Lost in France

 Lost in France - blog

After almost forty years of modelling the railways of Germany, a change was needed - the solution is a layout inspired by the secondary railways of Normany.  One such  tiny station is Acquigny in Haute Normandie better remembered as the location for the film 'The Train'.

Today, the line that passes through the town was closed in the 60s but the tracks were still in place in 2018.

 But in 1964, it became famous

 A short film about the making of 'The Train'

Roof colour

The roof colour of coaches used by most most manufacturers seems to be the same, irrespective if the coach is supposed to be a wooden Ep1 or all metal Ep5 - shiny silver.

However this is the reality albeit the images are 1950s

 

 Pre-1920s coaches were invariably of wooden construction with roofs covered in a waterproofed canvas fabric treated with bitumen (road tar without the aggregate) and the filth from soot from the locos turned them almost black. Moreover, carriage cleaning was muscle power with brooms, rags and water.

Both models are Roco, which is realistic? 

Easy repair and clean

The Roco BBII Mallet suffered a total failure during a show in April, it simply stopped and a blown decoder was the prime suspect.

However on removing the keeper plate, the original feed wire from the pick-ups had simply broken - problem solved except the pick-ups were filthy and needed a good clean.

Now everything works, not bad for a Eu45 bargain.