Thought I'd share this postcard I just got depicting the lovely P8/BR38 heading out of Berlin's Bahnhof Friedrichstraße.
A sign on the left indicates that this was taken during the renovations and expansion of the station that started in the late teens and went into the twenties.
And here another Berlin BR38 amidst the ruins of Weimar's downfall and the war... A Hamsterfahrt about to head out from Anhalter with Berliners heading out into the countryside to barter for food. Image by Margaret Bourke-White for LIFE magazine.
Due to bookish (bookbinding and writing) projects my layouts have languished and Shelob and her offspring have run amok, dust built up, and trains stopped running smoothly. Contributing to this were also ongoing accessibility/mobility issues on my part that made areas unreachable. Thanks to lots of quality time at home (almost 2 weeks) and familial help, Shelob succumbed to "Sting" and trains are now running again. I even enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to more and ongoing modeling projects. At one point I had toyed with "flattening" the layout, metaphorically and in reality to make it easier to reach. That thought was banished when I realized that rebuilding would be much harder than begging more regular "donations" of time for dusting...
While cleaning, took some time to explore areas I detailed but that normally are hidden due to facing the (removable) backdrop. Yes, there was "road work" to be done, in part to help the trolley run smoothly.
While coal required to power the steelworks was domestic, mined from the depths of the Ruhr Valley, iron ore was often imported and brought to the world's largest inland port of Duisburg by barge.
Family painting showing steelworks along the Rhein in Duisburg ca 1920s/30s
And below a short documentary about a load ore arriving from Sweden on a barge, the barge being unloaded and then reloaded with Ruhr coal for some other place. Includes a little railroad related activity such as a coal car being unloaded...
Diese Dokumentation gehört zu den seltenen Filmdokumenten, die eine
längst zu Ende gegangene Epoche besonders interessant wiedergeben. Der
Film zeigt den Duisburger Hafen in den 50er Jahren mit den seinerzeit
eingesetzten Schiffen und Verladegeräten. Die Geräte, die vor einer
Verschrottung verschont blieben, stehen heute als technische Denkmäler
in den Hafenanlagen und können bei einer Rundfahrt durch den größten
europäischen Binnenhafen bestaunt werden.
Die Bahn im Jahre 1958: In großen Zügen - Eine Studie über die arme, reiche Bundesbahn
The DB in 1958: A study in broad strokes about the poor, rich Bundesbahn
Video in German, but well worth watching
Eine Dokumentation über die Deutsche Bundesbahn in den 50er Jahren, kurz
nachdem der Trans Europ Express auf die Schiene gebracht wurde. Setzt
das Staatsunternehmen wirklich alle technischen Möglichkeiten der zeit
ein und kann der Spagat zwischen der Verantwortung und den
Beschränkungen des Staatsunternehmens und gleichzeitigem
wirtschaftlichem Handeln gelingen?
33000
Züge der Bundesbahn verkehren tagtäglich und würde man alle Güterwagons
zusammenkoppeln, käme eine Strecke von Hamburg nach Frankfurt zustande.
Damit ist die Deutsche Bundesbahn das größte Verkehrsunternehmer der
Welt und der Kreislauf der deutschen Wirtschaft. Seit Jahren schreibt
dieses Mammutunternehmen rote Zahlen, die einen meinen, es läge an der
gemeinwirtschaftlichen Aufgabe, die anderen sehen die Gründe in der
behördlichen Struktur des Unternehmens und am zum Teil widersprüchlichen
Bundesbahngesetz.
After almost 2 years of waiting, got my BR 290 from Brawa. Model is their Digital Basic (no sound) 41507 that I am running in analog operation. Just put it on the switching puzzle, and purrs like a kitten. Can't wait to run it on the big layout.
Nice video about the building of the SVT 137 Fliegender Hamburger of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Construction started in 1935, and 33 units were produced.
