Monday, November 15, 2021

Papphausen Layout Update

Papphausen has been tote Hose for years now, really, but after a very busy summer and early fall, I decided to take a break from the bookbinding and related writing and service commitments to instead decompress with some training. Long neglected, the trains were in need of a deep dusting and cleaning, and most of all just wanted to be run again. In need of some right-sized help, I asked Fritz Otto, and he agreed, getting in on the fun. In some respects, it was a very "meta" experience. There are a lot of bookbinding skills applied throughout the layout, particularly box making, as most of the structures are made of card, some kits, but most built from scratch using photos as a basis with photo-realistic pattern sheets, so we all felt at home.

Repositioning figures in front of the Bude, Trinkhalle, or Kiosk
as it is also called. The one hidden behind Fritz Otto's arm is
a few doors down the street from where my grandparents lived in Duisburg.


Just a quick DR commuter train run-by while dusting.

A DR 118 (the Reichsbahn equivalent to the DB's V200/220/221) next to my vintage tin-plate TEE
with the S-Bahn above.

Another view of the S-Bahn pulled by a 111.

A classic E10 express engine with a D-Zug of mixed rolling stock.

Fritz Otto surveying Pappeck in search of cobwebs and dust monsters.


Been experimenting with the GoPro and some different vantage points. 
Need to get better with the editing. I also use the GoPro like CTV on my phone
for the far end of my switching yard. I can actually now see where the engine... is in
relation to the uncoupler tracks. Game changing.


These past few weekends have been very enjoyable, I've been finding a nice balance between the bookbinding and the trains, and am getting ready to work on some scenes and structures in need of updating...

Friday, January 22, 2021

Bernie is a Railfan

Bernie is a railfan. Over dresses a bit for the weather, but Germany can be frigid, auch im Hochsommer...



Thursday, January 16, 2020

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Greetings from Hoth

Greetings from Hoth where they keep coming and going, and coming and going, ...


Wonderful webcam to watch, especially this time of year.











Thursday, December 19, 2019

Flying Hamburgers (Fliegender Hamburger) in the 1930s

Documentary from the early 1930s about the construction and running of the first high-speed diesel railcar of the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft. The train connected Berlin with Hamburg at then unheard of speeds.



Below, a later variant running on my layout.

Sunday, January 20, 2019

More vintage Märklin

Running more of my vintage Märklin. Louder, "rougher," and with that distinctive ozone smell.







Saturday, January 19, 2019

Pigeon Shed by Joswood

First kit in a while. A racing pigeon shed like those that dotted the Ruhr. The working man's race horses and far from rats with wings. There's a nice video (in German) from the WDR about raising pigeons here. See also some photos here.





The laser-cut card kit is by Joswood. Instructions are clear and materials are first rate. If you want to model northern, industrial, gritty, honest Germany, this is where you want to get your structures. Not an alpine hut in sight.

Will weather a bit before permanently placing on the layout, but I like where it is now.

Let's get started...

Roughly framed in and ready to start adding the exterior trim

Exterior mostly on, now lots of details and more layers

Done except for some weather. Joswood made that easy because the laser cutting left artifacts, and the materials look very natural. Instructions also say to avoid perfect and right angles – make it look ramshackle...

Provisionally placed on the layout

Now to assemble the 1:87 pigeons - separate wings, legs, and beaks! Better have a Pils und n' Korn first to steady the hands.

You didn't seriously think I'd assemble pigeons from kits/scratch, did you?!?!

Weathered and populated. One of the pigeons is not like the others - inspiration from a colleague whose uncle would use a slingshot to get rid of birds not his...


Now, play the video below while looking at images for the full effect... ;-)

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Running my classic Märklin again.

Pulled out a bunch of my old classic Märklin to run for a change – back to the basics for a while. 😃

The E03 with the TEE (the classic tinplate) was my childhood pride and joy.





An hour ago the E03 wouldn't run or gears move. For the first time EVER totally took apart motor, cleaned gears and brushes, AND even managed to put it back together...


SIE LÄUFT, DIE E03 mit TEE am Hacken.


My first Märklin train.


Running the switching puzzle. I've taken this to numerous trains shows — the kids love it.


Still more to do, but it's a start and most importantly, I'm having fun and really enjoying it. I've missed that feeling.

My father's childhood SE800 also got put on, but without traction tires (never had them) wasn't going anywhere. I have a version with though, too, so will run in spirit.


Saturday, January 12, 2019

Bahnhof Friedrichstraße

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.


Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Cleaning and first time running in a loooooong time

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.





Let's run some trains!




Saturday, January 21, 2017

E 19 der DB

Decided to put my E 19 / 119 of the DB on the tracks again. Beautiful runner and super smooth.


You can see the prototype in the same green livery at Ulrich Budde's Bundesbahnzeit website here. That picture was taken in Nuremberg in 1966.



Saturday, January 14, 2017

Feeding heavy industries in Duisburg

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

Here a view from above. Of course things have changed...

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.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Die Bahn im Jahre 1958

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?

Deutsche Fernsehgeschichte auf YouTube abonnieren: https://goo.gl/UavXv3

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.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

BR44 Coal Train

And here the BR 44 of the DB with a load of coal to power the Wirtschaftswunder...

BR290 on the go

The BR290 on the go with a short freight.


Lots of fun running this afternoon. Been a while.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

290 on the rails

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.



Sunday, August 7, 2016

Building the SVT137 Fliegender Hamburger

Nice video about the building of the SVT 137 Fliegender Hamburger of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Construction started in 1935, and 33 units were produced.


And on my layout, model by Kato