[Alex Hempel]

I have started my collection of beer cars:

These little Märklin reefers are available in so many different designs. I already have a set of cars with chocolate motifs, so between my wife and me, we decided we also need some beer cars.

 

[Alex Hempel]

I already have a small collection of East German era IV passenger cars made by Piko precursor Schicht in the 1960s and 70s. This week, I added two more cars to that collection, both a sleeping car and a couchette car in Czechoslovakian State Railway livery.

These cars, bought very cheaply from an Australian eBay seller, are in surprisingly great condition. So far, almost all the Schicht cars I bought have some sort of breakage, be it missing buffers, or steps. These two have no breakage or damage that I can see. I don't know if the interior lights still work, but since I plan on upgrading them all to LED lighting, that doesn't matter much anyway.

 

[Alex Hempel]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! This BR232 Diesel in the livery of Erfurter Bahn Service found its way under my tree.

Model by Piko, seems to have been a fairly limited run as it's sold out in many places already.

 

[Alex Hempel]

QUOTE (hoonsou @ 26 Dec 2020, 12:23) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Looks good Alex. It has plenty of presence.

Thank you Peter. It's a relative of the one which you helped me update the sound on last year. I really liked the paint job, so I requested it as a Xmas present, and Santa was in an obliging mood

 

[Alex Hempel]

David, that is a nice train. I have a bit of an interest in Diesel railcars and am always on the lookout for inspiration there.

Yes, the architecture will be quite similar between Bavaria and Thuringia, so your station shouldn't be out of place.

Babz, what glue do you use to assemble buildings? I have found that glue with a needle dispenser works really well, as you can apply really small doses without spills. I bought a stash of Faller super expert glue and it's absolutely fantastic.

 

[Alex Hempel]

That's a nice set of doubledeckers, SRMan. Looks like you'll have your work cut out for you, if you want to repaint them.

Next time you have issues with a German website, feel free to reach out to me, German is my first language and I'll be happy to help.

 

[Alex Hempel]

I've already posted about this acquisition, but last night I finally managed to get it set up. It's stretching its legs on my interim layout now.

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4mNrXnht304?rel=0

I was a bit apprehensive, since I had heard of models from this production run to have a propensity for running noise (gearboxes, I think). But to my relief, my trains runs smoothly and quietly.

 

[Alex Hempel]

QUOTE (SRman @ 6 Mar 2021, 09:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>A quick shakedown run for my latest second-hand purchase, a Piko Expert HectorRail class 241 (BR 185 type). This one was sold with a couple of minor faults listed: a buffer missing and something about one of the ladders. I have reshaped a Heljan OO spare buffer to closely match the existing ones, and could not find anything else wrong with the model. It came with an ESU LokPilot 4 already fitted, so I think I got a nice bargain.

IMG20210305212330 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr


I do like the livery on that one. Nice acquisition.

 

[Alex Hempel]

QUOTE (SRman @ 12 Mar 2021, 08:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Mind you, having just retired and become an age pensioner, I may have to make all of my future modelling lower budget soon!

Mate, I'm more than 20 years away from retirement and I have to operate on a low budget

It's probably a good thing that I'm restricting my interests to mainly Era IV German (both sides though), and Queensland freight. There's so much other stuff that tickles my fancy but I just can't...

 

[Alex Hempel]

QUOTE (6991 @ 14 Mar 2021, 20:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Alex,
Using TT tracks for the Queensland freight?
6991

No, I have purchased regular 16.5mm versions of my QLD rolling stock. When I got into this hobby a few years back, I knew that I was going to run a fairly diverse mixture of rolling stock, and the potential pain of laying dual gauge track, or the added complexity of separate track gauges, did not really entice me. Not to mention the higher price point of either 12mm or dual-gauge track, and the lower availability.

 

[Alex Hempel]

SRMan, I like the Flixtrain coaches, but why are the open wagons in the last photo full of figurines?

 

[Alex Hempel]

Ah well, at least this way you don't have to carry them to where they need to be

 

[Alex Hempel]

Today the Australian side of my fleet got a new addition.

This is NR52 'Kungara Mankurpa', by SDS Models. It wears its original livery created by Aboriginal artist Bessie Liddle, with which the prototype was launched in 1997 and which it had for about ten years. The model's printing and details are exquisite, and the factory-installed sound is great, too.

 

[Alex Hempel]

QUOTE (Babz @ 13 Jun 2021, 22:15) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Alex Nice purchase, I personally could not cope with the paint Design on the loco. I have never heard of the make you have bought do they only do Ausie loco's. I hope you enjoy your purchase for many years to come. Babs
Hi Babz, yes, SDS Models only make Australian locos and rolling stock. I am still waiting for another of their NR Class locos, with a paint job that is somewhat less 'busy'

 

[Alex Hempel]

Nice catch SRMan.

 

[Alex Hempel]

just after ordering mine, I saw one on eBay for around two-thirds of the price: the catch being it was AC powered.

Yeah, that is a catch. Apparently changing models from AC to DC is not at all trivial, so by the time you've spent the time and money, you probably haven't saved much.

 

[Alex Hempel]

Tell me about it. I have a bunch of Märklin beer carriages sitting here that still need new axles. I knew that when I bought them, but still, that expense will have to wait.

 

[Alex Hempel]

That's correct John, there was no West German BR83.

Looking at both Dampflokomotiven der Deutschen Reichsbahn (1949 bis 1993) – Modellbau-Wiki (East German steam locomotives Era III) and Dampflokomotiven der Deutschen Bundesbahn – Modellbau-Wiki (West German steam locomotives Era III), there appear to have been BRxx.10 class names on both sides. On the Western side it appears that a .10 indicates a reconstruction of an existing class (i.e. 01.10 was a reconstruction of the BR01). On the Eastern side I can see 65.10 and 83.10, but both were new constructions, so I am not sure what the .10 signifies.

Most class names on either side didn't have a dot in them though.

 

[Alex Hempel]

This may shed some light on the subject
Box label reads BR 83.10 DR, Epoch 4
View attachment 20323
Regards
Alan

That looks correct to me. Class (Baureihe, BR) 83.10 of the DR, era IV.

 

[Alex Hempel]

Love those PIKO coaches, nice acquisition Alan.