Tag: Carl Arendt

Divide et Impera! The scenic divider helps to cope with different scenes

arendthausen-carlsfeld-550-ii

You may find the idea of having different scenes on a micro layout somewhat strange.  But it is not! There is one great tool to use: the scenic divider. Above you can see a design for 530 x 50 cm (ok…in 1:43,5 that´s still a micro, isn`t it?) called “Arendtshausen-Carlsfeld”. You may have noticed my bow to the late Carl Arendt… The road bridge plays the role of a scenic divider, splitting the layout into a more scenic part (right) and a fiddle Yard on the left.

trubemunde-strand

Other plan, same story. Also in “Trübemünde Strand” – a fictious terminus somewhere on Germanys coast – the road bridge is helpful to seperate station and the “rest of the world”. The design bases on Carl Arendt´s “Amalgamated Terminal“.

brucke-mit-zwei-lok

brucke-nahaufnahme

Quod erat demonstrandum…”Krumme Fohre” gets a scenic divider mock up…it´s not the best road bridge ever seen, I have to admit, but it may illustrate the principle.
See you! Alex

Gumstumping! Zigzag offers long lines…

Early in the 60th Chuck Yungkurth created the “Gum Stump & Snowshoe Railroad“. I copied this ingenious micro layout using some stock of “Märklin-M-Tracks” and renamed it as “Sanspareil”. Ok, please connive the old-fashioned trackwork…just have a look on the trackplan. And yes…that´s a switchback. The train – starting front right – has to change direction twice before reaching it´s destination one level higher on the left hand side. In this way we are able to add a distance of approximately five (!) meters. Not bad for a plank with a total length of 2, 10 m!

Kaltenholzach Gumstumping
…an H0-adaption of the original “Gumstump&Snowshoe RR” with an additional  runaround track…

 

The problem of gumstumping are steep grades. Nearly 10 % are challenging even for short trains. If you forget about the railroad flyover in the foreground you will come to a plan like below. My “Darjeeling & Himalaya RR” (0n30) zigzags through an indian landscape using Peco 0n30 trackwork. For more informations about the famous Indian “Toy Train” see the Website of the DHRS.
Cheers!
Alex

Darjeeling Switchback Trackplan
…the “Toy Train” in 0n30 – zigzag in India…

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

“Krumme Fohre” – shelf switching on 210 x 45 cm

KF Vogelschau quer sw
..that´s all – really! “Krumme Fohre” a little big layout

No space – no model railroading? If you think so, there is good news for you! Even a gauge 0 layout (1:43,5 or 1:45 if you want) fits into tiny space. And 210 x 45 cm (6,9 x 1,5 ft for our friends from oversea) is really tiny, isn´t it? 0,94 squaremeters of model railroad will probably find a place in a small living room as well. You don´t have to build a new house nor to kick your kids out to generate space for a model railroad. What about time and money? Ok…it depends. Certainly it´s possible to spend a lot of your salary and most of your free time for model railroading. If you want…and if there are no other hobbies like family or traveling you may do so. If not, try a compact layout or micro layout, how the late king of compact railroading, Carl Arendt, named it. For sure your roommates will thank you…

KF Panorama schmal
…ok, you´ve seen it already…but not in colour…

You are not yet convinced that compact railroading is best for you? Ok, I will try my very best…First have a look on some more impressions of “Krumme Fohre”.

Hmm…only two points and four tracks. Obviously “Krumme Fohre” is not a busy big city terminus. Short trains, some Diesels and a handful of grotty freight cars – enough rolling stock to have a lot of fun. What you perhaps have recognized already – “Krumme Fohre” is designed after Ian Wright´s famous “Inglenook layout“. That means, there is a lot of work for the switchman. If you want to learn more about “Krumme Fohre”, please stay tuned…

See you…at “Krumme Fohre”!
Alex