Round the Bend at Wominsee
I haven't made much more progress on Wöminsee, but here's what I have been up to.
New scenic addition is the new Rix Models road bridge. Very nice if somewhat pricey kit, even if it's intended for the American market. It's intended to act as a scenic break, hiding the 180 degree curve. At the moment it's not fixed down permanently, and will have to be painted to make it look as though it's made of concrete rather than plastic. I also intent to 'Europeanise' the bridge by adding European-style guardrails. Once I've added a backscene behind it, it should succeed in hiding the 'hole in the sky' across both the main lines and the end of the yard. The 'locomotive park' at the back will also be hidden!
To scare curve-phobic American modellers, the inner track on which the train is running on has Kato R216 (8½") curves at the centre, with 11" transition curves at each end. It's the only way I can get a 180° double track curve on a baseboard just two feet wide. The 9-car train of Roco 85' coaches has no difficulty negotiating it, and the Fleischmann loco has no trouble pulling them either.
While it's supposed to be Swiss layout, I do sometimes test-run British outline stock. This is the excellent Dapol class 73 electro-diesel I bought at the DEMU showcase exhibition last year.
And Bachmann's latest offering, a class 158 DMU in the multicoloured livery of Wessex Trains. Both these models are far better than the rather clunky and dated Minitrix Ae6/6 in the siding behind, but rather left behind by recent European models.
Posted by TimHall at June 08, 2005 10:18 PM | TrackBackI was never into model trains myself but I love looking at what others can do with them. And how pleasant to find a blog that isn't political or the daily whinges of a trapped housewife! More power to your arm, sir.
Posted by: Gone Away on June 8, 2005 11:13 PM"Curve-phobic American modellers" - pah! ;-)))
Will the 'locomotive park' be hidden by the standard issue fun-fair with ferris wheel, mandatory under EU rules & regs? The Wimbles of W�minsee Common need their entertainment - they can't *all* be trainspotters, surely ;-)
Posted by: Steve Jones on June 9, 2005 09:02 AMGet back to your massive American grain elevators, Jones!
Is it true that the Department of Homeland Security will cart you off to Guantanamo Bay for Un-American Activities if you don't have a grain elevator on your US layout?
BTW, you were missed at the DEMU showcase!
Posted by: Tim Hall on June 9, 2005 11:15 AM> Is it true that the Department of Homeland
> Security will cart you off to Guantanamo Bay
> for Un-American Activities if you don't have
> a grain elevator on your US layout?
Pretty much, although I think it's actually Walthers who do the carting. You get strapped to a chair and made to listen to Aerosmith's "Loving An Elevator" until you recant ;-)
> you were missed at the DEMU showcase!
I was told they made do with an effigy, and flames spread to an adjacent building at one point :-)
Posted by: Steve Jones on June 9, 2005 03:09 PMWho missed him then?
I thought the assassins had done a pretty good job in recent months???
;-))
As for elevators and over eager police, you just have to look at a SD70MAC in the wrong way and yer off to Prison, do not pass go, do not collect yer $200!
:-))
Cheers
CC
Posted by: Chris Collins on June 9, 2005 07:12 PMSJ, there were still plenty of folk who would have liked to see you there...
Tim, big grain elavators, you know they make sense. ;-) Would hide the back of the layout rather nicely too.
Give you somewhere to park some pink covered hoppers as well.
Posted by: Martyn Read on June 10, 2005 01:56 PMEvery modeler of American railroads needs a grain elevator, even if they're modeling urban settings.
It's the law.
Posted by: Scott on June 10, 2005 07:11 PMMartyn, pink grain hoppers only run when you've been drinking too much Feldschlossen. A bit like the west country yokels who've been drinking too much home-made cider and claim to have seen a pink class 31....
OTOH, I do have a couple of pink Eaos bogie opens.
Pink open boxes? Now that's just silly...
Posted by: Martyn Read on June 11, 2005 08:38 PMThe SBB really *did* paint some bogie open boxes pink! A predicatably short-lived colour scheme; the ones I saw two years ago were more rust and grime than pink. Current livery is grey.
And yes, there were actually *painted* pink. Not red-that-faded, as seen on some British HEAs.
Posted by: Tim Hall on June 11, 2005 09:01 PMWhat's your thoughts on the 'corrected livery' 158 then?
Better because the number and livery actually existed on that unit once?
Worse because that unit was an oddity and has a strange scheme and ploughs which the model doesn't?
Posted by: Martyn Read on June 13, 2005 01:08 PMDon't tell me Bachmann have screwed it up again, and released a model in a short-lived non-standard livery that lasted about two weeks
Did the prototype ever actually run in the condition modelled, and if so, when? (I would like mine to resemble the real one circa 2002)
When can we expect 50037 in Laira Engineer's blue?
The model livery is correct for 158745 and 158746 only from the launch of Wessex Trains (2001?) up till late 2004. But both of those have ploughs on. Does TPM or someone do a plough fairing? If so, no probs I guess...
All the other Wessex 158's didn't have the yellow bits on the sides. When they produced this in 00 it was numbered 158746 but without the yellow bits...they have 'corrected' the N release, this gives you a unit that is in a rare (relatively) livery, but correct, rather than a common livery, but the wrong numbers as the OO release was.
In OO we're still waiting for 'obscure' liveries like early Network SouthEast on class 50's...
Posted by: Martyn Read on June 16, 2005 09:59 AMHello! Good Design! Day trade
Posted by: Sharikov on November 1, 2006 01:37 AM