HO Neider Stutzendorf.

[Roger Pound]

Greetings all, once again, following my return from Worcestershire. A minor health setback has put me a week behind my planned schedule, but work has now commenced on the construction of Stutzendorf. The basic frame for the revised baseboard is now complete - see much previous waffling about the errors of my ways on this score - ! It might not sound much, but these days the assembly was an afternoons work for me. Things now have to be done slowly, carefully and plans of campaign well thought out - life can get tedious, don't you think? I do not feel any real purpose would be served by publishing a photograph of a few lengths of timber screwed together to an audience of experienced modellers such as yourselves but more work will is scheduled for later today to enable the initial track base to be laid.

The original track plan upon which my intended scheme is based was for an H0e 750mm x 550mm system. So that I can more easily add my little H0 feeder to the H0e system I have increased the dimensions to 1350mm x 750mm. The standard gauge section is a very simple scheme based on a prototype goods depot whilst the narrow gauge is extracted from a freelance design, both of which appear in the MiBa publication that I mentioned in #18. It took me quite some time to effectively combine aspects of these two schemes into something I liked and included getting rid of some features, such as a triangular section which would complicate the wiring (for me, anyway) with DPDT switches and the like, plus extra soldering which I can well do without nowadays . However, a days work whilst on my holiday saw the plan evolve. I have mentioned before I rarely commit my plans to paper -it invariably becomes a wasted exercise as I tend to alter things here and there as I work through the building process. I would suggest that this is one of the joys (or penalties - depends on your point of view .) of freelance modelling. It is my habit anyway.

So there we are at the moment. I'm away to get something to eat and then off to do some more baseboard work this afternoon - well, there's a cool wind and regular heavy showers here today, so what better than working on the railway in the garage ?

Roger

 

[jonte]

Greetings all, once again, following my return from Worcestershire. A minor health setback has put me a week behind my planned schedule, but work has now commenced on the construction of Stutzendorf. The basic frame for the revised baseboard is now complete - see much previous waffling about the errors of my ways on this score - ! It might not sound much, but these days the assembly was an afternoons work for me. Things now have to be done slowly, carefully and plans of campaign well thought out - life can get tedious, don't you think? I do not feel any real purpose would be served by publishing a photograph of a few lengths of timber screwed together to an audience of experienced modellers such as yourselves but more work will is scheduled for later today to enable the initial track base to be laid.

The original track plan upon which my intended scheme is based was for an H0e 750mm x 550mm system. So that I can more easily add my little H0 feeder to the H0e system I have increased the dimensions to 1035mm x 750mm. The standard gauge section is a very simple scheme based on a prototype goods depot whilst the narrow gauge is extracted from a freelance design, both of which appear in the MiBa publication that I mentioned in #18. It took me quite some time to effectively combine aspects of these two schemes into something I liked and included getting rid of some features, such as a triangular section which would complicate the wiring (for me, anyway) with DPDT switches and the like, plus extra soldering which I can well do without nowadays . However, a days work whilst on my holiday saw the plan evolve. I have mentioned before I rarely commit my plans to paper -it invariably becomes a wasted exercise as I tend to alter things here and there as I work through the building process. I would suggest that this is one of the joys (or penalties - depends on your point of view .) of freelance modelling. It is my habit anyway.

So there we are at the moment. I'm away to get something to eat and then off to do some more baseboard work this afternoon - well, there's a cool wind and regular heavy showers here today, so what better than working on the railway in the garage ?

Roger

Jon

 

[Roger Pound]

A little more progress to report. (At last! I hear the cry go up ) The H0e remains on hold for Stutzendorf, but rebuilding the old 1600mm x 445mm board and, following the KISS principle of re-using available materials, the Stutzendorf standard gauge will exist as a separate entity. The track-plan is once again by courtesy of my MiBa publication, this time using a prototype scheme based on Scheidegg/Allgau. This, quite co-incidentally, fits in nicely being with my original scheme being in the southernmost part of Germany adjoining Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria and bordering Austria. It is not an administrative district as such, as far as I can see. (Corrections welcome, but not a necessity, thank you.)

Moving on - the rebuilt board was suitably lined for the area where track and station etc would stand - this should show what I achieved:



The point-work visible shows the initial fiddling with which spare points that I had to hand. It was here, having made the two steps forward, there came the one step back situation. It became immediately apparent that my bits box did not contain the proper points for my requirements. The ones I had were all medium and large radius and mostly the wrong 'hand' to boot . The obviously limited space had already made compact point-work a 'given' so 90% of what I had was ruled out. Well, the bullet had to be bitten and an order for appropriate point-work was placed with my favourite supplier earlier today - delivery is due on Wednesday. It did give me the opportunity to ensure that the layout will have electro-frog points throughout. Possibly a bit of belt and braces as continental stuff rarely stalls even on insul-frogs, but why miss an opportunity to improve?

So, forty-eight hours or so absence from this layout until the new parts arrive ? Well, not really - I can instead delve in to my store of H0 buildings and scavenge some items for repair and renovation as required for this new effort which will be known as "Neider Stutzendorf" and this thread re-titled accordingly. The ng line will be re-christened as and when construction starts - bearing in mind my rather precarious health that could be sooner rather than later .

Roger .

 

[Roger Pound]

Postscript to #23 - of course, this does mean modification of the previous carefully drawn up plan for the original H0e layout - yes, I am mad - I just keep a sharp eye out for the men in the white coats........!

Roger

 

[jonte]

Good to see I’m not alone in changing my mind, Roger

Roll on Wednesday

Jon

 

[Roger Pound]

With the present state of affairs, both of my health and the work on Neider Stutzendorf my reports seem to have become more spaced out as time passes (at a ridiculous rate of knots, too !). However, as the subject can be now considered a 'layout under construction' I feel it is better that I now transfer to the appropriate thread, so look out for me there.

Thanks,

Roger.