The thread on the weathered class BR-24 got me wondering who else here models European railways? I have toyed with it over the years, layout currently has a loop of Marklin C track on it with digital control. Still on the fence whether to stay with it or go back to USA prototype on 2 rail DC. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Though my model railroad is set in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, occasionally I turn my Sierra into the Swiss or Austrian Alps and run my two European trains from Roco. A freight pulled by an Austrian "Krokodil" type articulated electric, and a passenger pulled by a Swiss 2-unit locomotive originally built for the Gotthard Railway. I have an OBB "Railjet" on back-order from a small company in Austria that I've been patiently waiting for for about six months. Of course, I have to "imagineer" the caternary, but portions of my California mountain scenery seem to do a pretty fair job of suggesting the Arlberg Alps of western Austria (though I will admit that the "old west" buildings hardly look like Alpine Chalets, lol!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I am afraid there are not many members in here following European prototype. Martin from Sweden does and so do I. I am building a Swiss narrow gauge themed mini layout and will start on a 2 by 2 ft. Z scale layout as soon as my helath is resored to a degree I can dare to handle the small stuff.
My layout is actually set in southern Germany (era 4-5). I have a good size collection of ROCO and Piko models. That being said, I also have a nice amount of US rolling stock and locomotives (mid-range locomotives such Walthers Mainline and Athearn RTR and a fair amount of Kadee, Mainline and Atlas rolling stock). I have begun reducing my purchases of European items recently simply because it is becoming very difficult to find items in stock on this side of the Atlantic. When I pre-order items, either the release dates slip or the manufacturers delay shipping them here due to small demand for their products. I have ordered items that were in production, waited six months, only to see the manufacturer discontinue them! I won't go into the issues I have encountered with Roco quality lately (mainly the items produced in China).
During the late 50's and early 60's I attended school both in London and Paris. I found that my spare time was spent not as becoming a sophsticated world citizen, but as train nerd. The major railway stations became my second home, and I became a serious fan of indigenous railroads of both countries. Had my stay been longer, I would have become competely sold on European modeling.
I found that most folks wind up modeling what impresses them most. In my case, my exposure to US roads and having two uncles who ran steam were the seeds that took hold.
Today I am modeling only what I can remember during my youth in the 40's and 50's....which is mainly Erie, NYC, NJ, and PRR., but I certainly can understand why folks choose Euopean modeling.....basically, even if not experienced first hand, it is really neat.
HZ
Fooled around with the idea of modeling British pre-WWI railways for awhile, because I fell in love with the locomotIves and the elaborate paint schemes, but at the end of the day, it came down to the question of time and money, as I suspect it probably does for most people. One worthwhile benefit: there are a lot of wonderful publications full of great advice for the scratch- and kit-builder, particularly for painting and working with metal (brass and whitemetal kits are still widely available there).
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Though sort of latent at the moment, my primary modeling is UK, pre-WWI. For me, it was the green livery of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway that hooked me.
Jim F
Having spent high school years in Paris and environs during late 1950s and early 1960s, I model SNCF (French national railroad) steam which was going strong at that time. I run DC and DCC locos made by Jouef and Rivarossi pulling rolling stock by Jouef, Piko, Lima, Marklin, Roco, REE, and LS.
Dave
USAF (Retired)
Not a European prototype modeler, but rather Tom in reverse. A couple of days a year the Tomikawa Valley sees U.S. prototype steam and freight cars, and a GG1 under the (virtual) catenary. The rest of the time everything is purely Japanese.
Which days? April Fool's Day and Halloween.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Once upon a time. I had Marklin trains for 30 years before switching to US two rail. The last layout blurred the line between German/Swiss and US prototypes. The crocodile was a favorite:
I still have this loco.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Guy - I wouldn´t mind seeing more of your old layout
That old Marklin croc has turned into a valuable item! While not really rare, it still gets big money on aution sites. A mint Marklin Croc 3015 fetches prices up to $1,000 and above!
Here are a few shots from the old layout. Some show the European influence, others not so much. The layout was named the Gaylor Mountain lines and featured an electrified lower section with a mountain pass above. The lower section featured scratchbuilt catenary based on American trolley wire prototype. I hand carved a five foot deep canyon at one end of the layout. I later added a yard/seaport area. Thye layout came down in 2004 when I started my current layout the Willoughby line.
The crocodile is from my childhood train layout. I used to run that loco around the layout at full speed for hours. On the last layout (pictured here) the thing was so heavy it would shake details off of stuff as it went around.
Thats plenty from me,
Love the layout pictures, espicialy the old Kroc! Always wanted one of those, but the price they fetch is usualy out of my reach. Still hoping to score one someday. Mike
Guy - thank you for sharing the pictures of your wonderful layout with us.
These old Marklin locos sure are hefty beasts! I never owned one of those old Swiss Crocs , but I laways wanted to have one. My wife bought me a class E 94 as the dealer called it a German Croc - a nickname never assigned to it. Nevertheless, I won´t part from it. I test ran it after 25 years resting in a display case and it ran as smooth as ever!
The RhB has thier baby swiss Kroc as well, but you have to go with Bemo or LGB to get one of those. Love the green DG class 194 Kroc! Its on my short list of Marklin engines to get. Need to sell a brass piece first. For those that love Marklin or just Euro modeling in general, check out the marklinusersnet forum. Lots of great pics over there. Mike
A better picture, revealing a tad more detail of my E 94 "Croc". Still on an accepatbele level - for a nearly 60 year old model!
... and a shot of my HOm Swiss narrow gauge layout:
very acceptable, even by todays standards, and very robust unlike many models currently on the market. Will all these new fangled electronic wonders still run in 60+ years???? Only time will tell. Love the narrow gauge to! Mike
Mike - I guess they won´t. My Bemo locos are already a different kind of quality, requiring some kind of tinkering each time I run them. Split or worn gears, detail parts breaking off, decals and paint rubbing off when handling the locos - unknown to those old Marklin beasts.
I have also started work on a Z scale layout. I was very much happy to see that the tiny Marklin Z scale locos are built to a high level of quality and are easy to service!
Here are my european trains! From top to bottom:
1. Germany: German Federal Railways Class 216 diesel locomotive with more or less matching 10 car passenger train (mostly 70s era)
2. Germany: Royal Bavarian State Railways Class S3/6 4-6-2 steam locomotive with matching 9 car Orient Express passenger train (1908-1914 era)
3. Yugoslavia: Yugoslavian Railways Class 51 2-6-2T steam locomotive with 7 car local passenger train (1952-1968 era)
4. Yugoslavia: Yugoslavian Railways Class 33 2-10-0 (German Class 52) steam locomotive with freight train (50s to 70s era)
5. Croatia (formerly Yugoslavia): Croatian Railways Class 2063 "Karavela" diesel locomotive (EMD built!) with matching 10 car Marjan Ekspres passenger train (1991-2000 era)