The why and wherefore

The why and wherefore

The blog is about building a small fictitious terminus based on a location in Oberfranken, rather than a copy, it is merely an amalgam of features of existing locations in the area, in short, a plausible fiction. 

The track plan is based on generic nebenbahn, it is 16' long in total.

 

 

The project is set in Era 3 – 

 

The Fifties Strictly speaking, Era 3 extends until the end of the 1960s, when computer numbers were introduced. This is actually the problem of Era 3 railway enthusiasts, and one I also suffer from: in these 20 years, the railway has completely changed its face. From the state steam locomotive to the Intercity, from the bogie to the container wagon: all Era 3 and yet from completely different times. Of course, it is precisely these contrasts that make this era so interesting. But because of the fluid transitions, I find myself making more compromises than I actually want to. Sure, there's a subdivision here, too, but hardly anyone adheres to it, including myself.

 

 Era 3a extends from the founding of the DB until around 1957. 1956 saw the class reform, in which third-class carriages were abolished; 1958 saw the introduction of third-class headlights on trains. Both of these developments significantly changed the image of the railway in a short period of time; this was compounded by the introduction of a lighter shade of green for passenger cars and the abolition of zone lettering on freight cars. Epoch 3b, arguably the most popular of all model railway eras, cannot be clearly divided further. It ranges from the late 1950s to the late 1960s; during this period, the appearance again changed rapidly, but this cannot be pinned down to a single year. The danger here is that in hardly any other decade did so many old vehicle types disappear and new ones emerge; it's easy to get bogged down in the process. 

 

Typical characteristics of Era 3: Trains become more colorful again: blue 1st-class carriages, TEEs, freight cars with advertising lettering. Diesel traction begins to hamper steam locomotives, the construction of new steam locomotives ends, and European unification begins in the freight car fleet with UIC standard cars. Almost all state railway vehicles disappear, and the decline of branch lines begins. Still, it's the era of the wimps: what almost everyone does is the easiest thing to do. From the new beginning through the economic miracle to the automobile society: endless model-building opportunities instead of the eternal V 200 in front of the Blauer Enzian

 

Pottendorf - Plausible fiction

 

 Plausible fiction

Please note the layout is NOT a copy of any particular location but it is influenced by elements of the branch lines of Oberfranken. I am building a loose interpretation of a typical station, my model should show the station in the summer of 1954, at the time up to the end of the 1960s all the tracks were still in place.

More plausible fiction

 

The railway planned an extension beyond Behringersmühle to connect with the Nürnberg–Cheb line but the work ran out of funds beyond Pottenstein near Prüllsbirkig in the mid ‘30s and further construction was curtailed, only a small station building and goods shed were built. 

 

The line survived the Second World War intact, in 1949, the railway was nationalised and the operation was taken over by the Deutsche Bundesbahn. In the 1930s, six pairs of passenger trains ran on the line daily, and in the 1950s, up to seven pairs of passenger trains ran on the line. 

In 1954, the line was downgraded to a simplified branch line service and on 1 July 1960 the station was converted into an unstaffed railhead for cut timber and sugar beet which was loaded here, the traffic kept the line open. 

With the increase in private motorized transport in the 1950s, passenger numbers declined rapidly, primarily due to the lack of through connections from Forchheim. As a result, the Deutsche Bundesbahn discontinued passenger services on May 29, 1960, and freight services on May 26, 1968. In 1982 the line was dismantled as far as Behringersmühle and the buildings demolished.

Die Seekuh Erlangen 

The railway buildings

The station is an old Pola kit,  although the style may look odd at first but the KBayStsB favoured the Italianate for the Würfel or cube style of station. Variations of roof style with a hip roof being the most common with the gable end less so. The station below is a slightly large example of the genre, it is located just outside Kronach.

 

Neuses bei Kronach 

 

On a previous version of Pottendorf

The building was part of the first iteration of Pottendorf in 2016 and versions of Pottendorf both of which appeared at Warley and later at Intermodellbau exhibitions. A new version will be reused on this version of Pottendorf

 

These are the latest version using another Pola kit
 

 

The laser cut signs for Pottendorf

 

 

This is the replacement goods shed from Pola, suitably plain

 

The only other major railway building is a simple single road shed from Pola and its coal stage

Details such as a water tap outside the locoshed and inside the store

 

 

 

 

Progress

Progress 

Pottendorf 2003

The layout was built using four old baseboards, although a bit mucky, they are stable, warp free and fully wired.

October 2022, the baseboards had been stripped of track and just needed cleaning.

 

February 2024, work was difficult due to health issues. The track is down and painted. The foamboard platforms are in place and a temporary station in place. The white board in bottom right, is the removable base of the house and garden.

 

 

April 2025

P'dorf details

 

Timber traffic

The goods traffic is largely logs that were loaded in the yard, 50 years ago loading was achieved with ingenuity and man power as the only methods. 

A few choice images:-

Other details 

The ladies

 

Roadside features 

  

 Beside the track

  

 

 Other than pigeons, the only wildlife that is visible on Grafenwalde ars the sheep in the orchard along the front of the layout. This delightful montage is often a feature of parts of Vogtland and Thuringia, some of our neighbours, have orchards with sheep to keep down the weeds. Having mentioned Primo apple trees before, it was the obvious place to procure the orchard.

