrol- quietly announced that they had finished some minor work to improve a level crossing and seperate a section of track from the road where it was previously a bit dangerous, as part of a scheme of improvements costing about 5 million Euro.
To put it another way, the Zillertalbahn has so much traffic that they had to make the middle 6km or so double track to avoid a bottleneck.
In the UK this would have required massive lobbying in London to get the idea included in a ‘five-year-plan’ from Network Rail, who own the majority of the standard gauge system, or a grant from the national lottery. Austria has a much more federal structure so the costs of the scheme were simply covered by the railway and the Tyrol (the state), with local villages paying towards the cost as well. This photo shows one good reason why they consider it a worthwhile investment- imagine that lot being hauled down the valley in trucks.
Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why progress on the Körschtalbahn seems to be non-existent, it’s because I’m working on a new (work) project which was keeping me busy last week until my system seemed to rebel against the early mornings and late nights. Unfortunately it chose the weekend to make the point, which rather defeated the exercise. I spent much of Saturday with a fever, listening to BBC Radio 7 and scrolling through the Narrow Gauge Railways at Exhibition photo pool on Flickr.
The Rhätische Bahn in Switzerland took delivery of a new electric unit from Stadler a couple of weeks ago (RHB Press release). It’s being tested at the moment with a view to introduction in the May 2010 timetable change. I’ve not been able to glean a lot of information except that it’s an (/12 wheel arrangement (8 0f 12 axles powered) and called the ‘Allegra’ which sounds like something you get on your foot in English: I’m sure it sounds much better in French. Pictures can be found here. Videos are a bit thin on the ground but I found one of it being hauled out for testing.
… and now another has turned up of it running under its own power, showing a good side elevation with lots of details. Notice the low floor doors, luggage section, and the very modern infrastructure (and the dual gauge track at right)
For the self-respecting modern, customer-orientated narrow gauge railway with freight ambitions and one eye on the bottom line, the ‘Must-have’ accesory is a container wagon. Transporter wagons or rollboks have their very useful place, but they are specialised and complicated bits of kit, whereas the good old ISBU container is simple and needs pretty normal equipment so hoist it off a truck or standard gauge train, and load it onto the narrow gauge version to be carried up into the depths of the Black Forest: Everyone has a container crane these days.
Here’s a bad picture of a design for a 40′ intermodal wagon I’ve started. The deck is already complete but it’s a lousy day for taking pictures…
I’m going for a skeletal look with either home made bogies hidden under there or cut-down versions from Cambrian Models: final decision to be based on how well or badly my own designs turn out. I’m not sure where I’ll put the weight though: I guess I’ll have to be all creative with air reservoirs or something. The wagons will need to be low, by the way so the containers can be unloaded at any siding without needing a loading bay, which makes them more flexible for customers.
Oh, I’ll admit it, it’s because I think they look nice…
Yesterday Beautiful Wife and myself celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Eleven years after we met in the UK, and many people reacted to our engagement with disbelief that two young people from the UK and Japan could ever see each other again, let alone organise a life together, we’ve three fantastic boys and a lot of dreams for the future. And she’s more beautiful than ever…
I love you M, thanks for a great nine years…
[If you're wondering what the picture is, it's a Celtic two-chord design, each chord forming one half of the heart, intertwined at the top and the point.]
