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Published 9Feb2021 – Updated 26Apr2022
This page is in group MODELS. It’s a log: newest at the top, except there may be newer entries inside chapters.

Background

Is it correct to write a disclaimer here, to turn down any anticipation of a great model layout? Not really. (Except, of course, my standard disclaimer telling that even if I mention a lot of companies here, it’s just for you. I want and get nothing from it.)  Some times I take a look at my layout – and models – and see them so pretty. Most of the time that’s all. I am left with a good feeling. But at times I play a with some ideas. The result may be photos, some of which may end up here. Plus the odd story attached. Do enjoy! (You may look at that disclaimer at the end of this note.)

Scene 1

All around Kladno St.1 by igra models

All the photos of this H0/HO scene 1 contain:

1. The yellow building is Kladno St.1 by igra models. I have just built it. This was my first laser cut veneer / cardboard kit. As for buildings (as opposed to airplanes?), I guess I won’t miss the plastic kits, even if I do love them as well. This is article 111005 from igra model (Stellwerk Kladno H0, Google translated). This signal box or signalling control is quoted to still be in operation in Kladno, close to Prague.

Building the Kladno St.1 was pure joy! The glue that came in the box was fantastic. White, to easily see during building, water soluble to easily wipe off, and transparent when dried – almost invisible. I mailed igra models and they sent me a doc file of the building description, in German, which I had Google turn into Norwegian. My German is somewhat rusty. The description in the box was in Czech. Their description meant well, but leaves too much to having kit building experience. But the model itself is unbelievably accurate! 0.25 mm laser cut traces?  One advice is to cut out all the parts before doing anything (except the tiny parts like the railing for the stairs). I did not discover the yellow line around the half-way up of the building before it was too late, so I had to cut it and glue it on afterwards, all wrong (1) of course. It’s visible on the corner in the above picture. There is this yellow part and a ruby part, below the windows, and another ruby part above the window, but the latter does not go all the way around. I made an extra of those, below the window, because the drawing said there were going to be two, all wrong (2). I just didn’t see the yellow part. So I should have cut them all out in the first place. Strange that I ended up with one piece of cardboard that I didn’t see the function of. I still think it’s there for no reason, than perhaps to use as a cutting board. Another advice is to be very, very careful when cutting out the Kladno St.1 sign. It has a frame around it that easily falls off. Mine did at places, so I just cut the frame away. If I were igra models I would have scaled up the frame by 0.25-0.5 mm.

2. The yellow-orange loco is a Swiss BLS Te 2/3 model from BRAWA. I have written a whole blog note about it: BRAWA 0571 BLS Te 2/3.

3. The brown Class De 6/6 «Seetal Crocodile». See Märklin 37511 of the SBB De 6/6 Seetal crocodile (below)

4. The red Austrian ÖBB RH 1245. See Roco 48494.

5. The black German steam loco BR 24, from a starter set. See Märklin 29240. Women and children think it’s my nicest loco. It is nice, but it’s not electric.

6. M3000. The small German tank loco BR 89 DB that came in a separate box. See Märklin 3000. It was bought together with a three wagon plus an M-track oval plus two switches starter set, called Märklin 3200. Analogue, of course, since it’s 1960. I have not digitalised, neither this nor any other of my other analogue locos, it therefore stands on the powered track with a piece of paper underneath.
Aside: My long late aunt Gunvor and uncle Arthur Tholvsen bought it for me on a visit from Oslo to Göttingen in 1960. It cost 32.50 DM at Kinder-Paradies Siegfried. Including the 6013 trafo and some other stuff, 60.65 DM was a lot for a ten year old at that time. My parents were just supportive, not supplying me with money. This is about €130 as of 2021 according to my research (if a DM was 1.7 NOK in 1960 and the inflation of NOK from 1960 to 2021 was 13.5). I had saved for at least a year. (But thinking it over now, could there have been some sponsor money in the basket that I may have deliberately forgotten? I have heard that we collect recollections. But then, almost all of my uncles and aunts were without children, and were indeed generous to me and my sister.)

7. There are some rolling stock (wagons, cars) as well. Again, a mix of time periods or eras – as well as country.
(1) Towards the buffer is the SBB-CFF K³ Märklin 4605 from 1960. This is the dark grey boxcar with metallic, sliding doors. I see in the 1961/62 DK/nkr catalogue that they have depicted a brown version, even if the text says «grå» (grey). In the 1962/63 catalogue this was fixed, the said brown version existed for real.
(2) A couple of years ago I tried to find some more of the same, the closest I could find were two BLS 3010 J^2d , see Roco 76832. They are both in the photos. No doors to open, but in return this is a scale model with three tiny handles per door – but with the iron bars at the one end made from thin plastic, instead of the metallic ones on the 1960 model. You can’t win them all.
(3) Then there is the longer, green baggage car with a partly raised roof, which is German Federal Railroad (DB) type Pwi «Donnerbüchse» standard car, see Märklin 4315. Observe that this rather good scale model still has sliding doors to open!
(4) There also is a Norwegian model there, the brown with a rather flat roof of the NSB («N.S.B.») G 31031, a Roco 4301E.
(5) Then, two cars that I bought when I searched for the shortest cars I could find. These are 79 mm long. There is one light grey Talbot hopper car from FS VFcck, see Roco 56251.
(6) Plus a brown of the same, a Schotterwagen from DB AG, see Roco 56246.
(7-8) Finally two red Märklin 4513 hopper cars that came with the 3200 startkit in 1960. It’s really a toy car, but it’s cute.

