A field railway

[Simon Glidewell]

Apart from St. Mary Hoo and Ballast Quay I also have a tiny HOf field railway project on the go. The track gauge is 6.5mm and is a mixture of the Busch feldbahn system and my own scratch built track. I have long been fascinated by the many narrow gauge field railway systems in Europe (including Britain and Ireland), with their outrageously uneven grass covered track. Germany probably boasts the largest number of feldbahns and torfbahns (or did, as many have ceased operating) with Poland and Romania following close behind. My layout has yet to be geographically located but will probably be somewhere on the northern French/German border. It serves a lignite mine. HOf track really is tiny and getting stock to run over the track with prototypical grass up to rail surface level is a REAL challange, believe me! It makes track building in P4 seem like a walk in the park by comparison. The layout is not finished yet but is getting there in fits and starts, even though it is only around 2.5 ' X 1.5' in size. Grassing the track and then getting stuff to run takes ages. The Heki fir trees in the photo are in the process of being upgraded, with trunk detailing and new foliage added. The field on the left has a new crop of potatoes just beginning to show.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Here's a torfbahn (peat railway) survivor in Germany, near Lohne, so typical of many that once used to run in various parts of the country. It's the track that interests me the most about these fascinating railways.

 

[ceejaydee]

Beautiful scene
I love the idea of Hof but it is soooo tiny!

Will you be using modified Busch locos and stock?
If so how did you go about adding the metal plates under the scratchbuilt track?

 

[ZiderHead]

Brilliant video The sanding process is just one level above walking alongside the loco with a bucket of sand and a trowel!

 

[Simon Glidewell]

One of two level crossings on the layout; this one is a double crossing but one line is closed which used to go to another lignite mine, now abandoned. The trees await trunk detailing and toning down.

 

[ZiderHead]

How far have you gone with the state of the track? Anything like that video looks impossible at this scale.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Beautiful scene
I love the idea of Hof but it is soooo tiny!

Will you be using modified Busch locos and stock?
If so how did you go about adding the metal plates under the scratchbuilt track?

Cheers ceejaydee. I do use the Busch locos, as they come from the manufacturer. Money permitting, I will upgrade them with SB Modellbau 12v motors at some stage. For my scratch built track I used scrap bits of ferrous metal strip super glued onto plasticard sleepers.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

This should answer your question Jon.

 

[Pugsley]

Lovely! I've recently got into the cane railways of Australia recently, and they're of a similar nature in some areas, although the track is usually in pretty good condition, unlike the torfbahn above. The locos are a bit bigger, though, which may have something to do with it.

Does the HOf stock not run on conventional track, then? I don't quite understand the metal plates reference.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Thanks Pugsley. The Busch locos are so tiny and light they use magnets under the chassis to help with adhesion, but more for decent electrical contact, hence the metal strips under the track. The grass of course hides the metal strips, but does not diminish the magnetic force. One additional benefit of the magnetic system is that you can create uneven track and the locos will happily negotiate it like the prototype; the locos will even run upside down without problems!

 

[Simon Glidewell]

A photo to show how small the track is! This was taken when I first started experimenting with track grassing in HOf.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

The Westerbeck torfbahn in Germany; this is still operating and has some great track.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Some classic feldbahn (field railway) scenes:-

http://www.ingr.co.uk/images/sulinkin001.jpg
http://www.buntbahn.de/fotos/data/8143/2903Lohne_Braegel_07.jpg
http://www.ssdw.de/2008/DSCF9797.jpg
http://blog.luro.de/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tmp_DSC01569285590750.jpg

 

[jonte]

Yet another of your wonderful 'thin on the ground' scenes which have proved a major influence on my own humble work, Simon, yet every one unique.

That grass 'nestling the rails' look, is something I've pondering for quite some time, but don't reckon I'd be as brave as you've been. The track looks almost lost. Fabulous, Simon. I look forward to more and more.........

Regards,

Jonte

 

[InvernessTMD]

I have been following this on Facebook!!

 

[Alan]

You have a wonderful way of modelling the unusual and run down. An inspiration to us all.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Many thanks Jonte, Inverness TMD and Alan! I'll post photos of some trains soon; I'm just waiting for a rake of wagons to arrive from Winco.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

An early view of the "mainline"! This was before I'd added the potato field and finished grassing the track. I've included it because it shows the extent (height wise) of the grass around the track. The track in the distance curves sharply to the right and descends an incline into a well concealed and deep adit and mine entrance. An abandoned mine shaft can be seen in the foreground, which was also rail served. The layout is end to end, not a tail chaser.

 

[jonte]

Plenty of interest, Simon, in such a small space. I hadn't noticed the disused mine entrance until you pointed it out. I guess I was distracted by those overgrown tracks, trying to see how far along them I could look.

Great work!

Jonte

 

[Puddlejumper]

Well my gast is truly flabbered, that's some damned good modelling going on there