Frei nach Reinhard Mey, "genug getan für heute, blinder Eifer schadet nur..."
Reconstructed the back of the puzzle, still need to get the new background printed and mounted, as well as re-adhering people, station platform stuff, cleaning the yard and deciding what to do with the power line towers...
On to other things for a brief while, things like packing prezies...
This switching puzzle was the first "layout" I created specifically to take to train shows... You can read more about building and showing it here. I was an ETE member back then and the trackplan is the same as created by Peter Barnes. We even wrote an article about taking these kinds of things to shows.
After ages of neglect and procrastination work is underway to replace the background flats, backdrop panels, and in general clean out the cobwebs, refresh scenery, ... Here's what the street scene with flats looked like when first built.
Note street curving to right.
After this switching puzzle, I dove headfirst into building n-scale modules with the ETE Chapter, continuing to show them independently as well. After a lot of reflection, the whole lot of our foray into N found a new hope with friend Tom Lynch and his Bundesbahndirektion Kaiserslautern. Two summers ago we had a flood above that leaked onto our main H0 layout and the puzzle. Damage to the puzzle was compounded by a leaky front step with flakes of rust from the steel I-beam above dropping down... All those have been fixed, but the puzzle is looking the worse for wear.
Still want to go and show, loved interacting with the kiddies, so time for a reboot.
Puzzle backside showing damage from water/rust. I removed the buildings, but those were discolored/distorted by water. The background flates, water tower, and chapel are all paper.
Old panel with proposed new flats taped over...
New backdrop with the flats at right. The yellow line is to the intersection, the green to the end of the street... The gap between the flats on the backdrop will be filled in...
So, off to work to start building flats. I will be layering the facade to recess windows and bring trim forward to increase depth.
Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) Brawa BR 65.1 tank engine pulling a Sachsenmodelle gliederzug. The 65.1 was a new construction built for pulling commuter trains and bringing workers to the factories. A total of 95 units were built between 1954-57. The consist was built starting in 1952 by the VEB Waggonbau Görlitz based on pre-war designs of the LBE. More info can also be found in the Wiki.
The basic unit was a 4-car bi-level, designated DB13. The axle
configuration was 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2, total length 73 400 mm, whereby 2
cars shared a 3-axle bogie. Go here for more on the consist.
The layouts have lain dormant for a while (2+ years? Yikes!) as I have pursued other projects, we had some water leak down from above, and I realized that I had too many scales. So... Where was I when last actively engaged with everything... Oh, here!
I've started making a new backdrop and background scene for the switching puzzle that I will take to shows again – Really love showing and interacting with visitors. Overall layout, scenery, presentation important, so something for serious modelers, kids, and all in-between.
On the H0 layout I moved the on/off switch and power controls to the front of the layout, dusted, cleaned, and repaired most of the water related damage. Unfortunately my mountain-top abbey will need to be razed due to too much damage, but I'll replace it with a nice little castle I have handy. Will try to reconstruct the small z-scale loop on that level as well.
Abbey in back to be razed...
Finally, it's nice when the project that has kept me from the trains intersects with them. Below a bookplate in a book recently received that was bound by the bindery of W. Collin in Berlin during the mid-late 19th century.
It was once in the collection of the Henschel family library in Kassel, Germany. Henschel made locomotives small,
and anything in between. Also buses, trucks, aircraft, tanks, the latter two especially during WW II. In 1996, Henschel became ABB Daimler Benz Transportation Adtranz. The company was subsequently acquired by Bombardier (Canada) around 2002.
So, hopefully I can build some sustained momentum and get back to enjoying the trains on all levels, not just pondering and dusting.
at the Boothbay Railway Village Steam Course. See the main website by clicking on the image above.
About This Blog
This is where I share my projects such as (card)modeling, weathering, railfanning activities, show reports, and other thoughts. Having a German focus to my model railroading interests and living in the US, I'll also translate occasional threads I think could be of interest here or in Germany.
