Intro

 The why and wherefore

 

Finding a back story can be problematic, the profile must be a very small station in Thuringia preferably on the northern edge of Thuringia Forest, an area bounded by Ilmenau, Grossbreitenbach und Bad Blankenburg region is known for its exposed rocks, pretty villages and scenery, add numerous venues for refreshment.

 

 

There are a number of branchlines, although many have been long closed, The Köditzberg–Königsee railway (KKB) was a railway line in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt in Thuringia, which connected the city of Königsee to the railway network. Shortly after the opening, voices from the industry were heard, which demanded an extension of the railway line beyond Königsee to Gehren in the west to the Ilmenau–Großbreitenbach railway.  

 

The line to Grafenwalde was completed in 1910, it was classed as a Kleinbahn with an initial weight limit of just 12t, which was upgraded in 1917 to 16,8t in order to accomodate the T9.3 that supplemented the line's T3 which pulled a BCPwPosti that 

Lindner built in 1912 for the line's owners.

 

 From 1962, a diesel locomotive of the V15 series operated until the closure together with a Wismar TypB railbus locally known as Molly.

 

Layout

The layout

 

Buildings

The ‘inspiration’ for the station was not located in Thuringia but it is built in the Prussian style, common enough in many areas. On such a small layout there are just a few complete structures, the station group and loco shed.

Arriving later

This bargain replaces the lost toilet 

Workbench

This is a rather playworn Fleischmann BR64 that had been titivated with Weinert items bit very badly painted. It was stripped and rebuilt with a new decoder.

 

 

 

 

A spare body of a DR version was used to check clearances after repairing the mechanism.

The old body will be used to guide the gentle upgrading of the DR body with additional pipework.

This is the next victim

Projekt

One day this will return to the layout

 

It has gone to the Netherlands to be rebuilt. CLICK HERE

 

The SVT as it is now, too many problems that require new wheels, motor, decoder, however it is able to be repaired/upgraded. 

 

The new motor

 

 

Wiring done... 

Keeping the original bulbs as they work just fine, including the interior lights. All connected to a function output, so you can choose whether to turn them on or off.

The original bulbs are rated 16V and only get a half wave as i don't use the blue wire on the decoder but the chassis as a return (connected to the rails).

The background 

It is intended to recreate the SVT 137’s one-off visit to the Rennsteig in September 1951. Please note that Frauenwalde is not a replica, but simply a fond tribute to the small railways of the Thuringian Forest. The unique journey of a three-carriage SVT 137 from Berlin to the Rennsteig in September 1951. Here it is stopping at Ilmenau-Bad station on the return journey. The second gentleman from the right is the driver, Mr Schmidt, the railway manager of Frauenwalde and current train dispatcher, and the owner of the Berlin travel agency Tramando and current tour guide, Mr Ellersiek.
 

 

Some more background 

Parallel to the development of the Hamburg design, the three-car Breslau variant, later renamed Leipzig, was being developed for planned use in East Prussia and Silesia. These cars featured, for the first time, third-class seating, a larger kitchen, and a sideboard. Catering was to be provided by Mitropa, as usual. Like the Hamburg design, the three-car train ran on Jacobs bogies. The new Maybach GO 6 diesel engine was chosen as the power unit. While retaining the same basic design principles as the GO 5 engine, it delivered an increased output of 600 hp through exhaust gas turbocharging. This power increase was essential for building the three-car train, which also had a top speed of 160 km/h.

Two SVT railcars were ordered from Linke-Hofmann-Busch in Breslau following the four two-car Hamburg-type vehicles with operating numbers 137 153-154 a/ b/c. The delivery contract 03.077/24.314 was concluded on July 25, 1934. Both vehicles, according to company overview drawing TK 5100 r, were to be delivered with hydrodynamic power transmission, a technology largely developed by Triebwagenbau AG Berlin. A year later, the order was expanded to include two further vehicles with electric transmission, which received the operating numbers 137 233-234. The delivery contract 03.966/24.315 was concluded on June 21, 1935. The railcars largely corresponded to the hydraulically operated version in terms of their structural components, and were therefore included under the same drawing sheet number. Although ordered much later, the diesel-electric cars according to company overview drawing VTe 422 c were delivered before the hydraulic cars; however, their acceptance was delayed until mid-1936

Random images of the damage to the model

The model is about 40-50 years old, dimensionally accurate but the materials were not as good as contemporary western products nevertheless it is worth saving.

This link is interesting:-  Rebuilding the SVT137 

 

Gallery

Some random views of ‘old’ Grafenwalde - Intermodellbau Dortmund 2008

 

  

 

Starting the restoration 2025

The farm & cottage

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. 

A small Faller building carefully rendered and weathered 

The cottage garden has a couple of fruit trees, vegetable garden and chicken coop.

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.