Merkur flat bed car

The Merkur flat bed car 9449 is excellent for moving cars about. Therefore, I filled it up with two nice ones. It is almost starting to look like a complete Merkur goods train, indeed.

Modelspoorbeurs Zutphen Spring 2015

This weekend a large regional swap-meeting was held in Zutphen. So we went to assess the offers, the sales and the displays. Our first impression was that it was less busy than in December, and there were a little fewer sales stands and more displays.

Loads of train stuff in all directions!

This British layout proves that model train layout do not depict an ideal world; a beautiful load of bricks has just fallen off the fork lift.

Look even, Dad's Army was represented on this beautifully build narrow gauge G scale British layout.

 Here a nice Dutch diorama of times gone by.

 Another Dutch diorama with a prewar local railroad theme.

 An absolute eye catcher. American trains in N scale run circles around a Scottish distillery.

 Also, plenty of old model railroad stuff was lying about; Mettoy, wind-up Märklin, etc.

Two sales stalls with old trains; to the left some recovered items unfit for operation, to the right beautiful toy trains!

As usual, I spend most of the time at the Merkur layout of "Blik en Speelgoed" and I let my son take some pictures, as I talked too much.

 Well, he certainly gave us a completely different perspective on the layout.

Which also clarified for me that he liked the silver Mikado steamer and the green large electric engine BR E52 the best.

Next to the Merkur layout, was a large Lionel - Williams - MTH - Plasticville sales stand. It had already been announced on Marktplaats, but seeing it was even more impressive. What a capital.

Later I understood this collection was a heritage that they tried to liquidate. But Lionel on swap meets over here is as uncommon as a polar bear on the Bahamas, so they mostly sold the accessories. Anyway, nice to see what one person can accumulate over time.

And at the stand of the SSN stood the hand-painted prototype of the NS 8800 (J94 for the British), the post-war austerity steam switcher. Although there are still two design flaws for Merkur to deal with, it really looks nice to see a Dutch steamer in three rail zero scale.

Overcast days are great to get things finished

It was a chilly, overcast day. So, I took my drying box with old fashioned light bulbs from the storage, properly removed the dust and spider webs and started to spray paint the roof. Three coats were necessary to make it smashing white.

Now guess, which Paya 987 coach has a newly made replacement roof? There is a stunning difference in whiteness between an original pre-civil-war coach roof with all the grime and rust spots and a newly made and spray painted example. Anyway, these coaches are one step closer to completion.

Spring is in the air

What a wonderful weekend indeed. Time to walk through the forest, feel the heat of the sun rays and see the still bare trees. But the excitement in the bird songs gives a clear signal; spring is just around the corner. Anyway an excellent Sunday to spray paint primer on my Paya replacement roof. Primer helps you to see the last unevenness. So after the roof was dry, I started to fill the rough places with filler. It will be a nice roof indeed.

Paya 987 replacement roof in primer

MSCV Herwen 2015

This weekend the local model railroad operator society (MSCV) celebrated their 35 years of existence and therefore they filled the local sport hall of the village of Herwen with toy trains, lots of layouts and running toy trains indeed! Here are a few snaphots of the train show.

It was enormous crowded, so the treasurer will be happy as well.

This is a Swiss inspired modular layout in zero narrow gauge.

This was a huge oval with a front station and a shadow station in the back on which 2 rail zero trains were run. Definitely fine scalers as you see; couple the lot with a set of tweezers.

Although 2 rail, still very impressive.

Above a diorama of the Hezelpoort in Nijmegen in 1927. Beautifully done! With cyclists, trams and trains passing by.

Another German inspired layout.

And yet another German inspired layout.

But also a modern Dutch layout, with plenty of yellow articulated passenger trains for commuters.

And finally something truly British as well, All in all quiet impressive what the various gentlemen have hobbied together during many evening hours of work.

New wheels for the Paya Coaches

At Rail 2015, I also purchased 12 new sets of wheels and axles for the Paya coaches. The Merkur 9852 standard wheels, fit the old Paya coaches fine and they run smoothly now. That is a major improvement. In the meantime I have soldered the heads of split pens on the new replacement roof. So, I just have to sand and paint the roof and find some new buffers.

