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Greetings From Germany!

2K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  holava 
#1 ·
Hello,

Stationed with the Troops in Wiesbaden, Germany! My modeling interest is modeling a freelanced German Railroad. I have purchased many new DCC equipped HO Scale German Locomotives and plan on having a staging yard along with urban and rural areas. My current interest is in Scratch Building. Trying to learn as much as possible before returning to the U.S.

Thanks,
Mike
 
#5 ·
Welcome aboard!





coblesan;

Welcome to the forum! That sounds like an interesting layout you have planned. If you have any questions about scratchbuilding, or anything else train-related, just ask. Also check out our "Structures" section. There are lots of interesting scratchbuilds there.

I do some scratchbuilding in N-scale. The photos below show some of my scratchbuilds.

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:

Scale model Miniature House


Furniture Architecture Bridge Bench


Table Furniture Iron Bridge Coffee table


Building Architecture Arch Room Arcade
 
#6 ·
To All

Thanks for the warm greetings!

MichaelE - I am living in a town outside the Wiesbaden city limits called Walluf. It is near the town Eltville on the Rhine River. This area is beautiful and I understand why you chose to prototype Bavaria as your layout.

Right now the only thing I tried to scratch build were highway billboards. You don't see many but, it was fun to buld them anyway.

Thanks again,
Mike
 
#9 ·
Hi Mike,
Welcome aboard!
You are stationed at Wiesbaden, thats great than take a ride between April and October with the Nerobergbahn - Nero Mountain RR it is a real Water RR opened in 1888 and it the last one in germany who operates like its beginning with gravity of ballast water of the downhill running car it is a technical monument of Wiesbaden.

Me I did my one year army duty in 1990 at the 1rst riflemen batallion 66 at the Bismarck Barracks close to Hamburg at the german army. Until my 45th age I was Corporal 2nd Class on Reserve. Later I worked for the former Eastern German RR before it became Part of the State controlled stockholder RR DB. That was before 1993.

German Railroads of early eras are very interesting.

Ya Ingo
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Hey Michael,

when I did my national duty in 1990 to 1991 we used the Nato G3 Rifle (.308 Winchester or Calibre 7,62 mm) and Machine Gun MG3 with same Calibre.
We used the Calibre 9 mm israelian Uzzi Machine Pistol and the P8 Calibre 9 mm Pistol.

The german troops of today using the H&K G36 and AK 47 sometimes allready but should get new more modern Stormrifles.
 
#13 ·
Speaking of firearms, I have 2 pistols brought back from Germany after WWII; a beautiful P-38 in 9mm with holster, and a Browning patent FN 1922 in .32 caliber made in Occupied Belgium.The P-38 is all numbers matching and is a delight to shoot, whereas the FN has all matching numbers except for the barrel.. No political comments please.. While I was stationed there in 1970-72, Germany was one of the most beautiful countries on earth, and I loved every minute of it.. I traveled to Ulm, Munich, and stayed in Berchesgarten. Simply spectacular views and surrounding areas.:smilie_daumenpos:
 
#14 ·
Did you visit the Walther plant while in Ulm? I've always wanted to visit.

Is your P.38 an ac coded model or cyq or byf? AC coded is Walther manufacture. byf is Mauser, and cyq is Spreewerk.

P.38 is actually written with a dot or period separating the P and 38. On the rest of Walther's handguns there is no separator at all and the letters and numbers are written together. P5, P88, P99, etc.
 
#16 ·
Hey Ya'll,
to all future vistors of our famous country, here are some additional short Infos:

German Railroads are classified into alltogether six Eras.

Era 1, the Beginning:
1835 until 1919
This era includes Imperial state RRs until the Establishment of the first Nationwide State RR DRG.
Pre 1870 it gave over 200 different german spoken Countries, most of them had their own RRs.
Past the French German War the National State of Germany as Imperial Kingdom had been eastablished und Leadership of the Prussian King and Kaiser Wilhelm I and later the 100 Day Ceasar and finally Kaiser (Ceasar) Wilhelm II, who lost Worldwar 1 in 1918.

Era 2 are tiled into Part 2a:
1919 to 1937 as DRG - Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft with doublehead eagle.

Part 2b:
1937 bis 1945 as DR - Deutsche Reichsbahn during the Notional Sozialism, the darkest era of the DR and it biggest expansion in 1944 inclueding all during Worldwar 2 occupied Areas and Countries.

Part 2c:
1945 to 1945 as DR under the Military Gouvernment in the four Occupied Zones of the British Zone in the North, French Zone in the South-West, theUS American Zone in the Middle and South and finally the Russian Zone of the East.
The Lost Terretory of East Prussia tiled into Polish and Russian Terretory.

Era 3a:
1949 to 1972 as DB Authority RR of the Federal Republic of Germany established in the three West allied Zones of British, French and US American Zone.

Era 3b:
1949 to 1972 as DR (Deutsche Reichsbahn) State RR of the German Democratik Republic under Dictation of the Soviet Union at the former Russian Military Zone.

Era 4a:
1972 to 1986
DB Autority RR in Western Germany with computerized Numbers of Cars and Locos
End of Steam Era in 1978

Era 4b:
1972 to 1990 as DR - Deutsche
Reichsbahn in GDR

Era 5a:
DB Authority RR in Western Germany with new Color Scheme
1988 to 1993
German Re-Union in 1990 the former Terretory of the GDR

Era 5b:
1990 until end of January 1993
As DR - Deutsche Reichsbahn
End of Steam onto Standard Gauge in 1993, same new Color Scheme of the Western DB Authority RR.

Era 5c:
1993 to 2006
DB AG Stockholder Company
New DB RR Sighn in red
Both former own State RRs became one big RR.
Reducing the Personal Staff of the former DR in eastern federal states only.
Lot of new abdoned RR Lines in eastern Germany without efficiency.

