Laying Track Through the Mountains

The track base is now complete as far as the intermediate station on the mountain pass line, and slightly beyond, and I have been laying the track and have successfully run trains to and from the station. I had to use flexible track because the fixed-radius curves I have in hand are not small-enough radiusContinue reading “Laying Track Through the Mountains”

Beginning the Spiral Climb

In many ways this is one of the most exciting parts of the project, as well as being well outside my modelling comfort zone! The experience of building the single-track branch line on my art-deco Burghley Junction layout has been helpful: I have at least built a gradient on a curve, and a fairly steepContinue reading “Beginning the Spiral Climb”

Population Growth!

If you have been following my story you will already have seen some of my people, clearing snow, waiting for buses, visiting the Die Post and shops or ice-skating. These are well-detailed, realistically posed, and expensive, figures from Noch, Preiser and other continental manufacturers. I am fortunate to receive these from time to time asContinue reading “Population Growth!”

Starting to Detail the Station; Building a Swiss Barn from a Kibri Kit

The only remaining “big” project on the scenic section of the portable layout is the backscene, and I shall be tackling that soon. But meanwhile there are many small tasks to undertake to bring the layout up to a good standard, and the most urgent of these is to detail the station platforms because onceContinue reading “Starting to Detail the Station; Building a Swiss Barn from a Kibri Kit”

Lighting the Village (2)

Although I wanted the building interiors to be lit at all times to bring the place to “life”, I felt it would be wrong to have the street lights on all day as well, so I wanted to put these on a switched lighting circuit. My original intention had been to wire up the seilbahnContinue reading “Lighting the Village (2)”

Building the Village

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”

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”