A journey from here to there

  A personal philosophy 

In order to be a modeller of railways there needs to be a model railway. It doesn't matter if it is a loft or an Ikea box, there has to be a railway, otherwise we are mere collectors of things in boxes.

Occasionally, a thought begins to become a concern, why build a model railway and why choose a particular subject? My obsession, for it is an obsession, is to create something naturalistic that pleases the eye and restores old memories of quiet rural railways of Southern Germany. 

I greatly admire those individuals who devout a lifetime to build a perfect representation of a actual location, set at a specific time/date. Their dedication is admirable but there are constraints, as they can utilise space and have access to information, neither of which I enjoy. By contrast, my world is one of limited to just 5m x 1m and limited information from both the internet and the few books that feature my chosen subject.

My project is based upon a notion that a modest rural line in Oberfranken  had been extended a few more kilometres before funding was finally exhausted and the planned wayside station became a terminus for the remainder of its short life.

The generic trackplan is simple, the only extravagance is a tiny wooden loco shed with fuel+water and the style of the station buildings is typical of the builder. 

Various features (LDEs) from around the location are recycled, all chosen for their similarity to other local features. Colours are carefully chosen from a palette used in the location, mostly natural, a mix of greens + earth, subtle rather than brash. 

The stock was carefully selected with help from local experts, there are no 'special' visitors as everything must have been used on rural lines within 25kms during the timeframe 1950-68. 

The wherefore of operation on Pottendorf

 

The layout in the shed is small, only about 3,4m of scenic area with four storage roads, this means that it is a shunting puzzle rather than ‘parade’ style layout. Four is the magic number as there were just four trains per day on a typical branch in the mid ‘50s. 

 

The stocklist reflects the purpose of the layout, just a few wagons and coaches plus a railbus are the four trains that shuffle backwards and forwards. The wagons form two trains, the coaches another with the railbus as the simple shuttle that does not shunt at all. 

 

Each of the four scenic roads has at least one uncoupler, the platform has two so that after uncoupling from the head of the train, the loco can pick off vehicles from the train and set them into sidings. 

 

Running through all four trains should take about 25-30 minutes of intense concentration, enough to keep me happy.

I hope that this explains the approach.

VW Käfer

The VW Käfer is a personal favourite, our last was took us to Provence. The following is about the search for the 'perfect' VW pretzel Käfer, in this case, from Busch.

I have rarely encountered a model that could fall to pieces are readily as the Busch Kafer. It is nice, to the tune of £23 but be aware that it disintegrates and the bits are very small. I was lucky as it fell apart on a tray and everything was captured before eaten by the carpet.

 

Reassembly in no sinecure, I glued the delicate glazing to the body withtiny blobs of Hi-Tack PVA and set aside to cure before tackling the interior. The steering wheel and dashboard were glued in turn with tiny specks of PVA, you can just see the fresh glue reinforcing the steering wheel.

 

The body was replaced when the PVA has cured but be aware that the fragile shiny bumpers have a death wish and are definitely NOT the same with the curved set at the rear.

 

 

A word of warning, not only are the bumpers different, the tiny dimples are uppermost and they are incredibly fragile. DO NOT press too hard when fitting them

 

However the Busch Kafer is sublime, even the VW badge is discernable.....

Rendering model buildings

Some of the buildings are rendered with much the same stuff as a real building - plaster. 

The material

Normal Polyfilla is used, simply because it is readily available and is easy to use. It is spread onto model with an artist’s palette knife, not particularly small as it needs to carry up to half a teaspoon of filler.

The method 

If required, use masking tape to protect areas, spread the filler thinly like butter. 

This is an ideal model to learn the process, the Wills SS30 Barn is cheap and easy to find. One consideration is the paint the building before applying the filler, it is easier to remove the wet filler than the paint from the dry filler. 

First photo

Once applied, let the filler harden for at least 24hrs

Second photo

Smooth the filler with rough abrasive paper until the necessary finish is achieved. Please note I had forgotten to paint the building…..

