The why and wherefore

The why and wherefore

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

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

 

 

The Imkerbahn

 

You can find friendly and helpful people practically everywhere in Oberfranken. A local bee-keeper, for example: Before taking the train, he asked around the neighbourhood to see if anyone needed anything from the city. And as is often the case in life, helpfulness is quickly exploited:, Alois,  whom everyone called  Imker ," soon had a full-time job as a freight forwarder, getting the goods his neighbours needed. Somehow, you had the feeling that "Imkerbahn" was on every train that passed by; the locals consequently named the railway line "Imker"...

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 DB 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, TEEs, 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. Still, it's the era of the wimps: what almost everyone does is the easiest thing to do. From the new beginning through the economic miracle to the automobile society: endless model-building opportunities instead of the eternal V 200 in front of the Blauer Enzian

 

Pottendorf - Plausible fiction

 

 Plausible fiction

Please note the layout is NOT a copy of any particular location but it is influenced by elements of the branch lines of Oberfranken. I am building a loose interpretation of Leupoldsdorf station, my model should show the station in the summer of 1954, at the time up to the end of the 1960s all the tracks were still in place.

Reality

 

The railway survived the Second World War, in 1949, the railway was nationalised and the operation was taken over by the Deutsche Bundesbahn. In 1954, the line was downgraded to a simplified branch line service and on 1 July 1968, Pottendorf station was converted into an unstaffed stop, cut timber and Zuckerrübe or Sugar Beet was loaded here, the traffic kept the line open. 

Passenger traffic was discontinued on September 29, 1974. Freight traffic followed in stages, the line was ultimately used in the autumn and winter during the beet harvest season. In 1998 the line was dismantled and the former roadbed is accessible as a Wanderweg.

Die Seekuh Erlangen 

The railway buildings

The station at Rothausen is the prototype for the Pola  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. 

2018 looking rather battered

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

 

A new version will be reused on this version of Pottendorf

 

Deep joy, I just found the laser cut signs for Pottendorf

 

 

This is the replacement goods shed from Pola, suitably plain

 

The only other major railway building is a simple single road wooden shed from MBZ and its coal stage

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

 

 

 

 

Bayerisches Agenturgebäude

 

 

Progress

Progress 

The layout was built using four old baseboards, although a bit mucky, they are stable, warp free and fully wired.

October 2022, the baseboards had been stripped of track and just needed cleaning.

 

February 2024, work was difficult due to health issues. The track is down and painted. The foamboard platforms are in place and a temporary station in place. The white board in bottom right, is the removable base of the house and garden.

 

 

April 2025

P'dorf details

The ladies

 

Roadside features 

  

 Beside the track

  

 

 Other than pigeons, the only wildlife that is visible on Grafenwalde ars the sheep in the orchard along the front of the layout. This delightful montage is often a feature of parts of Vogtland and Thuringia, some of our neighbours, have orchards with sheep to keep down the weeds. Having mentioned Primo apple trees before, it was the obvious place to procure the orchard.

The sheep were a different matter, a small flock of Skaledales, seem to be fairly similar to the wooly mammoths that always seem to escape to roam the local lanes.

 

However the depiction of a trackside orchard is a bit of concern as the railways of Germany are not required to erect fences instead they are the responsibility of the farmer, moreover it seems during the '50s onwards there was a lack of electric fences available to farmers in the east. 

  

 
Some form of sheep proof but cheap fencing is needed, chestnut paling is required but notably absent, the offering from Scale Model Scenery LX004 is rather careworn and the cardboard does lend itself to rural trackside fences, by cutting off the bottom of the fencing, the resulting lower profile is suitable for 1:87

 

The rocks

 

Parts of Oberfraken are a tad rocky, Fränkische Schweiz is renowed for the rocky limestock outcrops.

 

It can vary in shades of biege, grey and ochre depending on the location.  Pottendorf's rocks tend to flecked with ochre.

 

Another batch of hard foam rocks has been sprayed white before repeated washes of yellow ochre watercolour.

 

Once dry, the rocks will be glued in place and later grasses and moss applied to soften their shape.

Upgrading the Piko Pwg

The Piko Pwg13

 

Up to the twenties of the previous century, goods trains of all German railway administrations were operated with manual brakes. In addition to the locomotive personnel, the crew of the train therefore included a chief train conductor as the highest authority, a master packer, train conductor and shunter as well as several brakeman. These persons were responsible for braking the train, for the shunting work during stops en route, and the exchange and processing of freight documents of the transported goods. For this purpose, a special accompanying wagon was carried along behind the locomotive that served as a rolling working and recreation place. Only the brakeman had to stay in one of the brakeman's cabins during the trip. Completing the own development, the KPEV (Royal Prussian Railway Administration) procured luggage wagons ("Pwg") according to master drawing pr IIa 13a for the first time in 1913/14. 

 

After the end of World War I, this design was selected as replacement of the old or missing accompanying wagons of the most German Länder railway operators. So, over 7,000 "Pwg" were built according to the 2nd revised edition of the master drawing until 1929 and spread not only in the former KPEV region, but also in Baden, Bavaria, Wuerttemberg, and Saxony. Starting at the end of the thirties, the DRB removed the through-going running boards and handlebars, allegedly due to an attempted robbery of a train. Additional structural alterations even before the outbreak of the war included reinforcements of the wagon body frame and the removal of the window in the storage space door. 

 

The Piko model is the original condition without reinforcements of the wagon body frame. 

 

The model has been around since the '70s, a beautiful moulding and now offered with both nice metal wheels and kinetic couplings. Unfortunately, no glazing and it is very noticeable.

 

To dismantle the body from the chassis, turn the model upside down, find the joint at one end and slip in a thin blade at one end and GENTLY lever upwards. The body will begin to separate, then repeat at the other end, the body will pop off.

 

Source some suitable glazing, blister packs are plentiful and cut suitable oversized pieces, use clear UHU (or similar) apply the glue well away from the edges of the windows and carefully insert the glazing. DO NOT RUSH THIS 

Unfortunately, the glazing is almost imperceptible but it is very obvious when it is missing, why Piko choose to omit it on a model costing  around £25 is ridiculous. 

 

Tomorrow, the weathering. 

The workbench

 The workshop has been re-arranged, it still needs clearing of junk and a very rigorous clean. The workbench on the immediate left has been used as shelving but a set of flat-pack metal shelves has arrived and it will fill the space between both the workbench and the computer workstation that is currently occupied by a builders sack full of packaging.

A brand new Bayerische Agenturgebäude has been sourced from Hampshire Models.

It is a kit that was originally Pola now Faller but it is a perfect copy of Rothausen, it should arrive this weekend 

The loco shed from MBZ Modellbau

At any one time there are a loco going through the workshop - 

 

The T9.3 BR91 strictly should not be here, it is an interloper with only a few allocated to Bayern, none to Oberfranken but Pottendorf is pure fiction based on rather wobbly fact.

It has been digitised with a tiny Zimo, the flywheel equipped motor is rather good. In the absence of anything more suitable, it is perfect as a small loco on an equally small layout.