Foreign Trains

[Anonymous]

Thos who have got past the subject title and got this far will probably recognise the writer! As a minority (in interest!), I pose this question now and again if only to find new adherents. There are of course, the usual enthusiasts who have interest in trains, other than American, but it would be nice to know of others.
CTT seems to have more of an interest than OGR with its recent reviews of Ace and B-L products.

[FJ and G]

Brian,

I'm not since I'm focused---or should I say fixated----on the Santa Fe only. However, I've ridden trains throoughout Asia and have a deep appreciation for them. IMO, more foreigners model US trains than visa versa. And, in this month (Jun04) Trains mag, there's a wonderful article on trains of the Swiss passes.

The Brits and Germans seem to take their model trains just as seriously as do we. Hope you find some other foreign train modelers out there.

dav

[Anonymous]

I received a book for Christmas this year that had pictures and descriptions of trains from all over the world. I have always liked British styled locos and I wish LIonel would dip their toe in the water with one(how about a Harry Potter loco...hint hint) Anyway I have not persued any yet since I thought I remember reading somewhere that toy trains produced in England or Europe run on a different voltage?? Not quite sure but someday I will look into it more closely.

[spankybird]

Hi All,

If you want to see some foreign train here is a web site for a German Co. Do underside it is in all German.

It is a chance to see what they have across the pond.

www.williwill.de



tom

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian.
Well I am a foriegn railroad fan. I have an Om 1/45th scale layout based on Swiss meter gauge prototype. After several trips to Switzerland I fell in love with their railroads, particularly the narrow gauge operations. I love passenger trains and considering whats left of U.S. service, Europe is a dream. Modern, fast, frequent,clean and ON time!!

I subscribe to Continental Modeller and belong to the Swiss Railway Society, both UK based and the American based European Train Enthusiasts. There are also many German, Swiss, and Dutch web sites and a lot of them have an English version. So with these sources of information and Email I can keep up with what is happening across "the pond".

As FJ and G observed I think that there is more interest in modelling US in the UK and Europe than the other way round. The quality of model railroading overseas is very high, some stunning work is being done. The european manufacturers, both large and small, are turning out a amazing variety of items that are certainly the equal of ours in detail and performance.

In the Feb. 04 issue of MR there was a brief article about the huge display in Hamburg, Germany - Miniatur Wunderland. A visit to their web site at http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de is a real eye popper.

I have been a model railroader since 1949 and used to feel that European equipment was strange looking. I have now made a complete turn around. To go down to the train room and look at the layout brings back a flood of memories of our time in Europe. The challenge of modelling something different has given a real boost to my enthusiasm for the hobby.

I am hopeful that their will be a growing interest in foriegn railroading here in the US, but as the low number of post to your thread indicates, it probably will not be among this forum membership.

Anyway, keep on railroading,

Ben

[lionelsoni]

Czech out http://www.ets.cz/

[Anonymous]

Gomez, in answer to your thoughts on voltage, most O gauge tinplate from the UK and Europe will run on US layouts. My Hornby locos really require AC 20v or so, but run fine on a high power transformer such as a MTH Z4K. Some of the manufacturers new products are DC, so would need rectifying - an easy task.

[FJ and G]

That Hornby engine made in UK with live steam (OO), would be neat to run. I'm wondering if the live steam system could be stripped out and placed in an O scale locomotive. Hmmm.

[FJ and G]

The Brits, like folks I know in the LA area, are space-challenged. They seem to like using hidden staging areas and small dioramas. Makes the layout appear a lot bigger than it is because you keep cycling trains thru.

Some other interesting techniques as well.

Also, they do a lot of train spotting over there.

dav

[Anonymous]

I've always loved all trains from anywhere in the world and own many books on foreign trains. In my toy train collection I own many prewar and postwar tinplate trains from foreign manufacturers. I have pieces in O gauge by Bing, Bub, Distler, Kraus Fandor, Keim, Beckh, Beake (All German, mainly clockwork), VEB Metalspeilwarren (East German S gauge train made in a state-owned factory), Brimtoy, Mettoy (both British), Merkur (Czech), IGNAP (Industry National of Automatic Toys, Padua, an Itialian company, also S gauge), Wittrock (Danish) and Hornby. Shortly, I'll be receiving a prewar O gauge operating crossing and street lamps made by LR (Le Rapide), a French company, that I won on ebay. I also own many Japanese-made trains, but I don't think they would count because they were all made for export and are to some extent based on North American Prototypes. I also have a small amount of Marklin HO fromt the 50's and some Tri-ang OO gauge Briti***rains. I have a good sized Tri-ang collection, but a lot of it is Canadian market items. I guess you could say I love it all!

[Bob Keller]

We're hoping to receive one of the Ace A4-class streamliners at York next week, which would put it in line for October or November reviews.

BTW I read most of the British model railway titles (Railway Modeller, Britsh Railway Modelling, and Model Rail) and there seems to be an explosion of available locomotive KITS on O gauge (alas, two rail). Everything from the most antique tea kettle to the most modern diesels. so for a folk with tiny houses, someone is adding on the the garage to build a large pike!

Now if three-rail would just catch fire once more....

[wallyworld]

I would give my right arm to find a model of South African NC 26 also known as" The Red Devil." It looks like a bright red NYC Niagra on steroids, yet is narrow gauge.
I like the Buck Rodgers look of late era British streamlined steam. Slightly off the topic is the recent advertisement I found in a British publication that is a Hornby Flying Scotsman set complete with transformer, doubletrack loops, a siding, misc structures and a play mat included for 119 pounds. Not bad.

[peterjenkinson1956]

lo lo from australia...the trains down here are based on american practice and we even have double stack trains..check out the australian web sites...i model in ho and n ..ho i have eastern ..csx conrail etc and n gauge i go for mid west flatlands...i have travelled around the world and been on railways in asia europe and north america and i must say the railway that impressed me the most was the santa fe...the best train ride i ever had was in cambodia from the coast to the capital 120 miles in 12 hours..you pay allmost nothing and you can ride on the roof all day if you want ladies serve food and beer..i have dine this ride a couple of times and would recommend it to anyone...jenko

[spankybird]

HI Jenko,

It was great reading about your modeling trains down under. I glad to here that the U.S. trains are model there.

By the way welcome to the Forum. Please continue to share with us.



You can check my web site by click on the web icon below.

tom

[Bob Keller]

FYI below are two handy websites for folks following UK trains. The first if the Model Railway Express website run by Pat Hammond. We had a chat with Pat in the "Few Minutes With" section of News & Notes last year. Though on holiday till the 19th, he normally updates his website with the latest UK model news (N through O and then some) five days a week.

http://www.mremag.demon.co.uk/

A new web magazine is Model Railways On-Line, an Australian-based site focusing on UK model railroading.

http://www.gppsoftware.com/SiteNet/ShowPage.asp?SiteId=4&PageId=37

[cypriano]

The website that spankybird mentioned above is in German as (s)he said---but that is just the default language. There is a button the clink on for English.