HO Eine Sekundärbahn

[Tim Hale]

​

Whilst looking around a rather old farm near Traindorf we found an odd feature found behind the farmhouse, it was a small stone hut built into the side of the hill. It was the entrance to a cold store or 'Erdkeller' for the 18th century farm, although farmhouse had a basement it also had a separate earth cellar.

In terms of room height and shape, it penetrates far less deeply into the ground, only two steps lead down to the brick entrance. The quarry stone vault of the cellar is also completely covered with soil and potatoes are stored here over the winter - dark, cool, but frost-free.

There were a couple of other similar garden cellars in the village, one was not built into the side of a hill, instead merely cut into the farm garden and covered with the displaced soil.





Never seen one of these modelled but easy to do.

The model - a resin casting

 

[Tim Hale]

Whilst trying find the actual width of a local lane, I had a good idea of scaling the width from a head-on photo taken in ‘52 of a Käfer (Beetle) sat in a lane, this gave an actual width of just 3500mm or 40mm in HO. All this matters because there is a local road that runs the entire length of the scenic section and connects both the station and farm (see the photo above )

Having bored everyone with previous mentions of the Great Escape and the dusty roads, maybe I should attempt to recreate a narrow rural road that is gravelled not metalled. Picture mounting card is the chosen material with PVA* holding it in place and covered in an acrylic texture, this has a pleasing finish that can be painted with matt emulsion from Johnstones, the road edges are carefully blended with the amazing lightweight instant Polyfilla.


This was a old layout with gravel roads made by the same method, there will be pictures when it is finished tomorrow night……

*I have a question. In the not too distant past I used an non-solvent adhesive that was not ‘No more nails’ the stuff was rather creamy and water soluble (good for the brushes) it was bought at home improvement store. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name…….any ideas?

 

[Richard Gawler]

Possibly Titebond? This is a creamy colour and cleans up with water.

 

[Tim Hale]

Hi Richard,

I use Titebond for wooden joints, I don’t think it was Titebond. It was white and in a squeezy tube like a toothpaste……it had no smell. Possibly a tile adhesive……..?

Tomorrow, I need to visit B&Q for some white spray plastic primer, I guess a few minutes in the glues isle will be well spent.

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

'Resurgam' the only word written on St Pauls , it is Latin and means 'I will rise again'.

October 2022


March 2023


October 2023

In between October 2022 and October 2023 were eight heart attacks and two long stays in hospital

Thanks to the NHS and thank you for your patience

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

​

Courtesy of Herr Ludger

Since I found some images of this farm at Plankstetten, I have been really busy. The rail crossing at the farm is challenging as all the levels are different and they are critical as the road surface must not protrude above the adjacent rail top and the slope down to track must be smooth not too severe. Below is the progress so far at 16:00 today, it is a tad bleak but all the details are ready.

​

All the glue has set and the remainder of the road surface (picture mounting card) is laid in place. In the foreground will be the midden and its crane as well as a silage heap, I am unsure what was used before black plastic and car tyres to keep the heat in and water out of the silage, presumably, tarpaulins were used, those Tunnock wrappers will finally find their purpose. Btw, I don’t like the size of the midden, much too large, it will reduced in height and the Glaswegian tarpaulins with hide the carnage, in the meantime I await the arrival of some 2mm plasticard to build another set of concrete walls. I am unsure if prefabricated vertical silos were in use in the mid ‘50s but I need somewhere for the stork nest….

An appropriate period tractor with suitably ancient attachment.



Tim

​

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

This enormous image is labelled large silo and the Dimond’s diary farm has a couple therefore they must contain livestock feed but exactly what is the feed is a mystery.

The livestock feed will be feed pellets.

 

[michael080]

Many thanks, I wonder when feed pellets began to be used in Europe?

That was my though when I saw your silo picture. Traditionally, all supply was stored in barns. Silos were used from the 1060s on, but mainly at larger farms. The area you model used to have smaller farms, so a silo may not be correct. The shape you show with the spherical roof is unknown in Germany anyway.