Observe that I have had to replace the wheel sets of all my non-Märklin cars with AC wheel sets, like this: Roco 40196. See 132:[AC wheels (NEM 340)].

8. Then, two Mercedes-Benz first A-Class model cars. The blue is a Busch 48600 (here) and the yellow is from Herpa 022941(in red, here).

9. Since I grew up by the transformer station that my father worked at, I needed to include a transformer. It is a Kibri 9922.

10. Then the tree. A nice gift from grandchildren Anna, Jakob and Filip.

Aside: My mother’s father, Johan Magnus Gundersen, and I on 22.10.1960 walked from Bjerregaards gt. 13 in Oslo down to the Gnisten (Knut André) shop and bought the Märklin 4605 model for 19.25 NOK (by 13.5 = 26€ per 2021). This was my first time in that shop, coming from the smaller town Hamar, I just could not believe my eyes. This shop was full of model train stuff. Crammed. My grandfather was shocked by the price, but I had that money, too. I almost ironed the yellow 10-krone and blue 5-kr. (NOK) bills as I collected them. My grandfather died less than a year after, 75 years old, from diabetes. On the picture he’s about as old as I am now (70). I think this was his and my common walk. (I actually copied the receipt with a «new» ball pen, with some remarks added. I still have it.)

Studio

Of course, my layout is not electrified, even if I only have this one steam loco running digital. I arranged it all for this photo shoot, since I did plan to add catenary at some time, and had them in a box.

The best light often is daylight without sun, used for fig.2 and fig.3. But for fig.1 I wanted some different lighting and used the one you see in this photo. Diffusers are necessary to avoid too distinct shadows. There is no daylight in that picture.

The camera used is a Lumix DMC-TZ100 with fig.1 and fig.3 with f-number 8 and and fig.2 with f-number 4.8. Timing was for fig.1 @ 1/13 sec, fig.2 @ 1/80 sec and fig.3 @ 1/30 sec.

Scene 2

Jul2021

Märklin 3000 of DB BR 89 and 37063 of DR Class 80 steam locos

I have already described my 60 years old BR 89 DB (left) Märklin 3000 above (M3000). As you may notice, over the last years it has not been sheltering in its box, but sitting on an open shelf. But then, in this setting, dust looks rather nice. It would have been easy to undust it, but to dust it would have taken some work. So, let us just appreciate the dust.

I bought the Märklin Full Line catalog for 2020/21 when I think it first appeared at my local shop, in Jun2021. Just to flip through, I thought. What! On page 38 appeared the 37063 DRG Class 80 steam locomotive – with telex couplers and sound! In my head this was the 3000 model going digital plus sound for the first time – revealing how much I know about steam locos! I shouted it over the mountains in my family. But then, the model was sold out all over the place. I finally found one loco in a shop Mari and I have visited in Italy, and via mail and couriers (my son Andreas‘ family) it arrived here, solemnly presented at my door by Filip, yesterday. The fact that it was not as prospected: a sound’ed model of my 1960 loco, was soon forgiven for the pure joy of having two almost equal locos.

DRG Class 89.0  (or DR-Baureihe 89.0 (1934) in German) (1934, 9.6 m). DR or DRG is Deutschen Reichsbahn and BR is baureihe or class. The Märklin 3000 is a toy. The rods have been simplified to the extreme (but they work after 60 years). My my loco has survived 60 years.

Aside 1. I guess the most problematic years would have been when I started to dismantle everything that came my way. I feel sorry for all the beautiful tube radioes that only have some tubes, some tuning coils and some double variable capacitors (or even triple of the sort, for some double conversion superheterodyne receiver I managed to crunch) left after them. But then, thinking it over, if it weren’t for me, they would have been completely gone by now.. The 3000 did survive. It did.

But the product 3000 proves that Märklin knew their market. You may still buy the 3000, in the HOBBY line (2021), still analogue (but «easy» to convert to digital). The model has plastic housing and weights 200 grams.

Aside 2. My 3000 I modified with a MAC92 triac for the bulb, back in 1983. The gate was controlled from the forward coil via an 11k resistor. Now the bulb lasts longer, is lit only for forward running, and will not flash into eternal darkness on direction change. But then, I run my old analogue locos very seldom.

Aside 3. I disconnected one of the brushes on the 3000 to avoid it run away from the whole photo session, but stand politely still with the bulb lit.

