Innsdorf is intended to represent a typical resort village in the Engadin valley early in the winter sport season. There is a “dusting” of snow in the village, but skiing is taking place up on the surrounding mountain slopes. I wanted to create the sort of busy scene that a visitor would see in suchContinue reading “Building the Village”
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Signalling Innsdorf Station
Swiss signalling is very distinctive and I had no idea (a) how it should work or (b) where I could buy the signals (or parts to make them). I searched on the World Wide Web for Swiss railway signalling and found some very comprehensive information, including a very helpful article on Wikipedia which I haveContinue reading “Signalling Innsdorf Station”
The Pre-planning Fact-finding Tour
Before I could do much in the way of planning my Alpine layout I really needed to visit Switzerland specifically to look at its railways. While I had visited a few times, always by rail, I had not really looked at the railways themselves very much with a view to building a model. Although IContinue reading “The Pre-planning Fact-finding Tour”
Scenery: the village and the mountain
To some extent the scenery has been progressing along with the construction of the railway. I have been acquiring buildings, vehicles, trees, people and scenic materials of various types while I have been buying the track and trains etc., and some of the scenery has to be built as the railway is built: the stationContinue reading “Scenery: the village and the mountain”
Overhead Line Equipment and the Seilbahn
All my previous layouts have used steam or diesel outline locomotives and trains, with just a touch of London Underground third-and-fourth rail electric. So the installation of overhead electrification equipment was quite a challenge. I don’t, or didn’t, know much about overhead electrification at all, and was unaware of the specifics of RhätischeBahn equipment, orContinue reading “Overhead Line Equipment and the Seilbahn”
Ballasting the track
Once the track was wired and tested, it was time to add the gravel ballast. The cork underlay provides the actual ballast effect, but to give it a realistic appearance, real granite chipping are added between the sleepers. Most chippings sold for OO and HO track look too large to me (see the pictures onContinue reading “Ballasting the track”
Control Panel and Wiring
I always enjoy the wiring of a model railway layout. It is a good exercise in logic and problem-solving! This may be why I am not especially attracted to the digital systems now becoming quite popular; at least, not attracted enough to pay for all the requisite kit, like a decoder for each locomotive, signal,Continue reading “Control Panel and Wiring”
Laying the Track
Track-laying needs to be a job that takes time and care. I used Peco HOm gauge flexible track and live-frog points. Never having used a narrow-gauge trackage system before I had to learn about clearances, minimum radii, etc., so it wook a while to come up with a suitable practical and Swiss-looking layout. I printedContinue reading “Laying the Track”
Kingsgate: an exhibition layout in OO gauge
Back in the seventies and eighties I used to exhibit a model railway called Kingsgate. It was a fictitious compact terminus in the City of London, with services similar to those of Moorgate in steam days and assumed to be somewhere just north of London Bridge, near the Bank of England. I did not actuallyContinue reading “Kingsgate: an exhibition layout in OO gauge”
Laying the Foundation
A firm foundation on well-built baseboards is essential for a reliable model railway. I had an additional challenge which was to store an existing layout in the same room; my solution was to make double brackets that could hold the old railway beneath the new one. One day I hope that both will be availableContinue reading “Laying the Foundation”
Innsdorf Modellbahn 