Third photo

Apply a wash of a suitable dilute water colour, I use yellow ochre to replicate lime or sandstone. Weather the entire building with a dusting of off-white poster colour powder, WW Scenics offer Desert Yellow. 

Beside the road in Bayern

The location of the layout is Oberfranken, Bayern. There are many features that are common to the region and throughout Bayern, these include artefacts related to the catholic faith of Bayern.

Wayside crosses and wayside shrines bear witness to the piety of the people. For hundreds of years, these small religious monuments made of wood, stone and masonry have mostly been erected and maintained by the wayside, some decorated with flowers and candles.

Pottendorf has two such features.

A loco shed

Other than the station, the other major railway building is the locoshed, the first is a simple single road wooden shed from MBZ

 

 

And another half-timbered shed that was rebuilt from a very old Pola kit 

  

 

 

 

The locoshed has a small coaling stage and a water crane.

 

Details such as a water tap outside the locoshed and inside the lean-to

 

 

 

The water crane is a Spitzner type, copied from the examples that once stood at Kempten, Bad Neustadt and similar to the one at Miltenberg

Grey Primer

 

98 812 receives water in the morning at Bad Neustadt station to be prepared for the next (return) trip to Königshofen, on 01.07.1968.

 

Older style, unknown location, possibly Endorf
 

 Some inspiration was gatherered from the old loco shed at Kößlarn as that branchline shared many features with other Bayerische nebenbahnen. The loco shed was at the opposite end of the station yard and was surrounded on three sides by long grass, it still survives despite being abandoned by the DB.

 

The cottage

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

 

The Faller cottage has a vague similarity to the Häcker family house from Ergersheim preserved as building 12 at the Fränkische Freilandmuseum in Bad Windsheim. Rather scratchbuilding maybe just the removal of the lower level of fachwerke?

 

Adding the Polyfilla render

These archive images show the original building and its original proportions.

The building is a timberframe built around 1706 and an external stucco finish on the lower section of the walls .

Link to the museum's description click here and in the book below. 

 

The cottage, below is a new kit that was reworked. There really wasn’t too much scope the lengthen the building as the sub-base of the scene is finished but it has lost the fachwerk (timber framing) below the top of the ground floor windows. It has been carefully stipled with AK Interactive Terrains acrylic, a texture normally used for roads etc.

I am fine with its actual size although it is about 30% too short compared to the Häcker family house but all other dimensions are 1:87 moreover buildings of this size were once common until the '70s when living in a two down one up became unacceptable. 

 

Although unfinished, the result will be acceptable

 

 

 At the bottom of the cottage garden, there are some chickens

 

Tim

Building the layout

The blog is about building a small fictitious terminus vaguely based on other small stations in Oberfranken, instead it is merely an amalgam of features of existing locations in the area, a plausible fiction.

Oct 2022 

It began with four old baseboards that were cleaned and prepared for new track

 

Mar 2023 Track laid and fully wired

 

February 2024 

The platform receives a coat of Acrylmasse textured light grey paint and the roads and station yard have been repainted with limestone paint and layer of Acrylmasse.

 

 

 All the track has been ballasted, ready for testing. 

 

April 2024 

The backscene is finally in place

May 2024

The edge along the backscene is mostly complete, it is patchy were the PVA failed to 'grab' the static grass, the rest of the grass was secured with MattMedium.

Finally, the front edge nears completion, just a few untouched patches to be covered, tomorrow, trains will be running.

Perhaps worth mentioning that 'Pottendorf' represents a station during a rather wet ‘60s late summer and it is in its final months of existence, lack of maintenance has resulted in a general unkempt appearance.

June 2024
Starting to plant the trees, ten in total

 

At the end of the track

 

 

 

 

 

It is a lantern from Auhagen 41618, not easy to assemble nor easy to install. A shallow slot had to made in the trackbed and it is held in place by the white PVA glue. There are six on Pottendorf. 

 

 

Unfortunately the Auhagen lanterns are super fragile, it did not survive an accidental bump but was found and the shaft repaired with a piece of 1mm wire. Not all the bits survived but it'll do for now.

 

September 2024

Finally complete