Sunday, 6 July 2025

The why and wherefore

 

Grafenwalde - Thüringen


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

 
Die Rennsteig with 94 1538

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

 
 Die LAURA
 
You can find friendly and helpful people practically everywhere in the Thuringerwald. Frau Kerner, for example: Before taking the train, she asked around the neighborhood to see if anyone needed anything from the city. And as is often the case in life, helpfulness is quickly exploited: Frau Laura Kerner, whom everyone called "Laura," soon had a full-time job as a freight forwarder, getting the goods her dear neighbors needed. Somehow, you had the feeling that "Laura" was on every train that passed by; the locals consequently named the railway line "Laura"...

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 DRG 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, 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. 



Grafenwalde - Plausible fiction

 

Plausible fiction

Please note the layout is NOT a copy of any particular location but it is based certain elements of  Frauenwaldbahn that ran from Rennsteig to Frauenwald. 

 
 
94 1538 25.09.2022

Reality
 
From 1913 to 1965, it connected the Plaue–Themar railway with the village of Frauenwald on top of a ridge in the Thuringian Forest. The community of Frauenwald is located at an altitude of 760 m on the ridge of the and belonged to the land of Prussia with the district of Schleusingen until 1945. Due to the remote situation, the local business had great difficulty in asserting itself. For this reason, the municipality has been trying to connect to the railway network since 1893.Construction began in the spring of 1913, and on the 11th November 1913 the line, which is only 4.8 km long, was opened in November 1913. Despite the economies, the results fell short of expectations. A glassworks as the most important convenience ceased operations at the beginning of the First World War. 
 
 
 
From 1937, special trains of the Deutsche Reichsbahn also came to the light railway, which transported holidaymakers to the village of Frauenwald. The first special holidaymaker was a KdF train from Wroclaw on 17 January. June 1934. In 1944, on day three and Sundays, two pairs of trains ran. 
 
 

 
The railway survived the Second World War, in 1949, the railway was nationalised and the operation was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. In the early 1950s, tourism in the Thuringian Forest increased sharply. In 1952, continuous express trains from Berlin were led to the Thuringian Forest for the first time. In Rennsteig, the train consisting of four-axle express train car was split. Three cars continued to ran to Schmiedefeld, the other three were transported from one to Frauenwald. 
 
In 1960, the 89 5901 was retired due to a cylinder damage and replaced by a diesel locomotive of the series. From 1962, a class V 15 diesel locomotive ran until the closure. 
 

 
On the 13th In February 1965, the line had to be closed due to snowdrifts and the trains had to be replaced by buses. The railway operations were then not started because no funds were available for the required renovation. 
 
In 1998 the line was dismantled and the former roadbed is accessible as a Wanderweg.



The railway buildings

The station is an old Kibri kit, it has been used on various layouts since 2004. I am trying to capture the same grotty atmosphere that the old layout had in spades. The trick was the choice of depressing colours, greys, greens and browns, no bright tones. 

2025 looking rather battered




The building was part of the first iteration of Pottendorf in 2004 and later the first version of Grafenwalde both of which appeared at Warley and later at Intermodellbau exhibitions. 

In 2024, it was found, discarded, on the Isle of Wight and has been returned. It will be reused on this version of Grafenwalde.
 
Deep joy, I just found the laser cut signs for Granfenwalde
 

The ticket office

This is the original goods shed from Pola, suitably plain
 

The only other major railway building is a simple single road wooden shed from Kibri and its coal stage, another rescued building that has seen better days.


 

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






Gehren, Brandenburg




Gehren station is located between Uckro and Walddrehna on the Berlin-Dresden railway line. 

Monday, 28 April 2025

The Dosto

DDR's Doppelstock-Gliederzug


Some background

1951

This allowed for the construction in 1951 of the first four-section double-decker DBz train (DB7), which was to solve the transport problems in the GDR. The train met the expectations of the East German railways (Deutsche Reichsbahn - DR) and increased production of double-decker car sets began, also for export to the USSR. It is worth adding that the first DBz was designed as a two-way train with a steering car.  

1952

The first car with a prototype arrangement of wooden seats left the factory on February 13, 1952. There was a 2 + 3 arrangement on the upper deck (in one row across the car there were two benches separated by a passage: one had two, the other - three seats). On the lower deck, large benches were placed along the side walls and in the middle, passengers sat sideways facing the direction of travel (a scheme currently used only in places for travelers with more luggage and bicycles, and on some rail buses, eg SA103 ). In 1953, the 2 + 3 layout was also used on the lower deck. Wooden benches have been replaced with semi-soft seats. The 2 + 2 layout appeared in newer models.

1954

152x units from this series are built from 1954 onwards by VEB Waggonbau Görlitz.  

1955

After the liquidation of the third class in 1955, the cars were reclassified to the second class  . In 1959, after supplying the domestic rolling stock, these units were exported to other socialist countries, including the People's Republic of Poland, where they were repainted in a similar way to those in the GDR: with the big name of the carrier on the lane between the windows of two levels.  

1970

The production of wagons with a push/pull element was introduced.  



Paintings of Dostos by Peter Koenig













On the Rennsteig and beyond



 




 







Models

The Schicht doppelstockwagen/dosto was released in '65, sixty years and IMVHO still rivals many modern items of HO rolling stock, primarily because it looks like a dosto. Improving and rebuilding the Schicht model click here use Google translate

This is mine, it first appeared on Pottendorf (DR) in 2003.


 And again in '08, when it was sold with the layout

It resurfaced in mid '24, in need of a some TLC


In ‘25, it has new wheels, a new chassis The first upgrade was replacing the oversized wheels with Liliput L520002 wheels 10,6mm dia 24,5mm axle.

 


 

The set has new Kadee couplings, now it is ready for service.