Progress on the layout

The MTH Z controller is in. It requires an input current of 20 Volt AC, 100 Watt with a maximum current of 6 Ampère. So, first I tried using a conventional Märklin transformer as power source, but it only generates 18 Volt AC, 32 Watt and in consequence my engine only drove very slowly.

So, I started looking for 20 Volt pre-transformer and I soon noticed that 18 V and 24 V are standards, but 20V ain't. But fortunately, Thanks to Techno Center Schmitt in Lünen (D), I have found myself a nice second-hand transformer that is fit for the job. It convert regular European 230 VAC into 20.7 Volt AC, 130 Watt and my MTH engine runs again fast at the end of the throttle.

Here is a small video to show how smooth the SW1500 switcher runs with the new power source. As can be seen, a house is under construction. This house is intended as crossing bell cover. The bell is not fully optimised, yet, but you can here it ring when the train crosses. I used a second-hand CKD 24 VAC disco-ball electromotor from Hobbieplaza which rotates with 30 rpm a mill with bolts to touch an old bike-bell found along the road. For C2C junks: "A road-side litter thingie upcycled to a trashure toy".

Changing trucks

A few months ago I was lucky to purchase some Weaver cars here in Europe. However, they we fitted with 2 rail trucks and Kadee couplers. Well nice cars but of little use on the tubular Hi-rail layout. First, I inquired directly at Weaver to get some replacement trucks and couplers, but the shipping cost exceeded the object costs. Then it took me some time to find a fine Train shop in Minot ND with just the couplers and trucks I needed and willing to serve me with real shipping costs. The items arrived here in no time and I had quiet some fun removing those Scale trucks and couplers. It is clear that my renovated 3-rail version cars stand higher on their wheels. Time to let them run.

Protosound 2

And there was sound.

A strong nearly deafening diesel roar can now be heared from the attic.

The first MTH engine has made a strong and impressive appearance here on the layout. It is a SW 1500 Reading switcher, # 30-2189-1 from 2000 with protosound 2. And it is really heavy!

If you want to add sound to your 0-layout here in Europe you can follow two routes: make a small factory to generate your own 110 Volt, 60 Hz current and run Lionel train sound engines, or take a simple and abundant Märklin transformer and run a MTH engine with Protosound. Now, I still need a Z-750 or Z-1000 controller in-line with the Märklin transformer to get all the sound options and remote couplers operating, but I am working on that. For some unclear reasons I can not convince Ebay sellers sofar to sell only the controller and not the power unit, but one day I will be lucky.

The driving characteristics of the MTH engine are quiet different from the Lionel engines I have run so far. The MTH switcher only starts to run near the end of the throttle (at full electrical power) and runs slowly and steady over the tracks. It will be a good switcher, because it behaves very good on the switches, so I am pleased with it.

For those of you who like to hear the squeeky brakes, diesel sound, crew talk and horn: here is a video to listen to.

Historail

In the middle of France, in a small town named St. Leonard de Noblat is a small railway museum: Historail. The entrance is a bit authentic peculiar and they have several train layouts operating in half-zero, zero and G. Furthermore, they show how French trains are operated and you can try in their cockpit.

There are plenty of train related objects and it is fun to walk through it all.

Personally I like the basement room best: it has a large scale zero layout with mostly hand-made trains, carriages, buildings, etc. Really nicely done. For instance the silver sleeping wagon is hand made from balsa wood. This gets most clear when you see the hand written texts. Most of the trains are ment for 2 rail operation, but nails in tracks ensure that also 3-rail operation is possible with large sliders under the engine as third rail current pick-ups.

Another special layout worth mentioning is a G scale wooden tram made by hand. A true smooth runner and really beautifully made!

Your host will be a look-a-like of Jack Black, but than a timid, kind slow French speaking version. Do not be scared you will not be interrogated on obscure French side lines and engines. In stead you will get a warm explanation of how to run French trains, both the electrical ones and the diesel-electrics. For train enthusiasts a must to stop by and have look when they pass by.

Train signal works

After the painting and the wiring has been done, I can finally say that the train signal works. What a few Lemax crossing lights, a 3 Euro relay, two lights, wires, a bit of brass and paint can do.


Now all that still needs to be done is add a bell and cover the electrics with a small shed or house.

