Bernhards Random Ramblings BACKUP

[ Kurve posts ]

[ Untergroeningen posts ] Today I built the legs for Untergroeningen and set up the module with Kurve in the living room. Temporarily, of course! This was the only place in the house that allows for a 12 ft straight run with room to spare. For the legs I'm using the same technique as with Slim Staging . Here's Untergroeningen segment 2 on its new legs. I'm planning to work on laying out scenery and buildings in Untergroeningen, and start with basic scenery on segments one and two. This next perspective won't be possible when shadow box and lighting are installed. Viewers and operator aisle are on the other side of the module.

I'm considering taking the modules I'm building to the Eurowest show this summer as a stand-alone layout. Of course, this assumes that the Coronavirus pandemic is under control by the end of July, so that the show will actually happen. It also assumes that the modules are sufficiently presentable that I'd be willing to show them to a broad audience. I still have work to do on that front. It will be a small setup, only 3 modules: Slim Staging , Kurve , and Untergroeningen . Slim Staging and Untergroeningen are made up from multiple segments, so six segments in total. The arrangement will be in an L-shape with both legs about 12 feet long (3.5 meters).  Untergroeningen will be the focal point of the arrangement, with a shadow box and built-in lighting that extends all the way over to Kurve. The hill and cut I built a few weeks ago will hide the transition to staging. The Untergroeningen operator needs to run trains from the visitor side of the layout, because all turnout co...

We're done. Much faster than I expected, and I didn't do what I had planned for today. That's ok. I had fun.

Tatjana and I are making good progress.

We're stuck at home and in the mood for a puzzle. This one is extra fun, because it's a nice reminder of last year's vacation. Just in time for dinner the frame is set up, and the easy motives become visible.

To combat cabin fever and get a little bit exercise we hiked the "small loop" via Santa Teresa County Park. Beautiful day and nice company. There were quite a few people on the trails, more than we expected. Most people kept the appropriate distance, even though the trail is fairly narrow. It's so nice out here in the spring. Looks far away, but is so close.

Over the last few days I worked on a blueprint for the Untergroeningen station building based on Google Maps, and photos from the Web. Wikipedia Commons,  Eisenbahnfotograf and Vergessene Bahnen  proved to be particularly helpful. I finished a draft of the walls tonight, made a copy and taped them together. Below is my rendition of the street side photo at the link on Vergessene Bahnen. Of course, the (somewhat complicated) roof is still missing. Here's an overview as seen from the aisle with the locomotive shed mock up in the background. Quite attractive. Here's a shot similar to the lead photo on the post from last weekend . The angle isn't quite right, the lens is too high, and I should be "standing" between tracks 2 and 3, instead of tracks 1 and 2. However, what can be seen of the building and the overall arrangement matches quite nicely with my version.

[ Untergroeningen posts ] Tonight I got two walls mapped out for the Untergroeningen station building. These are drawn in HO scale. Track 1 runs in front of the loading ramp on the left. With the photo from Vergessene Bahnen I no longer need to wing it for the street side view, but can produce a fairly accurate drawing next. And the street side of the building is indeed half-timbered. This is exciting.

[ Untergroeningen posts ] Tonight I spent some time on figuring out what the roof structure of Untergroeningen station looks like. I used the satellite view of Google Maps for guidance, and filled in a couple gaps from photos. Based on my crude measurements off Maps, the building is 17 meters long and 8m wide on the one side, 9m on the storage area side.

The Bay Area is going into a substantial shutdown of public life, and it's raining. No wonder no-one's out while we are walking the dog ...

[ Untergroeningen posts ] Untergroeningen station buildings in 2004 This photo from Wikipedia nicely illustrates the building arrangement in Untergroeningen. The locomotive shed is on the left in the rear. Across the tracks is a large storage shed / barn-like structure. Track 1 is partially embedded in asphalt before the station building. There's a small outbuilding with restrooms between the station building and the shed. The station building has an integrated storage / warehouse area and loading ramp facing track 1. The challenge is what did this look like 30 years earlier? I have been contemplating how to model this ensemble. The locomotive shed with its distinctive water tower and attached tool shop in the rear needs to be represented, and I already made a partial paper mock-up for use with Auhagen parts. The shed and toilet building are pretty straightforward. I really like the tree between the two buildings. However, I've been going back and forth on the station buildin...

Test Setup Every now and then I'm at shows running trains with the HOm swiss narrow gauge group of the ETE San Francisco Bay chapter . The operating scheme is straight-forward: The layout is set up with a single track main line, a couple intermediate stations, and staging at each end of the layout. The typical setup consists of staging with a return loop at one end, two intermediate stations, and a simple staging yard at the other end. Operators are positioned at the stations or staging yards and verbally hand-off trains from station to station. A typical conversation between two neighboring stations goes like this: - "Can I send you another train?" - "Yes, go ahead. Once that's here, I'll send you a train back." - "Ok."  This works quite well. However, problems arise at shows with lots of visitors since the noise level makes communication, or even getting the attention of the other operator, difficult. Especially when the layout is arranged...

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon? I spent it watching a cab view video on Youtube. 2 hours from Offenburg in the Rhine Valley following the Black Forest Railway ("Schwarzwaldbahn") via Hausach, Triberg, Villingen-Schwenningen, and Singen to Konstanz on Lake Constance. In my version of reality, the Welztalbahn connects to the Schwarzwaldbahn in Hausach. I have also traveled the segment between Immendingen and Singen many times when taking the Intercity between Stuttgart and Zurich. One of the new IC2 sets is visible in the video . It's nice to watch the video and know the area well enough that I can identify the train location in the loops between Hausach and Triberg, or recognize the meadow near St. Georgen where I stopped with my Dad to take photos as inspiration for the Welztalbahn. While watching the video, I continued to work on replacing the grab irons for SVL 68156 . They are certainly not perfect, and I realize I picked a pretty difficult and annoying car to ...

After the successful build of a Bowser wood hopper car , which is now waiting for weathering, I'm stepping up the challenge with the second car in the series: Replace the molded on grabirons and stirrup steps with detail parts from A-Line and Tichy. I already removed the CNW lettering and heralds and will replace them with Silicon Valley Lines lettering like the previous car after a coat of paint.

[ Kurve posts ] Last week I ballasted track. This weekend I gave the rock face a quick dry-brush for highlights. For the steep hillside next to the rock I'm planning for low-flung weeds, creepers, ivy, small bushes, and small trees. Today I started with the weeds and ivy. This is mostly Scenery Express Superturf. I love that stuff. It has a nice texture and irregular body.