Rail 2015 in Houten

This weekend Rail 2015 was held in Houten (somewhere in the Western bit of the Netherlands). This is a swap meeting and a display of model railroad clubs at the same time. Three halls were filled with second hand toy trains, new toy trains, serious modellers, operators with their layouts etc. All in all quiet amusing. Personally my favorite stand was the Merkur stand with a long bone shaped layout with colourful trains rattling on three rail in zero scale. Welcome to coarse scale / tin-plate heaven.

Here are some picture of the most bright part of Rail 2015. Including the new diesel engines and the turntable.

An apartment building in tin plate is pretty creative!

Do I see J94 prototypes or what?

Merkur BR 01 puffing and steaming

The new diesel engine is a special one. A Czech prototype named T499 or Cyclops.It reminds me of a Class 66 engine with only 4 axles. A nice looking engine indeed.

Merkur toy trains for sale

Many model railroad clubs with their layouts

Amsterdam in model

Pre-war Lionel engine on modern tubular Merkur tracks

Apparently, some American folks still think that Lionel trains do not run on modern tubular Merkur tracks. This is getting more relevant as Lionel tubular track is getting more difficult to acquire. Although this topic gets raised frequently, lets throw in a video to make this subject clear for once and for all.

So, yes Lionel trains, also pre-war Lionel trains, do run on Merkur tracks. Lets hope we can move forward from here on.

Replacement roof for a Paya 987 coach

This weekend we had a few hours to saw, shave and sand a rough roof mould for the missing Paya 987 roof. I used old pine as it is hard enough to be rigid and soft enough to work it into the required shape. Furthermore, we have a full shed of pieces of old pine wood. The plan is to sand the mould in an even better shape and then to use it as soldering mould and make a new roof from either new tin plate or brass plate. Well anyway, a start has been made and I am quiet happy with this rough mould.

Last Saturday, I went to Peperkamp to get a brass sheet of K&S (10 x 4 x 0.01 inch) for a reasonable price. First, I cut and folded a paper roof to measure all the distances on the roof mould. Then I started to cut the metal sheet. To get the four right angles in the brass the most difficult part. But my vice, hammer and fat iron ruler were perfect for the job. Now I just have to bend the more gentle curves in the roof and solder it together.

Last evening I started to shape the rounded corners of the Paya roof, by making incisions with a pair of scirrors, hamering the shape in the roof and soldering the lot to form a roof with nicely curved lines. Well, there is still a lot to do: filling the holes, sanding, grinding, polishing! Afterwards the curves will get smooth finish by soldering a thin strip on the bottom rim of the roof curves.

The roof replacement is now largely formed; all the major shapes are formed. It just has to be made beautiful still.

Former glory

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a set of Paya coaches in dilapidated condition. Three 987 series coaches and two 1372 series coaches, all pre civil war (prior to 1936).

I always liked Paya. I vaguely remember seeing a Paya Santa Fe (black-green livery) in a toy shop window in Deventer city late 1980's, but by the time I got the money sorted, it had been sold. Occasionally, Paya is offered locally via auction sites, but the demanded prices are ridiculous, so I normally do not bother. So, these coaches were just right for me. In such poor condition that nobody else was interested and thus excellent for me.

Paya Coche Cama 987

The blue Paya Coche Cama 987 is in the best condition, although the wheels are cracked and some buffers are missing. I reckon that it would be best to fit modern Merkur wheels and axles under it. These are easily accessible and would make it run much better.

Paya Coche Butacas 987

The green Paya Coche Butacas 987 is missing wheels and axles. But this can be fixed. The window styles are clearly different.

Paya Coche Salon 987

The red Paya Coche Salon 987 is the worst condition. Although it still has two sets of wheels and axles in one bogie, these wheels are cracked and chipped off. So a wheel and axles replacement is required for these. But even more important a roof is missing. So, I will spend some time on Spanish web sites looking for a roof replacement, otherwise I will have to remake it myself from brass plate. Although nice to do, it is laborious.

The two 1372 coaches are in even worse condition. Although the paint work of the sides is still acceptable, the base plates are warped. So, that will be future's projects. Anyway, this is my first close encounter with Paya toy trains and the prejudices I read on the web are right.
1. it is beautiful detailed, with opening doors, nice decorations, etc.
2. the cast zamac parts are affected by zinc pest,
3. they can only be run on wider curves, since the bogies can only turn a few degrees before they hit the metal trusses on the base plate.
4. well made, many of the connections are screw-nut instead of slot-tab. Furthermore, there are many small well-made details to enjoy such as foot steps, door grabs, bogie design, etc.