The sheep were a different matter, a small flock of Skaledales, seem to be fairly similar to the wooly mammoths that always seem to escape to roam the local lanes.

 

However the depiction of a trackside orchard is a bit of concern as the railways of Germany are not required to erect fences instead they are the responsibility of the farmer, moreover it seems during the '50s onwards there was a lack of electric fences available to farmers in the east. 

  

 
Some form of sheep proof but cheap fencing is needed, chestnut paling is required but notably absent, the offering from Scale Model Scenery LX004 is rather careworn and the cardboard does lend itself to rural trackside fences, by cutting off the bottom of the fencing, the resulting lower profile is suitable for 1:87

 

The rocks

 

Parts of Oberfraken are a tad rocky, Fränkische Schweiz is renowed for the rocky limestock outcrops.

 

It can vary in shades of biege, grey and ochre depending on the location.  Pottendorf's rocks tend to be flecked with ochre.

 

Another batch of hard foam rocks has been sprayed white before repeated washes of yellow ochre watercolour.

 

Once dry, the rocks will be glued in place and later grasses and moss applied to soften their shape.

 

More details from Timo

I particularly like the fence and overhanging fruit tree.

The workbench

The workshop has been re-arranged, it still needs clearing of junk and a very rigorous clean. Finally, my own workbench, clean and open for business. 

Updating the Piko Pwg13

 

Up to the twenties of the previous century, goods trains of all German railway administrations were operated with manual brakes. In addition to the locomotive personnel, the crew of the train therefore included a chief train conductor as the highest authority, a master packer, train conductor and shunter as well as several brakeman. These persons were responsible for braking the train, for the shunting work during stops en route, and the exchange and processing of freight documents of the transported goods. For this purpose, a special accompanying wagon was carried along behind the locomotive that served as a rolling working and recreation place. Only the brakeman had to stay in one of the brakeman's cabins during the trip. Completing the own development, the KPEV (Royal Prussian Railway Administration) procured luggage wagons ("Pwg") according to master drawing pr IIa 13a for the first time in 1913/14. 

 

After the end of World War I, this design was selected as replacement of the old or missing accompanying wagons of the most German Länder railway operators. So, over 7,000 "Pwg" were built according to the 2nd revised edition of the master drawing until 1929 and spread not only in the former KPEV region, but also in Baden, Bavaria, Wuerttemberg, and Saxony. Starting at the end of the thirties, the DRB removed the through-going running boards and handlebars, allegedly due to an attempted robbery of a train. Additional structural alterations even before the outbreak of the war included reinforcements of the wagon body frame and the removal of the window in the storage space door. 

 

The Piko model is the original condition without reinforcements of the wagon body frame. 

 

The model has been around since the '70s, a beautiful moulding and now offered with both nice metal wheels and kinetic couplings. Unfortunately, no glazing and it is very noticeable.

 

To dismantle the body from the chassis, turn the model upside down, find the joint at one end and slip in a thin blade at one end and GENTLY lever upwards. The body will begin to separate, then repeat at the other end, the body will pop off.

 

Source some suitable glazing, blister packs are plentiful and cut suitable oversized pieces, use clear UHU (or similar) apply the glue well away from the edges of the windows and carefully insert the glazing. DO NOT RUSH THIS 

Unfortunately, the glazing is almost imperceptible but it is very obvious when it is missing, why Piko choose to omit it on a model costing  around £25 is ridiculous. 

The farm and cottage

I much prefer small details to grand ‘statements’, such as this sort of thing

The small farm comprises of a low house and a small yard separated by a railway line.

The farm buildings include a Wills SS30 barn kit that has been improved with a layer of Polyfilla fine surface render.

 

 

Just a couple of scenes in the farmyard, the farm is a tiny dairy unit, just three working buildings around a courtyard.

  

The 'futtersilo' a must-have on any farm from Epoch 2 onwards but this is the actual reason why there is a silo

 

Hunting for Frogs

The earth cellar. 

Whilst looking around an old farm we found an odd feature found beside the farmhouse, it was a small stone hut built into the side of the hill. It was the entrance to a cold store or 'Erdkeller' for the 18th century farm, although farmhouse had a basement it also had a separate earth cellar. 

In terms of room height and shape, it penetrates far less deeply into the ground, only two steps lead down to the brick entrance. The quarry stone vault of the cellar is also completely covered with soil and potatoes are stored here over the winter - dark, cool, but frost-free.

There were a couple of other similar garden cellars in the village, one was not built into the side of a hill, instead merely cut into the farm garden and covered with the displaced soil. 

 

The cottage

The inspiration - Bldg 12 Bad Windsheim 

On the layout there is a small cottage for the farmworker, it has a couple of fruit trees, vegetable garden and chicken coop.

Although unfinished, the result will be acceptable

 

 

I remember that in my childhood, chickens (and other domestic birds) were bustling around in every village. The owners of the poultry seemed to have no concern for their safety at all. A constant image was the birds taking carelessly walks along the road running through the village buildings. And this sometimes ended in a tragic accident under the wheels of a car