Train signal and new cars

Two new cars have joined us. Two 2-rail Weaver cars to be more precise. A B&O #302522 50' bulkhead flat car from 1996 and a Reading #U3806 3-bay offset coal car from 1998.

So, these will have to be converted to 3-rail first, since these small flanges wheels do not track on hi-rails. This is than an excellent moment to make it diecast sprung trucks. Simultaneously, I practised my soldering skills a bit and made a train signal. Kind of fantasy signal, since only two lights is not very common, but I suits the needs of the layout and to make a signal in front of the crossing.

All-Nation Line #A-110

Last week a post war freight car kit in scale 0 arrived here and I am very pleased with it. The brand is "All-Nation Line" which was unknown to me, but several friends on the TCAMG forum explained me that it was a hobby shop in Chicago owned by Bob Colson that produced wooden-metal kits from the 40's up to the 70's of the last century. This kit has the first address (La Salle street) printed on the instructions and hence must originate from before 1961. Here in Europe such a kit is truely rare and it pleases me to share it with a wider audience.



The box itself is thick high quality folding carton with a dark-red top-paper of 7.5 x 7.5 x 31 cm size. The kit is mostly composed of wooden parts, of which one triplex wooden side panel is missing, but that can easily be remade (9.2 x 4.5 x 0.3 cm). The metal trucks have functional springs and several other details are also made from metal (feels like a tin alloy): brake wheel, brake cilinder, door handles, nut and washer casting, turnbuckle, steps...



The instructions are concise and contain some pretty American English train-words (eaves, facia boards, Queen pests, turnbuckle, etc.) ensuring that it will be an instructive kit for me.


The model is a 36' box trailer of the C&LE traction. Or in more plain English it is freight car of the interurban electrical tramway company named Cincinnaty and Lake Erie. This was a pretty amazing transport company that run high speed streetcars through most of Ohio and Indiana in the years of the great depression. The website of the Indiana Historical Society has an essay devoted to this company and it is a pleasure to read it. When passenger traffic declined they started to run also freight streetcars and this model is a freight car that would be pulled by an electrical engine or streetcar. Two old pictures from internet are included that show how the interurban freight car should look like when finished. More pictures can be found at for instance the Trolleystop and Don Ross website.

The crossing

I finally got the crossing working and to prove it, here is a video. The bell still needs to be added (so I added a fake train bell for the video) and a small house needs to be build to cover all the electrics and the wires. But is works. When a train approaches the spring under the rails is compressed and a contact is made triggering the Lemax crossing lights (#34954) to function. After the train passed the spring pushes the rails back up again.
This set-up is clearly not finished yet, but I am happy that it works.
By the way, these Lemax crossing lights (that are easily available in Europe during the X-mas season) are the same as those once sold under the K-line brand. Probably they originate from the same Chinese factory.
The reason why the lights are still not fixed on the ground plate is that my layout is a folding table and I need to unplug them before I fold the layout table back against the wall. I connected them with a simple hole-pin system, but I need to fill the holes a bit more to get a tighter fit.

Weaver hoppers

A beautiful Weaver hopper car has joined the layout. It was available locally and that seldomly happens, making this a unique opportunity. Weaver is still relatively unknown in Europe as compared to Lionel and therefore there was hardly any competition.

It is a #71353 Great Northern PS-2 Hopper and it gladly combines with the #80003 AC-2 Hopper. The new one is clearly older. It is still has plastic trucks without springs and there are less rivets to count on the body. The light blue GN paint job is a rather simple two-tone as compared to the orange-black-white decoration on the DTI hopper. Nevertheless it is a great hopper that runs smoothly on my 027 layout. If anybody knows when the GN PS-2 hopper was produced I would be grateful for letting me know.

NW-2 Switcher

Last week a beautiful Lionel 17605 Reading caboose (built 1989) joined my toy train layout. In order to celibrate this event all near scale cars gathered to make an special tour on the layout. Watch and enjoy. For those of you interested in detail, my favourite reefer (old Dutch cleanser) is standing in the background.

Lionel 1689T tender

Many Lionel streamlined pre-war steamers came with a 1689T tender. They are abundant and can be scooped up on Ebay for about 10 USD or less. Although simple and abundant, the design is beautiful due to simplicity: a simple interaction between straight lines and curves.

