Lost Shore Operating Switch Stands

 I've put a linkage below each turnout to turn a target 90 degrees when the turnout is thrown--this was fussy, but hopefully worth it. I've been making the switch stands by modifying Wiseman Model Services cast white metal stands. Mainly, I'm putting a brass sleeve in the base, and fabricating new targets from punched brass discs. A 3d printed handle completes it.

This photo shows the parts included in the kit compared to my fabricated part. The kit parts are just not stiff enough to operate well or last very long. The kit still makes an excellent starting point. 

I'll paint and install these once the groundwork on the layout is painted so I don't knock them around too much.

Oberwesel layout

I've long wanted to model Oberwessel. I lived in this region of Germany in the early 1980s. This stretch of track was hopping with traffic in those years and famous locomotives like the Br103 that looks more like a 747 than a train. The layout is designed as two modules that will plug into an immense staging system that I've been building for several months already. The staging will serve engine hauled trains through iconic scenery like a train jukebox. 

The layout is currently acting as a foam cutting station for the Lost Shore layout. The layout will be wider than this, I will attach a lowered sextion to the front of the layout for the Rhine and its bank.

I've been working on motive power and digital conversions. This is an engine room casting for a Br111. 

These are models from the 1980s, getting upgraded grab irons, pantographs and Lok Sound 5 before heading to the paint shop. 

Staging under construction.

Oberwessel Layout Staging

The staging yard for the Oberwessel Layout circles half the basement above my work benches and then has a return loop in the furnace room. It's all hand laid track with code 83 rail and a code 40 center conductor (the visible portion of the layout will use very small etched nickel silver contact points (pukos) that are hidden the ballast. This is also going to be hand laid. I've been building my own fixtures in the mold of Tim Warris, only in wood since they don't need to last forever.

Railfanning Oberwessel

Oberwessel has been a long time dream destination for me. THis is one of the most beautiful railfan spots in all of Germany because the old city wall parallels the tracks along the left bank of the Rhine (the "linke Rheinstrecke". After the bridges over the Rhine were repaired after the second world war this stretch of track became the route for many of Europe's fastest passenger trains because it was slightly faster than the right bank of the rhine. That continued until the new high speed line was completed this century. The line still hosts an abundance of regional, long ditance, and freight traffic.

If you visit nearby Bacharach you can sit in cafes that seem dangerously close to the tracks, relax, and enjoy the local wines with some tapas. WHile I had fun watching trains, I spent most of my time taking photos of the line itself, the walls, and the surroundings as this will be the theme for a layout.

Railfaning the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway

We included the Harz Schmalspurbahn (narrow gauge railroad) in our summer holiday. We spent several days hiking in the area around Wernigerode, Sorge, and then finally took the line all the way to Nordhausen.

The "Bahnbetriebswerk", engine servicing facility, at Wernigerode is impressive. You can really get a feel for the day to day operations of running steam as the primary motive power. The Harzbahn has graciously provided a viewing platform, and you can follow the ritual from steaming up, to coaling, lubricating, and watering the locomotive as it progresses over more than an hour.

These blue coaling cranes became common in the later days of steam in Germany. The Harzbahn never really abandoned steam. Although the former GDR (East Germany prior to reunification) had planned to dieselize the lines, this plan was stopped when the touristic value of maintaining steam operations was recognized. The Harzbahn now has a new beautiful facility for the construction and rebuilding of steam locomotives--

Current State of the Lost Shore Lines

It's been a while, mainly because I have stopped posting on social media and the internet in general. I just got tired of always taking photos, and I found it slowed me down. These photos show the two portable modules I've been working on, they are 22"x60" and represent the terminus of my Virgin and Lost Shore Railroad at Lost Shore. This entirely fictional railroad is set in 1919 on the coast somewhere between Rhode Island and Maine. It incorporates a lot of my past O Scale structures, and will include the water tower. Here are a couple of overview shots. There is a passing siding, a platform, and a couple of spurs.

The photos above show the first section of water after oil painting. I'm giving it a good long time to cure before doing work with gloss medium and gel medium on top. The following sections show more of an overview to get a sense of where things are.

The basic operating scheme is that trains arrive from a cassette (movable staging) and drop passengers and switch out freight before departing. I've set things up so that cassettes can be double ended. This way the departing train can be used as an arriving train easily.

This represents about half a year of progress. Wiring and track is largely complete, but things have slowed down as I create the paving and other ground work. I need to do some painting....everywhere, and it all seem connected, so I'm working accross both modules and gradually getting it up to snuff.

The harbor bottom and platform are removable, and do a lot to cover the joint between modules. This will also let me change out the harbor, having a ship in port or not, for instance, by swapping out the insert. It slides in a track under the "stone" wall. The platform hides the main wiring junction. Each module has a series of PC ties that all feeders are tied to, there are modular plugs between modules. The modules are sized so I can fit them both in our car with one back seat up, this way If I take them somewhere my son or daughter can come with me.

Kinderbahn

I built a rapid model railroad at Christmas so my daughter could play trains with me in the basement. Trains are best when they are shared, so I took my old metal track and built a layout that the kids could operate. My daughter who had not yet turned 3 already did a masterful job of operating the signals to stop and start trains. The entire thing is classic Marklin system from the early 1980s, with some older pieces mixed in.

These are the same transformers that I used when I came back to the US after living in Germany.

Wiring analog layouts with blocks and signals is no joke, even if you are well organized!