Era 6:
2006 until today
DB AG under new red and white Color Scheme
Lot of private RRs

During all Eras or often called as Epoches the Traction of Steam, Gasoil (Diesel) or Benzol or Gasoline (Petrol/Gas) or Electrics had been existed or still existing.

First Railway Inspection Car was an automobil in the year of 1898 with RR wheels.

Ya Ingo
 
#18 ·
Hey Mike,

A freelanced german based H0 Scale RR sounds intesting.

Through all Epoches or Eras it gave a lot of Private Owner RRs in Germany. Somr with own net of tracks and some other operated as shortlines onto former of the State RR operated RR Lines.

Shortly before and after the german national re-union into one nation the Managers of both State RRs made a lot of wrong decisions to bring more efficiency in their eyes to the both former State RRs of DB (West Germany) and DR (East Germany).
The last baggage car service of the DB run in the year of 1988 and at the DR in 1992.

Freight Houses had been sold or de-constructed in western germany since the mid of the 1980's in eastern germany in 1993.

Freight services run onto road trucks mostly only, the DB was to ignorant to new customers and not flexible enough and reduced the services step by step from year to year. Renting a boxcar or other freight car became very often more expensive than renting a truck from a spedition service.
As example in the year of 1991:
To transport an Oldtimer IHC McCormick Tractor 350 Miles by DB you would have three days in time to put it onto a flat car bzt would need Transportation security of the loaded tractor by yourself. The freight would be not insured.
For transportation the DB would need up to two weeks to organize the transport.
At the destination you would have one day to unload the freight car otherwise paying standing rent as penalty.
The costs were around $ 4000 by 350 miles.

A private owner RR Company offered the same transport in less than five days by around $ 2200, what a big difference.

The transportation by road truck was around $ 3000.

My dad ordered the private RR transportation.

In 1989 the Circus Barum and the Circus Krone (Crown) had been fired as RR Customers by the State RR DB.

The last Mail train run in 1989 at west germany in eastern germany all those services quitted in January 1993.

From Februar 1993 until today the new State Stockholder Company owned by 100 % by german State the new DB AG tiled their operation fields into small own operating daughter companies.
DB Fern - Express Trains onto long distances
DB Regio - more local and regional trains around or between bigger cities and rural areas
DB Nah - local trains and bus services only
DB S-Bahn - semifast local inner town metropolitan electric RRs
DB Cargo - Freight Service onto rails
DB Schenker - Spedition Service and freight transports onto Roads only or onto truck trailors or containers loaded onto special RR cars (piggyback cars).

There are a lot of plans to bring back freights onto tracks but all the closed freight centers had been closed and the track abdoned or deconstructed, very often the land sold to private investors.

Other national owned state RRs in Europe earning their most money to operate freight services in germany.

I think you will find a nice idea for your freelanced German RR.

Very interesting could be the era 3 or 4 of western germany before 1978 so you can use steam engines, too.

Choosing era 5 would be best to operate DB and DR trains past 1990 but before 1993 so you can use steam trains in eastern germany, too.

As freelanced RR you can use all what would be ideal for that period of time and area you want to model you RR Company.

About Narrow Gauges:
In 1910 the German Gouvernment gave the Narrow Gauge Order. So it was it no more allowed anymore again to build new other narrow gauges than the 1000 mm (Metre or Meter) Gauge.
1 m = 100 cm = 1000 cm
and the more narrower 600 mm (~ 2 feet) Gauge.
2 feet are around 610 mm

Some other nets were allowed to be made bigger but the new track needed to be built onto still existing RR tracks.
At Saxony the 750 mm Gauge
(30 Inches are around 768 mm)

The 900 mm brigade narrow gauge was a little narrower than the 3 feet gauge of 914 mm.

The cape gauge was 1063 mm the meter gauge was 1000 mm only.

Electric Trams or street trolleys used several different other gauges, the tram of Leipzig has 5 feet and the Tram of Dresden has got 5 feet 3 Inches.

Onto an old in 1918 lost colony at New Guinea, a 750 mm RR Narrow Gauge had been planned but never built.

At the in 1918 lost colony of West Samoa and Marshall Islands of German Oceania the today US Samoa and US terretory, some 600 mm RRs had been planned but never built, too.

Ya Ingo
 
#20 ·
Hey Michael,
Have a look onto four axle freight cars, some of their chassis or trucks and wheels could be very old from era I or era II, like Bettendorf Trucks or Archbar Trucks of former US American RR Equipment what had been imported by WW 1 and WW 2.

Some cars from Belgium and France found their way over the DR during the National Sozialismn in Era 2 b into the heartland of germany.
After WW 2 those former US Military RR Car part got renewed ever and ever and sometimes still in use.

At some RR Backshops like that at Bremen they renewed spoked wheels from italian or french freight cars. The UIC Contracts saying that any freight or passender car need to get the standard inspection or maintenance in that countrry, where the car still is. Sending empty cars back is not the best way to make money with freight cars.

Onto thebase ofspoked wheels or full steel wheels or backribbed wheels the wheels will get steel tyres. So such wheel can have a very long life.

Some museum cars get their maintenance in state RR Backshops.

Ya Ingo
 
#21 ·
Welcome, train soldier ! I'm Czech in Nicaragua. I love Germany, Germany has Europe's biggest and most diverse railroad, the same in model trains. I have hundreds of German locomotives in HO scale. I used to criss-cross Europe by train. I settled in the tropics, though. You will see, you will bring a strong European touch when you get back to the US. I like the idea of a soldier doing trains. The pictures are very nice work, especially the bridge, cool.
 
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