German City Railroad Inventory Yard (1 Viewer)

[7th OVI]

I am taking a quick break and decided to post some images of the next section of the diorama that involves a small inventory railroad yard under construction and repair circa late 1944 or early 1945. I also wanted to show a few more images of the from/to on this section. The from/to images are from laying track to the assembling of the switch house kit to the building of temporary light poles. The G10 boxcars are from War Park. but maybe replaced at a later date if the track on the bridge becomes active. The other railroad pieces such as the track, cars, cranes, switch house, locomotive and other rail accessories are from a firm in Germany called KM1 and are in G Gauge, 1/32 scale otherwise known as G1 to some in model railroading. The trees, rocks, hills, walls, bomb craters and buildings in the background in the images are WB and H&A. The bridges are copies of a bridge system in Germany made in 1909 and was made in brass to hold the weight of the KM1 cars/locomotives with actual miniature rivets to add to the realism. All of the railroad pieces are functional including the signals and water pumps. Some of the cars have interior lights, the locomotives can move/smoke/whistle/make sounds as well as the 50-ton and 90-ton cranes can do the same. KM1 is known for their accuracy and use of matching materials (wood to wood, metal to metal, and so on) to the originals as much as possible. I am still working on this section as the lead time for some of these railroad pieces are over 78 weeks (I am still waiting on a few pieces) but well worth the wait.

There is a lot of detail and background in this section from the advertising signs (like the story of Fanta and Coca Cola), to the Linden trees near the switch house, to the markings on the cars and locomotives to represent rail systems in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich yards. Don't have time to get too deep in that today. As a side note, I have always loved model trains and toy soldiers so combing them in this diorama has been a lot of fun for me. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions. Thx Chris

 

[villagehorse]

This a mammoth task and no small feat. Those box cars by WP are excellent. The fact there are so many moving parts on this large diorama is amazing. The whole thing is incredible and the attention to detail is a credit to you. Robin.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Just amazing! The bridges and railroad cars are fantastic!

 

[mestell]

Chris I give you a lot of credit for your skill and patience. This certainly no small undertaking and you are doing a marvelous job bringing it altogether.
Mike

 

[Horus]

Can see you've already put in hours of work Chris, not to mention the time spent researching.
It, with the Harbour and Flak emplacements this will bigger than most museums !

 

[Mike97]

A-maz-ing !

 

[7th OVI]

Appreciate the comments, just received the BR74 locomotive for the 90-ton crane and a BR95 propaganda locomotive is due to be delivered tomorrow. I am still waiting on a gondola car to finish all of the railroad pieces. Next step will be to load everything into the layout DCC so everything can run. The WP cars are great. I plan on using one of the G10 cars being moved by the 50-ton crane. The Harbour, Flak and RR Yard sections combined measure 16 feet long and 4 feet wide. Also attached few more images of the Yard including an image of the interior of the switch house that shows a desk with magazine and coffee cup. The last section of the diorama in 8 feet long and 4 feet wide and models a German urban area. Again, appreciate the comments. Chris

 

[villagehorse]

Just getting better all the time. Wondering if we might see Burt Lancaster wandering around? ( The Train ). Looking forward to seeing the overall views, they are going to be superb Chris. Robin.

 

[Horus]

Truly Awesome Chris !

 

[Panzer ace]

Incredible!