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.