We had a small discussion about pavement at farms and dungheaps.
I found a couple of pictures in my much beloved book 1950 - ein schwäbisches Dorf



This village is located on the "schwäbische Alb", a region south of Stutgart, but I think it is very well comparable what these villages were looking like all through Germany. The photographer was using very expensive Kodachrome film, the colours in these pictures are still close to what they were 70 years ago.

Michael

 

[Tim Hale]

Thank you Michael,

I do not rely on the internet for information, over the past few yearsI have accumulated one or two relevant publications:-
Bibliography
I have found the series of publications from Wartberg Verlag to be extremely useful as they tend to be specific to the Franken, other gems included the Haeuser aus Franken from the museum at Bad Windsheim.

The 'date' of the layout is 1968, just about within Ep3 by which time the 'German Economic Miracle' had begun to filter down to the rural economy in Oberfranken, certain practices were changing*, such as the use of silage rather than barn storage and mechanisation was increasing (tractors, albeit rather small, were finally accessible to all). Other visible changes were the use of tarmacadam on the more important rural highways (mostly due to the need to rapidly move the military) although gravelled (dusty) roads were still a 'thing' in quieter locations.

​

*manure (bedding straw+cow muck) was still normal as the practice of bedding down on concrete had not really taken off, the slurry pit and 'gulli bomber' were still in the future.

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

The farm is fast becoming the dominant feature on the tiny layout, there are five large buildings/structures, just three storage buildings, a modern silo and the tiny one-family farmhouse. The much larger cow sheds, milking parlour are just too large to be featured and must be imagined just “off scene”.



The looming silo also hides the exit to the Fiddleyard and as previously mentioned, will be home to storks.

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

After painting but before weathering





This is the Erdkeller after an application of 'modelling dust' to subdue the colours. The
image has not be 'shopped' it is simply 'as is'

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

Possibly Titebond? This is a creamy colour and cleans up with water.

Thanks to another thread, the penny finally dropped, it was non-solvent Gripfill.

And another peculiar small structure is underway, this time a former pig sty that has been repurposed as wood/toolshed for a vegetable garden. The original was spotted whilst being nosey in the garden of a farm near Behringersmuehle, the owner was intrigued by my interest in his garden (which was very neat and nice veg) and he explained that there was a pig and the plot had been the pig’s domain. However, after the last pig was slaughtered he simply turned the plot into a very well manured veg patch simply because the hog was hard work, noisy, smelly and he had to abstain from meat for the sake of his health.

Anyhew, a couple of years ago, all the photos taken on that trip were lost but from what I can remember this little kit is a dead ringer. I just could not find a place for the ex-porcine shed and the station has a quite extensive staff allotment* at the far end of Pottendorf, the ex-sty will be a change from the usual wooden shed.

*Allotments are a state approved way of life in Germany, thanks in part to Moritz Schreber click here a gentlemen who promoted the growing of vegetables by the working classes in the rapidly industrialised Germany.

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

Combining my interest in gardening with modelling the railways of Germany.



Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber (15 October 1808 – 10 November 1861) His publications predominantly dealt with the subject of children's health and the social consequences of urbanization at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Schreber was the founder of the eponymous "Schreber movement". In 1864, the first Schrebergarten, was established by leasing land for the physical exercise of children.



Move forward 150+ years and you're zipping along in an ICE high-speed train, munching happily away on your bratwurst, just as you're wiping the last blob of mustard from the corner of your mouth, a lazy glance out the window, though, comes as a shock. Rather than the well-ordered suburbs or well-kept factories you have come to expect- miniature houses tucked in next to the train tracks as far as the eye can see.

It's a sight that greets visitors on the approach to almost every town in Germany -- the clutter of ladders and rakes leaning against the back of the structures, neatly ordered flowerbeds, well-tended fruit trees and picture-perfect picket fences are lined up like regiments of tin soldiers. The phenomenon is known as a Schrebergärten -- an area outside the city where the gardening-obsessed Germans can rent out a small plot and plunge their fingers into the soil.

