Locomotives and Rolling Stock

So far I have described the construction of the layout in terms of baseboards, track, wiring and scenic work, but, of course, the trains are as important as anything else! I do not build the trains myself as some other modellers do, largely because I know too little about Swiss trains to set about building them; also because such work would take a very long time and I wish to have a layout I can run as soon as possible (perspective shifts as you age: a young person can start building with a view to having a complete layout in, say, fifteen years’ time). However, there is still work to do to the commercially-produced trains that I use. I have already described the addition of passengers inside the coaches (and I still have many more of those to add), but many of the vehicles I buy come with a pack of super-detail which I always use to add the appearance of the models. Because I buy mostly used items I sometimes have to make the details which may be missing from them, but recently I bought my first brand-new Bemo locomotive and have just finished detailing it with the super-detail pack …

Detailing locomotives and rolling stock, as well as buildings and road vehicles, is an interesting task that can be undertaken in parallel with the more tedious jobs such as ballasting or with jobs that require setting aside for glue-setting or paint-drying, so many of my vehicles have been quietly detailed in the background over the last couple of years, and I thought it was perhaps time I mentioned it!

Meanwhile design and construction of the next part of the mountain section is slowly moving forward and I hope to post an update soon. Somehow time just keeps slipping by …