DRG Class 80 (1927, 9.67 m) (or DR-Baureihe 80 in German). It may hold 5 m³ of water and 2 tons of coal. Märklin 37063 has road number 80 006 as of revision 31.7.59. See scan of the housing alone, left. Scanning the whole loco did not succed. The telex coupling I guess will be rather fun, once I get a car with a close coupler (7203 which contains 50 * 701630 for NEM 362 coupler pockets). So I ordered some on the net. Before then the cars don’t stick very long in the curves. I have discussed the new telex some at 132:[The history of the Telex coupling(?)]. The model has metal housing (76 grams) and the whole model weighs 242 grams. It’s quite spacey inside. I guess Märklin could have made the driver’s space true to the original if that’s what they were after. With lit coal and all! Now, as an idiomatic Märklin model (even in 2021), they have done little to hide the motor, (with brushes) and wires somewhat visible (if that’s what I am after seeing). But they do use frosted-like windows in the doors, which certainly helps.

But then, who cares. I still loved the model from the first minute!

Scene 3

11Aug2021

Märklin 37511 of the SBB De 6/6 Seetal crocodile

This is road number #15302 of the Seetalkrokodil. The picture shows my Märklin 37511 H0 model. It’s revision 23.4.65. It was scrapped in 1983. But it lives perfectly well on my very, very short display line. I was asked to supply a picture of it to the article Krokodillen og andre historier. I saved a copy here as well. This is so new that it has sound. I bought it in 2018.

Wikipedia: SBB De 6/6 (Seetal crocodile, Seetalkrokodil) (translated). Don’t confuse with the RhB Ge 6/6 which looks about the same but runs on the 1 meter gauge Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I (Rhaetian Railway or Rhätische Bahn).

Also see My Krokis notes.

Scene 4

24Apr2022

Märklin 3001

This is a page from a 1961 Märklin catalogue. It was in Danish, not Norwegian. Just like the MB A-Class we bought in 2011. Its dashboard and manual are both in Danish. I guess the Germans consider Danish as generic Scandinavian?

I had written 74- on the page. Two times. For both colours. 74 kr. in 1961 compares to 1043 NOK / 108€ as of 2022. I was 11 years. Of course I could not afford it. Only dream and write down the price.

So I had to wait until 1984 when I was in Stockholm on a course called Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) seminar. I must have taken a short lunch and quietly gone off for this Märklin shop. At that time I don’t think the shops were open late, like after the lectures. The shopkeeper had this loco, used – for at least ten years.

And I had a son, Andreas, who was 8 and rather interested. I enthusiastically bought it for him. I don’t remember the price, but I’m sure that I could easily write it off by the travel bill, which at that time was meant to leave some extra for undocumented spending and tariffs. We got some sum for the hotel and food etc., and I’m certain that even the Grand Hotel in Stockholm yielded some profit. Yes, the course was there. I thought that the best gift is the one you’d really want to keep yourself.

Still, it has always been his loco. But it stayed here…

Diorama

…until his birthday this year. As an extra I made this.. diorama? The original box never came with it, so it needed to stay somewhere. I had to make some plastic bumpers at the end, because it’s possible to run it. The reversing switch may be used, so that it might be powered from a small, I think it was, 7.5V DC power. Then two masts and a catenary, of course. And a slot for some papers in the veneer base. It should fit well on a shelf by the H0e/HOe layout he and his children are enjoying. In that layout there also is his H0m/HOm tram that was brought over to their house some years ago. Even the plastic houses are at the right place now. But that’s completely ok for my layout, which I think should be all mine by now.

Scene 5

23Apr2022

Oiling is maintenance

The 5.0 cm man (one in a set of five of  Märklin 56405), which was my introductory «gift» from EK Verlag when I started to subscribe to their «Faszination Spur 1» magazine. This was one of two temptations, the other was a flat wooden kit with a bench, a chair and a table. I felt the magazine was too expensive at the local Narvesen shop. (Standard disclaimer). So this man is 5 cm * 32 = 160 cm tall. I guess they were about that size in era III+IV (1945-1990). I guess not. He’s a rather small guy.

The man is at least trying to oil the Märklin 55681 SBB Ce 6/8 III #14305 and the Fine Model’s E71 #513.

I struggled so much to get these photos ok. The problem is that with almost any light source, the man’s overall looked shiny. Finally I added lots of artificial lighting and also some natural light, and wrapped the camera and the motif in matt foil paper. Lost of light plus lots of diffuser I could find. I even tried to remove the shininess in Photoshop, but no. Now the pictures are almost there. Also see 201:[Let it shine in the correct light].

Scene N-1

Go to Models and have a look at my other model blogs. There are quite a few photos there.

Disclaimer

I have no other layout than some old Märklin M track and a wooden table (here). I haven’t taken the time, as I once did (here). And I have no photo studio. But still I have a lot of fun with these models! A lot! Even if I mix eras like I didn’t know they existed.

References

Wiki-refs: Acta Diurna. Album (ancient Rome)