About

Why this blog?

Some time ago I somehow stumbled over rail modeller, a great little piece of software that allows you to design layouts, very easily. This rekindled an interest I had as a kid/teenager in designing layouts and playing with the Marklin HO model tracks (&trains) that we had at home.

After reading a bit about what’s available these days, and trying some things out – questions came up such as what kind of clearance do I actually need between double track rail lines? How do I wire up a double slip? How to use the Roco Z21 system (DCC) with your own router? Some of the answers were easy to find, others much harder and in other languages. A couple just by experimenting! So anyway, I thought I’d better share (&translate) some of the the stuff I am finding, such as the European NEM standards and try to build a bit of a compact reference guide. As building progresses I will share more including the best products & suppliers that I come across.

A bit about what I am interested in – model railway wise

I am based in Sydney, born in the Netherlands and my interest is both in modelling, realistic driven locs and traffic. Location/modelling wise, I am currently limiting my self to Germany (with cross border adventures) because of a mix of familiarity, model availability, some iconic locomotive designs, generally good quality and easy digital sockets.

That said, I take a lot of inspiration from The British (have a look at John de Frayssinet work or books) and their modelling but with a few exceptions, I can’t get into their train designs. On the other side of the pond, there are many iconic US locomotives and at a very good price, but I am just not familiar enough with the style of operation, although I get a real sense Americans do pay a lot of attention to the versatility in operation on their layouts.

Finally, I did consider Sydney itself – it’s very suited to modelling with its short platforms, sharp curves, long goods trains, many tunnels plus the lush exotic vegetation – but the availability of models is poor, especially in N.

To have a look at my module/layout building progress, click on ‘my layout’ in the menu. See my first post to see its design. Or look below for the product I am and likely will be using.

Edo

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What’s planned – Products Used

• Scale: N because it allows decent curves and train lengths and seeing the tiny models just look and drive so well makes me smile.
• Automation: undecided, perhaps iTrain or Train Controller
• Model Inspiration: Bahnhof Titisee as of 1955 + French influences. Titisee is a junction station on the electrified part of the Höllentalbahn and the startpoint of the 3Seenbahn (‘3 Lakes Line’). The single track line is classified as a mainline and serves both goods and passenger traffic. The area is quite elevated -it’s near ski resorts-  and has more traffic than you normally would expect given the population density. The track was electrified in 1936 using 20kV 50Hz and was switch over in the late 50s to 15kV 16.7Hz which is became the standard in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

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• Layout CAD: Railmodeller 4.1.10 (Can’t recommend v5 yet)
• Benchwork: Layered 26mm Dow XPS foam + Marine plywood ends
• Power: Digital (14V DCC) using Roco Z21 + mobile & tablet as controllers
• Track: Peco Code 55 flextrack
• Switches: Peco Electrofrog 55 – mostly large radius (914mm)
• Turnout Motors:DCC Concepts’ Cobalt IP Digital (slow throw, DCC, polarity switched)
• Block Detection: current sensing with Digikeijs DR4088BR-CS (RBUS, no voltage drop)
• Servo Control (form signals): Digikeijs DR4024 (DCC with DC power)
• Lighting Control: Digikeijs DR4018 (DCC with DC power)
• Module connectors: standard 25-pin printer connectors. 3 Electric circuits: DCC, Accessories DCC and 12V DC+GND
• Decoders: Zimo MX622, MX623, MX681
• Couplers: considering Kühn and Fleischmann Profi couplers.