This particular tender is a heirloom item. I received it in poor overpainted condition, complete with light grey paints blobs. It was really nice to repaint it gun-metal and to clean the journals, drawbar, coupler and shields. Simple pleasure. This just proves again that toy trains is not about money but about appreciation and enjoyment.

259E running

The Lionel 259E engine now dislikes another 027 switch. For some reason it slows down on one particular switch, while other engines run without any issues over it. Nevertheless it runs good (besides on that one switch) and it is nice to show it. So here it comes. It just shows that a dusty and rusty toy train that did not move any more can be revitalised to a truely well running toy with character and that feels good.

Busy repair yard

It is getting a bit over-crowded with pre-war Lionel cars that are patiently waiting restoration. Amongst the latest refugees is a 814 boxcar in very poor brown overpainted condition. It used to be bright yellow-brown in better days. The 814's came out in three rather similar bland colour schemes: yellow-brown, cream-maroon and cream-orange. Perhaps it is better to try a really nice colour like burgundy red / black. That would combine great with the copper details. Well, this needs some consideration. Furthermore, another 812 gondola joined us. This was clearly tortured: a front siding is missing and a very strange plastic hook coupler is bluntly glued on. And two tank cars joined: a 654 with missing rails and a 904.

It is getting time for some restoration activity. As can be seen on the photo's the metal of a 1689 Tender is in pink Hammerite primer, waiting for better weather to get a nice Gun-metal top-coat with Tamiya spray paint TS 38 (this is the only gun metal paint easily available in Europe). This tender was already primed with a more simple primer, but that one was found to be incompatible with Tamiya spray paint (nice textures formed, GRRR). So indeed, a lot of work for nothing. The other bare metal parts are of a 259 Tender of which the metal is heavily pitted and grooved by rust. I already removed the rust with a brass brush wheel, but the metal will need to protected, plastered, polished and smoothened thoroughly. So at least some progress is made.

Winter station

This winter holiday season the Dutch railway museum organised a winter station. They created a skating oval in the central building, musicians, story tellers, a traditional merry go round and special children activities.

The special exhibition was devoted to 120 years of Fleischmann and showed tin model ships, scale zero trains, more modern toy trains in h0 and n scales and also several Magic train layouts. These magic trains are in scale 0e (narrow gauge in zero), have added play options for children (parts of the train wagons can be disassembled and assembled easily) and look quiet sturdy. Many children were playing happily with the special play layout. These Magic trains appeared new to me, but apparently they have been on the market from 1992 on. I think scale zero is a good choice for children hands and 0e makes it easy to get cheap h0 rails and to run them here in Europe. The trains themselves puzzle me a bit, as if they are simultaneously meant for children (added play functions) and middle aged train-operating men (quiet well detailled). In case Fleischmann is serious about getting more children interested, they could get some inspiration from Lionel with their Thomas the tank engines, Polar express and Potter's Hogwarth express. Furthermore, they could add some whistles, train sounds, etc. to add play value.

One of the positive surprises of the winter station was that they had fired up "De Arend". This was the first train engine ever to run on Dutch soil, between Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1839. Obviously, it was British made and what a smoke comes out of this steamer! The driver must have felt like a smoked herring after a day's work. Great that they had it smoking for us. Pity that they so limited wide gauge tracks so that it can not really run anywhere. By the way, this engine is a replicate that was built in 1939 for its anniversary.

Stream lined express

Here is a video showing a beautiful streamlined steamer with three passenger cars running around my layout. The engine is a 1668E and a smooth runner. It was made from 1937 to 1941 (so about 70 years old) and still running perfectly. The passenger cars are numbered 1630, 1630 and 1631 and were produced from 1938 to 1942

Parade of pre-war Lionel toy trains

Francesco, you asked for it and now you are going to get it. Here is my attempt to make a video of the pre-war Lionel toy trains running around on the little layout. Let's hope you will like it.

I bought railway crossing lights of Lemax at Lemaxworld for the pleasant price of 3.50 Euro / pair and placed one on the layout. Well it still has to be connected properly, but that can be sorted out later. Then I placed the pre-war trains in a queue and let them run by. In order of appearance: 289E, 1688E, 1664E, 259E and 1668E.