But while getting back to nature is an instinct many of us indulge in, the German gardener takes it very seriously indeed. Flawlessly clipped lawns, neatly sculpted bushes, and flowerbeds entirely free of even the tiniest weed are the norm with many gardens revealing a feng shui exactness that would put a Japanese bonsai master to shame. Other vegetation virtuosos prefer a more playful perfection and opt for a liberal distribution of garden gnomes and plastic windmills with cheap replicas of Greek fountains and other water features a must for those with a bit of cash to burn.



Ordered, trimmed, enclosed, ornamental, each strip has some kind of glorified shed with floral and vegetable displays. As for people, they’re only temporary visitors, because however fabulous the summerhouse/cottage/shed – and some are very fancy –one of the many hundreds of rules is that a Schrebergärten is strictly non-residential and rules are there to be obeyed. These enclosures are the garden equivalent of white bread: nature with the wildness extracted – and with more fertilizer per square metre than any farmer would dare to use.

I like creating Schrebergärten, as they tend to be slightly anarchic in a very structured society, a few year ago I created a 1:45 vegetable garden, the only differences in 1:87 are the size and cost of the plants - mine are Busch, Noch and scratch because I could not find anything elsewhere. They include strawberries, green and red cabbage, cauliflower, green and red lettuce. Over the next couple of weeks, I will share the creation of a Schrebergärten for Pottendorf.

​

Tim

 

[Roger Pound]

Keep well Tim. I could go on about my latest health problem but I won't, as it is one of those ticking bombs that may or may not go off - it's just the uncertainty that get's one down.

Cheers,

Roger.

 

[Tim Hale]

Thursday and a bit more progress.

The various bit of layered 5mm foamboard, the subtle changes in terrain are more suitable for a small terminus and its immediate surroundings, although there are a few rocky outcrops of lightweight foam rocks which will be secured in place with solvent free No More Nails.

All the edges of the layers and the road have been blended with Polycell Lightweight Filler, all imperfections have been filled and within the next 48hrs, once the filler is hard, any nibs and ripples will be sanded away.

Finally almost everything except the track and platform will receive a coat of limestone coloured matt emulsion ready for further surface treatment.

Awaiting in various boxes, drawers and cupboards are a plethora of buildings, trees, vegetation etc. to become another layout called Pottendorf.

Tim

 

[Richard Gawler]

Finally almost everything except the track and platform will receive a coat of limestone coloured matt emulsion ready for further surface treatment.

Tim, I would be tempted to slosh a coat of white household paint - perhaps an acrylic primer or even base coat - everywhere before the limestone colour. To even out the variations in the colour of the sub base. I used base coat (a sort of high build emulsion) on my first house and I am sure it has an application on layouts.

 

[Tim Hale]

Richard,
I have a large can of limestone coloured emulsion but no white, therefore maybe two coats of the limestone…….thanks for the thought.
The project is one of using remaining bits and bobs whilst avoiding further purchases, for example most of the track and electrickery is recycled as are the buildings, this keeps down costs and avoids marital disputes.

Tim

 

[Tim Hale]

If an idea works, why not repeat it?

This was Mk1 2018


This is Mk2, 2023, this time the base is removable, easier to work at the dining room table.


Tim

 

[Roger Pound]

Good thinking Tim. I'm a firm believer in the old axiom that if it ain't broke, don't fix it .

Roger

 

[Tim Hale]

It might be worth adding that Mk2 is considerably larger and the additional real estate will be filled with mostly the recycled bits plus some much better model vegetables than were previously available. Plus a laser cut ‘potting’ shed (definitely not British) and an outdoor thinking room, which are pretty much the same, these artefacts also serve as covers for the screws that hold the foamboard in place. A welcome gift of a presentation pack of garden bits in HO will be put to good use as will the ‘ditch’ between the roadway and the foamboard shape to plant some water weeds that are home to the prey of the family of storks atop the feed silo.