Much of the Lemax houses are too fantastic for me. They still would blend in nicely with a Lionel Polar express or Halloween set, but they are too Dickens-like for my taste. Some items, such as railway crossing signs, benches, lanterns, telephone booths can, however, mix in nicely and since these items are available cheaply in Europe, they are welcome on my layout.

Progress on the Lionel 259E engine

The pilot wheel of the Lionel 259E engine kept derailing on the 027 switches that were directly after a curve. I could not find the reason quickly, but after some time I noticed that the pilot wheel was stuck in the turned position as if it wanted to continue the previous curve. The reason for that was that the switch pushes the pilot wheel upwards and since it is still in curve position it can press one side up, whereas the other side is still locked behind the guiding metal sheet (yellow object in drawing), tilting the pilot wheel and starting the derailment. After I finally realised how the pilot wheel derailed, I came up with a simple solution. I soldered a piece of brass sheet (blue object in drawing) in between the two notches on the pilot wheel bracket and now it runs continuous over all my layout without derailing! This piece of brass is just visible on the photo.

The engine finally also has a matching tender (259T). It is in poor condition, with quiet some rust, no handrails, circular L sign and drawbar. The drawbar was made easily from a piece of brass sheet of 2 inches length and 3/4 inch width. The corners were smoothened with a dremel grinder and two holes were drilled in: one for the engine pin and one to screw onto the tender. They have made their first joint trip on the layout already. This is the start of a new restoration project.

Train trucks

The Williams stock car made me curious to compare the detail level in the train trucks a bit better between four brands of 0 scale 3 rail toy train producers. I was quiet surprised to see the difference between the four brands: Lionel, Weaver, Williams and K-line / Husky. Perhaps, this comparison is a bit outdated, since Williams has been purchased by Bachman and K-line by Lionel and also not complete, since I currently do not have MTH or Atlas cars. But the comparison shows how much difference in toy train truck quality one can get. Three brands have springs in the trucks, but only the springs in Weaver and Lionel cars are functional. This obviously does not mean that I have converted myself into the tradition of rivet counting, just an impression.

Williams stock car

St. Nicolas has been good to me on 5 december. He gave me a yellow Reading stock car #FC04 from Williams Electric trains. The cattle car is relatively heavy compared to similar cars from Lionel and Weaver, since the floor plate is a thicker variety of sheet metal. It has a highly detailed body in 1:48 scale. The trucks are a bit simple of pressed metal and that is a pity because that really makes it a toy train in stead of scale model car. It runs perfect on my 027 layout, I just had to put some insulating sticky tape on the metal un-coupling discs, because they created short-circuits with my Lionel 027 switches. Below the car, near the middle is a gas cilinder like structure. This is perhaps the brake system. Any way, a very nice car and more than welcome on my layout. THANK YOU St. Nicolas!

Layout maintenance

Saturday we visited the 'modelspoorbeurs' in Arnhem. A toy train heaven for h0 and N scale enthusiasts. One stand had quiet a few Athearn American trains in h0. For 0 scalers there were two stands interesting selling pre-war Märklin and JEP for enormous prices: one passenger car from Märklin for 220 Euro or a lantern for 70 Euro. This is quiet in contrast to the low prices for conventional h0 wagons of 5-10 Euro per car. It has been suggested before and it is probably true, due to the global Ebay trade common toy train cars are becoming cheaper and less common cars are becoming extremely expensive. We enjoyed the three layouts on the side. The real steam powered engines in scale G (LGB) were running and those are the most impressive to watch and smell.

Sunday was a good day for redoing a part of the layout. Because the new engine house requires a track distance (center rail to center rail) of 13 cm (5 1/5 inch) instead of the common 16 cm (6 1/4 inch) on Lionel 027 layouts, a special Z-bend had to be made. I took two half curves in 027 topped them off at 10 cm curve length and soldered them back together with brass pins. This brings both tracks just the 1 inch and a bit more to each other and indeed the engine house is now ready for use. While being busy soldering I decided to connect one switch more and to make a circular power line for accesories. I only managed to connect two red bumper lights, but this simplifies the connection of other fun things in the coming months. For instance, the rotary beacon that still does not turn.